Operation “Silence Cyxymu” Crushes Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal

Twitter went offline today due to a Distributed Denial of Service attack.  There were reports that other sites were impacted too, but service was only mildly affected. Here is a snapshot of the dropoff in traffic to Twitter according to Arbor Networks: The below graph shows Observatory data from 55 providers around the world to […]

ATM scammers have mixed run of luck in Vegas

The Secret Service is investigating a string of ATMs in Las Vegas which are debiting accounts without dispensing cash. But a similar scam in the city failed after picking the worst possible audience to attempt to defraud. The IDG news service reports that several customers reported problems with ATMs in the Rio casino. Among them […]


Vanish: Self-Destructing Digital Data

Researchers from the University of Washington have developed a new encryption system that allows users to take control over the lifetime of their data. After the user-specified auto-destruct time has gone by, the encrypted data will then become unreadable. If you wish to use the system online, Vanish is available via an easy to use […]

Science Is Sexy: What Exactly Is HIV?

By Jimmy Rogers (@me) Contributing Writer, [GAS] HIV/AIDS is a worldwide pandemic disease, but I would wager that few people (even among our esteemed readers) really understand it at all.  You may be aware that Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (or AIDS) is a disease that results from an HIV infection.  To most, HIV/AIDS is a frightening […]

BitBlinder May Provide the Privacy Pirates Seek

By Jimmy Rogers (@me) Contributing Writer, [GAS] It seems that every time a new technology comes out, we hear about a special “secure” version of that technology close on its heels.  First we had HTTP, followed by HTTPS.  Similarly, a lot of protocols like IM, VOIP, and FTP have secure or encrypted versions of themselves. […]

Chinese internet filter provokes domestic web protest

Chinese internet users are planning a one-day boycott of the web on July 1st to draw attention to the introduction of the controversial government-mandated internet filter on all new machines. The boycott has a high-profile supporter in Ai Weiwei (pictured), who helped design the Bird’s Nest stadium used in last year’s Beijing Summer Olympics. Writing […]

Opera Unite — should be “Untie”?

By Sterling “Chip” Camden Contributing Writer, [GAS] Well, paint me in a two-tone pattern of “smug” and “disappointed”.  I correctly predicted that Opera’s self-styled “reinvention of the web” would have something to do with breaking the traditional model of web client/server that we’ve all come to know and curse.  But their execution on that grand […]