Cyber Security

When it debuted Wednesday, iOS 7 brought with it a slew of bug fixes to Apple’s mobile operating system, but it brought a new vulnerability as well — one that can be exploited to bypass the lock screen on iOS devices. Like most iOS lock screen vulnerabilities, the hack to exploit it is somewhat involved Continue Reading →

Forget the debate around the security or insecurity of the iPhone 5s’s fingerprint reader. The latest version of the iPhone’s operating system currently offers a huge, gaping hole in its old-fashioned passcode lockscreen. Jose Rodriguez, a 36-year-old soldier living in Spain’s Canary Islands, has found a security vulnerability in iOS 7 that allows anyone to Continue Reading →

There used to be a time when observing a top secret military base in one of the world’s biggest and most powerful countries would have required cutting-edge technology, scaling a fence or two-dozen, and more guts than any reasonable (or sane) person should have. Today, all you need is Google. According to Time, an eagle-eyed Continue Reading →

Apple often gets credit for being the first to do things others beat them to… and this whole business with fingerprint scanning on a phone is putting them right back in that position. But did you know there have been consumer mobile devices with fingerprint scanners for a decade? Yeah, that’s right. HP’s atrociously-named iPaq PC Continue Reading →

Apple’s new iPhone 5S, which comes with a fingerprint scanner, won’t store actual images of users’ fingerprints on the device, a company spokesman confirmed Wednesday, a decision that could ease concerns from privacy hawks. Rather, Apple’s new Touch ID system only stores “fingerprint data,” which remains encrypted within the iPhone’s processor, a company representative said Continue Reading →

Of all the new features of Apple’s new iPhone 5S, few have drawn more attention than the built-in fingerprint scanner known as Touch ID. Apple billed it as an “innovative way to simply and securely unlock your phone with just the touch of a finger.” More breathless accounts were calling it a potential “death knell Continue Reading →

A federal appeals court rejected Google Inc’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of violating federal wiretap law when it accidentally collected emails and other personal data while building its popular Street View program. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to exempt Google from liability under the federal Wiretap Act for having Continue Reading →

Facebook knows what you talk about, just like Twitter. But its edge is that it also knows who you are. Facebook’s newest APIs let select news outlets view search and see your public posts, plus it tallies keyword mentions and collects the demographic data of everyone mentioning certain keywords. But it’s confirmed to me that Continue Reading →

Remember those persistent rumors of a fingerprint sensor that would be baked into the iPhone 5S? Well, it’s not a rumor any longer — Apple has just confirmed that the iPhone 5S will feature a 500ppi fingerprint sensor right in the 5S’s home button. It seemed like a puzzling addition at first, but the company Continue Reading →

Americans are concerned about internet privacy, but they’re far less worried about government snooping than they are about their online activity being monitored by hackers and advertisers. That’s according to a survey of 792 internet and smartphone users in the US by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, conducted in July. 86% of respondents Continue Reading →