Monday Morning News Kick Off: Anonymous Hackers Target Alleged WikiLeaker Bradley Mannings Jailers; and Could Feds Ever Shut Down the Web?

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post brought to you by the ITAC blog. As always, we have pulled all the key identity theft, cyber security and data breach news you need in one strategic location. Why go to another news source? No need, right? We like to believe that the ITAC blog is the premier destination for all the cyber news you need.

Russian Immigrant Convicted in Identity-Theft Scheme
A Russian immigrant was convicted on Thursday of hatching a gruesome identity-theft scheme that resulted in the mysterious disappearance of a translator from Brooklyn and the death of a man whose body parts turned up in a New Jersey nature preserve. A jury deliberated for seven hours over two days before finding the immigrant, Dmitriy Yakovlev, guilty of conspiracy, bank fraud, using stolen credit cards and other charges. There was no specific murder charge, but prosecutors alleged that he killed both victims in a plot to pillage their bank accounts and credit lines. Read the full AP (via NY Times) story here.

Hackers Target French Finance Ministry, G-20 Plans
Hackers have infiltrated French government computers in search of information about France’s leadership of the Group of 20 leading economies, the country’s budget minister said Monday. The head of France’s network security agency said it was the biggest-ever hacker attack against the government. Budget Minister Francois Baroin says it’s too early to say who was behind the attack in recent weeks and months on Finance Ministry e-mail accounts and servers. Read the full AP story here.

Anonymous Hackers Target Alleged WikiLeaker Bradley Mannings’ Jailers
As army private Bradley Manning suffers for his alleged megaleak of secret documents to WikiLeaks, one group of hackers seems determined to make sure that others feel his pain. Over the weekend, the loose hacker collective Anonymous declared that it will go on the offensive against those who are currently detaining Manning in a Quantico military brig, keeping him in solitary confinement and forcing him to strip nightly and stand at attention naked each morning. In a crowdsourced document used to coordinate the group’s actions, Anonymous members name Department of Defense Press Secretary Geoff Morell and chief warrant officer Denise Barnes as targets and call on members to dig up personal information on both, including phone numbers, personal histories and home addresses. Read the full Forbes blog post here.

Microsoft Won’t Patch Internet Explorer before Pwn2Own Hacking Contest
While Apple, Mozilla and Google are patching their browsers before the hackers arrive at the Pwn2Own hacking contest looking for likely targets, Microsoft won’t be issuing any patches for Internet Explorer before the contest. Microsoft will not be updating Internet Explorer before the Pwn2Own hacking contest, despite the fact that elite hackers will be gunning for the Web browser. Microsoft made the announcement on March 4 as security researchers are getting ready for Pwn2Own, a contest that pits hackers against the latest versions of the four major browsers and four mobile platforms for cash prizes. Read the full eWeek story here.

New Book Uncovers $1 billion Cybercrime Lord
Kevin Poulsen knows of what he writes. The preeminent former hacker-turned-journalist/author has delivered a compelling read with his new book, Kingpin: How One Hacker Took over the Billion Dollar Cyber Crime Underground (288 pages; $25; Crown Trade). In it, the Wired.com senior editor spins a tight narrative on how Max “Vision” Butler crowned himself lord over an international underworld of thousands of professional computer intruders and credit-card thieves that have upended the lives of millions of Americans. The story’s arc traces Butler’s remarkable rise, and law enforcement’s manhunt of him. Read the full USA Today article here.

Could Feds Ever Shut Down the Web?
Shortly after midnight on Jan. 28, desperate Egyptian authorities effectively pulled the plug on the Internet amid a wave of protests roiling the government of Hosni Mubarak. To many, the unthinkable had happened. The global computer network was supposed to be resilient in its architecture, featuring multiple different pathways to allow Internet users to circumvent choke points. If the Internet could be cut off in minutes to virtually all of Egypt — by many measures a technologically developed nation — people started wondering whether it could be shut down in the United States, too. Experts say that it may be technically possible. However, only a fool in the Oval Office would take such irrational steps. Read the full Politico story here.

DHS Seeks Increased Cybersecurity Funds for 2012
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano this week campaigned before federal lawmakers in support of her agency’s portion of President Obama’s $3.7-trillion proposed budget. “The demands on DHS have never been greater and the threats we face pose new challenges that require an innovative and focused response,” Napolitano said, speaking before U.S. House and Senate committees. “Today’s threat picture features an adversary who evolves and adapts quickly and who is determined to strike us here at home – from the aviation system and the global supply chain to surface transportation systems, critical infrastructure and cyber networks.” Read the full SC Magazine post here.