Industry Faces Lack of Specialists to Fight Cyber Attacks

Hostile computer activity from spies, saboteurs, competitors and criminals has spawned a growing industry of corporate defenders who can attract the best talent from government cyber units. But demand for specialists has far outpaced the number of those qualified to do the job, leading to a staffing crunch as talent is poached by competitors offering big salaries.

Judge Dismisses Class-Action Suit Over Tracking

A federal judge in Delaware dismissed a class-action lawsuit brought against Google and two other tech companies, arguing that the Web users who brought the case couldn’t prove that Google’s tracking practices caused them harm. The plaintiffs were users of web browsers from Apple and Microsoft, which have settings that block “cookies,” the tiny pieces of code placed on computers to track users’ movements as they browse the Internet.

Google's Plan for 'Social' Ads Prompts Privacy Concerns

Google Inc. plans to launch new product-endorsement ads incorporating photos, comments and names of its users, in a move to match the "social" ads pioneered by rival Facebook Inc that is raising some privacy concerns. The changes, which Google announced in a revised terms of service policy, set the stage for Google to introduce "shared endorsements" ads on its sites as well as millions of other websites that are part of Google's display advertising network.

EU Court Ruling Could End Anonymous Website Comments

The European Court of Human Rights has issued a decision that anti-censorship campaigners say could spell an end to anonymous website comments in the EU. The judgment came through in a case involving Delfi, an Estonian news site that had been found liable by a court in that country for offensive comments posted by anonymous users under one of its stories.

Luxembourg Data Commissioner Investigating Skype

Skype is being investigated by Luxembourg's data protection commissioner over concerns about its secret involvement with the US National Security Agency spy program Prism, the Guardian has learned. The Microsoft-owned Internet chat company could potentially face criminal and administrative sanctions, including a ban on passing users' communications covertly to the US signals intelligence agency.

Brazil Probes Google for Anticompetitive Practices

Brazil is investigating Google Inc for anticompetitive practices alleged by Microsoft Corp and Brazilian rivals, adding to government pressure in one of Google's fastest-growing major markets. Brazilian antitrust watchdog Cade said it is looking into accusations that Google has unfairly used rivals' content, discouraged their advertisers and favored its own product listings in search results.

Lawmaker Wants FTC to Probe Online Ad Companies

A lawmaker has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate online ad companies that track consumers across devices, like showing them ads on their phones based on Web sites they visit on a computer. The letter, sent by Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, to Edith Ramirez, the commission’s chairwoman, cited a New York Times article detailing the new ways that mobile advertisers are tracking consumers, including across devices.

Broadcasters Want Supreme Court to Review Aereo Case

Broadcasters plan to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court rulings that have allowed Aereo to continue offering unauthorized streams of digital signals in New York, according to sources familiar with the case. In July, one of the plaintiffs, Fox, indicated that appealing to the high court was one of its options after the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reconsider the case.

Russian Officials Arrest Man Behind 'Blackhole' Kit

Russian authorities have arrested a man believed to be responsible for distributing a notorious software kit known as "Blackhole" that is widely used by cyber criminals to infect PCs, according to a person familiar with the situation. A former Russian police detective in contact with Russia's federal government told Reuters that the suspect, who is known in hacking circles as "Paunch," had been arrested.

Apple Faces Customs Obstacles in Fighting Samsung

For Apple Inc., winning a U.S. import ban against some Samsung Electronics Co. smartphones and tablets may prove easier than getting it enforced. The U.S. International Trade Commission’s order, upheld by President Barack Obama’s administration, blocks Samsung from importing or selling certain devices found to infringe Apple patents for multitouch features and a headphone jack sensor.

BlackBerry Settles Bluetooth Patent Suit with Wi-Lan

Patent licensing company Wi-Lan Inc said it and BlackBerry Ltd struck a deal to dismiss all pending patent litigation between the companies. Wi-Lan, which has a string of patent lawsuits against smartphone makers, alleged in December last year that BlackBerry -- then known as Research In Motion Ltd -- had infringed a patent related to Bluetooth technologies.

British Officials Arrest Four Linked to Silk Road Site

Four men arrested in Britain on drug charges are being investigated over their suspected ties to Silk Road, an online marketplace that has been linked to narcotics sales and other illegal activity, British officials said. The National Crime Agency of Britain said it took four men into custody last week, hours after the arrest in San Francisco of Ross Ulbricht, who American authorities say was the owner of Silk Road.

Microsoft Pays Hacking Expert, Updates Explorer

Microsoft Corp. said it is paying a well-known hacking expert more than $100,000 for finding security holes in its software, one of the largest such bounties awarded to date by a high-tech company. The software maker also released a much anticipated update to Internet Explorer, which it said fixes a bug that made users of the world's most popular browser vulnerable to remote attack.

BlackBerry Settles Patent Suit Over Messaging App

BlackBerry Ltd. has settled its lawsuit against Kik Interactive, a company started by one of its former co-op students which developed a rival instant messaging application to its BlackBerry Messenger that eventually surpassed it in popularity. BlackBerry had sued Kik for patent infringement, claiming it made “false and/or misleading statements” and caused “confusion” in the market between Kik and BBM.

Hackers Swapping SIM Cards to Steal Information

At wireless carriers such as AT&T Inc. and South Africa’s Vodacom Group Ltd., a new hacking threat has emerged involving the illicit swapping of SIM cards, the plastic chips that authenticate customers on mobile networks. Criminals call users and impersonate the companies to glean personal information, which they use to hijack the chips and customer accounts, paving the way for online banking fraud and international calling theft. The scam represents a growing threat to the global telecommunications industry, which is projected to lose $46.3 billion to fraud in 2013, or about 2 percent of total revenue, according to the Communications Fraud Control Association.

U.S. Trade Rep Allows Ban on Some Samsung Imports

Samsung Electronics Co. must stop importing some models of smartphones and tablet computers into the U.S. after President Barack Obama’s administration upheld a ban won by Apple Inc. in a patent-infringement dispute. “After carefully weighing policy considerations, including the impact on consumers and competition, advice from agencies, and information from interested parties, I have decided to allow” the import ban to proceed, Obama’s designee, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, said in a statement.

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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.