Cisco: 12 Million PCs Have Backdoors; IoT’s Privacy Dilemma

Posted April 28th, 2016 at 12:38 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings:

FILE - A man poses in front of on a computer display showing the word 'cyber' in binary code, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Reuters)

FILE – A man poses in front of on a computer display showing the word ‘cyber’ in binary code, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Reuters)

Cisco Finds Backdoor Installed on 12 Million PCs

Researchers working with U.S. technology firm Cisco have discovered software that installed backdoors on 12 million computers around the world. The software, found by Cisco’s Talos security intelligence and research group, was developed by a French online advertising firm called Tuto4PC that has been under investigation for questionable practices. The software installs with admin rights and a host of other rights it should not have.

Can the Presence of a Robot Affect Whether Humans Behave Ethically?

Several studies coming out of Cornell University have been focused on experiments to determine if human behavior changes in the presence of robots. The results are fascinating.

The Privacy Implications of Microphone-enabled Devices

Living in a world of always-on connected gadgets might seem like a convenient must-have for a lot of people. But most average Internet of Things (IoT) users are probably unaware that Wi-Fi connected personal assistants that respond to voice commands are constantly listening, collecting, storing and analyzing their data.

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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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