Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler has asked the wireless industry to voluntarily support the addition of features that would make it more difficult and/or less desirable for for thieves to steal mobile phones. A couple of the measures the FCC would like to see smartphone makers and wireless carriers adopt include
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The FTC has just laid the smackdown on yet another company that's been found guilty of exploiting mobile users without their knowledge. The FTC found that the company, called Nomi Technologies, even went against its own privacy policy mere months after it promised not to, in late 2012.
Nomi's business model...
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Bad news, Windows users. Remember that old bit of code that was causing new headaches for iOS and Android device owners? Dubbed "FREAK," it was initially thought that the exploit only affected some mobile browsers, but that's no longer the case. Microsoft has issued a security advisory (3046015) warning that FREAK...
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Hot on the heels of president Obama's insinuation that the government should never have an issue accessing a person's data comes an even scarier prospect -- being the victim of a search warrant just because you take steps to enhance your privacy.
As it happens, that could become the reality, if the FBI gets its...
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One of the things we're not looking forward to in 2015 is a continuation of cyberattacks against companies big and small. For whatever reason, hackers have been on a rampage in 2014, hitting banks and retailers like Target, Home Depot, and others. It's gotten so out of hand that some companies have started hacking back.
According to Bloomberg,
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It would seem that the ones responsible for hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment in a massive ransomware attack weren't just a bunch of script kiddies hiding out in a basement somewhere. That wasn't really a prevailing theory anyway, but lest there's any doubt about the seriousness of the security breach, the FBI is...
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is bringing the legal hammer down on tech support scammers who trick people into thinking there's something wrong with their computer that they're able to fix, or otherwise offering to speed up your PC. What they're really doing is charging for services that aren't necessary, though...
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In the wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's big reveal on government spying, there's been a concerted effort by companies big and small to try and make our lives truly private. One seemingly promising solution was Anonabox, a little plug-and-play device that routes traffic through Tor to keep our online...
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More details have surfaced on how the FBI uses its own custom malware to penetrate the Tor network's anonymizing service -- and while those tools have been deployed in some important investigations, it's sure to raise hackles in the post-Snowden era. Several years ago, the FBI launched a major sting operation against...
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Don’t freak out, but Facebook is testing a new feature that would put “Buy” buttons on ads within the social network. Simply, users would see an ad, and the ad would have a button that you could click to purchase the item you see, all without leaving Facebook. This is an obvious evolution of having ads on Facebook, and it...
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Google's open source Android platform has the distinction of being the most popular mobile operating system in the world. That's great in terms of dominating the market and reaping the rewards that come with it, but it's also for that very reason that Android finds itself the target of virtually every new mobile...
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Some might consider it to be a major breach of privacy, but Facebook sees it as a major feature. With "Nearby Friends", the Facebook mobile app will be able to tell you if any of your contacts are - as you'd expect - nearby. This feature was first rumored just over a year ago, and at the time, many were up-in-arms -...
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If you're willing to accept at face value Flappy Bird developer Dong Nguyen's public stance on why he removed the popular title from iTunes and Google Play, then perhaps a bit of kudos are in order, even if you don't agree with his decision. It's not often that you see a sense of responsibility trump the almighty dollar, and in this case,...
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Wondering why it's still a good idea to run security software on your system even if you practice safe computing habits? One reason is because even legitimate websites get hacked, and depending on the extent of the attack, visiting what you thought was a benign domain could open up a can of worms. It doesn't matter how large the site is either...
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To those of you who are using "password" to secure an account, you can rest slightly easier at night knowing that it longer tops the list of worst passwords. Two-time runner up "123456" has taken the dishonor of being the most common used password found on the Internet, giving the six-character combination the...
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Up to now, viewability of kids’ Facebook accounts was set by default to “Friends of Friends”; now, those aged 13-17 start out with their audience set to “Friends” by default. However, they can also make their posts public, and they can turn on “Follow” to let their posts show...
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Are you browsing this very article using a notebook? If so, the trackpad you're probably scrolling with most likely has Synaptics attached in some way. The company responsible for millions upon millions of laptop trackpads has just acquired a human interface solutions company by the name of Validity Sensors. The...
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TRENDnet, a maker of home networking and security products, has agreed to settle charges brought on by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that its "lax security practices" left consumers susceptible to remote viewing by hackers. Specifically, the FTC took issue with TRENDnet's SecurView line of cameras and...
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During a speech to the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC on cybersecurity, former NSA and CIA chief Michael Hayden confessed that if whistleblower Edward Snowden is captured by the US and brought back for trial, cyber-attacks by his defenders can be expected. While I find it hard to agree with most of what...
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It’s not just criminals (and their direct antagonists in the security industry); the FBI likes to hack, too. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FBI has been using hacking techniques and products to break into Android phones in order to perform surveillance on criminal suspects. Allegedly, the FBI can hack a...
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Apple's Find my iPhone has been a very useful feature for those who frequently misplace their gadgets. Or, for those who just enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that Apple has a piece of technology dedicated to securing a lost phone. Android and iOS have been going back and forth battling over feature...
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Oh Facebook - couldn't this have come at a better time? Mere weeks after news of NSA's PRISM project being leaked, which is said to involve tight integration with the likes of Facebook and other popular Web entities, we learn of a bug that caused six million user's worth of phone numbers and email addresses being...
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