Security

Airbnb Declares No Vacancies for Anonymity
May 01, 2013

Authentication requirements for some travelers looking for shared accommodations around the world will be getting a little tougher. Airbnb -- which allows people to list, discover and book unique accommodations through a sharing model -- announced Tuesday that it will be asking for more personal information from U.S. consumers who want to use its services.

Big IT Firms Apply Talents to Fed Cybersecurity Research
April 30, 2013

Protecting Internet information has become a costly enterprise, with worldwide spending on security estimated at $60 billion in 2012. That figure will grow to $86 billion by 2016, according to a Gartner study. To help ensure that those investments are being spent wisely -- and to keep technology a step ahead of threats -- 11 major companies have joined a program designed to research data security.

Millions of Livingsocial Users Now Prime Phishing Targets
April 29, 2013

LivingSocial's customers received some bad news on Friday: The popular daily deal site had been hacked, compromising some 50 million members' customer data. There was some good news -- credit card data was not affected, the company promised in its notice to customers. Also, the Facebook credentials of users who connected to LivingSocial using Facebook Connect were not compromised.

Report: Criminals Put a Bull's-eye on Web Infrastructure
April 29, 2013

Cybercriminals have begun focusing their malicious endeavors on the sinew of the Internet to reap greater rewards. For months now, Net bandits have targeted key infrastructure elements -- from the domain-naming service to certificate-issuing authorities to hosting services -- in order to spread cash-producing malware. "They're going after the infrastructure of the Internet," said Dave Jevans, chairman of Marble Security.

What Happens When Android Fails?
April 29, 2013

I've just finished doing yet another news program on the increasing risks of using an Android phone, and the discussions have started to drift to the potential for class-action lawsuits, commercial plane crashes, and cyberdisasters that would make 9/11 seem trivial -- all connected to this platform.

The Future Is Now With AT&T's New Home Automation Tech
April 26, 2013

AT&T has introduced Digital Life, a home security and automation system that realizes a goal the company set more than a decade ago of creating tools that would allow people to manage lights and security systems remotely. Digital Life will allow homeowners to control appliances, lock and unlock doors, and monitor their homes remotely using a number of mobile apps.

Fingerprint-Recognition Flubs May Be Foiling iPhone Production
April 26, 2013

Fingerprints may do more than smudge the screen of the next iPhone. They may be holding up its production. There reportedly has been some grumbling in Apple's supply chain due to delays in getting the next iPhone on the assembly line. Production originally scheduled for June may have to be pushed back.

Sony Launches Rugged, Super-Zoom 3D-Recording Binoculars
April 24, 2013

Sony is giving bird-watchers -- or anyone else who wants a closer look at something -- a way to truly zoom in on the action with its new DEV-50 binoculars, set to ship in June. While many nature lovers and sports fans can't put a price on what they might see through the binoculars, Sony has put a price on the actual device. It will cost $2,000.

Market Jitters Hint at Social Hacks' High Threat Level
April 24, 2013

Shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the world just about ended as far as Wall Street was concerned, when the AP tweeted that President Obama had been injured by explosions at the White House. Within minutes, the Dow dropped 145 points. Shortly afterward, the AP reported its Twitter account had been hacked. The markets quickly settled back into their normal rhythm of buying and trending, but the event left its mark.

Aussie Police Nab Possible Lulzsec Ringleader
April 24, 2013

Police in Australia have arrested a 24-year-old who claims to be a high-level member of the international hacking collective Lulzsec. The IT worker was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data and one count of unauthorized access to/modification of restricted data. In other words, he attacked and defaced a government website.

Report: State-Sponsored Cyberattacks Heat Up in 2012
April 23, 2013

State-sponsored cyberespionage incidents tripled over last year, according the 2013 Verizon Data Breach Report. 96 percent of those attacks were attributable to East Asia. Verizon's study, which analyzed 47,000 security incidents, expanded its contributors this year to 19, including a wider range of worldwide law enforcement agencies. Three key types of cyberattackers were identified in the report.

Fed Budget Makes Room for Cloud, Cybersecurity Upgrades
April 23, 2013

From partial unpaid furloughs of personnel to travel cutbacks, U.S. government agencies are scrounging to come up with ways to save money. In that light, the Obama Administration's proposed 2014 federal budget for information technology resources is good news for agency IT shops -- and for vendors serving the market. The administration has proposed spending $82 billion for information technology in fiscal 2014.

Android: A Second Career in Security?
April 23, 2013

Many of us have a wealth of decommissioned corporate-provisioned mobile devices: We've bought them, handed them out, and seen them used successfully for years. Now they're on their way to the great docking station in the sky. However, because these devices are already off the books adapting them for specific security functions can mean achieving certain goals practically for free.

Social Sharing May Be Eroding Office Security
April 22, 2013

It's no secret that security experts don't have a lot of love for social media. Information freely available at social media sites makes it easier for net marauders to fashion targeted attacks on organizations. However, social media may be undermining data security in a more profound way. Much has been made of the growing willingness of people to cough up personal information about themselves.

Feds Sue to Pry Crammed Charges From Cellphones
April 18, 2013

The Federal Trade Commission filed a suit against Wise Media this week, accusing the company of slipping unauthorized charges into consumer cellphone bills. Wise Media allegedly charged cellphone users fees for services to which they'd never subscribed, a practice referred to as "cramming." The company used short codes, which have legitimate purposes within the mobile landscape.

CISPA on Collision Course With Obama Veto
April 18, 2013

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, which faces a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, may end up vetoed by President Obama. CISPA encourages private companies to share security information among themselves and with the government. The House Rules Committee on Tuesday rejected a bipartisan amendment that would have addressed user privacy.

DDoS Attacks Hammering Targets Harder
April 17, 2013

The number, size and impact of distributed denial of service attacks increased sharply in the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from Prolexic. The average attack bandwidth in this period was 48.25 Gbps, 718 percent more than the 5.9 Gbps chalked up by attacks in the previous quarter. The average packet-per-second rate hit 32.4 million, and the average duration of an attack increased 7.14 percent.

Safety, Privacy Issues Temper Google Glass Coolness
April 16, 2013

Google on Tuesday released the tech specifications for Google Glass, which will sport 720p resolution for the eyeware's video camera and 16 GB of onboard flash storage. The forthcoming availability of the Web-connected glasses, however, is also raising questions about health/safety and privacy. The glasses will include the ability to take 5 MP still camera images and have WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Lame U/P Combos Make WordPress Irresistible to Hackers
April 16, 2013

An attack of unprecedented proportions has been hitting sites using WordPress, a free and open source blogging tool and content management system that powers more than 60 million websites worldwide. It appears the hackers are trying to take over WordPress servers to give them added muscle for future attacks. Poor choice of passwords and inadequate server security are making their task easier.

Google, EU Reach Meeting of the Minds
April 15, 2013

In an effort to appease European regulators, Google for the first time has agreed to make legally binding changes to its search results. The changes stem from a two-year investigation into whether Google abused its online search dominance in Europe. The changes will not force Google to amend its algorithm, but instead will require it to clearly label search results from its own properties.