Privacy

Experts have often pointed out that insider threats can be just as dangerous as a sophisticated attack coming from outside the organization. An incident that occurred in Hoboken, a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, is a perfect example.

46-year-old Patrick Ricciardi, the chief IT officer for the mayor’s office, has pleaded guilty to hacking into the email accounts of the mayor and other staff members in an attempt to intercept communications, nj.com reports.

Several high-profile Xbox Live accounts for former and current Microsoft employees were compromised by attackers using social engineering techniques, the company said late Tuesday.

"We are actively working with law enforcement and other affected companies to disable this current method of attack and prevent its further use," the company said in a statement. "Security is of critical importance to us and we are working every day to bring new forms of protection to our members."

A computer hacker has landed in jail for three years and five months after stealing data from iPads belonging to approximately 120,000 users.
hacker us sentence ipad users

Apple's iPad found itself the hacker's target through infiltrating the AT&T network, Reuters reports. Not only were normal United States citizens affected, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Harvey Weinstein and TV news anchor Diane Sawyer also bore the brunt of the attack.

Unverified reports in Russian media claim that conversations over Skype can be eavesdropped by intelligence agencies which can also determine the location of users.

First reported in the Russian-language Vedomosti newspaper last week, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has had the ability to intercept Skype calls for "a couple of years" and often do so without a court warrant. As a result, some Russian companies are banning staff from using Skype out of concern that their communications are secretly listened to.

Some hacker or hackers has it out for a handful of celebrities, politicians, and law enforcement officials, including First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and pop singer Beyonce.

Collected onto one Web site -- called "The Secret Files" -- is a slew of financial and personal information on these public figures. The data is so sensitive that it has sparked investigations by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

 Facebook users' Likes on the social network may be unintentionally revealing more about their private personality traits, including sexual orientation and intelligence, according to a new study.

By studying the Likes of 58,000 Facebook users on the social network, researchers at the University of Cambridge say they were able to determine users' IQ, gender, sexual orientation, and political and religious beliefs, and even substance use, with an accuracy rate of more than 80 percent

Authorities and celebrities are grappling with how to respond to a website that posted what appears to be private financial information about top government officials and stars such as Jay-Z and Mel Gibson.

It may now be possible for anyone, even if they follow rigorous privacy and anonymity practices, to be identified by DNA data from people they do not even know.

Iranian authorities have blocked the use of most virtual private network (VPNs) to stop people in the country from circumventing the government's internet filter, three months before the country holds its presidential election.

"Within the last few days illegal VPN ports in the country have been blocked," Ramezanali Sobhani-Fard, the head of the Iranian parliament's information and communications technology committee, told Mehr news agency, according to Reuters. "Only legal and registered VPNs can from now on be used."

"See! That shit keeps popping up on my fucking computer!" says a blond woman as she leans back on a couch, bottle-feeding a baby on her lap.