Computerworld Jaikumar Vijayan News

Texas drone bill sparks a battle

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:11:00 GMT

The battle to find a balance between privacy concerns and the beneficial use of drones for commercial and law enforcement purposes is in sharp focus in a bill that's winding its way through the Texas legislature.

Google allowing Android app vendors to illegally collect user data, lawsuit alleges

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:38:00 GMT

Several users of devices running Google's Android operating system have filed an amended version of an earlier lawsuit accusing the company of illegally collecting, and allowing others to collect, extensive amounts of mobile user data without proper notice or consent.

State social media privacy laws a mixed bag for businesses

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

New social media privacy laws that have been enacted in several states around the country, or are in the works, present something of a mixed bag for businesses.

First California lawsuit over mobile privacy issues crashes

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:46:00 GMT

A California state court has dismissed a closely watched lawsuit charging that Delta Air Lines failed to comply with state privacy laws for mobile applications

Bank security weaknesses led to cyber looting of $45M from ATMs

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:06:00 GMT

Alberto Yusi Lajud Pena, found dead in the Dominican Republic two weeks ago, was the leader of the New York cell of an international gang of cyber thieves that authorities allege stole a staggering $45 million from ATM machines around the world.

Bill would put mobile app vendors on the hook for privacy

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

The mobile industry's efforts to convince lawmakers that self-regulation alone is the best way to address growing concerns over privacy-invading mobile applications appears to be running into some headwind.

Chinese hackers master the art of lying in wait

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:39:00 GMT

The remarkable success that Chinese state-sponsored groups have had in infiltrating U.S. government, military and corporate networks in recent years should not be mistaken as a sign that China is gaining technical superiority over the U.S. in cyberspace, security experts say.

Pentagon accuses China of cyberattacks on U.S military, business targets

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:55:00 GMT

Chinese cyberespionage activities are fueling a rapid modernization of the country's defense and high tech industries, the Pentagon said in an unusually candid assessment of China's military and security developments last year.

Florida restricts use of drones by law enforcement officials

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

A new Florida law restricts the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, by state law enforcement officials. It's the first law of its kind in the country.

Security tools can't keep hackers at bay

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 06 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

Credit card data of customers of Schnucks supermarkets was exposed for months in a breach that was not closed until weeks after a card processing company issued an alert about fraudulent activity. Insider (registration required)

Spy court OK'd all U.S. wiretap requests it received in 2012

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:05:00 GMT

A special court established to review government requests for warrants to conduct electronic surveillance of suspected foreign spies received close to 1,900 warrant requests last year -- all of which it approved.

Breached dam data poses no threat to public, Army says

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:07:00 GMT

A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today downplayed the significance of a recent incident of unauthorized access to a database containing potentially sensitive information on thousands of high hazard dams across the country.

Printers, routers used as bots in DDoS attacks

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:05:00 GMT

Printers, routers, IP cameras, sensors and other Internet-connected devices are increasingly used to launch large distributed denial of service attacks, security firm Prolexic warned in a report this week.

Groups denounce FBI plan to require Internet backdoors for wiretaps

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:20:00 GMT

Privacy groups are denouncing a federal government move to force Internet companies like Facebook and Google to build backdoors that would let the FBI and other agencies snoop in on real time online communications.

CISPA appears doomed in Senate

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:53:00 GMT

Key lawmakers are suggesting that the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, better known as CISPA, will soon die in the U.S. Senate -- just like last year.

Judge rejects FBI's bid to hack computer of suspect in attempted cyberheist

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:30:00 GMT

A federal court in Houston has rejected an FBI request for a warrant to hack into the computer of a suspect in an attempted cyberheist.

Vulnerable terminal servers could let bad guys hack stoplights, gas pumps

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:06:00 GMT

Thousands of older systems, including those used to manage traffic lights, fuel pumps, point-of-sale terminals and building automation can be tampered with because they're insecurely connected to the Internet.

