Recent Articles

Report: Hacktivists Out-Stole Cybercriminals in 2011

March 22, 2012 04:01

Just two years ago, cybercriminal gangs were behind record-breaking data breaches that resulted in the theft of millions of customer records. But the year 2011 will be remembered as the year hacktivists out-stole cybercriminals to take the top data breach award, according to a new report released...

NSA Chief Denies Domestic Spying But Whistleblowers Say Otherwise

March 21, 2012 18:37

James Bamford, the author of Wired's cover story on the NSA's growing domestic spying powers, responds to a carefully worded and odd denial by the NSA's top general.NSA chief General Keith Alexander, Courtesy NSA In a rare break from the NSA’s tradition of listening but not speaking, NSA...

MPAA Wants Megaupload User-Data Retained for Lawsuits — Update

March 21, 2012 17:40

Hollywood studios are mulling a massive copyright litigation campaign that entails suing individual users of Megaupload, the file-sharing service that shuttered in January in the wake of federal indictments targeting its operators on allegations of facilitating wanton infringement. The site had...

NSA Chief Denies, Denies, Denies Wired’s Domestic Spying Story

March 21, 2012 03:50

NSA head general Keith Alexander faced questioning from Congress Tuesday over a Wired cover story on NSA's expansion into the U.S. But his denials raise as many questions as they answer. NSA chief General Keith Alexander faced tough —  and funny — questions from Congress Tuesday...

Copyright Treaty Requires Congressional Support, Senator Says

March 20, 2012 21:12

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has proposed legislation requiring the Obama administration to secure congressional legislative approval for the United States to participate in an international anti-piracy treaty, a position at odds with the Obama administration.Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) Sen. Ron Wyden...

DuQu Mystery Language Solved With the Help of Crowdsourcing

March 19, 2012 13:00

A group of researchers who recently asked the public for help in figuring out a mysterious language used in the DuQu virus have solved the puzzle, thanks to crowdsourcing help from programmers who wrote in to offer suggestions and clues.A group of researchers who recently asked the public for help...

The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)

March 15, 2012 23:24

The National Security Agency's immensely secret project in the Utah desert will intercept, analyze, and store yottabytes of the world’s communications—including yours.Photo: Name withheld The spring air in the small, sand-dusted town has a soft haze to it, and clumps of green-gray...

Senators Demand DOJ Release Secret Spy Court Rulings

March 15, 2012 22:26

Two Democratic senators urged the Obama administration Thursday to declassify secret court rulings that provide broader interpretations of the domestic spy law known as the USA Patriot. A secret tribunal known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court has issued classified rulings about...

Real Name Registration Threatens The Lively World Of China’s Microblogs

March 15, 2012 20:07

Twitter-like services are hugely popular in China, and though there is much censorhip people have found clever ways to speak out. But that may all this may change in the face of a new, more stringent policy designed to clamp down on free expression where other methods have been less successful. In...

FBI Can’t Crack Android Pattern-Screen Lock

March 14, 2012 21:19

Pattern-screen locks on Android phones are secure, apparently so much so that they have stumped the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The bureau claims in federal court documents that forensics experts performed "multiple attempts" to access the contents of a Samsung Exhibit II handset, but failed...