information

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

When educational technology specialist Kevin Andreyo recently read a report on people search engines , he decided to conduct a little 'people search' on himself. Andreyo did not expect to find much -- so, imagine the surprise when he uncovered the ... user name and password to his Comcast Internet account, put out there for the entire online world to see. In addition to his personal information, Andreyo also discovered a list that exposed the user names and passwords of (what he believed) to be 8,000 other Comcast customers. Andreyo immediately contacted both Comcast and the FBI, hoping to find ... (view more)

An average of 22 million Americans accessed online information via mobile device each day in January, double the amount for the same period last year. That's good news for advertisers, who say mobile users are much more likely to click on ads. The ... figures, from market research firm Comscore, show 63 million people accessed the web on a mobile device at least once during January, also a steep rise. Oddly, however, the figures showed that 19 million accessed the mobile web once a week, which is lower than the daily figure. These figures may actually be quite conservative. They don't include ... (view more)

Is it a 'good' thing that Britain, the United States, and several other countries are developing more sophisticated surveillance technology ? The premise that individuals have nothing to hide and nothing to fear in a 'big brother' society is nothing ... more than a myth riddled with false assumptions. A multitude of problems can arise from continuously gathering too much data. Trusting the government and private companies -- entities full of people, some of which will inevitably have an immoral few -- make it easier for data to be misused and error prone. That said, people who have nothing to ... (view more)