From time to time, a user emails our feedback address reporting that he tried to send a message and got this error:
Could not send; a connection error occurred.
And I never had an answer for those users, because it's quite an empty error message (“a connection error”? What kind of connection error?) and I never heard anything from the other developers about it. So I always wondered what caused that error message.
Now I've found out.
A security blunder at Newcastle City Council has exposed the credit and debit card details of up to 54,000 people online.
The breach was discovered on 19 July after the council hired an independent security expert to try and crack its systems. The security exercise found an encrypted file containing names, addresses, and credit and debit card numbers had been mistakenly placed on an insecure server.
Tucked into an affidavit filed by an FBI agent last month was the first hard evidence that G-men are equipped with more than automatic pistols and handcuffs: the agency was asking a federal judge to let it infect a PC with spyware so they could finger its owner.
The case, which was reported locally in Olympia, Wash. last month and received more national exposure this month, involved bomb threats e-mailed to Timberline High School in Lacey, Wash.; an IP trail that went cold in Italy; and a call to the FBI.
CityWatcher.com, a provider of surveillance equipment, attracted little notice itself -- until a year ago, when two of its employees had glass-encapsulated microchips with miniature antennas embedded in their forearms.
The "chipping" of two workers with RFIDs -- radio frequency identification tags as long as two grains of rice, as thick as a toothpick -- was merely a way of restricting access to vaults that held sensitive data and images for police departments, a layer of security beyond key cards and clearance codes, the company said.
An international fraud expert says Australians should avoid posting their personal details on the Internet.
Bryan Sartin is in Australia educating businesses about the growing prominence of fraud, with recent figures showing it costs small businesses about $3.2 billion each year.
Mr Sartin says people should carefully inspect an Internet site before they release their credit card details.
"It pays to be safe when you are making an online transaction, for instance, look for that little lock and key on the browser, make sure the connection is encrypted," he said.
Data for nearly 600,000 households enrolled in TRICARE stored on a government-contractor's unprotected computer server could have been exposed to hackers, Defense officials announced July 20.
"We take this potential data compromise very seriously," said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, deputy director, TRICARE Management Activity. "The risk has been identified as low, but as a result of this unfortunate event, the Department of Defense is ensuring that steps are taken to keep affected beneficiaries informed."
From the moment you walk into work until the moment you leave, your boss or his minions may be spying on you.
Computerworld has noted before that surveillance cameras are becoming more common in the workplace ("Big Brother is watching you ... and he's a computer"). But what we are talking about here is the more insidious tracking of your digital footprints as you go about your computing workday. When you start thinking about all the ways that you can be digitally tracked, it can make even the least paranoid person sit up and take notice.
Sensitive information on Aikman, formerly a star quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys, and thousands of others is available on the Texas Secretary of State's SOSDirect Web site, according to Steven Peisner, the president of fraud prevention vendor Sellitsafe Inc., who has provided IDG News Service with a half-dozen examples of Social Security numbers he was able to obtain from the site.
The secret of Facebook's success, and its future viability, hinges on how the social network site protects privacy, taming the anything-goes intrusiveness of what might as well be known as the World Wild Web.
Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer, said users want greater control over who sees their personal information, rather than expecting total privacy, or anonymity, the concept underlying much of the legal thinking on privacy for more than a century.
A FORMER staffer for Geek Squad admitted his team stole a porn star's personal data and then hacked into her home computer to get more.
A few day's later the porn star, Jasmine Grey, was killed in a car crash, leaving the entire team feeling a bit guilty, he said.
According to The Consumerist, Grey walked in with her computer complaining of her PC locking up when she went to use her webcam.
