Facebook is taking heat once again for perceived invasion of privacy, after it disclosed a research experiment conducted on users without their explicit consent. What do you think? Have you finally had enough of Facebook’s privacy invasions to say “enough is enough”? Take our poll…
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Remote access breach via POS system sparks yet more consumer data leak fears
A US supplier of point-of-sale (POS) equipment has informed its clients of a security breach in the remote access system it uses to log into clients’ networks, meaning hackers could have used the system to steal payment data.
Microsoft takes down No-IP DNS domains in cybercrime fight – right or wrong? [POLL]
Vote in our poll! Was Microsoft’s takeover of 23 of another company’s domain names a justifiable step in dealing with cybercrime, or a disruptive step too far?
EFF sues NSA over hoarding of zero days
Wouldn’t it be nice to know just how, exactly, the spy agency decides whether to silently exploit zero days for snooping purposes while leaving businesses and individuals in the dark with their bellies exposed? The EFF has filed a FOIA lawsuit to help find answers. 
Did Facebook’s emotion experiment break the law? ICO probes
Did Facebook’s emotional manipulation study break data protection laws? The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office is to investigate the experiment, which caused outrage after it manipulated the feeds of close to 700,000 users to determine how they reacted to positive or negative news.
Anatomy of a buffer overflow – Google’s “KeyStore” security module for Android
Here’s a cautionary tale about a bug, courtesy of IBM. Not that IBM had the bug, just to be clear: Google had the bug, and IBM researchers spotted it.
Supreme Court refuses to drag Google out of its Street View privacy wreckage
Google’s planning to slurp up ever more data, from wearables, fitness apps and more. It sure would be nice for Google if the Street View fiasco would fade away and stop reminding people of how they snooped on data and then lied about it, but the Supreme Court isn’t disposed to helping it out on this one. 
Ex-boyfriend avoids jail for posting offensive update on woman’s Facebook account
The case – one which involves prosecution over damage to a social media account – is reportedly unprecedented. The guilty party was facing a maximum of 10 years in prison and a €10,000 fine, with a judge who had no precedents to go on when it came time for sentencing. 
Facebook shrugs as ’emotional contagion’ research outrages its users
Some users saw a dash more positive items in their feeds; some received a more grim daily dose, as the researchers cut out happy tidings. The researchers’ conclusion: yes, emotional states are contagious, and no, seeing friends post happy news does not necessarily make people want to jump off ledges. The internet’s reaction: how dare you manipulate emotions without informed consent?
Microsoft stops Patch Tuesday emails, blames Canada, then does U-turn
The decree mentions “changing governmental policies concerning the issuance of automated electronic messaging” – a head-scratcher that Microsoft spokespeople subsequently clarified by pointing to a new Canadian anti-spam law that takes effect today.