hacker

A recently published e-book penned by the self-proclaimed “world's No. 1 hacker” is rocking the security community with back-and-forth allegations of plagiarism, racism, and even threats against a security podcaster and his family.

How to Become the World's No. 1 Hacker is purportedly written by Gregory D. Evans, an animated felon who went on to become CEO of Ligatt Security International, a publicly traded company worth about 0.0002 cent per share that bills itself as a full-service computer security firm.

Released by the obscure Cyber Crime Media publishing house, the 342-page PDF is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for consumers who want to learn how to harden their networks against attackers. Unix security, Wi-Fi cracking, and web service configuration are all covered.

U.S. regulators are moving to freeze the assets and trading accounts of a Russian accused of hacking into personal online portfolios and manipulating the price of dozens of stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and New York Stock Exchange.

A New York federal judge on Tuesday sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission and froze the assets of Broco Investments, believed to be a one-trader operation based in St. Petersburg, Russia. The SEC said Broco capitalized by artificially moving prices of more 38 thinly traded securities — enabling Broco to profit from up-or-down price swings.

“These transactions have created the appearance of legitimate trading activity and have artificially affected the prices of at least 38 issuers,” (.pdf)  the Securities and Exchange Commission said in court filing.

TO the horror of Latvia's political establishment, a mysterious group of computer hackers is threatening to expose the incomes of top officials after stealing millions of government tax records.

The group, calling itself the People's Army of the Fourth Awakening, claimed to have downloaded more than 7.5 million documents, including VAT receipts and income tax returns from the State Revenue Service after exploiting a security loophole on its website.