Internet security – News Stories About Internet security - Page 4

Feb 21, 2008 12:24 PM CST

Google Tests Web Med Records

The company will post health info for up to 10,000 Cleveland volunteers

(Newser) - In a test of a long-anticipated medical-records program, Google will offer up to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic the chance to create an online medical profile, making it easier for them to share information with doctors or pharmacies, the Wall Street Journal reports today. In the pilot program,...

Anchor Cut Persian Gulf Internet Cable

Feb 8, 2008 5:41 PM CST

Anchor Cut Persian Gulf Internet Cable

Source unknown; severance raises questions of sabotage

(Newser) - The severed Internet cable in the Persian Gulf was the work of a 5.5-ton ship’s anchor, the AP reports. A crew from the FLAG telecommunications company, which owns the cable, found the anchor near Dubai and hauled it up; how the cut occurred is still unexplained. The incident...

SocGen Trader Was No Super Hacker

Feb 4, 2008 3:56 PM CST

SocGen Trader Was No Super Hacker

Kerviel gained passwords through careless IT security

(Newser) - While he’s been called a computer genius, the access Jerome Kerviel obtained to the Société Générale’s systems was probably the result of terrible IT security, writes PC World, not a successful hack of the French bank’s computers. Managing a bank’s passwords is a...

My Teacher's Maiden Ice Cream Flavor? Huh?

OPINION

Jan 30, 2008 12:49 PM CST

My Teacher's Maiden Ice Cream Flavor? Huh?

Slate scribe pans online security queries

(Newser) - Odds are good that your bank has, at some point, asked for your mother’s maiden name. Security questions are as ubiquitous, Slate’s Josh Levin writes, as they are absurd. Coming up with easy-to-remember, but hard-to-guess, questions is nearly impossible. Paris Hilton’s account, for example, was hacked when...

MySpace Adds Anti-Predator Measures

Jan 14, 2008 7:18 PM CST

MySpace Adds Anti-Predator Measures

Networking site reaches agreement with states to protect teens

(Newser) - MySpace will add protections to prevent abuse by sexual predators, officials of several states said today. The social networking company reached an agreement with 49 states over concerns about predators contacting children through its popular site. MySpace will also join a working group aimed at developing new technologies, such as...

Congressional Report Blames TSA for Botched Website

Jan 11, 2008 10:40 PM CST

Congressional Report Blames TSA for Botched Website

Site lacked basic security features

(Newser) - The TSA awarded a website design and maintenance contract to a firm with whom an administration official had close personal and professional ties, ComputerWorld reports. The site, meant to handle individual requests to have names removed from the TSA’s no-fly list, lacked even rudimentary encryption mechanisms and was not...

Japan Eyes Internet Crackdown

Jan 4, 2008 12:45 PM CST

Japan Eyes Internet Crackdown

Tough new proposals protect children, copyrights

(Newser) - Japan has taken a relaxed approach to controlling the Internet in the past, but the government is planning to ratchet up regulation, Ars Technica reports. The communications ministry is looking at ways to bring web and mobile content in line with heavily regulated traditional media. Concerns are high about libelous...

Malware Is Outpacing Anti-Virus Apps

Jan 1, 2008 8:20 PM CST

Malware Is Outpacing Anti-Virus Apps

But they're still the best defense; PC World lists most effective

(Newser) - Malware is trumping anti-virus apps these days, and even using them to stay ahead of security teams. A recent test by PC World reported that security suites spotted only one in four infiltrators because "the bad guys have the element of surprise," one McAfee expert said. "Bad...

Aussies Censor Internet

Dec 23, 2007 11:20 PM CST

Aussies Censor Internet

New ratings system Down Under

(Newser) - Australian Internet users are getting wary about new regulations meant to keep minors away from mature content, Ars Technica reports. A stringent new ratings system to be introduced in January is meant to stop kids from accessing adult-oriented content, but critics say it will be child's play to get around,...

Spy Satellite Charter
May Calm Privacy Fears

Dec 20, 2007 6:57 PM CST

Spy Satellite Charter May Calm Privacy Fears

Chertoff expects plan to be finished this week

(Newser) - A federal satellite-surveillance program will move one step closer to reality this week with the expected release of its new charter, the Wall Street Journal reports. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who is spearheading the project, will also reveal plans for a $15 billion program to protect the country’s...

