Social Network Security |
12/29/2010
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Social networks will remain
hotbeds of malicious attacks, McAfee predicted, but geolocation services
like Foursquare and Facebook Places will see new prominence. In just
a few clicks, cybercriminals can see in real time who is tweeting,
where they are located, what they are saying, what their interests are,
and what operating systems and applications they are using, McAfee noted. This wealth of personal information on individuals enables cybercriminals to craft a targeted attack.
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Apple Prime Security Target |
12/29/2010
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Security firm McAfee expects
malicious activity in 2011 to target smartphones, URL shorteners,
geolocation services like Foursquare, and Apple products across the
board, according to a report released today.
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Screen Writers Worry About Security |
12/27/2010
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Screenwriters who use Web-based software and cloud storage face a new fear in their trade: security.
Write Brothers veep Chris Huntley, for one, is skeptical that studios
will adopt widespread online exchanges of information until
military-grade protections are put in place.
The WikiLeaks material was not something its originators wished to
share with the world, so just imagine a studio freaking out about having
its budgets, scripts and deal memos floating around, Huntley said.
While Huntley understands the utility of the virtual collaborative
aspects that most of the Web-based apps offer, he thinks putting scripts
and story ideas online is problematic.
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Terrorists Could Target the Holidays |
12/24/2010
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The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security say terrorists could be preparing to target large crowds at holiday gatherings.
Officials say they have no specific or credible information about any planned attacks, but they want Americans to be aware.
In Boston Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder talked about what the U.S. is doing.
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Could the Wikileaks Scandal Lead to New Virtual Currency? |
12/23/2010
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It is not an exaggeration to say
that the recent Wikileaks scandal has shaken the Internet to its core.
Regardless of where you stand on the debate, various services have
simply refused to handle Wikileaks business--everything from domain-name
providers to payment services--and this has led to many questioning how
robust the Internet actually is.
Hackers have already stated their aim to create their own DNS system,
which will bypass officialdom. This uses peer-to-peer technology to get
around the problem, a favorite of hackers because it's impossible to
regulate.
But how about an entire currency based on peer-to-peer technology?
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Pentagon Bans Removable Drives on Classified Network |
12/22/2010
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In an effort to thwart future
unauthorized releases of government documents, the Pentagon is now
banning the use of removable drives on its classified network. The move
comes after thousands of classified documents and several military
videos were released to the WikiLeaks web site earlier this year.
The order, initially from the Air Force and reportedly from the other
services as well, prohibits users of its classified network, SIPRNet,
from using what the Air Force described as "emovable media on all systems, servers and stand-alone machines on the network. Removable media include thumb drives, DVDs, CDs and similar devices.
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Amazon: Web problem due to hardware, not Hackers |
12/21/2010
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Internet retailer Amazon is
denying that pro-WikiLeaks hackers were responsible for the failure of
its websites in several European countries.
Amazon sites were offline for about half an hour in Britain, France,
Germany and other countries late Sunday, leading to speculation they
could have been targeted by online hacktivists.
But Amazon said Monday that the problem was due to hardware failure in our European data center network and not a hacker attack.
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Commerce Department Seeks Web Privacy |
12/20/2010
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The Commerce Department should
have its own privacy office and develop voluntary, enforceable codes of
conduct for data companies and advertisers that track people on the
Internet, said a report by the department's Internet Policy Task Force.
The report issued on Thursday arrives as people express more concern
about the ability that companies have to collect data on Internet users'
personal Web habits and sell it to advertisers.
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Hacked Websites |
12/19/2010
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Google on Friday announced
search engine upgrades that included alerting people to hacked websites
that make it into query results.
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Amazon Kicks off WikiLeaks Not Pressured |
12/11/2010
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Amazon Web Services kicked
WikiLeaks off its servers for breaking rules designed to ensure websites
use their own content and that it will not injure others, and not due
to pressure from the U.S. government, Amazon said Thursday.
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Google Takes on Piracy |
12/10/2010
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Google unveiled new tactics to thwart bad apples that post or share pirated material on the Internet.
As the web has grown, we have seen a growing number of issues relating to infringing content," Google general counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post on Thursday.
Along with this new wave of creators come some bad apples who use the Internet to infringe copyright.
Google, which owns popular video-sharing website YouTube, is improving
the process by which owners of digital content alert it to the
unauthorized posting of copyrighted material.
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WikiLeaks Up and Down |
12/10/2010
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Swiss group that supports WikiLeaks says the website's main server in France has gone offline.
Denis Simonet of the Swiss Pirate Party says his group is currently
redirecting the domain wikileaks.ch to another server based in Sweden.
Simonet told The Associated Press by phone Sunday that the switch could
take several hours but that the site that publishes leaked classified
documents is still reachable through the numerical address of its
Swedish server.
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China leaders ordered hacking on Google |
12/09/2010
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Contacts told American diplomats
that hacking attacks against Google were ordered by Chinas top ruling
body and a senior leader demanded action after finding search results
that were critical of him, leaked U.S. government memos show.
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Use Caution Buying Online |
12/08/2010
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Internet security should be a
top concern for anyone who shops for goods and services online —
especially during the holiday season.
