Cyber Security

Another high-profile hack has hit the internet: this time, daily deal website LivingSocial is the victim. In an internal email, CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy says that the cyber-attack gave hackers access to its users’ names, email addresses, birthdates, and encrypted passwords. The passwords were thankfully both hashed and salted, so unlike some other large hacks targeting Continue Reading →

Twitter is reportedly working on a two-factor authentication system. Wired writes that the company is currently testing the new security solution internally before rolling it out to the public. Following a number of high-profile hacks, including that of Wired editor Mat Honan, several companies have shifted to two-factor authentication, including Apple, Microsoft, and others. Today’s Continue Reading →

The biggest news to hit the tech world on Tuesday was a non-event: the Associated Press’s Twitter account was hacked and sent out the following tweet: The AP said that the tweet came after hackers “made repeated attempts to steal the passwords of AP journalists,” which was (clearly) ultimately successful. The response to the tweet Continue Reading →

Anyone that follows the Associated Press on Twitter just heard “news” of an unprecedented national crisis. “Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured,” the AP’s account tweeted moments ago. Thankfully onlookers were quick to call fake on the tweet, no doubt aided by the fact that no other news agencies are Continue Reading →

Microsoft has launched a new campaign to increase awareness around online privacy issues. The company has long been active in the space, working with a range of players across the industry to educate consumers about Internet privacy, but its new campaign is focused on promoting choice and demonstrating how its products can help. “We don’t Continue Reading →

Google has been fined €145,000 (around $189,000) for what a regulator called “one of the biggest data protection rules violations known.” The fine comes after it was proved Google’s Street View cars illegally collected data from open Wi-Fi networks between 2008 – 2010. German prosecutors dropped criminal proceedings against the search giant last fall after Continue Reading →

In the wake of this week’s passage of the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) by the U.S. House of Representatives, representatives from the hacktivist group Anonymous – if they truly have “representatives” per se – are calling for an “Internet Blackout Day” on Monday in protest. Specifically, Anonymous is calling upon website Continue Reading →

It’s no secret that Apple hangs onto your Siri data for some length of time (as does other companies with search data and the like), but it hasn’t been clear exactly how long it keeps that data sitting on its servers. Wired has now cleared that up somewhat, though, hearing from Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller Continue Reading →

Microsoft announced that it has launched two-step authentication for its Microsoft accounts. This optional feature, which will roll out to all Microsoft accounts over the next few days, works pretty much exactly like the two-factor authentication schemes you are probably already familiar with. Besides your usual password, you will also need a second piece of Continue Reading →

Anyone developing malicious software for mobile devices has set his or her sights almost exclusively on Android at this point. Mobile security vendor NQ has found that Android devices infected with malware grew from 10.8 million in 2011 to 32.8 million in 2012, meaning that the total number of infected devices tripled year-over-year. NQ also Continue Reading →