Linux reached the entirely respectable age of 23 this week, more or less. Paul Ducklin looks at what might have been…
Monthly Archives: August 2014
OMG, you would not BELIEVE what Facebook thinks about click-baiting
Facebook is cracking down on those click-baiting headlines – you know, the ones that say “YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT THIS GIRL DID NEXT”, or “Watch what happens when this guy puts a BATTERY in a MICROWAVE”.
“Lizard Squad” hackers force PSN offline and Sony exec from the sky
Hackers calling themselves “Lizard Squad” tweeted a bomb threat that forced a plane with Sony Online Entertainment’s president on board to divert for an emergency landing on Sunday. At the same time, a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack flooded traffic to Sony’s PlayStation Network, forcing the gaming network offline for a short time.
Do Not Track – the privacy standard that’s melting away
Do Not Track hasn’t been in the news lately but that’s only because it’s failing too slowly for the naked eye to see. It’s melting away like a giant glacier and its meltwater is slowly washing away any hope for an industry standard that puts consumers in control of who can track them.
Duping the machine – the cunning malware that throws off researchers
Traditionally, when malware detects that it is not running in a genuine victim setting, it will simply exit immediately. But there’s a certain subset of malware families that are more cunning when they detect an analysis environment…
220 million records stolen, 16 arrested in massive South Korean data breach
South Korean authorities have revealed a massive data breach that has affected over half of the country’s 50 million citizens. The stolen records include real names, account names, passwords and resident registration numbers from a number of website registrations across online game and movie ticket sites. 16 people have been arrested. 
Watch out for fake versions of Flappy Bird sequel Swing Copters in Google Play Store!
Remember Flappy Bird, and the imposter apps that swarmed around at his death? The imposters were back in force at the birth of Flappy’s follow-on game, Swing Copters…
How to improve your Twitter security and privacy
We don’t lump Twitter in the same privacy bracket as, say, Facebook. But like any social network, Twitter is vulnerable to oversharing, data leakage and unintended consequences. We take a look at Twitter’s privacy settings, find out what they really mean, and tell you how fix them up right now, before it’s too late.
Silk Road suspect Ross Ulbricht hit with three new drug charges
New charges have been filed against Ross Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind online drug marketplace Silk Road.
Secret Service says “Backoff” malware hit 1000 businesses – 6 tips to keep your data safe
In a security advisory from the US Secret Service, the government said the malware known as Backoff has struck more than 1000 US companies since October 2013…