European privacy officials have demanded that Google put planned privacy policy changes on hold until they can check that the new rules comply with local laws. The demand comes from the Article 29 Working Party. That’s not a legal organization in itself, but rather a group made up of the data protection authorities in each [...]
Image Credit: Creativity103 As the hype for cloud computing rises ever higher, the issue of security is becoming a hot topic in the information exchange industry. The benefits of working in the cloud are immense, but many fear the risk posed by having their sensitive data accessible by the cyber-ether. Quantum computing to the rescue. [...]
Beware! Someone could be watching you right now, waiting for the right moment to grab one of your many passwords… because I’m sure you use multiple passwords for all the password-protected sites you access, right? [Via CB]
Facebook has agreed to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that it lied to customers about its privacy policies. The agreement means it will now be forced to ask first before changing any privacy settings. The agreements comes after an investigation by several online privacy advocates, led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). [...]
Finally you can do something with that old LCD monitor you have in the garage. You can turn it into a privacy monitor! It looks all white to everybody except you, because you are wearing “magic” glasses! All you really have to have is a pair of old glasses, x-acto knife or a box cutter [...]
A man who created a bogus stock price tracker app for the iPhone that was in fact malware has been thrown out of Apple’s developer program. That would seem uncontroversial until you discover the app was designed to highlight a security flaw rather than cause damage or steal data. Charlie Miller was told his right [...]
Now if only everyone would be as open as this guy when it comes to medical research, I guess the world we live in would be very different… How does cancer know it’s cancer? At Jay Bradner’s lab, they found a molecule that might hold the answer, JQ1 — and instead of patenting JQ1, they [...]
Facebook has partnered with a web security company to automatically scan all outgoing links that appear on the site. It’s an attempt to combat spam links that understandably flourish on Facebook. The tool being used is the impressively sounding Websense ThreatSeeker Cloud powered by the Advanced Classification Engine. (There’s a TRITON in there somewhere as [...]
“The primary weakness in any modern security mechanism tends to be the modern consumers utilizing it.” If you’ve got security issues, there’s a nonzero chance it’s your fault. Or, if you’re especially vigilant, the fault of another person in the chain of people who control account security. In this new video from our friends at [...]
Ah, that age-old problem: you’re wandering around with your laptop trying to steal Wi-Fi, hack into wireless networks, or just hit some sucker with a DOS attack, but then you find your potential victim lives in a huge mansion with grounds so big you can’t get within range of his router. If you’re just messing [...]
A security consultant has shown it’s possible to steal some cars simply by sending a specially crafted series of text messages. Don Bailey of iSEC Partners was speaking at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. It’s an annual event designed to inform security professionals about the latest threats, and has become known for [...]
Kids are being invited to Las Vegas to learn hacking skills. Nope, this isn’t another story from the creative mind of Stephen Glass, but a genuine event. The annual DEF CON hacker convention will for the first time feature a special children’s event this weekend at the Rio hotel, known as DefCon Kids. The event [...]