After much hesitation, I finally set up a Facebook account. So I wouldn't be seen as a dinosaur, I've also registered on Twitter.com. I haven't been tweeting much, but I'm now part of the throng of folks socializing with their keyboards.
"Google knows more about you than your mother."
Kevin Bankston, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, recently made that statement to this reporter. A few years ago, it might have sounded far-fetched. But if you're one of the growing number of people who are using more and more products in Google's ever-expanding stable (at last count, I was using a dozen), you might wonder if Bankston isn't onto something.
IT security and control firm Sophos is advising Twitter users not to participate in a major trend whereby users Tweet their 'porn star names' - typically formed by posting the name of a first pet and the name of the first street a user lived on.
A collection of six photos allegedly showing the singer in the nude have been leaked on the net. However, out of the batch, only two actually show her face.
The others show a woman's naked body, and backside, but her face is obscured from view. One of the photos shows a message written on a mirror which appears to say 'I love you, Robyn. I miss you' - Robyn is Rihanna's legal first name.
And in the reflection a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the singer has taken the picture.
Lately, it seems as though more artists and celebrities are being exposed left and right. Photos that they took some time ago somehow become items of interest to hackers and eventually they become stolen material. And, of course, the media and the fans indulge the sensation of seeing their favorite or non-favorite artist or celebrity in the bare.
Hackers got access to restricted computer databases at the University of California, Berkeley, it was announced Friday, potentially compromising the health and other personal information of 160,000 students, alumni and others.
The data accessed includes Social Security numbers, dates of birth, health insurance information and some medical records dating back to 1999.
Radio frequency identification technology is becoming increasingly common and sophisticated. But some worry that it's also increasingly susceptible to hackers, who could steal personal information during seemingly innocuous transactions such as credit-card payments and the use of RFID-enabled passports, according to a Boston Globe article.
The UK's electronic intelligence agency has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement to deny it will track all UK internet and online phone use.
Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) said it was developing tracking technology but "only acts when it is necessary" and "does not spy at will". The denial follows the home secretary scrapping plans for a single government database for all communications.
Researchers from the University of California gained control over a well-known and powerful network of hacked computers for 10 days, gaining insight into how it steals personal and financial data.
The botnet, known as Torpig or Sinowal, is one of the more sophisticated networks that uses hard-to-detect malicious software to infect computers and subsequently harvest data such as e-mail passwords and online banking credentials.
The US Government (House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) is responding to reports that peer to peer (P2P) file sharing allows internet users to access other P2P users most important files including bank records, tax files, health records, and passwords files. This same P2P software allows users to download p2p pirated music, movies and software.
What’s interesting is that they didn’t already know this was going on. Probably most of the committee has kids who have iPods and their own home PCs probably have P2P software installed.
