Security

While Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 won't be released until the first quarter of 2013, the platform has already received a highly prized U.S. government security clearance, the company announced Thursday. BlackBerry 10 won the FIPS 140-2 certification that will allow government agencies to depl...

Anonymous has been celebrating Guy Fawkes Day by engaging in various acts of mayhem online and turning out in person at sites across the globe to protest. Some of the reported hacks and other acts have turned out to be unsubstantiated. The attack claims include Symantec and ImageShack. PayPal also w...

Facebook has rolled out a round of security features intended to better educate new users about what information they can keep private and how. Now, when new users sign up for the site, they will have the option to take an online privacy tour to get information on its privacy policies. It will inclu...

The hacker group Anonymous has announced plans for worldwide protests against government surveillance for Monday, Guy Fawkes Day. Canada, however, has a plan of its own. It has imposed a ban on wearing masks during riots -- including, of course, Anonymous' famed Guy Fawkes masks. People will be allo...

SPOTLIGHT ON SECURITY

Study: Google Play Apps Go Beyond Need-to-Know

An analysis of more than 400,000 apps in the Google Play store has revealed that more than 100,000 of them pose a potential security risk to their users. The analysis of the Android apps released last week by cyber security vendor Bit9 examined the security permissions requested by the programs. It ...

Hackers are actively attacking some of the largest banks in the nation, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned this week. Napolitano declined to go into detail about the types of breaches or what kind of information -- if any -- had been taken. She brought up her concern about atta...

After a persistent series of attacks on its government computers by a Russian hacker, the Republic of Georgia got mad and refused to take it anymore. In a reversal of roles, members of the country's Computer Emergency Response Team suckered the cybermiscreant into downloading a file infected with hi...

SPOTLIGHT ON SECURITY

Legacy Applications a Threat to Windows 8 Security

Windows 8 finally made it to prime time last week. This version of Microsoft's operating system makes significant improvements in its security stance, said Alex Balan, a senior product manager at Bitdefender, but some of them are likely to be undermined by users wedded to old programs. The way the W...

TECH TREK

Huawei Coughs Up Down Under

Huawei reportedly has offered Australian authorities unfettered access to its software code in an effort to combat the perception that it is a security risk. In March, Huawei was barred from participating in the construction of Australia's National Broadband Network because of security concerns. Mor...

The FTC hopes to nip facial-recognition problems in the bud before things go too far. The agency offered guidelines for companies developing the technology in a staff report released this week. The purposes for using facial recognition tools range from identifying a criminal to displaying a highly c...

Voters in Iceland have responded favorably to the government's offer to let them participate in drafting the nation's new constitution. The idea to let citizens chime in online, namely via Facebook and Twitter, was hatched by 25 people on the Constitutional Council, which was tasked with devising a ...

Many people know it's a bad idea to open attachments in email received from strangers, but relatively few know they need to take the same precautions when clicking links on social media sites and even VoIP service Skype. In recent weeks, cybercriminals have been targeting individuals through Skype, ...

SPOTLIGHT ON SECURITY

Bogus Apps Litter Android With Malware

Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems in the world. As a result, it's also one of the most popular mobile operating systems to be targeted by malware writers. Malware aimed at Google's Android platform increased sixfold during the quarter that ended in September, according to a...

EXPERT ADVICE

Open Source Ammo for the SMB Security Arsenal

Technology professionals who work in and around SMBs know that sometimes bringing up information security in a smaller IT shop can be a tough sell. In many cases, SMBs feel that they don't present an attractive or large enough target for hackers to be interested in them. For example, a small communi...

In a letter to several French ministerial offices, Google reportedly has warned that it could exclude French media sites from its search results if the country implements a proposed law that would force search engines to pay for content. The letter reportedly said that such a move -- which would for...

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