Beijing Students Lectured 09/28/2009

After at least 100 students this weekend protested the detention of a popular lecturer and self-help guru, a number of them said Monday that they had been visited by officials from their respective universities and persuaded to sign statements promising not to make any more trouble.

McAfee, Inc. Wins Information Security Readers Choice Award 09/27/2009

McAfee Web Gateway has earned a Readers Choice Award from Information Security Magazine and SearchSecurity.com. McAfee Web Gateway won the gold medal in the Security Gateway Products category, placing above Trend Micro and Websense for the top position.

Child Porn on the Internet 09/27/2009

The number of Web sites containing child pornography is increasing and more images show serious abuses, a U.N. expert said Wednesday. More than 4 million Web sites worldwide show images of children being sexually exploited, said the U.N. investigator on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Najat Mjid Maalla.

Skype Lawsuit 09/26/2009

A company owned by the founders of Skype has filed a copyright infringement suit against the Internet phone service and parent eBay Inc. — an action that could crimp eBays plans to sell Skype for about $2 billion to a group of private investors. Joltid Ltd., owned by Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California. The complaint alleges Skype violated an agreement over the use of critical peer-to-peer communication technology that Skype licenses from Joltid for use in its software, which routes phone calls over the Web.

Right to Complain 09/25/2009

A group of prison guards dubbed the Facebook Five has gone to an Australian court to fight for the right to complain about their boss on the Internet. The case has stirred debate in Australia about whether writing on social networking sites amounts to a chat between friends or a form of publishing.

Swine Flu Guide 09/24/2009

A new federal guide for businesses on the H1N1 flu tells employers to quarantine sick workers and have them wear surgical masks. The guide was released Monday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If an employee does become sick while at work, place the employee in a separate room or area until they can go home, away from other workers, the federal H1N1 guidebook says.

Security Firm for Embassy Searched 09/23/2009

Police in Pakistan say they have raided the offices of a private security firm hired by the US embassy in Islamabad. The offices of the Inter-Risk company were entered and around 70 weapons were seized and two personnel arrested. Officials in Pakistan allege that the haul of 61 assault riffles, nine pistols and ammunition were unlicensed.

Border Security 09/22/2009

Government auditors reported Thursday that the effort to secure the Mexican border with technology and fences has fallen years behind schedule, will cost billions of dollars extra in maintenance costs and has no clear means of gauging whether illegal crossings have been curtailed.

Net Neutrality 09/21/2009

The head of the FCC plans to propose new rules that would prohibit Internet service providers from interfering with the free flow of information and certain applications over their networks, an official at the agency said Saturday. The Federal Communications Commission chairman, Julius Genachowski, will announce the proposed rules in a speech Monday at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, the official said on condition of anonymity because news of the announcement had not been formally released.

China Web Filtering 09/21/2009

Senior U.S. officials are pressuring the Chinese government to shelve a proposed rule that would require all computers shipped in China to be equipped with Web-filtering software, citing concerns that the order may violate China's commitments to the World Trade Organization.

How Much is Your Identity Worth? 09/18/2009

Symantec has unveiled a new tool that gathers some basic information about you and the links between your financial information and the Internet, then calculates what the value of your identity would be on the black market. The value it comes up with is sobering at best.

Al Qaida Website Down 09/17/2009

A U.S.-based group monitoring militant Web sites said Friday that jihadist forums have been experiencing technical problems on the eve of Sept. 11, finally going offline a day before the 8th anniversary of the al-Qaida attack on the U.S.

Cyblerlaw Cases 09/16/2009

Two University of California at Berkeley professors are teaming up with colleagues to launch Cyberlaw Cases, a blog covering what they consider the top 10 most-important pending U.S. legal cases involving issues that impact the Internet, databases, and software programs. The blog focuses on an evolving list of cases on issues such as network neutrality, privacy, copyright, trademark, and patent issues, and includes analytical postings about each case and the authors assessments of potential impacts.

Microsoft Security Fixes 09/15/2009

Microsoft pushed out software updates to plug at least eight critical security holes in computers powered by its various Windows operating systems. The patches are available through Windows Update or via Automatic Updates. The flaws were addressed in a bundle of five patches, each of which earned Microsofts most dire critical rating, meaning they are serious enough that attackers could break into systems without any help from users.

Nuclear Internet Use 09/14/2009

A spokesman for the Bruce Power nuclear generating station northwest of Toronto said dozens of contract employees were fired over inappropriate internet use, adding that none of their activities posed a security threat to the plant.

Security Affecting Social Media 09/13/2009

Social Medias rise in popularity has created some very real problems for the Internet and its users. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have seemingly opened the floodgates to security troubles, and over the past few weeks, this has been accentuated by a number of issues and studies. As WebProNews recently reported, based on a study from Russell Herder and Ethos Business Law, time on social networking sites has increased by 73% in the past year. Without even taking security into consideration, 51% of executives surveyed said they fear social media could reduce employee productivity, while 49% said that using social media could damage a company's reputation.

