Sen. Joseph Lieberman defended his proposal to grant the president far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of or shut down portions of the Internet. It's vital that the president can "say to an electric company or to say to Verizon, in the national interest, 'There's an attack about to come, and I hereby order you to put a patch on this, or put your network down on this part, or stop accepting any incoming from country A,'" said Lieberman.
Top arms groups are on high alert to counter cyber spies from stealing their own secrets at a major arms bazaar outside Paris, even as they market new ways to clients on how to repel hackers in the digital battlespace. France is hosting the world's largest arms fair for land forces near Paris airport Charles de Gaulle, attended by up to 50,000 people who make, buy and use advanced weapons.
Though there are plenty of legitimate offerings on Craigslist and Vacation Rental by Owner and HomeAway and a host of other sites, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that sham vacation home offers are only the latest in a long list of online fraud operations it tracks. The center began noticing the scams last year, said Charles Pavelites, the special agent who heads the complaint center.
A hacker in a group that discovered the AT&T iPad-related flaw was arrested following the execution of an FBI search warrant of his home in Arkansas, authorities said. Andrew Auernheimer, 24, was being held in Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Ark., according to Lt. Anthony Foster of the Washington County Sheriff's office in that state.
Law firms, particularly those that represent plaintiffs, are increasingly devoting resources to developing a presence online, where consumers -- and potential clients -- congregate. And some of those firms are also creating news sites, which disclose that they are affiliated with law firms, but have the look and feel of community forums or news boards.
The exposure of prominent iPad users' email addresses and device IDs has underscored how security is becoming a bigger concern for mobile devices. In 2009, security experts identified 30 security flaws in the software and operating systems of smartphones made by companies like Apple, Nokia Corp. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., up from 16 the previous year, according to a review of records in the National Vulnerability Database, a repository created in 2005 by an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Submissions are vetted and rated according to their severity.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled yet another bill that would help the government respond to a major cybersecurity attack. The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, sponsored by Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, includes key provisions that would mandate continuous monitoring and create a new cyber office at the White House.
AT&T Inc. apologized to Apple Inc. iPad 3G tablet computer users whose e-mail addresses were exposed during a security breach. "No other information was exposed," Dorothy Attwood, AT&T's chief privacy officer, said in an e-mail sent to iPad accounts that may have been affected.
An Army analyst jailed for allegedly leaking a video of a controversial Iraq air strike also allegedly leaked classified information about a U.S. investigation into cyberattacks on Google that originated in China, the hacker who turned in the analyst told CNET. U.S. Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning had confided to well-known hacker Adrian Lamo in e-mails and instant messages that he was the one who provided the 2007 video of a military helicopter gunning down journalists and civilians in Iraq, as well as other information, to whistleblower Web site Wikileaks, Lamo has said.
A federal jury found that Novell owns the rights to the Unix operating system, foiling SCO's plan to seek millions of dollars in licensing fees from companies it accused of illegally distributing its proprietary Unix code with the Linux OS. SCO, while obviously struck low by the verdict, evidently intends to forge on with its suit against IBM, which it also claims misappropriated Unix and built it into Linux.
Google Inc. said it doesn't believe it broke U.S. law by accidentally collecting data from Wi-Fi networks, according to a letter the company sent three U.S. congressmen who are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the matter. In a letter, Google's director of public policy, Pablo Chavez, wrote that the search company doesn't believe collecting information from openly accessible networks, which it admitted last month to accidentally doing, was illegal.
Gawker Media LLC said the Federal Bureau of Investigation asked it to retain documents as part of a probe into the exposure of email addresses belonging to iPad owners, the second time the blog publisher has been in a legal spotlight over a big news story it wrote involving Apple Inc. The New York-based media company said it had been contacted by the FBI to preserve the information, but Gawker Media said it doesn't believe it is a target of the probe.
Visitors to porn sites are at serious risk of being exploited by cyber criminals, a study has suggested. It found that many sites harboured malware or used "shady" practices to squeeze money out of their visitors.
Google is working with U.S. and European officials to build a case that would argue Internet censorship acts as a trade barrier, a top company executive said. Robert Boorstin, Google's director of corporate and policy communications, said the company is working with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the State Department, Commerce Department and European officials to build a case to take to the World Trade Organization.
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it plans to investigate HTC's claim that Apple's iPhone infringes on its handset technology. The trade panel will look into whether HTC's claim will justify its request that the ITC ban the import and sale of iPhones, iPads, and iPods.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will investigate whether Apple Inc.'s business practices harm competition in the market for software used on mobile devices, people familiar with the situation said. For weeks, the FTC has been engaged in negotiations with the Department of Justice over which agency would review allegations by companies that say they're being shut-out of one of the most important emerging computing platforms.
New York's attorney general Andrew Cuomo accused the social networking site Tagged.com of not responding to user reports of child pornography and sexual solicitation of minors, which has allowed the popular site to become a place where sexual predators can exploit children. Cuomo sent a letter to the site announcing his intent to sue the site for violating trade laws by not adhering to its promises to keep the site safe.
Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, agreed to pay Motorola Inc. an undisclosed amount to settle their battle over patents to wireless technology. RIM will make an upfront payment to Motorola and pay royalties for future use of the technology, the companies said in a joint statement, without providing specific terms.
Facebook is teaming up with the National PTA to spread information to kids, parents and teachers about how to responsibly and safely use the Internet, the two organizations said. The aim of the partnership is to reduce cyberbullying and other risks to children online, issues that have gained attention in recent years as parents, lawmakers and regulators in Washington struggle to keep children safe as the Internet becomes an extension of kids' lives.
Business and public interest groups praised the latest congressional effort aimed at bolstering cybersecurity but voiced concern with provisions such as one that would give the federal government emergency powers. The latest bill would give the government emergency authority to take information technology systems offline in dire situations when no other option is available.
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