Privacy

Samsung is to investigate a security professional’s claim that it installed software capable of recording most computer activities on at least some models of its notebook models.

The researcher, Mohamed Hassan of NetSec Consulting in Toronto, wrote in a technology trade publication on Wednesday that he had bought a new Samsung computer for his own use and discovered it contained independently made software called StarLogger after scanning it with a commercial security program.

Creepy is a software package for Linux or Windows - with a Mac OS X port in the works - that aims to gather public information on a targeted individual via social networking services in order to pinpoint their location. It's remarkably efficient at its job, even in its current early form, and certainly lives up to its name when you see it in use for the first time.

A BP employee lost a laptop containing personal data belonging to thousands of Louisiana residents who filed claims for compensation after the Gulf oil spill, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

BP spokesman Curtis Thomas said the oil giant on Monday mailed out letters to roughly 13,000 people whose data was stored on the computer, notifying them about the potential data security breach and offering to pay for their credit to be monitored. The company also reported the missing laptop to law enforcement, he said.

It's not like the world needs another social network, yet we keep churning them out. The latest social media darling is named Color, a network designed for the "post-PC era." If you thought Facebook or MySpace was a privacy nightmare, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Yet another reason to take extra precautions while browsing Facebook arose today as reports surfaced that traffic destined for Facebook from AT&T's servers took a misguided loop through China and South Korea this week.

The travel site TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) says hackers broke into its database and stole part of its 20 million-member email list. Some members might start receiving unwanted spam as a result.

CEO Steve Kaufer waited until Thursday to notify subscribers of the breach, which he said was discovered last weekend. TripAdvisor wouldn't saw how many members were affected, only that "a portion" of email addresses were taken, and passwords remain secure.