Privacy and Google Books 09/12/2009

Google has been battling accusations of copyright violations and monopolistic behavior in relation to its book-scanning program, but the search engine giant switched gears this week to address privacy. In response to a request from the Federal Trade Commission, Google on Thursday posted an official privacy policy as it relates to Google Books.

Never Forget 09/11/2009

Security Company Selling Childrens Data 09/10/2009

Parents who install a leading brand of software to monitor their kids' online activities may be unwittingly allowing the company to read their childrens chat messages — and sell the marketing data gathered. Software sold under the Sentry and FamilySafe brands can read private chats conducted through Yahoo, MSN, AOL and other services, and send back data on what kids are saying about such things as movies, music or video games. The information is then offered to businesses seeking ways to tailor their marketing messages to kids.

China Tightens Security Controls on Music 09/10/2009

Online music sites, as well as search engines that provide links to songs, will have to obtain approval from the Chinese government for songs recorded outside the country, according to the newspaper.

Chinese Tech Startups 09/09/2009

Kai-fu Lee, Google Incs former China chief who quit the search giant this week, said on Sunday he will launch his own business next week to fund Chinese technology start-ups.

UK Lacks Security 09/08/2009

Brits are lax at updating their security software, compared to their European counterparts, says PC Tools. Worldwide research by the security firm revealed that a third of Brits never update their security software, compared to just five percent of German and seven percent of French web users. Nearly one in ten Brits also admitted they do not use any form of security software when surfing the web, compared to five percent of French and four percent of Germans.

Drug Security 09/04/2009

When rail cars idle on side tracks in Mexico to be loaded with legitimate cargo and shipped to the United States, drug smugglers scan for places to hide their own loot — and if no good place is apparent, they make one. Marijuana and cocaine can be concealed above rail car axles or behind false undercarriages made of plywood. Bolder smugglers sometimes weld a false wall into a car or sabotage trains to stop them and quickly stow their contraband on board before the train moves on. Cars are then tagged with graffiti or other markings so the dealer in the U.S. can spot his delivery.

Presentation Primer 09/03/2009

Many individuals are called upon to give presentations, but many have no formal instruction on how to deliver the most effective presentations. So for the benefit of those who might need a bit of help, we have put together a primer for presenters... Presentation Primer

Financial Security 09/02/2009

An industry group representing some of nations largest banks sent a private alert to its members last week warning about a surge in reported cybercrime targeting small to mid-sized business. The advisory, issued by the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, recommends that commercial banking customers take some fairly rigorous steps to secure their online banking accounts.

Another Security Breech 09/02/2009

Fresh details of large-scale cyber attacks against data processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc and supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers show the challenges facing the efforts of the U.S. credit-card industry to upgrade security measures. While both companies say their computer networks met the tough new standards meant to prevent data breaches, Visa Inc. said Heartland at least may have let its guard down. The positions reflect broader disagreements in the industry, as squabbling between merchants and financial firms over technology and the cost of systems upgrades continues to impede progress, said Robert Vamosi, an analyst for California consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research.

Pirate Bay 09/01/2009

Merely hours after a Swedish court ordered to have The Pirate Bay taken down, the sites bandwidth supplier is claiming it has been sabotaged, the TorrentFreak blog reports. As the peer-to-peer community was preparing to put to rest their favorite file sharing site The Pirate Bay, their vigil has been disturbed. Black Internet, the ISP that supplied much of the sites bandwidth, says it has been sabotaged.

China Jails Software Pirates 08/29/2009

A Chinese court sentenced four people to prison and imposed about $1.6 million in fines for distributing pirated versions of Windows XP and other software.

Illegal EBay Software Seller Charged 08/28/2009

A U.S. judge has ordered a Delaware man who sold copies of software packages on an Internet auction site to pay US$210,563 in damages and court costs, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) announced Monday.

Radisson Secuirty Breach 08/27/2009

Radisson Hotels & Resorts said Wednesday its computer systems were accessed without authorization, affecting an unknown number of people between last November and May. Radisson said in a statement it has informed customers of the situation and that guest information may have been accessed, including credit card numbers. Social Security numbers were not included.

Subsidized Housing for Sex Offenders 08/27/2009

Investigators projected that the Housing and Urban Development Department subsidizes roughly 2,100 to 3,000 households that include a serious sex offender. The HUD inspector generals office conducted the review. Congress banned subsidized housing for the most serious sex offenders after a 1997 case when a convicted sex offender was charged with assaulting and molesting a 9-year-old neighbor girl who lived in the same public housing building. The legislation said that housing authorities must not admit any household that includes a person subject to the lifetime registration requirement, typically reserved for the most serious offenders.

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