Russian Nuclear Plant, Space Station Infected with Virus

Russian security expert Eugene Kaspersky has told journalists that the infamous Stuxnet had infected an unnamed Russian nuclear plant and that in terms of cyber-espionage "all the data is stolen globally... at least twice." Kaspersky revealed that Russian astronauts carried a removable device into space which infected systems on the space station.

Johnson & Johnson, Amazon Fight Over Resellers

Johnson & Johnson  and Amazon.com Inc.  are clashing over complaints that Amazon isn't doing enough to prevent people from selling damaged or expired J&J products -- Tylenol painkillers and Rogaine baldness treatments, among others -- on its website. The behind-the-scenes dispute is a prime example of a widening fear among consumer-products companies: On the Internet, it is easier to lose control over a brand image.

Ubuntu Founder Apologizes for Domain Name Dispute

Mark Shuttleworth has apologised for the sending of a cease and desist notice to Micah Lee, the man behind the fixubuntu.com site which Canonical accused of violating its Ubuntu trademark. "Occasionally we make mistakes. When we do it’s appropriate to apologise, address them, and take steps to ensure they don’t happen again," wrote Shuttleworth in a blog post.

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British Spy Agency Reportedly Planted Malware

German newspaper Der Spiegel reports that British spy agency GCHQ set up fake LinkedIn and Slashdot pages to plant malware within Belgacom, a Belgian telecommunications company. Using a method called "quantum insert," the GCHQ was reportedly able to preempt legitimate access to the websites, redirecting the employees to fake sites that compromised their computers.

Instagram Account Identifies Witnesses to Violent Crimes

An anonymous social media account has been identifying witnesses to violent crimes across Philadelphia with the stated intention of trying to “expose rats,” and the police are trying to find out who is behind it. Lt. John Walker of the Philadelphia Police Department said investigators learned of the account this month when an officer monitoring Twitter spotted photographs of a witness and court records about an attempted shooting last year.

Wyndham Says FTC Can't Dictate Data Security

The ability of the Federal Trade Commission to police cybersecurity practices at U.S. companies drew fierce debate, with lawyers for hotelier Wyndham Worldwide Corp. arguing to a federal judge in New Jersey that the agency has no such authority. Lawyers for Wyndham said Congress had never empowered the FTC to regulate the way companies keep and protect their data.

London Financial Firms Test Cyber Attack Response

Thousands of staff across dozens of London financial firms will be put through a "war games" scenario to test how well they can handle a major cyber attack, people familiar with the matter said. In one of the largest exercises of its kind in the world, the test dubbed "Waking Shark II" will bombard firms with a series of announcements and scenarios, such as how a major attack on computer systems might hit stock exchanges and unfold on social media.

Wikipedia Founder Says U.S. Spying Hurts Cloud Computing

The United States' alleged large-scale surveillance of global communications networks will badly harm the U.S. cloud computing industry, the founder of Wikipedia said. Jimmy Wales, who launched the online encyclopedia service 12 year ago, said the U.S. eavesdropping, revealed by leaks from former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, also poses a threat to Internet freedoms by giving an excuse to oppressive regimes to introduce more censorship.

Facebook, Microsoft Create Fund to Fight Security Holes

Facebook and Microsoft have created a new fund to pay researchers who find security holes in widely used parts of the Internet, part of an ongoing effort by tech giants to get hackers to work for the good guys. Large Internet companies have long paid security experts who find vulnerabilities in their own software and report them to the company.

French Court Orders Google to Remove Racy Images

A French court ordered Google Inc. to remove private images of a prominent British man from its search engine, in a ruling that could influence broader European efforts to tighten web-privacy rules. In a closely watched case brought by former Formula One racing chief Max Mosley, Paris's Tribunal de Grande Instance said that Google must remove nine images from its search engine after Mr. Mosley sued in an effort to get the web giant to automatically filter the images and delete any links to them.

EU Regulators Seek Input on Google's Proposals

European regulators have asked Google's rivals whether the Internet search engine's revised proposals to settle an antitrust case will boost their bargaining power in commercial negotiations, a European Commission document showed. Google has promised to post more prominent links to rival shopping, travel and restaurant sites when a user searches for content, as well as reduce the minimum price advertisers can offer to pay for paid ads.

Dutch Sting Unmasks 1,000 Sex Predators

Dutch children's rights activists used a computer-generated image of a 10-year-old Philippine girl to catch suspected sex predators and say that, as a result, they successfully unmasked 1,000 Internet users from 71 countries who wanted to pay to watch a child engage in sex acts via webcam. The top country of origin for the adults identified was the United States with 254, followed by Britain with 110 and India with 103.

Microsoft Releases Emergency 'Fix' Against Hacking

Microsoft Corp released an emergency software fix after it learned that hackers had exploited a previously undiscovered security flaw in its widely used Office software to infect the PCs of its customers with tainted Word documents. The software maker said on its website that it had released the software, known as a "Fix It," as a temporary measure until it provides an update that will automatically patch computers to protect against the new threat.

Apple Releases Report on Government Data Requests

Apple says that the "vast majority" of the requests for information that it gets from law enforcement are queries related to lost or stolen devices. Apple released a "Report on Government Information Request" (PDF) to inform its customers about how their personal information is handled and to provide assurances that it does as much as it can to protect their privacy.

Canada Called Lenovo-BlackBerry Deal Security Concern

Beijing-based computer manufacturer Lenovo Group Ltd. actively considered a bid for BlackBerry Ltd., but the Canadian government told the smartphone company it would not accept a Chinese takeover because of national security concerns, according to sources familiar with the situation. Ottawa made it clear in high-level discussions with BlackBerry that it would not approve a Chinese company buying a company deeply tied into Canada’s telecom infrastructure, sources said.

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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.