A simple mistake or assumption about a retail shopping sites security
can increase the possibility of having a credit card number stolen or
even identity theft.
Several websites offer solid information about online shopping security.
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Google Buys Widevine |
12/07/2010
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Google has agreed to buy a company whose software is used to protect Internet video from piracy and make it play more smoothly.
The Seattle-based company, Widevine Technologies Inc., makes so-called "digital rights management
software that's used to secure video content as it makes its way to a
variety of consumer devices, such as Internet-connected TVs, personal
computers and cell phones.
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Paypal Cut WikiLeaks Account |
12/06/2010
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WikiLeaks, beset by technical
problems regarding its website and under fire from governments
worldwide, has now lost a major revenue source.
Payment service provider PayPal cut WikiLeaks online donation account Friday.
WikiLeaks violated its acceptable use policy, which states that our
payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage,
promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity, PayPal said in a statement.
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Homeland Security Seizes Dozens of Piracy Websites |
12/02/2010
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Internet pirates are facing a big heap of new trouble with the U.S. government cracking down more than ever before.
Over the past week, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit of
the Department of Homeland Security seized more than 70 websites in a
new crackdown on internet piracy. Visitors that once found links to
illegal downloads or goods on these sites are now greeted by a seriously
badass set of U.S. government emblems and a warning instead.
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Exempt From Security |
12/01/2010
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Here is a review of who can and
cannot bypass airport security, according to the Transportation Security
Administration and congressional and Obama administration aides.
Members of Congress: Congressional leaders traveling with a security detail the speaker of the House, the House minority leader, the Senate majority leader, etc.
are allowed to bypass security checkpoints when flying on commercial
jets, according to the TSA. All other members of Congress are expected
to stand in line and wait.
Other government officials: President Obama, Vice President Biden, and
Cabinet secretaries who travel on government aircraft or with security
details Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates
do not pass through security checkpoints before flying. Cabinet
secretaries who use commercial aviation and travel with bodyguards may
bypass security, according to TSA. Cabinet secretaries traveling without
protection and other senior government officials flying commercial must
be screened.
Other dignitaries: Former presidents flying commercial with Secret
Service agents and some foreign ambassadors also traveling with guards
are exempt from screening, according to the TSA and congressional aides.
Members of the military: Members of the military traveling in uniform
must pass through security checkpoints but are not required to remove
footwear unless it sets off a metal detector, according to the TSA. The
agency also allows airlines to issue special-access passes to military
family members who are not flying but want to say goodbye or greet a
loved one at the gate.
Law enforcement officers: State, local and tribal police officers who
must fly with a firearm have to obtain an identifier code from the TSA
before flying. The officer must present the code and law enforcement
credentials before passing through security.
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Cancun Security |
11/30/2010
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Concerns about safety and
security linger in the background of Cancun, Mexico, the sunny tourist
destination where delegates will convene next week for the UN summit on
climate change.
The 12-day conference kicks off Monday, when worldwide delegates will
talk about climate financial aid, deforestation and other issues in
order to lay the groundwork for an umbrella climate deal down the road.
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Security Clearance Gone |
11/29/2010
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Eighteen months ago, John
Dullahan was an intelligence analyst with a long and varied career in
both the military and the classified world. Today, he is jobless and
blacklisted from the federal workforce, his loyalty to the United
States, he says, brought into question.
He just is not sure why.
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Cyber Monday Shopping Risks |
11/27/2010
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Some of the greatest bargains of
the holiday shopping season are offered online on Cyber Monday. Of
course, cyber criminals and malware developers are also gearing up for
the biggest online shopping day of the year, so you better have your
defenses up before you jump online and start making purchases.
The clock is winding down to the 2010 holiday shopping season. Black
Friday--the day after Thanksgiving that marks the official kick-off of
holiday shopping is one week away. Granted, it has lost some of its
appeal as retailers have spread bargains out over the entire month of
November to try and be the first to capture your coveted shopping
dollars.
The Monday following Thanksgiving weekend is Cyber Monday--a day of much
holiday shopping and little productivity as people return to work and
spend all day surfing the Web for online deals.
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Text Messaging Software |
11/26/2010
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Check out software to send text messages from your computer - NotePage, Inc.
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Threat to Free Trade |
11/25/2010
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Google Inc urged Western nations
on Monday to challenge restrictions in China and other countries on the
free flow of information over the Internet as a threat to free trade
and to negotiate new deals to protect U.S. commercial interests harmed
by the practices.
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Chinese Internet Hijacking |
11/24/2010
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The claimed hijack of
Internet traffic by China Telecom has been hugely exaggerated in scale
and intent, a traffic analysis by Internet security company Arbor
Networks has concluded.
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Pat Down Not Going Away |
11/23/2010
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U.S. homeland security officials
have no plans to back away from air passenger security patdowns despite
a traveler uproar that they violate privacy rights and growing concerns
in Congress over the policy.
As the heavy holiday travel season got under way, John Pistole, head of
the Transportation Security Administration, acknowledged on Sunday that
the law enforcement-style patdowns, performed as an alternative or
additional screening measure, can be unexpectedly intrusive.
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