information

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)

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)

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)

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)