Today’s Tech Sightings: Downing North Korea’s Internet Not Much of a Scalp North Korea lost its Internet connectivity for half a day Monday, though the reasons for the blackout remain unclear. But that is hardly a major loss for a country that barely has 1,000 Internet addresses, one Internet service provider and one connection to […]
Privacy; North Korea; and the Spider Dress
Posted December 23rd, 2014 at 2:08 pm (UTC-5)
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Law Enforcement Still Playing Catch-Up on Cyberharassment
Posted December 19th, 2014 at 2:06 pm (UTC-5)
A recent spike in cyberharassment that in some cases included threats of violence has raised questions about the effectiveness of law enforcement in cyberspace, where the abusers’ trail is often harder to follow. The absence of a direct line of contact makes it “a little more difficult” for law enforcement to track online harassers, said […]
WordPress Infected; TorrentLocker; Sony’s Nightmare
Posted December 18th, 2014 at 2:05 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Technology Trends For 2015: Part One What will the 2015 tech landscape look like? Expect more wearable tech, more encryption and more space ventures. Who Really Hacked Sony Pictures? (It Probably Wasn’t North Korea) Did North Korea orchestrate the destructive hack attack that targeted Sony Pictures a few weeks ago? U.S. officials […]
‘The Interview’ Cyberwar; 3D-Printing Cancer; Apple in Russia
Posted December 17th, 2014 at 2:04 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Not Even North Korea Can Stop the Internet Those behind the devastating hack attack that targeted Sony Pictures Entertainment have also threatened violence against theaters showing the movie The Interview. To thwart that group’s effort to prevent people from seeing the picture, which centers around an assassination plot against North Korean leader […]
Unmasking Tor; 3-D Printing; Sony Blues; Facebook Drops Bing
Posted December 16th, 2014 at 2:38 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor Users According to WIRED, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used an abandoned Metasploit project called the “Decloaking Engine” in 2012 to launch “Operation Torpedo” to identify child port suspects using Tor’s anonymous network to hide. Patient-Specific Knee Parts Can […]
Online Harassment Is a Game of Control
Posted December 12th, 2014 at 2:45 pm (UTC-5)
The ugly episode that has come to be known as GamerGate may have receded, but it left in its wake some unanswered questions. Why did a seemingly legitimate discussion of gaming journalism devolve into harassment and threats of violence against women journalists and critics? What triggered this behavior and was it a reflection of offline […]
3-D Printing Goes Wild; Bitcoin Finds Microsoft; the Hacking Wars
Posted December 11th, 2014 at 2:44 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Silicon Valley Summit Explores Ways to Make Tech Workforce More Diverse Leading tech companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook and many others, are participating in a California summit to look at ways to increase diversity in the tech sector, currently dominated by white and Asian men. Microsoft Begins Accepting Bitcoin Microsoft has added […]
Choking Russia’s Internet; Uber Troubles; IoT; Google Hangouts
Posted December 10th, 2014 at 2:43 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Russia’s Creeping Descent Into Internet Censorship A new Russian law could soon prevent foreign Internet companies from reaching the country unless they set up local servers. The move would effectively put these companies at the mercy of the Russian government, which has been gradually expanding censorship. Obama Becomes First US President to Write […]
Firefighting With Technology; Sony, Uber Woes; Linux Malware
Posted December 9th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: FBI Official Says ‘No Attribution’ to North Korea in Sony Hack Probe The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says the FBI has not confirmed suspicions that North Korea is the culprit in the recent Sony Entertainment hack attack that wreaked havoc on the company’s systems. PlayStation Network Hacked ‘By Lizard Squad’ Sony […]
Your Money or Your Data: Ransomware Is on the Rise
Posted December 5th, 2014 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
“Your money or your data” seems to be the favored mantra these days as cybercriminals look for safer, more effective ways to fool victims into parting with their money. It’s called ransomware. And it is on the rise, according to security experts interviewed by TECHtonics. In some scenarios, victims are locked out of their cellphone […]