information

Thu
16
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

U.S. Gov't Still Trying to Push Flawed ID Schemes

When you can't get any states to participate in your flawed National ID scheme, what do you do? If you're the U.S. government, you change its name and try again. With the death of the REAL ID Act comes a replacement bill that poses many of the same ... threats, including what the Campaign for Liberty refers to as a federal grab for personal information. Now the act has been renamed and referred to as an enhanced or higher security driver's license. In reality, however, the only way to resolve the problem is to repeal it, not rename it. (Source: campaignforliberty.com ) After 9/11, the government ... (view more)

Tue
07
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Clear Shutdown Leaves More Than 250,000 IDs in Limbo

The company responsible for creating a database containing thousands of identities collected at U.S. airports has shut down. And so, the question remains: what happens to your personal information when a government-sponsored National ID scheme like ... 'Clear' suddenly shuts down? The fate of more than a quarter million people whose fingerprints, social security numbers, home addresses and other revealing personal information allegedly designed to help hasten traveler clearances at airports is hanging on that question, and even the government doesn't know the answer. (Source: yahoo.com ) Who ... (view more)

Thu
25
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

Next-Gen Cell Spying: Like Straight out of a Movie

According to reports, the National Security Agency (NSA) has been busted once again for illegal surveillance. Worse yet, it seems the NSA has moved beyond wiretapping land lines to the wireless phone industry, too. (Source: nytimes ) Legal experts ... suggest that collaboration between the wireless phone industry and the NSA runs far deeper than originally thought. There are over 3,000 wireless companies operating in the U.S.; furthermore, the majority of industry-aided snooping is quietly handled by companies that most consumers have never heard of. (Source: cnet.com ) Major Networks Sold Data ... (view more)

Tue
12
May
Dennis Faas's picture

Hackers Breach 160k Med Records at UC Berkeley

Hackers have reportedly infiltrated restricted computer databases at the University of California Berkeley, putting the private data of 160,000 students, alumni, and others at risk. According to UC Berkeley, computer administrators determined that ... electronic databases in University Health Services had been breached by overseas criminals on April 21, 2009. UHS electronic medical records, including details of patients' diagnoses, treatments and therapies were not affected in this breach because they're stored on a separate system. (Source: http://datatheft.berkeley.edu ) Social Security Numbers ... (view more)

Thu
30
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Google Profile: Control How Others See You Via Google

Google has introduced a new feature called 'Google Profile', which lets users control how their information appears when someone else searches for that person's name via Google's products (such as the Google Search Engine). Using Google Profile, it ... is possible to create a personal page that links to your blog or other profiles and keep family and friends up to date with your contact information and pictures. (Source: google.com) Control Over What Others See According to Google, a profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users. You control how you appear on ... (view more)

Wed
29
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

UK Muses Internet Surveillance, no Super Database

The British Home Secretary has reportedly scrapped plans for a super database , but still wants communications firms to record and organize all emails, phone calls, Internet use and visits to social networking sites for security purposes as part of ... a modernization in UK police surveillance tactics. Instead of a super database, communications companies from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to mobile phone networks are being asked to extend the range of information they currently hold on their customers and organize it so it can be used to investigate crime and terrorism. CSPs Asked to Record ... (view more)

Wed
29
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Cybercrime

Cybercrime (or "computer crime") consists of specific crimes dealing with computers and networks (such as hacking) and the facilitation of traditional crime through the use of computers and technology infrastructure. (Source: gc.ca ) Although the ... terms computer crime and cybercrime are more properly restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is a necessary part of the crime, these terms are also sometimes used to include traditional crimes, such as fraud, theft, blackmail, forgery, and embezzlement, in which computers or networks are used. Types of ... (view more)

Mon
06
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

UK Big Brother Data Retention Law Effective Today

Despite the fact that the UK parliament network was vulnerable to the Conficker virus just last week, reports suggest that the UK Government is forging ahead with their dubious plans to harvest all the personal electronic data of every citizen and ... storing it for one year, opening the door to the Big Brother super database . Mobile phone calls, emails and Internet activities of every Briton will be stored for a year, placing legal duties on Internet companies to store everyone's private information, including email traffic and Internet browsing histories effective Monday, April 6, 2009. The ... (view more)

Mon
30
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Chinese Cyberspace Espionage Affects 103 Nations

A Canadian surveillance project has discovered that 1,295 computers in 103 countries have been the victims of an international band of hackers. If that isn't scary enough, there is now circumstantial evidence that suggests the Chinese government may ... have played a role. The 53-page report, submitted by the Information Warfare Monitor, a joint venture shared between the SecDev group of Ottawa and the University of Toronto, classified almost 30 percent of the infected machines as being of "high value", namely the databases of international embassies, ministries of foreign affairs and other ... (view more)

Wed
18
Mar
Dennis Faas's picture

Social People Search Engines: Stalking Made Easy

With the growing popularity of social networking comes a growing list of social search engines that can turn up all kinds of embarrassing and potentially invasive information about you. The issue raises questions about what other revealing ... information is out there and what can be done to protect oneself. Besides making online stalking easy , specialized search engines are making it increasingly easier to combine socially shared information together into a highly detailed profile of our virtual lives. These specialized search engines go by a variety of terms such as "social search" ... (view more)

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