Looking back at this past year’s tech scene, 2016 distinguished itself as the year of ransomware and fake news. It witnessed the ongoing battle over privacy and Samsung’s exploding phones, and saw the continued rise of artificial intelligence and the proliferation of drones. Here are some of the year’s leading stories: The ransom year While […]
Apple Eyes Production in India; Thieving Russian Botnet Exposed
Posted December 20th, 2016 at 1:21 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: WSJ: Apple in Talks With India to Manufacture Locally Apple has been in communication with the Indian government to explore manufacturing its products locally in India. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple sent a letter to New Delhi to lay out manufacturing plans and request financial incentives. India’s Prime Minister, Narendra […]
Taking Your Data to the Cloud? Read the Fine Print First.
Posted December 16th, 2016 at 1:00 am (UTC-4)
Every time you reach for your smartphone to access your social media feed or dig up a contact, you are tapping into remote servers that house your data, also known as the cloud. And while most people probably don’t give this a second thought, they should – if they want to keep their information private […]
One Billion Yahoo Accounts Hacked; Messenger AI Gets Bigger Role
Posted December 15th, 2016 at 12:50 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: One More Time:1 billion Yahoo Accounts Stolen in Biggest Hack Ever Yahoo announced Wednesday that one billion user accounts were hacked and stolen in 2013 – the largest hack ever and the second for the beleaguered company. In September, Yahoo revealed that up to 500 million user accounts were compromised. The breach […]
Evernote Takes Liberties With User Data; Drone Deliveries Makes History
Posted December 14th, 2016 at 12:00 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Evernote ‘Privacy’ Policy Update Allows Employees to Read Your Notes If you are using the Evernote app to take notes, you might want to reconsider. Evernote’s latest update to its “privacy” policy lets some of the company’s employees read your notes in the interest of improving machine learning. It bears mentioning that […]
‘Pokémon GO’ Goes to India; ‘Popcorn Time’ Redefines Ransomware
Posted December 13th, 2016 at 10:17 am (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Reliance Jio Brings ‘Pokémon GO’ to India Starting Wednesday India is about to catch the Pokémon GO craze – beginning Wednesday. The country’s 4G-LTE carrier, Reliance Jio, has partnered with Niantic, Pokémon GO’s publisher and developer to bring the game to the Indian masses. Unofficially, however, many Indians have already been busy […]
Malicious Ads Put Millions at Risk; the Trouble With Smart Cities
Posted December 7th, 2016 at 1:03 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Malicious Online Ads Expose Millions to Possible Hack Cybersecurity firm ESET says infected banner ads have put millions of internet users at risk of installing Trojans and spyware on their computers since October. The company said Stegano, as the attack campaign is called, has spread from malicious ads on several reputable sites, […]
Connected Toys Raise New Fears; Hackers Target Wi-Fi Router Keys
Posted December 6th, 2016 at 12:43 pm (UTC-4)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Consumer Groups Warn Connected Toys Open Bedroom Door to Strangers The Norwegian Consumer Council and various consumer rights groups in Europe and the United States say Internet-connected toys subject children to hidden marketing messages and let them chat with strangers over their Bluetooth connection. The toys also record conversations and send them […]