Technology in the News

[First]  [Previous] |    628     629     630     631     632     633     634     635     636     637    | [Next]  [Last] of 646 page(s)

Panetta: 'Cyber-Pearl Harbor' Possible

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

October 12, 2012

The United States is becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks that could dismantle the nation's power grid or more, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.

Panetta, during a speech at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York Thursday, said his response was to increased aggressiveness and technological advances by America' adversaries, identified as China, Russia, Iran and militant groups, The New York Times reported. "An aggressor nation or extremist group could use these kinds of cyber tools to gain control of critical switches," Panetta said. "They could derail passenger trains, or even more dangerous, derail passenger trains loaded with lethal chemicals. They could contaminate the water supply in major cities, or shut down the power grid across large parts of the country."

Firefox Browser Pulled For Vulnerability

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

October 11, 2012

California-based Mozilla says it pulled its latest version of its Firefox Web browser just a day after its release because of a critical security vulnerability.

"Mozilla is aware of a security vulnerability in the current release version of Firefox (version 16). Firefox version 15 is unaffected," Michael Coates, Mozilla's director of security assurance, said Wednesday in a post on the company's security blog. The bug was apparently overlooked by Mozilla while it was developing the new version or may have inadvertently been introduced by the fixes for earlier problem incorporation in the version 16 upgrade that started reaching users early Tuesday, Computerworld reported. The fixes were to patch 24 vulnerabilities in the earlier version.

Scientists Work On Smartphone Security

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

October 2, 2012

U.S. researchers say they've built an Android-based virtual network to study and help prevent disruptions to computer networks on the Internet.

Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in California have turned their attention to smartphones and other hand-held computing devices running the Android operating system to analyze large networks of smartphones and find ways to make them more reliable and secure, a U.S. Department of Energy release reported Tuesday. "Smartphones are now ubiquitous and used as general-purpose computing devices as much as desktop or laptop computers," Sandia researcher David Fritz said. "But even though they are easy targets, no one appears to be studying them at the scale we're attempting."

White House Confirms Cyberattack

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

October 1, 2012

The White House confirmed that it had been the victim of a cyberattack, but said no harm had been done.

On Sunday, conservative website the Washington Free Beacon said the White House Military Office's computer system was attacked by Chinese hackers, Politico reported. A White House official said later Sunday there was an attempt to hack the computer system, but it only affected an unclassified network and there was no evidence any data had been stolen. None of the White House's secure classified computer systems was affected, said an official.

Verizon Joins Cybersecurity Group

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 26, 2012

Communications company Verizon has joined the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance to counter cyberthreats to U.S. information technology infrastructure.

The alliance, composed of leading companies in the security industry brings together cybersecurity capabilities and technologies in a collaborative effort. "With its use of technology, broad industry knowledge and solid portfolio of cybersecurity solutions, we are pleased to welcome Verizon to the Lockheed Martin Cyber Security Alliance," said Curt Aubley, vice president and chief technology officer of Lockheed's NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center.

Christian Jailed For Facebook Photos

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 18, 2012

A court in Egypt sentenced a Coptic Christian teacher to six years in prison for placing anti-Islamic pictures on his Facebook page.

Bishoy Kameel was also convicted of defaming Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and insulting a prosecutor, BikyaMasr.com reported Tuesday. Kameel's trial in Cairo was attended by Salafist Egyptians who held up signs and threw rocks at the transport vehicle that took him to prison.

Aggressive Srikes To Protect Private Data

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 17, 2012

Cybersecurity experts say the U.S. Congress and the courts need to clarify what private firms can and cannot do to protect themselves from computer hackers.

The new approach would focus on reducing vulnerable areas in a company's digital security rather than actively deterring attackers, The Washington Post reported Monday. The private sector needs to know who's targeting their computer networks and the ability to aggressively defend themselves, said Steven Chabinsky, who stepped down this month as the FBI's top cyber lawyer. To do that, he said, businesses need a better relationship with law enforcement and the courts.

Amazon Backtracks On Fire Tablet Ads

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 10, 2012

After online criticism of Amazon's decision to feature ads on all its new Kindle Fire tablets, the company now says customers can pay to eliminate them.

When Amazon announced its larger Kindle Fire tablets Thursday, priced from $159 to $599, it said they would feature "special offer" full-screen ads on the devices' lock screens and smaller ads in the corner of the home screen. This was to keep the prices down, the company said.

Settlement Approved In E-Book Pricing Case

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 7, 2012

A U.S. judge has approved a settlement with three major publishers over collusion in e-book pricing, setting the stage for a digital book price war.

District Court Judge Denise L. Cote, the federal judge in Manhattan overseeing the case, rejected arguments against the settlement in a civil antitrust case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, The New York Times reported. The government filed a lawsuit against five publishers and Apple, accusing them of engaging in price-fixing of e-books.

Internet Pricing Becoming Volatile

Personal Liberty Alerts

by Upi - United Press International, Inc.

September 5, 2012

Price changes from minute to minute, like those seen for online airfares, are moving into the online shopping arena for consumer products, U.S. analysts say.

Retailers, using new, fast computer algorithms, are changing their online prices of products from laundry detergent to toaster ovens on an hour-by-hour and sometimes minute-by-minute basis, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "In the age of the Internet, fixed prices are a thing of the past," said Oren Etzioni, professor of computer science at the University of Washington and co-founder of Decide.com.

[First]  [Previous] |    628     629     630     631     632     633     634     635     636     637    | [Next]  [Last] of 646 page(s)