Cyber Security

Late last year, we reported on a $20 million class-action lawsuit covering people who were unwittingly featured in Facebook “Sponsored Stories” advertisements. User photos were used to endorse products they had “liked” without their permission and often without their knowledge. Worse still, there was no opt-out. A San Francisco federal judge granted preliminary settlement approval Continue Reading →

The NSA bugged offices in the UN’s New York headquarters as part of a comprehensive surveillance program, says Der Spiegel. According to files leaked by Edward Snowden, the agency has bugged more than 80 embassies and consulates under a program called the “Special Collection Service.” The program is “intensive and well organized and has little Continue Reading →

The National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prism surveillance program after a court ruled that some of the agency’s activities were unconstitutional, according to top-secret material passed to the Guardian. The technology companies, which the NSA says includes Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, Continue Reading →

Antivirus is a confusing matter: it’s called antivirus, but there are tons of other types of malware out there. So…do those programs also scan for spyware, adware, and other threats? Here’s how to make heads or tails of it all, and which tools you can trust to keep your PC clean. We may be beyond Continue Reading →

Earlier this month, President Obama admitted that the US has “significant capabilities” for surveillance, but also that it shows restraint. Since whistleblower Edward Snowden first revealed the extent of the country’s spying efforts, the Obama administration has repeatedly insisted that the programs are narrowly targeted towards the communications of foreign individuals, that the actual contents Continue Reading →

When Google lifted the lid on its new flavor of Android in October 2012, one feature in particular stood out. With Android 4.2, users were at last able to set up individual user accounts – much like a PC – so that mum, dad and all the kids could create their own little personalized worlds Continue Reading →

Bradley Manning has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison for turning over hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks. Handed down by Colonel Denise Lind on Wednesday, the sentence follows the court’s verdict on July 30 that found Manning guilty of nearly all charges against him, though not guilty of the Continue Reading →

Only months before California’s Cassidy Wolf was crowned Miss Teen USA 2013, she was a victim of a serious cybercrime that has triggered a federal investigation.  Wolf, 19, who was selected as this year’s winner at Saturday night’s pageant at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas, hopes to spread awareness of the dangers of online Continue Reading →

Cyber criminals will bank their Windows XP zero-day vulnerabilities until after Microsoft stops patching the aged operating system next April, a security expert argued. Jason Fossen, a trainer for SANS since 1998 and an expert on Microsoft security, said it’s simply economics at work. “The average price on the black market for a Windows XP Continue Reading →

What if I told you that your browser’s saved passwords weren’t nearly as secure as you thought? If you use Google Chrome (and you should, because it’s pretty regularly rated as the best browser you can use), anyone can uncover any of your saved passwords with a single click. Now, if you’re like me and Continue Reading →