Posted April 17, 2012
Two teenagers have been arrested following a series of prank calls and DoS (denial-of-service) attacks launched against the Anti-Terrorist Hotline. Read the full story.
Apple ratchets up security on App Store and iTunes
Posted April 16, 2012
Apple is prompting some of its iTunes/App Store/iOS customers to set up three new security questions and an alternate email, in an attempt to smother a growing wave of phishing and fraud. Here’s the story.
US government learning how to hack video game consoles
Posted April 11, 2012
The US Department of Homeland Security is out to hack video game consoles, such as Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations. Read the full story on Naked Security.
Facebook logins aren’t being properly protected on iPhones, iPads and Android devices
Posted April 5, 2012
Facebook login credentials could be lifted from smartphones because the site is not encrypting the sensitive data on iOS and Android devices. Read the story on Naked Security.
Pastebin, its mission of freedom, and the tribulations of hacker escapades
Posted April 3, 2012
Pastebin gives its users “total freedom of speech”, which means it’s a prime spot for hackers to publicize their exploits and for stolen information to be posted. Makes it a bit difficult to run the site, says Pastebin’s owner Jeroen Vader. Read the story on Naked Security.
‘Girls Around Me’ developer and Foursquare negotiate API access
Posted April 2, 2012
Foursquare revoked the game’s API access following a slew of press coverage about the gosh-this-looks-like-a-stalker’s-favorite tool application, but negotiations to keep the creepy stalker vibe alive continue. I hope it comes back: It’s the perfect tool for teaching people what they’ve publicly revealed and how it can be used. Here’s the story on Naked Security.
US House declines to block employers demanding Facebook passwords
Posted March 30, 2012
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday voted down a bid to stop telecommunications companies from demanding Facebook logins from prospective job applicants. This isn’t decisive at all—one Rep (Perlmutter) tried to tack on a privacy-related amendment to a completely unrelated FCC reform bill. Wouldn’t have protected anybody. But we’ll keep an eye on Maryland & Illinois—that’s where authentic legislation is pending that will determine the legality of employers groping around in your private social-network persona. Read the story on Naked Security.
Facebook teaches users how to kill adware
Posted March 28, 2012
Put that click-happy finger away. Nobody’s giving you the ability to see who viewed you on timeline or looked at your profile. All they want is to give you venereal Facebook adware disease. Go take out an ad on OKCupid if you want to oogle yr ooglers. Oooooooog! Here’s the hunk o verbosity.
New US counter-terrorism guidelines can hold data on citizens for years
Posted March 26, 2012
Last week, US counter-terrorism officials were granted permission to increase the period of time they can retain information about citizens, even if those citizens aren’t tied to terrorism. Here’s my writeup.
I can only repeat the headline for Wired’s cover story: Watch what you say. BTW, do read the Wired piece I reference in the above article, “The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)“. The NSA’s new data center and other programs are well on the way to cracking even AES encryption (!!!). and the storage facility has the “near-bottomless” capacity to hold “the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital ‘pocket litter.’”
Detecting phone scammers automatically through keyword and voice tone analysis
Posted March 22, 2012
Fujitsu says it has created a system that can recognise when somebody is being victimized by a phone scammer, by combining voice intonation analysis with keyword recognition. Read the full story on Naked Security.