Houston lawyer Richard T. Howell Jr., whose firm was scammed out of $182,500 by a client who contacted and hired him through e-mail, says he is talking publicly about the situation so he can prevent other Texas lawyers from making the same mistakes. In October 2008, Howell became the victim of a sophisticated, international version of a classic check-fraud scam, say two Texas consumer law attorneys, as well as Dan Parsons, president of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Houston and South Texas.
Google Trial in Italy Over Video Delayed
A criminal trial that could mean jail time for three Google employees and the company's former chief financial officer was postponed until Feb. 18, Google said. Tracey Bentley, who's monitoring the trial for the International Association for Privacy Professionals, also reported that the municipality of Milan has added a new charge against the company itself.
$9 Billion for Broadband Expansion Debated
At first glance, perhaps no line item in the nearly $900 billion stimulus program under consideration on Capitol Hill would seem to offer a more perfect way to jump-start the economy than the billions pegged to expand broadband Internet service to rural and underserved areas. But experts warn that the rural broadband effort could just as easily become a $9 billion cyberbridge to nowhere, representing the worst kind of mistakes that lawmakers could make in rushing to approve one of the largest spending bills in history without considering unintended results.
World Economic Leaders Want Cybercrime Tools
The threat of cybercrime is rising sharply, experts have warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They called for a new system to tackle well-organized gangs of cybercriminals.
Google Executives on Trial in Italy Over Video
Four executives of Google begin trial in Milan on criminal charges of defamation and privacy violation in regard to a video posted on Google’s Italian site. The case involves a three-minute cellphone video, posted in 2006 to Google Video, in which four youths in Turin tease a boy with Down syndrome.
Law Enforcement Seeks Power to Jam Wireless
As President Obama's motorcade rolled down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day, federal authorities deployed a closely held law enforcement tool: equipment that can jam cellphones and other wireless devices to foil remote-controlled bombs, sources said. It is an increasingly common technology, with federal agencies expanding its use as state and local agencies are pushing for permission to do the same.
Company Sues Morningstar, Alleges Internet Espionage
A Massachusetts company that services the brokerage industry sued Morningstar Inc., accusing the big investment-research firm of using Internet espionage to copy information from a patent-protected system for handling mutual-fund prospectuses. The firm that brought the suit, closely held NewRiver Inc., has built a $30 million business with a service that allows brokerage houses to speedily send updated, electronic prospectuses to investors interested in buying mutual funds.
Cybercrime Risk to Businesses Pegged at $1 Trillion
Businesses risk losing over $1 trillion from loss or theft of data and other cybercrime, according to a study released on Thursday by security technology firm McAfee. The California-based company launched the survey after detecting a rapid acceleration of malicious software, or "malware," last year, CEO David DeWalt told Reuters.
Internet Helps Spread Warnings About Ponzi Schemes
The Internet is offering early warning signs, and in some cases filling a regulatory void, as the year-long recession exposes growing numbers of multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes that pay older investors with money from new clients.
News Groups Urge Court to Stream Downloading Case
Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., are urging an appeals court to allow online streaming of oral arguments in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student. A brief filed in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that allowing audiovisual webcasting of the case is in the public interest.
Microsoft Sues Ex-Worker Over Confidential Data
Microsoft Corp. is suing a former employee, claiming that he applied for a job at the company under false pretenses and then used his role at Microsoft to gain access to confidential data related to patent litigation he is now waging. Miki Mullor was hired by Microsoft in November 2005, after stating in his job application he was a former employee at Ancora Technologies, a Sammamish software development company that he said had gone out of business.
Justice Department Hoax Tests Employees' Security
The Justice Department doesn't have to look far to find a scam that preys on people whose retirement plans have been crippled by the global financial meltdown. It designed one of its own. And e-mailed it to agency employees.
Programmer Pleads Not Guilty in Fannie Mae Case
A 35-year-old computer programer pleaded not guilty to charges that he planted a computer virus designed to destroy all the data on 4,000 Fannie Mae computer servers the day he was fired from the company. Rajendrasinh Babubhai Makwana, an Indian citizen who had been working as a contractor employee at Fannie Mae's facility in Urbana, Maryland, was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury for computer intrusion.
Financial Woes Prompt Surge in Online Scams
Cybercriminals have launched a massive new wave of Internet-based schemes to steal personal data and carry out financial scams in an effort to take advantage of the fear and confusion created by tumbling financial markets, security specialists say. The schemes -- often involving online promotions touting fake computer virus protection, get-rich scams and funny or lurid videos -- already were rising last fall when financial markets took a dive.
Britian Plans to Support Fight Against Online Piracy
The British government outlined plans to bring broadband Internet service to every home in Britain by 2012, and proposed ways to support the music industry and other media businesses by cracking down on online piracy. The communications minister, Stephen Carter, is eager for the media, telecommunications and technology sectors to pick up part of the slack as other parts of the British economy, including financial services, decline.
Jailed South Korean Blogger Requests Bail
A South Korean blogger charged with spreading false information has requested bail and said his arrest was unconstitutional, a lawyer said. The 30-year-old man -- identified in court documents as Park Dae-sung -- was charged with posting a blog in December that said the government had banned major financial institutions and trade businesses from buying U.S. dollars.
Company Acquires Trasmeta's Patent Portfolio
Intellectual Ventures has acquired the patent portfolio of Transmeta, an erstwhile supplier of low-power Intel-compatible x86 processors. Intellectual Venture Funding, an affiliate of Intellectual Ventures, has picked up 140 U.S. patents and additional pending patent applications owned by Transmeta, which was acquired by privately held Novafora in November of last year.
Google Plan Would Let Customers See Net Filtering
Google unveiled a plan aimed at eventually letting computer users determine whether providers like Comcast are inappropriately blocking or slowing their work online. The scheme is the latest bid in the debate over network neutrality, which pits content companies like Google against some Internet service providers.
AT&T, Comcast May Cooperate with Music Industry
AT&T and Comcast, two of the nation's largest Internet service providers, are expected to be among a group of ISPs that will cooperate with the music industry in battling illegal file sharing, three sources close to the companies told CNET News. The Recording Industry Association of America, the lobbying group representing the four largest recording companies, said last month that it had enlisted the help of ISPs as part of a new antipiracy campaign.
Heartland Payment Processor Sued Over Data Breach
Payment processor Heartland Payment Systems has been sued over a data breach it disclosed publicly on Inauguration Day. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J., alleges that Heartland failed to adequately safeguard the compromised consumer data, did not notify consumers about the breach in a timely manner as required by law, and has not offered to compensate consumers for costs they may incur in protecting themselves from identity fraud.
