Monday: May 17, 2010
- Google may have been accidentally snooping in on your wi-fi connections.
Let this be a lesson to you all to never leave a wi-fi network unsecured. The good news is that Google has agreed to stop collecting this data, at least for now.
Tuesday: May 11, 2010
- FYI, Windows 7 'compatibility checker' currently masquerading as trojan horse virus.
Once a victim has installed the software, criminals can pretty much do whatever they want on the PC, Cosoi said. That could mean installing a keylogger to steal banking credentials or even gaining full access to the hacked system.
Monday: May 10, 2010
- Everything you wanted to know about the Facebook privacy war.
Wired goes into detail about all the recent privacy changes that Facebook has recently undergone and what they mean to you and your data. Long story short, make sure your privacy settings are all up to snuff (or cancel your account).
Tuesday: April 13, 2010
- New study discovers that frequent password changes are basically useless.
someone who obtains your password will use it immediately, not sit on it for weeks until you have a chance to change it. 'That’s about as likely as a crook lifting a house key and then waiting until the lock is changed before sticking it in the door,' the Globe says.
Tuesday: March 30, 2010
- A list of the ten riskiest cities for cyber-crime. Good to know.
Traveling to Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Raleigh, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver, Austin or Portland in the near future? Make sure your computer is up to date with the latest virus protections and all of that - although it may not make much difference.
Thursday: March 25, 2010
- Hacking contest reveals brand new security flaw in your beloved iPhone.
The contest in question netted two lucky individuals a cool $15,000 as well as a brand new iPhone for their discovery. The hack in question involved a vulnerability located in the mobile Safari app which opened the door to other mischief.
Wednesday: March 24, 2010
- Security flaws over at the IRS could mean that your personal data might be at risk.
The Internal Revenue Service's failure to use strong passwords, install patches quickly, and adequately control access to computer systems and information makes the system vulnerable to insider threats and attacks from outside, a new government report concludes.
Thursday: March 18, 2010
- Disgruntled employee disables hundreds of cars from the comfort of his PC.
I wouldn't call this so much of a 'hack' (or hacker according to Wired) but rather a disgruntled employee who happened to know his way around a most-likely poorl y designed online security system. If you put functionality like this online without proper security this is just an accident waiting to happen.
Wednesday: March 17, 2010
- Turns out that more and more employers are using tech to track workers.
This post details just how easy (and cheap) it is in this day and age to monitor exactly what people are doing in the workplace. If you happen to have some sort of job in a tech-related field - it's even easier. If you think Big Brother is watching you - well, he probably is.
Monday: March 15, 2010
- Netflix decides to cancel new contest amidst privacy concerns.
The retreat announced Friday settles a lawsuit alleging Netflix's plans to release millions of movie-rental records that could have illegally exposed sensitive information about its subscribers' tastes and lifestyles.
Thursday: March 11, 2010
- New survey shows that 12% of employees knowingly violate IT policies.
With 12 percent of those people actively working outside of stated IT policy (and plenty more who do so out of ignorance), IT admins certainly have their work cut out for them if they want to maintain a tight ship.
Tuesday: March 9, 2010
- Your rechargeable batteries may come with a free Trojan horse virus.
The battery maker said it does not know how the Trojan got into the software. 'Energizer has discontinued sale of this product and has removed the site to download the software,' the statement said.
Tuesday: March 2, 2010
- Hacking popular ticket sites may land you with several unfriendly charges.
What kind of charges you ask? Well there is conspiracy, wire fraud and unauthorized computer access for starters. According to the source article that wire fraud charge carries a twenty year prison sentence.
Wednesday: February 10, 2010
- Microsoft decides to finally fix a security hole that plagued them for seventeen years.
Much as been made of the fact that the hole is 17 years old, but Ormandy said he informed Microsoft about it in June 2009. 'You can criticize them for taking a long time to fix a bug,' but not if they didn't know about it, said Pedram Amini, who runs the Zero Day Initiative.
Tuesday: January 26, 2010
- FAA would like to make sure that next generation 747 is hack-proof.
