Yesterday, researchers from Germany’s University of Ulm reported that some Android applications transmit sensitive authentication data without properly securing it, making people vulnerable to having their private data (e.g. Calendar Contacts, Pictures) accessed by an attacker. When a vulnerable device transmits its authentication data, an attacker can eavesdrop and view transmitted data if you are connected to a public WiFi [...]

Contrary to popular belief, the iPad 2 isn’t the only tablet computer in the world. Yes, it is rather wonderful, and the game support is staggering, but there are still some niggling issues that take the shine off the supremely shiny device. Consider the bizarre lack of Flash support, which creates a distinctly web 1.0 browsing experience, or the upscaled [...]

Astaro, the German company behind the suite of Linux-based network and host-based security applications and devices, has been acquired by Sophos, a UK-based provider of enterprise network and endpoint security solutions. An email to that effect was sent to Astaro’s users and partners today. Excerpts from the email reads: Dear Astaro Customers and Users, In 2009 we began to expand [...]

There comes a time in a Linux-loving geek’s life when he or she needs a new challenge. Making desktop apps isn’t hacking it anymore and building yet-another-website seems passe. If you want to jump into the world of mobile, here are a few reasons why HP webOS is the platform for you. 1: It’s free – There’s no cost to [...]

The U.S. Government is determined to put an end to online piracy. In an attempt to give copyright holders and the authorities all the tools required to disable access to so-called rogue sites, lawmakers will soon introduce the PROTECT IP Act. Through domain seizures, ISP blockades, search engine censorship, and cutting funding of allegedly copyright infringing websites, the bill takes [...]

Everyone loves standards, right? When is the last time you heard a vendor proudly say that their product or service was closed and proprietary? However, it also seems that every time a new IT architecture sweeps through the market, this time one based on cloud models, the lessons of the critical value of standards needs to be relearned. While it [...]

If you sometimes find yourself needing an open wireless network in order to check your email from a car, a street corner, or a park, you may have noticed that they’re getting harder to find. Stories like the one over the weekend about a bunch of police breaking down an innocent man’s door because he happened to leave his network [...]

The term ‘path dependence’ is generally used to describe the development of technological standards and how they ‘lock in’ a given technical solution. The QWERTY keyboard is often given as an example of path dependence – the fact that the costs of changing the keyboard to a better, more efficient solution, hinders change. The same can be said about much [...]

It didn’t take long for the blogosphere to respond to research presented on Wednesday that detailed a file in Apple iPhones and iPads unknown to the vast majority of its users that stored a long list of their time-stamped locations, sometimes with alarming detail. On Thursday, a forensics expert who sells software to law enforcement agencies gave a first-hand account [...]

Smart phones include geotagging features that many people aren’t aware of. People were up in arms this week about the privacy implications of news that the iPhone gathers location information and stores it in a file on the user’s computer. But experts say that smart-phone owners are unknowingly taking a much bigger risk with information about where they go all [...]

IMSLP, the largest public domain music library on the Internet, has just suffered a damaging attack on the site’s infrastructure. In a wrongful action over a single 90 year-old classical piece by Rachmaninoff, the UK’s Music Publishers Association convinced registrar GoDaddy to seize IMSLP’s domain name, which took the site completely offline. While most readers will be very familiar with [...]

EFF recently launched a campaign calling on companies to stand with their users when the government comes looking for data. (If you haven’t done so, sign our petition urging companies to provide better transparency and privacy.) This article will provide a more detailed look at one of the four categories in which a company can earn a gold star in [...]

The passwords of the future could become more secure and, at the same time, simpler to use. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden have been inspired by the physics of critical phenomena in their attempts to significantly improve password protection. The researchers split a password into two sections. With the first, easy-to-memorize [...]

The vast open landscape for users, developers, and industry that Google announced with the release of Android has been growing narrower and more opaque. When the service launched, Google made much of Android’s transparency and inclusiveness, which it said would enable innovation lacking in the mobile space. And Google has pointed fingers at Apple for its draconian, closed ways. But [...]

API keys to become first class citizens of security policies, just like SSL keys Much lip service is paid to protecting information in the Cloud, but the reality is often seat-of-the-pants Cloud security. Most organizations use some form of API keys to access their cloud services. Protection of these API keys is vital. This blog post will explore the issues [...]

An advisor to the European Court of Justice has said that an ISP involved in a long-running file-sharing dispute cannot be forced to block or filter copyright-infringing files at the behest of copyright holders. Such an action would amount to an invasion of customers’ privacy and violate rights guaranteed under EU law. The dispute between music rights group SABAM and [...]