Cyber Security

Along with birthdays, names of pets and ascending number sequences, add one more thing to the list of password no-nos: good grammar. An algorithm developed by Ashwini Rao and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, makes light work of cracking long passwords which make grammatical sense as a whole phrase, even if they Continue Reading →

Tweaking your Activity Log just became a necessary and tedious new part of being a Facebook user. Thanks to the service’s new Graph Search feature, all that profile info you’ve painstakingly updated over the years (employer, home town, relationship status, movie likes, etc) and all the photos you’ve added over time, are now to become Continue Reading →

Microsoft will issue a critical security patch for Internet Explorer today, Jan. 14, the company has announced. The patch fixes an issue with a severity rating of “Critical”, and affects Internet Explorer versions 6-8 but not the latest two versions, 9 and 10. The vulnerability allows a malicious hacker to remotely execute code on the Continue Reading →

Oracle fixed a security flaw in its Java software on Sunday, after the Department of Homeland Security warned users to disable Java software completely, citing a security hole that allows hackers to take control of their machines. “Java 7 Update 10 and earlier contain an unspecified vulnerability that can allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to Continue Reading →

The Wall Street Journal has analyzed the top 50 sites in the United States plus 20 other top sites in sensitive categories like dating or health. They found that 25 of these sites—including OKCupid, Pinterest, YouTube, Yahoo—send personal data to other sites in the open, with no security encoding, using your own browser session. Their Continue Reading →

Foursquare told users via email that as of Jan. 28 it will show their full names by default, instead of first name/last initial, and that business locations will be able to see more than the current three-hour history of their visitors’ check-ins. Both privacy policy changes make the service more friendly to businesses, and the Continue Reading →

Argue though its executives might, Snapchat is good for two things: sending photos and videos of yourself making stupid faces, and sending photos and videos of yourself naked. The latter, of course, is the more compelling function since that is exactly what the app was designed for. When users send pictures or videos, the recipient Continue Reading →

There are reports around the Web that Instagram has lost 25% around of its daily active users connected to Facebook, according to an app-tracking firm AppData. Some reports are attributing it to the change in Instagram’s terms of service, which had caused a frenzy on the Web. Facebook’s stock also is down more than 2% today, Continue Reading →

The Chinese legislature has approved a proposal that includes stipulations for real-name registration requirements for Internet users, state media reported on Friday. Xinhua noted on Twitter that the new rules meant to “enhance protection of personal info online and safeguard public interests” had been approved. News of the upcoming vote emerged earlier this week and Continue Reading →

While Christmas is a time for sharing there are certain files that some people believe should be excluded from that experience. For more than a decade the MPAA has waged war against “thieves” who dare to share their movies online. Online piracy is costing the creative industries billions of dollars in lost revenue, they say. Continue Reading →