Angry online subscribers who had their Web surfing habits tracked in detail are suing a Silicon Valley startup that created the controversial technology and six Internet service providers that briefly used it. The 15 customers who filed the lawsuit in federal court demand more than $5 million in damages and are asking a judge to turn the case into a class action representing tens of thousands Internet subscribers.
Nine Countries Raid Firms for Online Drug Sales
Authorities in nine countries have raided businesses suspected of supplying medicines illegally over the Internet in an unprecedented global swoop coordinated by Interpol, officials said. The operation, codenamed Pangea, involved dozens of locations in Britain, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Canada and the United States.
More Technology Veterans Named to Obama Transition Team
More members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team were named, including some veterans of the technology and communications sectors. The transition team announced its agency review teams, groups of advisers who will review key federal departments, agencies, and commissions, as well as the White House, to aide Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and key advisers in their policy, personnel, and budget decisions.
Video Clips of Japanese Police Crackdown Popular
Video clips of a Japanese police crackdown on a group of "working poor" who tried to get a look at the wealthy prime minister's luxurious private home in Tokyo have attracted of thousands of viewers on the Internet. Three men were arrested on suspicion of assembling without a permit and scuffling with police, a spokesman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said, when about 40 people gathered last month near Prime Minister Taro Aso's home in an exclusive area of the capital.
Spam Volume Drops as Hosting Firm Goes Offline
The volume of junk e-mail sent worldwide plummeted after a Web hosting firm identified by the computer security community as a major host of organizations engaged in spam activity was taken offline. Experts say the precipitous drop-off in spam comes from Internet providers unplugging McColo Corp., a hosting provider in Northern California that was the home base for machines responsible for coordinating the sending of roughly 75 percent of all spam each day.
U.S. Move to Block Online Gambling Draws Protests
The Bush administration is moving in its last weeks to adopt final regulations to enforce a controversial law that seeks to block Internet gambling. The move is drawing hot protests from Democratic lawmakers and supporters of online betting.
Man to Plead Guilty in Guns N' Roses Case
The Los Angeles man arrested on accusations that he uploaded nine pre-released Guns N' Roses songs from the upcoming Chinese Democracy album has agreed to plead guilty to one federal count of copyright infringement as part of a deal, authorities said.
Yahoo Blocks Searches for Football Player Argentina
Following a judge's temporary restraining order, Yahoo! Argentina has blocked all web searches for the country's most famous son: notorious football cheat Diego Maradona. Maradona is known the world over for his, shall we say, sleight of hand in the 1986 World Cup quarter final between England and Argentina.
ISPs Spending Money to Defend DDoS Attacks
Internet service providers now spend most of their IT security resources detecting and mitigating distributed denial-of-service attacks, concludes a report from Arbor Networks. As in the previous three reports, ISPs reported attacks where their networks were overloaded with packets, what's called a distributed denial-of-service attack.
After Limiting YouTube, Military Launches "TroopTube"
The U.S. military, with help from Seattle startup Delve Networks, has launched a video-sharing Web site for troops, their families and supporters, a year and a half after restricting access to YouTube and other video sites. TroopTube, as the new site is called, lets people register as members of one of the branches of the armed forces, family, civilian Defense Department employees or supporters.
Energy Sector Called at Risk for Cyberattack
Asked which industry is the biggest target for cyberattack, critical infrastructure insiders in the U.S., Canada, and Europe point to the energy sector. The energy industry also is the most vulnerable to cyberattacks and would have the most detrimental breach, while the financial sector is the best prepared in the case of a cyberattack, according to the survey sponsored by security firm Secure Computing.
Report Says Internet Attacks Getting More Massive
Attackers bent on shutting down large Web sites -- even the operators that run the backbone of the Internet -- are arming themselves with what are effectively vast digital fire hoses capable of overwhelming the world's largest networks, according to a new report on online security. In these attacks, computer networks are hijacked to form so-called botnets that spray random packets of data in huge streams over the Internet.
Pharmacy Provider Threatened with Exposing Data
One of the nation's largest processors of pharmacy prescriptions said that extortionists are threatening to disclose personal and medical information about millions of Americans if the company fails to meet payment demands. St. Louis-based Express Scripts said that in early October it received a letter that included the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and, in some cases, prescription data on 75 of its customers.
Japan Reports Doubling of Hacking-Related Arrests
Arrests associated with unauthorized access to computers more than doubled in Japan in 2007 compared to the previous year, according to figures released by Japan's Ministry of Justice. During 2007 a total of 1,442 arrests were made, up 703 arrests a year earlier, reported the ministry in its annual White Paper on Crime.
Spammers Profitable Despite Enormous Failures
Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5 million e-mails they send, finds a study. By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer.
White House E-mail Archives Attacked Several Times
U.S. officials have confirmed that the White House e-mail archives were attacked several times in recent months, according to a story by the Financial Times. The report says the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, a new unit established in 2007 to tackle cybersecurity, detected the attacks on the White House, and also traced the attacks back to servers based in China.
Google CEO Won't Serve as Obama's Tech Czar
Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said he would not serve as technology czar in Barack Obama's administration if he was asked. "I love working at Google and I'm very happy to stay at Google, so the answer is no," Schmidt said in response to a question from CNBC host Jim Cramer in an appearance on his television show.
Italy Orders Google Officials to Stand Trial
An Italian prosecutor has ordered four former and current Google officials to stand trial on charges related to a video of a taunted youth with Down syndrome posted on its Italian website, court sources said. The prosecutor, Francesco Cajani, ordered the defendants to appear in a Milan court on February 3 to face charges of defamation and failure to exercise control over personal data, the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Court in Malaysia Orders Blogger Released
In what lawyers described as a landmark ruling, a court in Malaysia ordered the release of one of the country's best-known bloggers, ruling that the government had acted beyond its authority in invoking a threat to national security. Lawyers have long complained that Malaysia's mildly authoritarian government uses a draconian law, the Internal Security Act, as a tool against political opponents.
Computers Hacked at Presidential Campaign Headquarters
Computers at the headquarters of the Barack Obama and John McCain campaigns were hacked during the campaign by a foreign entity looking for future policy information, a source with knowledge of the incidents confirms to CNN. The source said the computers were hacked mid-summer by either a foreign government or organization.
