‘Passwords are dead,’ Google security expert says

If you’re a tech startup that plans to secure user data with passwords, the “game is over for” you, a Google executive said. “Passwords are dead,” Heather Adkins, the company’s manager of information security, said on a TechCrunch Disrupt panel, CNET reports. “Passwords are done at Google.” According to Adkins,…

Sep 12, 2013 7:46 PM CDT

FTC examines Facebook’s facial-recognition feature as a privacy violation

Facebook’s “Tag Suggest,” which uses facial-recognition technology to match faces in photos with users’ names, is being examined by the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether it violates the site’s privacy policy. Tag Suggest drew criticism from privacy advocates, Reuters reports. In 2011, Facebook entered into an agreement with the…

Sep 12, 2013 5:01 PM CDT

Hack attacks could fuel carjacks, experts say

It wasn’t easy. But with the help of a federal grant, expert computer hackers were able to take the time to figure out how to exploit vulnerabilities in vehicle computer systems, with potentially disastrous results. “We could control steering, braking, acceleration to a certain extent, seat belts, lights, horn, speedometer,…

Sep 4, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

New hacker technology threatens lawyers’ mobile devices

Sep 1, 2013 8:10 AM CDT

Add an extra layer of password verification to help safeguard your data and accounts

Sep 1, 2013 7:30 AM CDT

NSA may have gathered ‘tens of thousands’ of emails under discontinued program, court says

The National Security Agency may have unlawfully collected as many as tens of thousands of emails and other electronic communications between Americans under a now-discontinued surveillance program, according to a newly declassified secret court opinion. The 2011 opinion, declassified by U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, shows why the surveillance program was…

Aug 21, 2013 8:30 PM CDT

Brazilians consider privacy laws in wake of NSA surveillance revelations

Online U.S. and global businesses selling to Brazil-based consumers may have new privacy laws to contend with in the wake of concerns over revelations about National Security Agency surveillance activities. The federal government in Brazil has proposed legislation that would force companies to store personal data collected about Brazilians on…

Aug 21, 2013 2:59 PM CDT

Justices send each other paper memos, not email messages, Kagan says

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was asked at an appearance Tuesday whether the justices email each other, she responded that they send each other paper memos—just like they did when she was a Supreme Court clerk in 1987. “The justices are not necessarily the most technologically sophisticated people,”…

Aug 20, 2013 7:12 PM CDT

Unlocked office door can be as big a threat as computer hackers, experts say

With all the attention that’s been focused on cybersecurity lately, it’s easy for those in charge of business operations to lose sight of a simple fact. Criminals don’t necessarily have to hack into the computer system to get hold of confidential information from law firms or other companies. Often, employees…

Aug 15, 2013 5:52 PM CDT

Cyberattacks need to be fought with laws at federal and state levels, ABA House resolves

The ABA House of Delegates approved a resolution calling for the modification of or creation of laws at all levels of government to fight hacking by governments or others into computer systems and networks used by lawyers and law firms. Further, it urges the U.S. government to work with other…

Aug 12, 2013 11:19 PM CDT

Witness harassment has gone digital, and the justice system is playing catch-up

Aug 1, 2013 9:40 AM CDT

Feds say new hacking case is biggest ever, with over 160M card numbers stolen from 12 companies

Federal prosecutors have unveiled what they are calling the largest computer hacking and data breach conspiracy scheme ever criminally prosecuted, in which computer systems for a dozen companies were breached. Operated from 2005 to 2012, the scheme allegedly resulted in the theft of more than160 million credit and debit card…

Jul 25, 2013 7:25 PM CDT

Traveling to China? Don’t take a laptop computer, universities warn academics

Colleges and universities in the U.S. are a prime target for hackers, who are outstripping efforts to prevent, or even detect, their cyber attacks, experts tell the New York Times (reg. req.) “We get 90,000 to 100,000 attempts per day, from China alone, to penetrate our system,” said Bill Mellon,…

Jul 17, 2013 5:42 PM CDT

Would US jurors convict Edward Snowden?

Edward Snowden remains at a Russian airport where he officially applied for temporary asylum in the country on Tuesday. But what it he is returned to the United States? Would a jury convict him for leaking information about U.S. data collection? The Atlantic and the Lawfare blog consider the possibility,…

Jul 17, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

Stalkers steer sex-seeking strangers to victims’ homes through false online ads

About 100 men showed up at a Virginia women’s home expecting sex after her vengeful ex-boyfriend duplicitously solicited them using her identity. Frightened by her unwanted and in some cases aggressive visitors (one came with a crowbar and another rammed her security gate), the woman is one of a growing…

Jul 15, 2013 9:15 PM CDT