John Lister

Verizon is scrapping its existing phone plans and replacing them with completely new ones. The new options will be much simpler, and could help people who use a lot of data save a good deal of money. Under the new strategy, people using cellphones ... rather than smartphones will simply be offered a single $40 per month plan with restrictions on the number of calls and texts. That suggests Verizon expects the current trend towards upgrading to smartphones will continue, or at least that the company doesn't expect to generate much profit from customers who won't pay for mobile Internet access. For ... (view more)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's personal email account has reportedly been hacked. According to some observers, security weaknesses in Microsoft's Hotmail email service allowed the hack to occur. In reality, however, slip-ups by both ... Romney and Microsoft facilitated the hack. The incident occurred after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) obtained and printed several emails sent to and from Romney during his time as governor of Massachusetts. The newspaper did not hack the account to obtain the emails, but rather made a legal request for Romney's office to hand them over. The WSJ ... (view more)

The creators of the Flame virus now appear to be attempting to remove it from the computers it has infected. This bizarre move from hackers, who normally seek to increase rather than decrease the number of machines their code infects, may be part of ... a belated attempt to prevent further analysis of how Flame works. The existence of Flame was announced late last month by security firm Kaspersky Lab. At the time, Kaspersky noted the virus was exceptionally sophisticated and had been designed specifically to harvest data using tactics as diverse as taking screenshots and eavesdropping on phone ... (view more)

Software used by Iranian citizens to access the uncensored Internet anonymously has now been revealed to carry malware. Even worse, it carries a variant of malicious software that tracks everything any user types into an infected computer. The ... dangerous software is named Simurgh, after a mythical creature in Iranian folklore. The software is thought to help Internet users combat harsh government controls and shield users from being located and identified. Software Hides Identity of User From Watchers The software is mostly used by Iranians to hide their identity. Users believe it creates ... (view more)

Samsung has launched a complete desktop computer priced at just $329. Samsung says the new device, called a "Chromebox" because it runs Google's Chrome operating system (OS), will never get a virus or lose performance. Chrome OS is an operating ... system designed by Google that closely resembles the company's Chrome browser. Instead of a Windows or Mac style desktop, the user accesses services through a web browser. For example, rather than launch Microsoft Word, the OS provides direct access to the Google Docs online service. As a result, much of the processing work required to run ... (view more)

A new in-car voice recognition system will reportedly use the same technology as Siri, the "virtual assistant" found on Apple's iPhone. The idea is to let drivers give the system commands in conversational language rather than having to use a ... specific (and often awkward) sequence of words. Siri, which stands for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface, was one of the highlight features of the iPhone 4S when it debuted late last year. Siri: A More Natural Way to Communicate Siri is designed to process typical spoken language. For example, if it worked as designed the Siri software ... (view more)

A leading security firm says it has discovered a virus that could be more sophisticated and potentially more dangerous than Stuxnet, which wreaked havoc last year. The new virus, called "Flame," appears however to be designed to steal data rather ... than to cause physical damage to computer systems. Security experts at Kaspersky Lab say Flame gathers data from infected machines using a comprehensive range of tactics. Rather than simply copy files and track online activity, it attempts to track what a user is typing, take screenshots, and even make audio recordings from online telephone ... (view more)

Google's legal problems surrounding its unintentional gathering of personal data from home WiFi networks now seem likely to linger longer than previously expected. After the publication of an internal email that some consider a 'smoking gun,' ... British authorities are reportedly near a decision to reopen their investigation of the search giant's activities. The long-running case involves the vehicles carrying Google's roof-mounted cameras taking "Street View" photos for the company's map service. These vehicles housed computers that scanned for nearby wireless networks. According to Google, the ... (view more)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski says he's happy Comcast may begin offering Internet service on a pay-per-use basis. It would be a change from the more common model of charging a flat rate. Comcast recently ... announced it is dropping its 250 GB monthly download limit . Instead, it will now allow users to go above its new 300 GB "soft" limit, but only upon paying an additional fee. The company is also looking at offering several different service packages, with monthly data allowances that depend on the price paid, much like today's mobile broadband ... (view more)

According to Google, Microsoft asked the search service to remove more than 500,000 links from its results pages because they directed people to sites containing pirated software. The revelations come via Google's "Transparency Index", which lists ... requests from governments and corporations to censor information in its databanks. (Source: blogspot.co.uk ) The figures cover only complaints specifically relating to the Google search index, not to other Google-owned sites, such as YouTube. They also cover only requests made online, rather than through fax or postal mail. During the past month, ... (view more)