Wall Street pushes for exemptions in state social-media monitoring laws

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:46:00 GMT

Even as several states have put in place, or are proposing new laws barring employers from monitoring the social media activities of their employees, one Wall Street regulator is seeking exemptions to such rules for some financial services companies.

Florida poised to become first state with anti-drone law

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:01:00 GMT

A Florida bill that would restrict the use of airborne drones by state law enforcement officials is one signature away from becoming the first law of its kind in the country.

Boston bombings: Forensics on crowdsourced video will be a challenge

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:59:00 GMT

The attempt by law enforcement authorities in Boston to use crowdsourced video images and still photos to identify those responsible for the fatal bombings in the city earlier this week could prove challenging, but it's not unprecedented.

Schnucks supermarket chain struggled to find breach that exposed 2.4M cards

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:53:00 GMT

The Schnucks supermarket chain struggled for two weeks to find the source of a breach that exposed credit and debit card information on as many as 2.4 million customers.

White House signals it won't support CISPA in present form

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:48:00 GMT

In what's quickly turning out to be a replay of events from last year, the White House today signaled that it would not support the recently reintroduced Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) in its present form.

Update: House Intelligence panel OKs CISPA after closed door meeting

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:02:00 GMT

The U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday voted 18-2 in favor of a controversial information-sharing bill that was reintroduced in Congress this February after failing last year amid widespread protests from rights group and a White House veto threat.

DHS warns of spear-phishing campaign against energy companies

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:03:00 GMT

The Department of Homeland Security has a warning for organizations that post a lot of business and personal information on public web pages and social media sites: Don't do it.

Judge awards class action status in privacy lawsuit vs. comScore

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:57:00 GMT

A federal court in Chicago this week granted class action status to a lawsuit accusing comScore, one of the Internet's largest user tracking firms, of secretly collecting and selling Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords and other personal data collected from consumer systems.

Privacy groups, online firms gird for battle over California online data-disclosure bill

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:35:00 GMT

Internet companies and privacy advocates appear headed for a fight over a proposal to broaden California's so-called Shine the Light Law, which requires online companies to disclose to consumers how their personal information is used.

Harvard to review privacy policies in wake of email search scandal

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:21:00 GMT

Harvard University President Drew Faust has ordered up a review of the university's email privacy polices amid disclosures that a secret search of some deans' email accounts was broader than originally acknowledged.

Prosecutors, others involved in Swartz case express safety, privacy concerns

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:10:00 GMT

The U.S government and two other entities involved in investigations leading to the indictment of the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz have asked a federal court in Boston to redact the names of people involved in the case from documents being sought by Swartz's estate and by some lawmakers.

Spamhaus attacks expose huge open DNS server dangers

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:59:00 GMT

Massive distributed denial-of-service attacks on Spamhaus this week focused widespread attention on the huge security threats posed by millions of poorly configured Internet Domain Name System servers.

Update: Spamhaus hit by biggest-ever DDoS attacks

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:42:00 GMT

Anti-spam service Spamhaus has been hit with what several security firms today described as the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks ever seen.

Victim of $440K wire fraud can't blame bank for loss, judge rules

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:00:00 GMT

A federal court in Missouri has rejected an escrow firm's attempt to blame its bank for a $440,000 cyberheist in March 2010.

Legal experts pitch in to appeal AT&T hacker's sentence

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:00:00 GMT

Legal experts are stepping in to help hacker Andrew Auernheimer appeal his 41 month prison sentence for illegally accessing emails and other data belonging to about 120,000 iPad subscribers of AT&T's networks.

South Korea cyberattacks hold lessons for U.S.

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:11:00 GMT

U.S. companies and government agencies can learn from the large-scale disruptions that have hit several banks and media outlets in South Korea in the last 24 hours, security analysts said.

