Top 5 Optimizers technical rumors

Over the past week, hackers have exploited flaws in popular open-source advertising software to place malicious code on advertisements on several famous Web sites. Using a pair of bugs in the OpenX advertising software the attackers logged in to advertising servers and placed malicious code on ads being served on the sites. Web based attacks are a favorite way for cyber-criminals to install their malicious software and this latest round of hacks shows how ad server networks can become useful conduits for attack. However OpenX said that it was aware of “no major vulnerabilities associated with the current version of the software in either its downloaded or hosted forms,”, but we still recommend to keep an eye out for updates.

U.S. authorities linked a well-known group involved with malicious software, hacking, child pornography and spam known as Russian Business Network gang to the theft of an estimated tens of millions of dollars from Citibank which occurred mid-year. It was not known whether the money had been recovered and a Citibank representative said the company had not had any system breach or losses, according to the report. The report left unclear who the money was stolen from but said a program called Black Energy, designed by a Russian hacker, was one tool used in the attack. The attackers also targeted a U.S. government agency and one other unnamed entity, the report said, adding that it was unknown if the attackers accessed Citibank systems directly or through other parties.