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WikiLeaks reveals massive surveillance effort, crippled by DDoS attack
- Last week, Wikileaks released internal documents and emails obtained by hackers regarding TrapWire, a privately-owned surveillance technology utilized by various private and public agencies. It appears TrapWire works by collecting surveillance data from participating private and public sources (CCTV cameras,…
Google didn't delete all the data from Wi-Fi sniffing fiasco
- Google angered regulators today after admitting that it's still holding data gathered from wireless networks. In May 2010, the search giant revealed that an employee misused the company's Street View cars to collect information from unsecured Wi-Fi signals, including sensitive…
YouTube offers face blurring in one click
- Heeding input from human rights activists and this 2011 Cameras Everywhere report, YouTube has added a feature which aims to protect the privacy of individuals involved in controversial video footage. The new feature, "Blur All Faces", now appears in YouTube's…
Skype bug sending contents of messages to unintended recipients
- Skype has confirmed a bug in its software client, possibly introduced as part of an update last month, is causing the popular chat and video calling service to send the contents of instant messages between users to other unintended recipients…
Google Takeout lets users merge Google+ accounts
- Shortly after Google+ was introduced for Google Apps users, the company promised a migration tool which would allow those users to transfer data from their personal account to their Google Apps account. Several months have passed, but the search giant…
Google faces $22 million fine over Safari cookie debacle
- Google is close to reaching a settlement deal with the FTC over concerns raised back in February that the search giant was actively circumventing the privacy settings of desktop and iOS Safari users. Back then an investigation by the Wall…
NSA won't reveal how many Americans have been spied on
- Last month a pair of US Senators inquired as to how many people within the country had been spied upon by the National Security Agency in the wake of updates to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 2008. Getting…
UK Snoopers' charter to force ISPs to monitor internet and phone users
- The UK's proposed Communications Data Bill (PDF), an update to the previously highly controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), was laid before the Parliament yesterday as the government pushes forward with giving the Police, as well as other intelligence…
Comcast refuses IP lookups, calls anti-piracy case a 'shake down'
- Comcast may be complicating the lives of copyright holders everywhere by rejecting recent requests made to link subscriber information to IP addresses. In an ongoing legal kerfuffle with AF Holdings, adult film publisher and plaintiff, Comcast requested an Illinois district…
Last.fm becomes latest victim in string of security breaches
- A number of high profile websites have fallen victim to security breaches this week and if today’s developments are any indication, it doesn’t look like the end is anywhere in sight. The latest victim is Internet music provider Last.fm who…
eHarmony confirms breach, about 1.5 million passwords stolen
- eHarmony has confirmed that nearly 1.5 million of its users have had their passwords -- or more specifically, hashed passwords -- stolen by hackers. The popular match-making site may have fallen victim to the same hackers who compromised LinkedIn's password database…
Microsoft talks IE10, "Do Not Track" will be enabled by default
- Yesterday, Microsoft posted an interesting look at the current state of Internet Explorer 10 on its MSDN blog. In the article, readers will discover that Microsoft is touting a faster and more fluid experience, natural touch and gesture control, metro-influenced…
IBM bans Siri from the workplace, cites privacy concerns
- Siri can be an invaluable assistant to some iPhone users, allowing for quick web searches and setting up reminders, among other stuff. But with the rise of “bring your own device” (BYOD) policies in businesses, some are also starting to…
ZTE admits Score M smartphone has backdoor, promises fix
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ZTE has confirmed that one of its Android-based smartphones contains a backdoor that could allow an intruder to gain full control of the device. Revealed through Pastebin on May 10, the Score M has a built-in hole to supply root access with a hardcoded password, which is readily available online...
Facebook sued for $15 billion over alleged privacy violations
- While it may be a joyous day for Facebook over on Wall Street, things aren’t looking as peachy in the courtroom as the social network has been hit with a lawsuit to the tune of $15 billion. Levied by law…
Congress aims to outlaw employers from requiring Facebook passwords
- In response to a recent (and dubious) phenomenon where employers require employees to fork over the proverbial keys to their online accounts, U.S. House Democrats are working to pass legislation which will prohibit this practice all together.
Weekend tech reading: FBI seeks wiretappable sites, UK wants to filter porn
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The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance. In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators...
House approves CISPA cybersecurity bill, Microsoft backpedals support
- Despite the administration's threat to veto the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the controverisal cyber-survellience legislation late last week by a vote of 248 to 168. CISPA, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, encourages companies to freely share…
White House questions CISPA cybersecurity bill ahead of floor vote
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The White House has expressed concern regarding the latest controversial cybersecurity legislation doing the rounds, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) which would authorize internet companies to divulge confidential customer records...
Collusion for Chrome lets users visualize website trackers, third-parties
- Disconnect has released Collusion for Chrome, an open source extension which aims to graphically illustrate where your data is going while you cruise the web. Collusion was actually made available to Firefox about a month ago, but Disconnect has managed to…
SOPA is dead, but CISPA may give Internet citizens a new cause
- Although the demise of SOPA is behind us, citizens of the Internet may have new cause for concern. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has been gaining momentum and while it is distinctly different than SOPA, some argue…
Violating a terms of service agreement is not criminal, federal court says
- On Tuesday, the federal Ninth Court of Appeals ruled that violating a "terms of service" agreement is not a criminal offense. At the heart of the debate were concerns that violating a terms of service agreement, despite being a set…
Non-profit ISP start up promises fully encrypted, private Internet
- In an editorial piece by Cnet, Nicholas Merrill describes his upcoming Internet service, Calyx, as a "non-profit telecommunications provider dedicated to privacy, using ubiquitous encryption". According to Merrill, his goal is to fully encrypt Internet traffic at the ISP level…
Google Maps gets real-time traffic, crowdsources Android GPS data
- Although traffic data has been available on Google Maps for quite some time, the traffic information delivered by the popular mapping service was frequently stale or incorrect. In fact, estimated arrival times with traffic were so frequently incorrect, Google actually…
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