information

A new iPhone app is causing quite a stir because of its ability to perform a background check on nearly anyone within a matter of seconds. While the app would be a tremendous resource for checking out a romantic prospect or a new co-worker, the ... opinions of most people change when the tables are turned and the background checks are being done on them. Still, BeenVerified is a friend to almost any employer. The only stipulation is that individuals may only conduct up to three free background checks per week for the app to still be considered free. For an additional $8 per month, you can ... (view more)

A barely-noticed letter from Yahoo to the U.S. Marshals Service has revealed surveillance policies that allow the US Justice Department to request wiretaps of its users. The 12-page letter (in PDF format), in response to a Freedom of Information Act ... request, claimed that Yahoo couldn't provide the information on their policies because their pricing scheme would 'shock' customers. (Source: rawstory.com ) A Yahoo lawyer wrote that if the pricing information was disclosed, it would be used to shame Yahoo and other companies and to traumatize their customers. (Source: rawstory.com ) Yahoo: ... (view more)

As hundreds of thousands of children write their letters to Santa this holiday season, Infopackets.com weighs in on two possible phish-friendly tools that would top the wish list of any hacker. These particular tools of interest are able to scour ... the Internet and collect snippets of personal information from people via social networking sites and other public sources. The end result is a detailed profile with information voluntarily provided. Hackers May Look To "Bigger Picture" Rather than target certain people, hackers could use this stolen information as part of a bigger " spear-phishing ... (view more)

Facebook was infiltrated on Tuesday by an intruder looking to send the message "Control Your Info". The intruder, who might style himself something of a virtual Boondock Saint, didn't cause any significant damage, but instead sought to show people ... that they need to be as careful with their online information as they are with protecting their safety offline. The attack, if you can call it that, didn't target individual users in an attempt to scoop sensitive data. Instead, it went after Facebook "Groups", online organizations within the social networking platform that allow people to join ... (view more)

According to reports, Britain will spend 200 million British Pound Sterling per year (equivalent to $330M US Dollars, or $627 per minute), in a massive expansion of its surveillance networks. The new funding is intended to give officials access to ... details of every Internet click -- on top of the email and telephone records that are already available -- made by every British citizen. LibDem Home Affairs spokesman Chris Huhne, who describes the amount of money being spent on the increasing surveillance state as 'eye-watering,' claims the increase in money spent on tapping phones and emails is ... (view more)

Amidst news that thousands of Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo accounts have been compromised in recent weeks, there's some good news for the good guys: over a hundred phishers have been brought to justice in a multinational investigation spanning half the ... globe. Phishing involves using a fake web page to dupe visitors into entering their sensitive information, including passwords or credit card data. The phisher can then use that information to steal identities and clear out bank accounts. Operation Phish Phry The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday revealed that it had charged ... (view more)

The latest case of malware infestation is once again targeting Facebook , this time masquerading as a virus removal kit designed to rid the computer world of a bogus "Fan Check" bug. Fan Check: Valid App, but 'Bug' is Bogus While the Fan Check "bug" ... does not really exist, Fan Check is in fact a valid Facebook application used on Facebook.com. The purpose of the Fan Check application is to rank friends based on how often they interact with your Facebook pages. (Source: facebook.com ). The new malware, however, is rather devious because it pretends to defend against a made-up virus, ... (view more)

According to a recent report, extremely sensitive government data has appeared on peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks. The information is reported to include the precise locations of American nuclear silos and FBI surveillance photos. News of ... the leak came at the recent House Government Oversight ... (view more)

Researchers at security firm Inverse Path plan to demonstrate how standard power sockets (used in a home, for instance) can be used to eavesdrop on what is being typed onto a computer keyboard. They plan to make a presentation at the Black Hat ... Security conference taking place in Las Vegas from July 25-30 this year. The researchers found that poor electrical shielding on some keyboard cables can result in data being leaked into power circuits. Analyzing such information allowed the researchers to see what was being typed on a keyboard. So far, demonstrations of the attacks have worked at ... (view more)

Microsoft has expressed interest in further developing two-dimensional barcodes as part of their future corporate outlook. Two-dimensional barcodes are also called QR (quick response) codes and work like the ones found on product packaging. However, ... two-dimensional barcodes have the ability to store more data, including website information and email addresses. Scan with Your Cellphone Camera The whole process of using 2D barcodes is quite futuristic. People scan the barcode using their cellphone camera, which activates the phone's browser and directs them to a designated website linked to ... (view more)