information

Each day, millions of images and messages are sent through social media platforms. Now, those who have regretted transmitting personal information in this fashion will be relieved to find that a popular new app is making significant strides in ... changing the way people share private data on social networking sites. Snapchat doesn't store data -- including messages and photos -- for years on end. Instead, this information is wiped out, permanently, at a time set by the sending / posting user. It's a simple concept, but early indications reveal that Snapchat is becoming a popular alternative to ... (view more)

The US Federal Reserve has confirmed that it recently suffered a cyber attack that resulted in personal data being lost. It's also possible that this information has already been published online. A spokesman for the Federal Reserve said the attack ... was made possible by hackers "exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product." That problem was quickly fixed once officials became aware of it. The spokesman didn't publicly confirm what information was stolen, but did say that the attack failed to negatively impact critical operations. There's no indication the hacking ... (view more)

The United States Department of Energy has been attacked by hackers. The unknown assailants reportedly gained access to employee personal information. News agency Reuters recently acquired a letter between the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its ... employees. In that letter, the DOE admits that the attack "resulted in the unauthorized disclosure of employee and contractor Personally Identifiable Information." Employee Personal Data Lost to Hacker The letter indicated that employee and contractor personal information was lost. However, it also noted that none of the stolen information was ... (view more)

Google has, for the first time ever, detailed exactly what it does when a government agency or court demands to see a user's personal data. That data includes the terms someone has used for an online search and the content of Gmail messages. Google ... says that it's reporting on this issue in an attempt to show that it aims to protect privacy wherever possible. The search giant has for several years produced statistics about how many requests for personal data it gets in each country and what percentage of those requests it complies with. This publication is an attempt to draw attention to the ... (view more)

European researchers have made it possible to store coded data in the form of DNA, officially creating the most compact form of digital storage ever in existence. UK-based EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) recently announced the ... successful storage of encoded data in DNA format. The files include an MP3 of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech, a .jpeg photo, and several other text files. Millions of Data Stored in a Cup of DNA The innovative encoding method makes it possible to store over 100 million hours of high-definition video in just a cup of DNA. Among its ... (view more)

Several prominent privacy groups say they're now concerned about the amount of user information that Skype, purchased by Microsoft in October 2011 for $8.5 billion, is collecting and sharing with other parties. In a recent open letter to Microsoft ... officials, a large number of privacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Reporters Without Borders, and GreatFire.org, have pressed Microsoft to publicly discuss exactly how much Skype user information it currently shares with third parties. The letter makes clear that those third parties to which Microsoft is handing private ... (view more)

The group behind a collection of 'premium' hacking tools is apparently charging hackers $10,000 a month for permission to use their product. The proceeds are helping fund rewards for anyone who shares information with the hackers about previously ... unknown software vulnerabilities. According to security firm Sophos, the 'premium' hacking kit is the work of a group called 'Paunch.' This is the same group that previously offered hackers a set of tools known as the Blackhole kit, which users could access only after paying a $1,500 per year rental fee. (Source: sophos.com ) The Blackhole kit was ( ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jim H. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm trying to download the free eBooks online your website (such as the Windows 8 Guide eBook , the PC Maintenance Handbook , and the Windows 7 Pocket Guide , etc), but I'm having trouble. When I ... click on the orange 'Request Now' button to download the book, it is asking me for my name, a business email address, my company name, etc. Why do I have to enter all this information? How do I download the free eBooks? " My response: The answer to this is two-fold, and I'll try and break it down. Note that I've also ... (view more)

In an effort to compete with Google's much-anticipated "Project Glass" headset, Microsoft is reportedly preparing its own brand of high-tech eyewear. The evidence for this notion comes from a recent patent application, in which Microsoft described a ... new device that includes a head-mounted display capable of presenting wearers with detailed information about an individual's immediate surroundings. As outlined in the patent application, an individual "wearing at least a partially see-through, head mounted display can view any live event while simultaneously receiving information on ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says an Internet firm claiming it collected only shopper opinions about the products they bought was actually collecting personal data. The firm, Compete, is negotiating a court-approved settlement of the charges. ... So far, the punishment the company will face has not been publicly revealed. Compete used online ads to recruit customers into its "Consumer Input Panel", telling them they can give their opinions and win prizes. To participate, however, consumers needed to install special tracking software on their computers to monitor what websites they visited. ... (view more)