cybercrime

The social media owner announced it has taken down thousands of accounts in Nigeria that were linked to financial sexual extortion scams.

Hackers invaded computer systems at the departments of Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security as far back as the spring, according to the government and media reports.

Cybercriminals have learned to refine the language they use in scams, making scams harder to detect and more likely to fool potential victims.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says the "nonpublic information" might have given the intruders an edge in the markets, but didn't contain personally identifiable information.

As health care increasingly moves from hospitals and doctors' offices to the home, patient medical data become more vulnerable to hackers. Dartmouth College researchers hope their product will help.

Companies are clamoring for coverage against losses due to hackers. But insurance firms are being selective: The risk involved isn't well understood — and the crimes themselves are evolving rapidly.

Attackers accessed parts of the computer network that contain personal and medical information, but there is no evidence they accessed or acquired any personal or medical information, UCLA said.

The thieves used the data to file fraudulent tax returns. The IRS commissioner said less than $50 million had been successfully claimed from the agency.