The hacker who has received widespread grassroots support after being sued by Sony for posting code that can jailbreak Sony PlayStation consoles blamed the company's recent data breach on executive-level arrogance. George Hotz is now barred from hacking Sony products, but he's still happy to blog about the company and point out what he sees as an institutional misunderstanding of the hacker culture.
Gamers and government officials are irate over Sony's admission that a massive security breach gave hackers access to large amounts of personal data from the company's PlayStation Network and, surprise(!), one gamer has already filed a lawsuit. Meanwhile, analysts estimate the hammered game company could lose billions of dollars from the debacle.
FBI agents have had trouble investigating cyber attacks involving national security because they lack the needed technical expertise or are often transferred or diverted to other cases, according to a government report. Sensitive government computer networks are under regular attack from hackers seeking to steal classified material or to cripple critical operations.
Small and medium-size businesses in the U.S. lost more than $11 million over the past year in online scams in which stolen banking credentials were used in fraudulent wire transfers to companies in China, the FBI said. There were 20 such incidents between March 2010 and April 2011, affecting companies and public institutions in the U.S. that tend to have accounts at local community banks and credit unions, some of which use third-party service providers for online banking services, according to the agency.
Hoping to put to rest a growing controversy over privacy, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, took the unusual step of personally explaining that while Apple had made mistakes in how it handled location data on its mobile devices, it has not used the iPhone and iPad to keep tabs on the whereabouts of its customers. Mr. Jobs said that Apple will fix the mistakes in a free software update that it will release in the next few weeks.
Free speech advocates and Internet users are protesting new Indian regulations restricting Web content that, among other things, can be considered “disparaging,” “harassing,” “blasphemous” or “hateful.” The new rules, quietly issued by the country’s Department of Information Technology earlier this month and only now attracting attention, allow officials and private citizens to demand that Internet sites and service providers remove content they consider objectionable on the basis of a long list of criteria.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said that those sites seized for trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods will now serve to help spread the government's message that "unfairly devalue America's contributions, compromise American jobs, and put consumers, families, and communities at risk."
Amazon.com Inc., responding to a trademark lawsuit by Apple Inc. over its use of the words “App Store,” said the term is generic and denied that the iPhone maker has exclusive rights to the phrase. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, said it isn’t required to obtain a license or authorization to use “App Store” because the term is “unprotectable” and won’t be confused or unfairly compete with Apple’s App Store service, according to a filing in federal court in Oakland, California.
Sony acknowledged that the personal information of its PlayStation Network customers has been compromised. The company posted an update on its blog warning its more than 70 million customers that their personal information, including customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, and user names, as well as online user handles, was obtained illegally by an "unauthorized person."
The main website for Ontario's courts is back online after being hacked by a group calling themselves “Turkish defacers.” The ministry of the attorney general temporarily pulled the plug on www.ontariocourts.ca following the electronic infiltration.
Like Apple and Google, Microsoft collects records of the physical locations of customers who use its mobile operating system. Windows Phone 7, supported by manufacturers including Dell, HTC, LG, Nokia, and Samsung, transmits to Microsoft a miniature data dump including a unique device ID, details about nearby Wi-Fi networks, and the phone's GPS-derived exact latitude and longitude.
A House committee that oversees privacy issues sent letters to six developers of mobile operating systems -- including Apple Inc. and Google Inc. -- seeking more information about whether they are tracking users' locations, as the scrutiny expands to the broader industry. In the version of the letter sent to Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked him to respond to questions such as: "What location data do devices running your operating system track, use, store, or share?" and "Why does the device track, use, store, or share that data?"
Google announced a program called the WebM Community Cross License initiative designed to dispel patent-related threats looming over freely usable video technology for the Web. Under the effort, members who join agree to license any WebM-related patents to each other, a move that offers mutual reassurance that the technology is royalty-free in practice as well as in Google's aspiration.
Apple Inc. was accused of invasion of privacy and computer fraud by two customers who claim in a lawsuit that the company is secretly recording movements of iPhone and iPad users. Vikram Ajjampur, an iPhone user in Florida, and William Devito, a New York iPad customer, filed a suit April 22 in federal court in Tampa, Florida, seeking a judge's order barring the alleged data collection.
Iran has been targeted by a second computer virus in a "cyber war" waged by its enemies, its commander of civil defense said. Gholamreza Jalali told the semi-official Mehr news agency that the new virus, called "Stars," was being investigated by experts.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Russia could help development of new technologies by finding a balance between state security and innovation. Co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said the Canadian company had "ambitious plans" in Russia and offered President Dmitry Medvedev -- an avid user of Apple's iPad -- a new Blackberry tablet at a meeting on developing new technology.
Sony Corp. was trying to determine whether users' credit card numbers or other personal information had been compromised as the outage of its global PlayStation Network entered a sixth day, PC World reported. The company confirmed that an "external intrusion" by hackers disrupted the service, affecting more than 75 million users worldwide who use it to play video games against friends online, stream movies and shop online.
China's Ministry of Culture will "hand down punishments" to 14 websites, including one run by Internet search provider Baidu Inc., for providing downloads of songs not approved or registered with the country's content regulators, in what appeared to be part of a renewed effort to block explicit and politically sensitive online content. The websites have provided download services for the music despite warnings not to do so, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing a ministry official.
It's unknown how often unsecured routers have brought legal trouble for subscribers. Besides the criminal investigations, the Internet is full of anecdotal accounts of people who've had to fight accusations of illegally downloading music or movies. Whether you're guilty or not, "you look like the suspect," said Orin Kerr, a professor at George Washington University Law School. Kerr said the issue is just one of many reasons to secure home routers.
Stopping trolls, which is the term used for those who abuse the privilege of the Web’s anonymous open mike, would mean choking off other critics, which obviously has undemocratic implications. After all, anonymity is a trusted tool of dissidents and whistle-blowers.
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