InsideTech

Security is a serious concern now more than ever, with hackers and cybercriminals becoming more organized and looking to profit on a wealth of stolen information.  Typically problems fall into the PICNIC variety - Problem In Chair, Not In Computer - but that does not change the fact that some platforms due to design are more vulnerable to attack. Typically vulnerability ...

Q. The other day, my Internet service went down as it does from time to time. But this particular time, I needed to check my e-mail for an important reply I was expecting. After some frustrating time passed, I happened to notice that there was a Wi-Fi signal available. I have no idea to whom the service belonged but I suspected ...

Nov. 18 - Twelve years after a change in rules allowed drug companies to bombard our televisions with prescription drug ads, I still get angry every time one of these noxious commercials appears. No matter what the drug industry claims about their educational value, these spots are nothing more than the handiwork of snake oil salesmen pitching their potions to ...

One of the pleasant surprises of diving back into the world of Windows was exploring Windows Live's apps, which bundle e-mail, file storage, social networking, instant messaging, photo sharing and blogging into one clean, organized online spot. The offerings are more than enough for average computer users, and Windows Live is the closest thing I've used to serving as a one-stop ...

Nov. 10 - The target of thieves who stole more than $2,000 worth of gear last week at a Rock Hill hotel is a Fort Mill-based National Guardsmen leaving today for training and then Afghanistan. Sgt. Jimmy Butler, 28, who served with the Fort Mill unit in Iraq in 2003-2004 and has been in the guard for 10 years, said ...

Blind phone hacker's reign comes to a close On June 12, 2006, SWAT police stormed a house in Alvarado, Texas.  They had received a call from what appeared to be the phone number, from an individual who reported that he was holding hostages and had killed family members with an AK47 while high on hallucinogenic drugs.  The operation, which likely cost ...

MOSCOW - When a police officer posted a video on YouTube complaining of rampant abuse in Russian law enforcement, it seemed like a lonely voice in a sea of social media. Since then, three more officers have come forward with their own YouTube videos making similar accusations - and others are lining up to do the same. In a country ...

LONDON - Rogue employees at a major mobile phone company illegally sold millions of customer records to rival firms, Britain's information watchdog said Tuesday. Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, said the case was a serious breach of data privacy, and he called for harsher punishments for offenders. "The existing paltry fines ... are simply not enough to deter people from engaging ...

WASHINGTON - Hackers are increasingly targeting law firms and public relations companies with a sophisticated e-mail scheme that breaks into their computer networks to steal sensitive data, often linked to large corporate clients doing business overseas. The FBI has issued an advisory that warns companies of "noticeable increases" in efforts to hack into the law firms' computer systems - a ...

'The state has refused to pay the $10M ransom demand.' - Days after it was revealed a hacker successfully compromised the Virginia Health database and stole records of more than 8 million patients; the state of Virginia announced it will not pay a requested $10 million ransom. The database is used by pharmacies and doctors to track narcotics and painkiller prescriptions, ...

'Facebook is believed to be under attack by a relatively organized group of cybercriminals.' - Facebook, the world's largest social networking site with over 200 million users, is an attractive target for hackers and cyber criminals.  Unsurprisingly, the site has been increasingly under attack in recent months.  The latest attack comes in a cohesive phishing assault designed to lure Facebook's users ...

'Unfortunately, the fix won't arrive until next Vista service pack.' - Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is one of the most maligned operating systems Microsoft has ever produced. The operating system has been panned by some users and critics and has become the brunt of jokes in commercials from rival Apple for its Mac computer systems. One of the key things ...

Research In Motion Security Chief Scott Totzke recently said there is a chance smartphones could one day be hijacked and turned into rogue phones on a much larger scale than what is being discovered now. Totzke, who is RIM's VP of BlackBerry Security, claims summer DDos attacks against South Korea and the United States, reportedly led by North Korea, could also ...

Nov. 19 - School rules are trickier in cyberspace. As social networking sites attract younger followers, schools across the country are grappling with the fuzzy boundary between harmless online chatter and valid security concerns. The issue hit North Texas this month when two Frisco middle-schoolers were suspended for threatening to kill their teacher on Facebook. Legal experts say districts face an ...

BEIJING - Google Inc. said Friday that it was working to block pornography reaching users of its Chinese service after a mainland watchdog found the search engine turned up large numbers of links to obscene and vulgar sites. Google said in a statement that company officials had met government representatives "to discuss problems with the Google.cn service and its serving ...

Nearly 1 in 4 teenage drivers admit to texting while driving, with half of all teenagers admitting they've been in a vehicle with a teenage driver who was texting. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research numbers indicate drivers under the age of 20 had the highest number of distracted-driving fatalities in 2008.  In the No. 2 spot, according to ...

NEW YORK - Footage leaked from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" reveals that players of the upcoming video game can shoot innocent civilians in an airport in a realistic rendering of a terrorist attack. The game, which has an "M" rating for mature audiences, comes out next month in what its publisher hopes may be the most lucrative launch ...

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography. Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses - the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen. Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs ...

Security experts at TrendMicro have discovered at least 1,300 public Google Reader pages infected with a new Koobface type of attack. Hackers have employed Google Reader accounts to host links redirecting users to a Koobface infected page. google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);  

The use of a computer Trojan played a critical role in gathering intelligence regarding a now-destroyed secret nuclear reactor in Syria. The information-gathering program was planted by Mossad operatives on the laptop of a Syrian official while he was staying in London.