Safety Security & Privacy

Apple receives so many police demands to decrypt seized iPhones that it has created a “waiting list” to handle the deluge of requests, CNET has learned. Court documents show that federal agents were so stymied by the encrypted iPhone 4S of a Kentucky man accused of distributing crack cocaine that they turned to Apple for Continue Reading →

The sophistication of a global network of thieves who drained cash machines around the globe of an astonishing $45 million in mere hours sent ripples through the security world, not merely for the size of the operation and ease with which it was carried out, but also for the threat that more such thefts may Continue Reading →

Ever the publicity hound, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who obviously has no idea what additive manufacturing actually is, came out big and strong against “stomach-churning” 3D printed plastic guns last week. “Everyone’s seen the movie ‘In The Line of Fire,’ where one of the great bad guys, [played by] John Malkovich, labored at making a gun Continue Reading →

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI believe they don’t need a search warrant to review Americans’ e-mails, Facebook chats, Twitter direct messages, and other private files, internal documents reveal.  Government documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union and provided to CNET show a split over electronic privacy rights within the Obama administration, Continue Reading →

The internet in Syria appears to have returned after a nationwide blackout knocked the country offline for more than 19 hours.  Monitoring company Renesys noted signs of activity at around 14:30 GMT (17:30 local time) on Wednesday.  Local state-run media had reported earlier that a “fault in optical fibre cables” was to blame for the Continue Reading →

Kazaa. LimeWire. Napster. There are hardly any widely used filesharing sites that didn’t try to “go legit” at some point after being dinged for facilitating piracy. It doesn’t usually work. Napster, for example, no longer exists; it was nearly bought by a porn company before it was acquired by Roxio and then sold to Best Continue Reading →

Netflix’s chief content officer has a novel way to combat online piracy: give people easy and affordable ways to access content. In an interview with Stuff, Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos said that “the best way to combat piracy isn’t legislatively or criminally but by giving good options” and observed that “when we launch in Continue Reading →

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released its annual “Who Has Your Back?” report, ranking 18 companies by how well they protect user information from government eyes. Twitter and Sonic.net get high scores from the EFF, as they meet all six of the organization’s privacy guidelines, which include requiring a warrant for sharing content and telling Continue Reading →

Starting on Thursday, Facebook is rolling out a new Trusted Contacts feature under your account security settings. Here, you can pick three to five folks who will have the power to help you when you lock yourself out of your account like a dummy. It’s pretty unlikely that you’ll get accidentally locked out of your Continue Reading →

Several high-profile Twitter accounts have fallen victim to hacking attacks lately, and in response to the situation Twitter has issued a memo to media and news organizations suggesting steps they can take to protect themselves moving forward. Buzzfeed has posted the memo in its entirety, which asks organizations to help keep their accounts secure as Continue Reading →