Supreme Court declines to hear petition over $222,000 music piracy judgment

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:05:00 GMT

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a Minnesota woman who has been fighting for years to reverse a $222,000 judgment for music piracy, finally ran out of legal appeals on Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her petition for a review of the case.

Judge ignores leniency plea, hands AT&T hacker a 41-month-sentence

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:36:00 GMT

A federal judge today sentenced hacker Andrew Auernheimer's to 41 months in prison for illegally accessing email addresses and other data belonging to more than 120,000 iPad subscribers from AT&T's networks.

AT&T hacker seeks sentencing leniency

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:28:00 GMT

Andrew Auernheimer, a hacker who was convicted last November of illegally accessing emails and other data belonging to 120,000 iPad 3G owners from AT&T's networks is seeking leniency in his sentencing from the court.

Retailer faces uphill battle in $13M lawsuit against Visa, analyst says

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:56:00 GMT

Specialty retailer Genesco faces an uphill battle in its precedent-setting $13.3 million lawsuit against Visa USA Inc., a Garner analyst said.

Retailer hauls Visa to court over $13.3M fine for payment card data breach

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:02:00 GMT

Genesco, a specialty retailer of footwear, sports apparel and related accessories has sued Visa USA for $13.3 million in fines that were assessed against the company after a credit card data breach in 2010.

U.S. court says feds need reasonable suspicion to search laptops at borders

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:40:00 GMT

Less than six week after the Department of Homeland Security issued a civil rights impact assessment saying that the government needed no warrant or cause to search electronic devices at U.S. borders, a federal appellate court has ruled otherwise.

Harvard scrambles to explain why it secretly searched deans' emails

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:05:00 GMT

Harvard University officials scrambled Monday to contain the fallout from a damaging report in The Boston Globe over the weekend disclosing how administrators secretly accessed email accounts belonging to 16 resident deans at the university.

Security concerns bedevil Chinese outsourcing

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:00:00 GMT

China's plan to create a competitive outsourcing industry was hit with another blow last month with the release of a report that lay bare, in ways never seen before, the extent of the security risks of working in the country.

VA disputes charge that it transmits unencrypted personal data over public Internet

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:38:00 GMT

The Office of Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has disputed a finding by the agency's Inspector General that several

Demand for IT security experts outstrips supply

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:03:00 GMT

Demand for information security experts in the United States is outstripping the available supply by a widening margin, according to a pair of recently released reports.

Return of CISPA: Cybersecurity boon or privacy threat?

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:56:00 GMT

Rights groups fear widespread sharing of personal information; security managers see threat information sharing as key part of corporate cyber defenses

IT security managers too focused on compliance, experts say

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:54:00 GMT

Companies with IT security strategies that focus mostly on complying with key standards are dangerously unprepared for emerging cyber threats, said security experts at the RSA Conference 2013 here this week.

Applying big data approaches to information security a challenge

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Applying big data approaches to information security can help enterprises build better situational awareness capabilities, but implementation could prove to be a major challenge, security experts said at the RSA Conference 2013 being held here this week.

Illinois lawmaker hastily pulls bill that would have stripped online anonymity

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:52:00 GMT

An Illinois state senator who introduced a bill that would have required anonymous online posters to reveal their true identities plans to withdraw the bill after taking intense criticism from those who opposed to it.

An inside look at Google's news-ranking algorithm

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:35:00 GMT

A patent application filed by Google last year provides a detailed look at some of the metrics the company considers when ranking news stories and deciding how prominently to display them on its Google News page.

Privacy groups protest CISPA bill

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:03:00 GMT

In what is turning out to be a repeat of last year, privacy rights groups launched an assault against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), barely a day after the controversial legislation was reintroduced in Congress on Wednesday.

Obama executive order redefines critical infrastructure

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:00:00 GMT

President Barack Obama's cybersecurity executive order, signed on Tuesday, could significantly expand the list of companies categorized as part of U.S. critical infrastructure sector, security experts said Wednesday.