Tech Sightings, June 17, 2014

Posted June 17th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-4)
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Apple Opens Applications for $100 million Program to Boost Tech in Schools

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook is soliciting applications for its part of a White House initiative to improve connectivity and technology in schools. The initiative aims to get 95 percent of American students on high-speed networks by 2019.

Cyberprotesters Target Brazil’s Digital Government Infrastructure During World Cup

Italian cybersecurity company Tiger Security says attacks by hacktivists and cybercriminals targeting Brazilian government infrastructure have increased since the end of April. A recent report about the state of digital security during this year’s World Cup games shows that most of the attacks are coming from India, Turkey, Europe, Mexico and the U.S.

One Group With 51% of Bitcoin Mining Power Threatens Currency’s Safety

With Bitcoin, the concern has always been that if a miner or a group of miners manage to grab 51% of the total hashing power on the network, then they would wield significant power over the entire blockchain – Bitcoin’s transaction database. Now, for the first time, Ghash.io passed the 51% mark for more than 12 hours this week.

Iraqis Turn to Whisper App During Conflict

While Twitter and Facebook investigate recent service disruptions amid Iraq’s spiraling conflict, Iraqis have quietly turned to Whisper to share information anonymously.

Facebook Turns User Tracking ‘Bug’ Into Data Mining ‘Feature’

Contrary to earlier assurances that Facebook “does not track users across the web,” the company has turned around and changed its privacy and advertising policies to allow it to track users outside of Facebook.

How to Anonymize Everything You Do Online

In this digital age of snoops and cybercriminals, it is becoming increasingly difficult for online users to protect their privacy. But a variety of new tools aim to help them do just that.

Indian ‘Peace Force’ Launches Facebook Clean-Up Mission

A new campaign, set up by Indian social entrepreneur Ravi Ghate, hopes to sweep offending content off the pages of Facebook. Thousands have answered the call, signing up to help remove  what they consider to be offensive material and raising concerns that they might be trying to “morally police” Facebook.

Aida Akl
Aida Akl is a journalist working on VOA's English Webdesk. She has written on a wide range of topics, although her more recent contributions have focused on technology. She has covered both domestic and international events since the mid-1980s as a VOA reporter and international broadcaster.

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