Tag archive: security

User-created passwords could one day become obsolete, if research led by Chun-Liang Lin at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan, proves successful. The industrious team behind this groundbreaking new technology, which creates a fully-encrypted password out of a user's heartbeat, could forever change the way we access our protected and valuable personal information. Email passwords, bank account passwords, and more could… Read More

Anything that only requires a physical tap to take money away from you always sounds ripe for exploitation. It sure may be convenient, but with the Google Wallet's PIN system cracked twice in the past two days, compromised by both rooted and unrooted Android phones, safety is going to have to come before convenience. The first attack came when security firm zvelo discovered that a rooted Galaxy Nexus stores PINs on the device rather than… Read More

A local government official has warned users of Chinese microblogging services—weibos—in Beijing that they must post under their real names no later than March 16 or be banned from the services. The move comes after the Chinese capital issued requirements late last year that weibos users re-register for micro-blogging services under their real names to enable authorities to more easily monitor and block them if they post material the government… Read More

If you have a Trendent security camera in your home, it might not be only you viewing the footage it provides. According to a BBC report, thousands of the firm’s cameras have a vulnerability allowing anyone on the Internet to hook up to its feed and peer into the homes of others. Indeed, such an intrusion into one’s home by outsiders could be deeply embarrassing, especially if you’re caught with your pants down, so to speak. So what exactly is… Read More

Responding to strong government pressure to remove content offensive to Indian politicians and religious groups, Google India has removed an unspecified number of sites and images from Google services in the country (reportedly including Blogger and YouTube) in response to an ongoing court case. The action follows weeks of pressure by the Indian government against nearly two dozen Internet companies, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and… Read More

In a nicely candid move, Motorola Mobility has come forward and admitted that it accidentally sold 100 refurbished Xoom Android tablets through Woot.com without first wiping the devices to remove previous customers' data. Motorola would like to get the devices back from any buyers, and has extended two years of free Experian ProtextMyID service to any customers who returned a Xoom tablet between March and October 2011 to protect them from… Read More

When IT security firm Juniper Networks said last November that the presence of malware targeting devices running Android had surged by 472 percent in four months, many owners of such devices must have taken a long hard look at their smartphone or tablet and wondered what on earth was contained within. In response to growing concerns about malware on Android devices, the folks behind Google's mobile operating system are of course keen to… Read More

Surely logging into an online account registered to your partner, whether it’s Facebook or a web-based email account, is to enter a potential minefield of misunderstandings that could lead to a row, broken crockery or worse, a broken relationship. According to the results of a new survey of 1,000 British people aged 18 and over, it appears that snooping into the accounts of others is a fairly common practice. The survey, carried out by UK… Read More

The Dutch government is moving to crack down on illegal file-sharing, but it's going after Internet service providers rather than individual file-sharers. A new proposal, due to be submitted to the Dutch Parliament by the middle of the year, would make it illegal to provide access to Web sites and services that facilitate copyright infringement. If ISPs fail to comply, they would be subject to penalties of €10,000 a day, up to a maximum… Read More

If there's one thing people associate with modern technology, it's passwords. They're everywhere, and most of us use them for dozens of things every day. Yet most people are shockingly indifferent about their password security. Most of us probably know someone who uses the same password for everything, from their computer and email to their Facebook and bank accounts — and that password might be something as obvious as their… Read More

Did you know January 28 is Data Privacy Day in the United States, Canada, and the European Union? The intention behind Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information—not just amongst individual users of things like social networking, but also amongst businesses, organizations, and corporations that collect, retain, and access information about their clients, customers, and users.… Read More

As mentioned within a press release earlier today, the first commercial ”Super Wi-Fi” network was launched in Wilmington, North Carolina. Called the “first FCC-approved smart city”, the city is utilizing the white space spectrum located between TV channels to provide wireless access across a public portion of Hugh MacRae park. Due to the lower frequency band, these Wi-Fi signals can travel through varied terrain… Read More

The European Commission has outlined a proposal for reforming data protection laws in the European Union, touting the move as a way to both protect consumers' and individuals' privacy as well as save businesses billions every year by reducing the overhead needed to comply with current regulations. As outlined by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, the proposed laws would make data protection requirements uniform across the… Read More

Security software is an everyday necessity for most people, especially Windows users, businesses, and enterprises. But one of the ironies of security software is that, once in a while, it turns out to be the source of security problems all by itself. The latest instance involves McAfee's SaaS Total Protection suite, a cloud-based solution designed to provide comprehensive email and and Web filtering along with centralized security… Read More

Just days after an attacker cited Palestinian sympathies released personal information on thousands of Israeli credit card users on the Internet, online attackers have launched a coordinated denial-of-service effort to disrupt online access to Israel's El Al Airlines, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and three bands. Although the attacks have done little to disrupt daily operations—the TASE and El Al kept operating normally, and the… Read More