Showing Archived Posts

WhatsApp Partially Blocked in China; Google Overhauls Mobile Search

Posted July 19th, 2017 at 1:31 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Chinese Government Partially Blocks WhatsApp Service The WhatsApp messaging service ran afoul of Chinese government censors as part of a wider effort to restrict messengers that do not follow the country’s surveillance policies. The government partially blocked messages in China on Monday, with users reporting instances of undelivered messages that contain pictures […]

Ransomware Payouts on the Rise; STEM Stigmas Start as Early as Age 6

Posted April 26th, 2017 at 12:55 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Symantec: Cyber Extortion Demands Surge as Victims Keep Paying Hackers are getting bolder as more of their victims are willing to pay hefty sums to free their computers from malicious software, according to cybersecurity firm Symantec. The trend is encouraging cybercriminals to demand increasingly hefty sums from users. The average amount tripled […]

Brexit Vote Site May Have Been Hacked; Net Neutrality Fight Begins

Posted April 12th, 2017 at 1:44 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: UK Lawmakers: Brexit Referendum Website Might Have Been Hacked Rumors of possible manipulations swirled early on in last year’s Brexit referendum saga. But now, a UK legislative committee says the website that allowed more than a million potential voters to register for the referendum might have been hacked. Last June, the British […]

Amazon Offerings Irk India; Americans Split on Encryption

Posted January 26th, 2017 at 11:03 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Amazon Has an India Problem Amazon, looking to expand in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, has run into trouble with Indian officials on ‘sensitivity’ issues, for lack of a better word. First, it angered a lot of people a couple of weeks ago with a doormat bearing the Indian flag, for […]

Grocery Shopping, According to Amazon; Beware This New Email Scam

Posted January 12th, 2017 at 11:58 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Why Amazon Go Presages New Era of Smart Supermarkets Technology is changing everything we do, and that could soon include the way you shop at the grocery store next door, if Amazon has its way. The company is testing Amazon Go, cashier-free stores that use apps and cameras to keep track of […]

Evernote Takes Liberties With User Data; Drone Deliveries Makes History

Posted December 14th, 2016 at 12:00 pm (UTC-4)
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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 […]

German Firm Suffers Massive Cyberattack; Facebook Tackles Fake News

Posted December 8th, 2016 at 11:49 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: ThyssenKrupp Secrets Stolen in ‘Massive’ Cyberattack Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG conglomerate said Thursday a massive cyberattack stole trade secrets from its steel production and manufacturing plant design divisions. The attack was discovered in April and traced back to February. The company, one of the world’s largest steel makers, is still trying to determine […]

Connected Toys Raise New Fears; Hackers Target Wi-Fi Router Keys

Posted December 6th, 2016 at 12:43 pm (UTC-4)
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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 […]

Google Search Points Out US Election Polls; Twitter Bot Tracks Dictators

Posted October 13th, 2016 at 1:03 pm (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Google Now Will Tell You Where You Can Vote in US Election The clock is ticking ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, and Google is offering to point you in the direction of the nearest polling station. Starting Thursday, searching in English or Spanish for “where to vote” will yield […]

Goodbye, iPhone Headphone Jack; Ireland Backs Apple Against EU Fine

Posted September 8th, 2016 at 11:58 am (UTC-4)
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Today’s Tech Sightings: Eulogy for the iPhone Headphone Jack Twitter burst into a flurry of activity Wednesday when Apple declared the death of the iPhone headphone jack at its iPhone 7 event in San Francisco. The tech giant replaced the jack with wireless earbuds, outfitted with their own communications chip. Apple described the move to […]