Legal, Privacy & Security
30 March 2013
Cyberattacks Seem Meant to Destroy, Not Just Disrupt New York Times
American Express customers trying to gain access to their online accounts Thursday were met with blank screens or an ominous ancient type face. The company confirmed that its Web site had come under attack.
Provocateur Comes Into View After Cyberattack New York Times
Sven Olaf Kamphuis calls himself the "minister of telecommunications and foreign affairs for the Republic of CyberBunker." Others see him as the Prince of Spam.
29 March 2013
Bitcoin miners hit back at cyber-thieves BBC News
Cyber-thieves are attempting to cash in on the rising value of the bitcoin virtual currency.
Attacks Used the Internet Against Itself to Clog Traffic New York Times
An escalating cyberattack involving an antispam group and a shadowy group of attackers has now affected millions of people across the Internet, raising the question: How can such attacks be stopped?
28 March 2013
Global internet slows after 'biggest attack in history' BBC News
The internet around the world has been slowed down in what security experts are describing as the biggest cyber-attack of its kind in history.
27 March 2013
UK anti-cyber threat centre launched BBC News
A new initiative to share information on cyber threats between businesses and government is to be launched.
Privacy 'impossible' with Google Glass warn campaigners BBC News
Google Glass and other augmented reality gadgets risk creating a world in which privacy is impossible, warn campaigners.
25 March 2013
Cyberlaw: Apply international law to cyber-warfare? Good luck The Economist
First North Korea complained about a cyber-attack from "hostile forces". The main sign was that the state's news agency went briefly offline last week. Some thought it might be a mere power cut. Then it was the South's turn -- on a bigger scale. On March 20th two big banks and three broadcasters were crippled. Screens went blank; on some, skulls popped up. ATM machines froze.
Big Data Is Opening Doors, but Maybe Too Many New York Times
In the 1960s, mainframe computers posed a significant technological challenge to common notions of privacy. That's when the federal government started putting tax returns into those giant machines, and consumer credit bureaus began building databases containing the personal financial information of millions of Americans. Many people feared that the new computerized databanks would be put in the service of an intrusive corporate or government Big Brother.
24 March 2013
South Korea cyber attack 'increasingly likely' to have been government-led The Guardian
The cyber attack against TV stations and banks in South Korea on Wednesday this week seems increasingly likely to have been by a government-level hacker who may have inserted a virus into a central computer providing antivirus protection, says an American security company.
Silk Road: the online drug marketplace that officials seem powerless to stop The Guardian
Mark Johnson rifles through his mail as he gets home from work. Among the usual bills is a small padded envelope. Though it doesn't have his name on, it's the package he's most interested in: inside lie two grams of, he hopes, relatively pure MDMA.
22 March 2013
Deaf, Blind Sue Over Web Shopping - American Advocates for Disabled Say Netflix, Target Are Legally Obligated to Make Sites Easier to Navigate Wall Street Journal
Commerce has moved online. Now, the disability lawsuits are following. Advocates for disabled Americans have declared that companies have a legal obligation to make their websites as accessible as their stores, and they've filed suits across the country to force them to install the digital version of wheelchair ramps and self-opening doors.
Whole internet probed for insecure devices BBC News
A surreptitious scan of the entire internet has revealed millions of printers, webcams and set-top boxes protected only by default passwords.
21 March 2013
China IP address link to South Korea cyber-attack BBC News
A cyber-attack on South Korean banks and broadcasters came from an internet address in China, South Korean officials say, but the identity of those behind it cannot be confirmed.
20 March 2013
Rules of cyberwar: don't target nuclear plants or hospitals, says Nato manual The Guardian
State-sponsored cyber-attacks must avoid sensitive civilian targets such as hospitals, dams, dykes and nuclear power stations, according to an advisory manual on cyber-warfare written for Nato, which predicts that online attacks could in future trigger full-blown military conflicts.
17 March 2013
Editorial: Googling You New York Times
The settlement last week between a group of state attorneys general and Google over the company's improper data collection from home wireless networks shows the need to overhaul a 27-year-old federal law that is not up to the task of addressing new forms of privacy invasion.
15 March 2013
Google Hastens to Show Its Concern for Privacy New York Times
Silicon Valley hates being told what to do. "Better to seek forgiveness than permission" is its unofficial slogan.
Al-Qaeda lacks expertise for cyberwar, expert tells UK MPs BBC News
Al-Qaeda lacks the technical expertise to sabotage Britain's national power and water systems, a cyber-security expert has told a committee of MPs.
Bill Gates on cybersecurity: 'It's wonderful that more attention is going into that' Washington Post
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates stopped by The Washington Post on Wednesday and sat down for an interview with The Fold. During the interview, which mostly centered around introducing new, better ways of testing teachers, Gates addressed the increasingly dire threat of a major cyber attack.
EU Privacy Watchdogs Tell App Developers and App Stores to Take Care of Users' Data CIO
New recommendations from Europe's top privacy watchdog could have big ramifications for Google Play, Apple and application developers.
14 March 2013
'Like' it or not, privacy has changed in the Facebook age The Guardian
Of all the great inventions, the front door might be the least appreciated. But for many of our forebears, the idea that you could retreat into a house to escape the world - and a room of your own to escape your family - would have seemed incredible.
Google Concedes That Drive-by Prying Violated Privacy New York Times
Google on Tuesday acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people's privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users.
13 March 2013
Cyber-attacks a bigger threat than Al Qaeda, US officials say Los Angeles Times
Cyber-attacks and cyber-espionage pose a greater potential danger to U.S. national security than Al Qaeda and other militants that have dominated America's global focus since Sept. 11, 2001, the nation's top intelligence officials said Tuesday.
12 March 2013
In Wake of Cyberattacks, China Seeks New Rules New York Times
China has issued a new call for international "rules and cooperation" on Internet espionage issues, while insisting that accusations of Chinese government involvement in recent hacking attacks were part of an international smear campaign.
09 March 2013
Google to Pay $7M to Settle Wi-Spy Case All Things D
Google will soon settle with the attorneys general representing more than 30 U.S. states over its Street View cars collecting data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, multiple sources said.