Essentially, the FAA seemed worried that the 747-8 will be vulnerable to outside access and that the 'applicable airworthiness regulations do not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for these design features,' mandating the issuing of the special conditions.
Wednesday: January 13, 2010
- Facebook to team up with McAfee for beefed up security operations.
Become a fan of McAfee on Facebook and get ten percent off your next anti-virus subscription. To qualify you'll need to purchase McAfee's Internet Security Anti-virus Privacy System Protection Suite. Enjoy.
Wednesday: December 16, 2009
- No one is safe from Facebook's new privacy settings, not even their CEO.
This opening may be a result of Facebook's new default settings; or could be a result of Zuckerberg trying to reverse the PR debacle of the new privacy system by opening up the content himself; or could be a combination of both.
Wednesday: December 9, 2009
- Facebook to start reminding all users about their current privacy settings.
As part of this initiative, all Facebook users will be prompted to review and confirm their privacy settings. The page will list the items with privacy that needs to be confirmed and give users the option to retain their existing setting or change it to a setting Facebook recommends.
Tuesday: December 8, 2009
- Yahoo decides to launch an online privacy tool for all of us consumers
In the past, users were able to rejected targeted ads, but they weren't able to edit and modify their personal preferences — for instance, saying 'no' only to ads for video games or ads with a health focus.
Tuesday: November 24, 2009
- Bug in Internet Explorer allows for public veiwing of your PDF files.
Although the data isn't always exposed when the document is viewed with Adobe Reader, it is easily readable when the file is opened in editors such as Notepad, and the text is also available to Google and other search engines.
Tuesday: November 3, 2009
- A handy tutotial on how to browse the Interwebs without leaving a trace.
A comprehensive guide from the folks at Lifehacker regarding how to surf the web and then make a successful attempt at covering your tracks. Not that you have anything to hide, right?
Friday: October 30, 2009
- FYI, beware of malware lurking in unsuspecting Twitter links.
In a nutshell, you should be cautious when using suspicious-looking URL shorteners. There's also an interesting statistic within the article stating that about 26% of all tweets contain a URL and retweeting just helps these things spread all the more quickly. Who knew?
Monday: October 26, 2009
- Turns out that tweeting jurors pose a problem in the courtroom. Who knew?
One juror in particular went as far to actually tweet the verdict of a trial before the judge announced it. Article cites other bonehead examples of Twitter misuse in the legal process as well.
- The White House website code is now open source.
Having the public write code may seem like a security risk, but it's just the opposite, experts inside and outside the government argued. Because programmers collaborate to find errors or opportunities to exploit Web code, the final product is therefore more secure.
Monday: October 19, 2009
- These days even a parking ticket can masquerade as a computer virus.
Drivers found the following message on the yellow ticket on their windscreen: 'PARKING VIOLATION This vehicle is in violation of standard parking regulations'. The ticket then instructed drivers to visit a website...
Thursday: October 15, 2009
- A list of the top seven technology disasters of the decade.
In what has been called the largest credit card crime of all time, earlier this year, Heartland Payment Systems announced that hackers had broken into the computers it uses to process about 100 million transactions each month for 175,000 merchants.
Tuesday: October 13, 2009
- Five ways that you are secretly being monitored.
Yes, it is quite possible that your printer may be used against you in a court of law. The is technology embedded in newer printers from Xerox, Dell, Canon, Lexmark. So, next time you have a top secret document - write it down.
Wednesday: October 7, 2009
- The first rule of hacking PayPal is you don't talk about hacking PayPal.
The hacker confirms he offered a class to penetration testers that taught them everything they'd need to test and carry out attacks on SSL certificates, and as part of that, he included a proof-of-concept certificate.
Tuesday: October 6, 2009
- It might be time to think about changing your Hotmail password.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that the company doesn't store passwords in the clear and said its security team has been investigating the leak since this weekend.
Monday: September 28, 2009
- Want to know which ten states get the most spam?
'Interestingly, the top three most spammed states were among the 10 least spammed states in 2008,' the company said in the report.
