Facebook apologizes for miserable, automated Year In Review posts
You must have seen them whilst browsing your Facebook feed, you probably even have one of your own. Facebook took it upon itself to produce a Year In Review post for users, pulling together photos from throughout the year into one delightful, cheery look back at the previous 12 months. But for some people things weren’t quite so cheerful.
The algorithm that was used to collect photos for inclusion in the posts picked out not only photos of the happy family get-togethers, the unforgettable vacations and so on. Some users were distraught to find that some of the bleaker moments from the year had been highlighted in a presentation entitled "It's been a great year!". Now Facebook has apologized for the upset.
Lizard Squad attacks Tor network, ignoring warning from Anonymous
Lizard Squad, the group believed to be behind the Christmas DDoS attacks on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network now has a new target -- Tor. Just a week ago, the leader of the Tor Project, Roger Dingledine, warned that the anonymizing network could come under attack, and now it seems as though his prediction was correct.
War has already been declared on Lizard Squad by Anonymous, but this does not seem to have been enough to deter the group from its attacks. Reports suggest that more than 3,000 Tor relays have been compromised, and there are fears that this could impact the anonymity Tor was designed to offer.
Google's latest Transparency Report shows a drop in government data removal requests
After Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the surveillance activities of the NSA, there has been greater public interest in what data governments are obtaining from technology companies, and what data was subject to censorship and removal. Back in 2010 Google started something of a trend with its first transparency report, and today sees the launch of the latest edition.
Covering the six months from July to December 2013, the latest Transparency Report shows that while there were more requests than the same period in 2012, there has been a drop when compared to the first half of 2013. In all, Google received 3,105 requests to remove 14,637 items, compared to 3,846 requests and 24,737 items in H1 2013, and 2,289 requests and 24,191 items in H2 2012.
BlackBerry works with Boeing on secure, self-destructing smartphone
BlackBerry and Boeing are working together on a new super-secure smartphone. The announcement came at an earnings call at which BlackBerry CEO, John Chen, revealed scant details about the collaboration. What we do know is that the partnership is designed to create a secure device that can be used by US defense and homeland security workers.
Everybody's paranoid nowadays, but the defense sector is one that has a particular need for security. Boomberg reports that the phone is known as the Boeing Black, and it runs on top of BES -- a platform already known and trusted by many enterprise customers.
Tor network could be attacked and knocked offline this week
Roger Dingledine, leader of the Tor Project, has warned it could be the subject of an attack this week. In a blog post, he cautioned users that the project had learned that directory authorities might be seized in an attempt to incapacitate the network. Dingledine does not hint at who might be responsible for a future attack, but reassured users that anonymity would be maintained.
Directory authorities are used by Tor clients to help route traffic through the network, ensuring that users remains anonymous at each stage. An attack on directory authorities would probably have little effect to start with, but there is potential to take down the network if enough servers were targeted.
How your data will be at risk in 2015
The world of information security is, as we know, a constant arms race between the hackers and cyber criminals and the protection industry.
Since the focus has turned to making money rather than simply causing disruption it's become big business too. 2014's string of retail and other security breaches is testament to this.
Secret CoolReaper backdoor for hackers discovered in Chinese Android phones
China's monitoring and control of how its citizens access the internet is something that has been going on for some time. Now there is something new for Chinese smartphone owners to worry about. Security researchers at Palo Alto Networks have discovered a backdoor built into millions of handsets produced by Coolpad.
Known as CoolReaper, the backdoor potentially places more than 10 million smartphone owners at risk. The security firm conducted investigations after users complained on message boards about suspicious activity on their handsets. After downloading multiple copies of the stock ROM used on Chinese CoolPad phone, it was found that "the majority of the ROMs contained the CoolReaper backdoor".
Google increases security for desktop Gmail with Content Security Policy support
Google today revealed a new feature for Gmail that should help to increase inbox security. Newly added support for Content Security Policy (CSP) keeps Gmail extensions in check to ensure that none are malicious or try to interfere with your Gmail session.
It's essentially server-side malware protection for Gmail extensions, and this is just the latest move from Google that aims to increase inbox security. Email security is of interest to everyone online, but it's something that is particularly important to business and enterprise users -- groups Google is keen to keep happy.
Apple, Amazon, HP, Verizon and others back Microsoft's fight against US government
Microsoft is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the US government, and the fight has led to an unlikely alliance between several rival companies. Microsoft was handed a government order requesting access to emails stored at a datacenter in Ireland. The company has been battling the order for several months, and now Apple, Amazon, Verizon, and HP are among the big names lending their support to the fight.
It's not just technology firms who are putting their names forward in support of the challenge of the search warrant. Several global media outlets, including the Guardian, the Washington Post, and CNN as well as numerous trade associations and advocacy organizations have signaled their support for Microsoft.
Edward Snowden condemns Amazon's 'morally irresponsible' encryption policy -- users don't care
In a near-perfect example of how there is always more than one way to look at things, Edward Snowden has very different views on Amazon than Amazon users do. On Friday, Snowden appeared -- as ever -- via video link at the surveillance symposium at the Cato Institute. He condemned Amazon's lack of encryption of customers' searches, referring to the practice as "morally irresponsible".
But Snowden's condemnation of Amazon comes at the same time as a study by Bizrate Insights which finds that more than 45 percent of online shoppers trust the site with their payment and personal information. So why the disparity?
CIO jobs at risk as mobile computing weakens data governance
The shift to mobile computing has led to some major changes for enterprises, not least in how the security and confidentiality of data is governed.
A new report, commissioned by data protection specialist Druva from Forrester Consulting, surveyed 205 IT and legal professionals in enterprises in the US and UK. It suggests that 20 percent of CIOs could lose their jobs in 2016 for failing to implement information governance.
German and UK Internet users most likely to quit web services over privacy concerns
Internet users from the UK and Germany are more likely to stop using or delete an account for an online service than those from the United States, according to research into data privacy concerns.
The report by German software firm Open-Xchange, called Crossing the Line, investigated how online behavior has been affected by Edward Snowden’s revelations regarding government surveillance programs.
Blackphone launching a privacy-focused app store next year
Blackphone, the handset that claims to be able to protect users against surveillance and other security threats, is set to launch its own app store.
The service will be available from January 2015 and will offer privacy-focused apps and software that have been selected to provide the highest level of security available.
Iran planning to end Internet anonymity
The Iranian government is reportedly working on a new system to block Internet anonymity.
The Middle Eastern nation, which has a long history with online censorship, will be able to identify any individual who goes online in the country according to the AFP.
Idaho nurse gains backing of EFF and ACLU in fight against the NSA
Usually it's the big guys, or at least national and international organizations, that stand up to fight against the government. But on Monday, a nurse from Idaho will continue to fight the case she brought against Barack Obama and government intelligence agencies. Anna Smith says her Fourth Amendment rights were violated when the NSA collected data about her from phone records.
A district court ruled against Smith when she first started to fight the case, but now she has the backing of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho.
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