Phishers Adopt New Tactics to Reel In Victims

Dec 3, 2007 5:52 PM CST

Phishers Adopt New Tactics to Reel In Victims

Online fraudsters turn to shorter URLs to make sites look legit

(Newser) - Internet phishers are using shorter Web addresses to make their sites seem more legitimate, says IBM's online-security division. The group observed fraudulent URLs dropping from 30-37 characters to an average of 17, reports CNET. "The fact that they felt the need to make this move suggests that they were...

Now PayPal Is Everywhere MasterCard Is

Nov 20, 2007 10:16 AM CST

Now PayPal Is Everywhere MasterCard Is

New service aims to protect financial info, simplify shopping

(Newser) - PayPal is offering a new way for customers to pay on sites that don't normally accept the service. PayPal Secure Card creates a new MasterCard number for every transaction and retrieves members' payment information from their PayPal accounts. "From a merchant's perspective this looks like any other MasterCard transaction,...

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Nov 16, 2007 1:36 PM CST

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used...

Cybercrime Nexus Tracked
to Russia

Oct 14, 2007 5:01 AM CDT

Cybercrime Nexus Tracked to Russia

Mobbed-up firm steals identities, pushes kid porn, spam worldwide

(Newser) - A growing trail of evidence points to a major Russian internet company as the hub of much of the world's cybercrime, according to law enforcement officials. The shadowy firm hosts websites devoted to child pornography, spamming, and identity theft, the Washington Post reports. Security experts believe the St. Petersburg-based company...

Hackers Add Smut to Govt. Sites

Oct 7, 2007 5:50 PM CDT

Hackers Add Smut to Govt. Sites

They hit California especially hard, and not easy fixes are in sight

(Newser) - Hackers are wreaking havoc on government websites, and the problem isn't going away anytime soon, PC World reports. Last week, people who visited government sites in California and elsewhere were redirected to porn. The feds began pulling the plug on all of California's sites but reversed course when state officials...

iPhone Update Enrages Owners

Oct 2, 2007 8:00 AM CDT

iPhone Update Enrages Owners

Apple plays hardball as update shuts down all hacked phones, not just unlocked ones

(Newser) - Apple’s latest firmware update doesn’t just shut down unlocked iPhones as threatened; it shuts down all phone hacks, including homemade applications, ringtones created by third parties, and the ability to use the phone as a drive. Even some unhacked phones have become completely inoperable. That’s enraged...

Feds Prepare
for Cyberwar

Sep 27, 2007 7:57 AM CDT

Feds Prepare for Cyberwar

Attack by hackers, likely from China, could cut communications, power, banking

(Newser) - Readying for a new cyber doomsday in which Americans wake to find the power off, cell phones dead, and no access to cash, the Bush administration is considering creating an agency to protect critical public and private computers. Experts say that any attack, which would likely originate in China, would...

Security Firm: AIM Is Fatally Flawed

Sep 26, 2007 6:10 AM CDT

Security Firm: AIM Is Fatally Flawed

AOL instant messenger software vulnerable to worm attack

(Newser) - Hackers could exploit a glitch in AOL's instant messaging program and take control of users' computers , a security firm reports. Core Security discovered that the way AIM uses HTML code provides a loophole for hijacking PCs, via a web link that implants a self-copying worm. AOL says it has solved...

Data Thieves Smarten Up, Branch Out

Sep 17, 2007 2:41 PM CDT

Data Thieves Smarten Up, Branch Out

More sophisticated hackers chip away at your online security

(Newser) - Hackers are getting smarter, more international, and increasingly well funded, a new report on Internet security reveals. One scam involves gangs acting as middlemen for other would-be criminals; some rip-off artists use social networking sites to research a mark, then send a personalized email to trick the target into giving...

Net Anonymizer Unlocked, Emails Revealed

Sep 10, 2007 8:05 PM CDT

Net Anonymizer Unlocked, Emails Revealed

Security expert turns privacy service into eavesdropping tool

(Newser) - A security expert turned net privacy service Tor into a listening post, and intercepted thousands of private emails, Wired reports. Human rights groups and foreign embassies alike depend on Tor to send what were thought to be untraceable messages. Dan Egerstad hosted his own Tor node, letting him read all...