Cybersecurity Courses Lacking in Computer Science Programs

The threat of hacking seems to lurk around every corner, but American universities may not be doing enough to prepare the next generation of cyberdefenders. None of America's top 10 computer science programs -- as ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2015 -- requires graduates to take even one cybersecurity course, according to a new analysis from security firm CloudPassage.

Microsoft Agrees to Use New European Data Transfer Pact

Microsoft became the first major U.S. tech company to say it would transfer users' information to the United States using a new transatlantic commercial data pact and would resolve any disputes with European privacy watchdogs. Data transfers to the United States have been conducted in a legal limbo since October last year when the European Union's top court struck down the Safe Harbour framework that allowed firms to easily move personal data across the Atlantic in compliance with strict EU data transferral rules.

Bill Would Put Limits on FCC's Net Neutrality Rules

Legislation to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from using its net neutrality rules to regulate the rates that companies charge customers for Internet service appears heading toward a House vote. The bill passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee last month on a party-line vote over objections from Democrats, who said it would end up cutting off broad portions of the FCC's regulatory authority.

ICANN Defends Itself in Letter to Three Congressmen

DNS overlord ICANN has responded to an angry letter from three U.S. Congressmen accusing it of failing to answer questions -- by sending a letter that fails to answer their questions. The three senators, including Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, complained to ICANN chairman Steve Crocker that the organization had not responded to questions it had sent in two previous letters.

U.S. Continues Fight to Unlock iPhone in N.Y. Drug Case

The U.S. Justice Department is continuing its legal fight with Apple, indicating that it plans to press forward with an effort to force the company to help the FBI by unlocking a seized iPhone in a New York drug case. In a letter, federal prosecutors informed a federal judge in Brooklyn that they still need Apple to unlock an iPhone 5S to aid in a drug trafficking case, keeping alive the government's broader legal showdown with Apple pitting law enforcement and national security needs against privacy protections.

Adobe Issues Emergency Flash Update for Ransomware

Adobe Systems Inc. issued an emergency update to its widely used Flash software for Internet browsers after researchers discovered a security flaw that was being exploited to deliver ransomware to Windows PCs. The software maker urged the more than 1 billion users of Flash on Windows, Mac, Chrome and Linux computers to update the product as quickly as possible after security researchers said the bug was being exploited in "drive-by" attacks that infect computers with ransomware when tainted websites are visited.

U.S. Newspapers Oppose Browser's Ad-Blocking Software

U.S. newspapers including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal are raising the alarm over new ad-blocking software that promises to replace publishers’ advertisements with its own and pay readers in bitcoin to view them. The ad-replacing plan comes from Brave, a web browser launched this year by Brendan Eich, the co-founder and former chief executive of Mozilla, the corporate arm of the open-source software community.

Amazon's India Plans Limited by Rules on Foreign Ownership

For Amazon, no country is more important to its global growth ambitions than India, the second-most-populous nation in the world behind China, where online shopping is in its infancy and growing explosively. But Amazon’s India plans just ran into a hitch. Late last month, the Indian government issued additional rules governing foreign ownership of e-commerce companies operating in the country.

'Malicious Comments' on WhatsApp Blamed for Kenyan Bank Woes

#KOT, or Kenyans on Twitter, are being blamed for a run on deposits that resulted in Chase Bank Kenya Ltd. being placed under creditor protection by the East African country’s regulators. Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge said “malicious comments” on social networks including WhatsApp Inc. were part of the reason the lender was placed under receivership.

Despite Ban by Facebook, Weapon Bazaars Prevalent

Online bazaars selling military weapons coveted by terrorists and militants, which violate Facebook’s recent ban on the private sales of weapons, have been appearing in regions where the Islamic State has its strongest presence. This week, after The New York Times provided Facebook with seven examples of suspicious groups, the company shut down six of them.

Reddit Creates Tool to Let Users Block Harassment

Reddit -- long the Internet’s playground for pseudonymous, no-rules forum discussion -- said it would give people a blocking feature to shield themselves against harassment on the site, in a move to prohibit abusive users from sending messages to others. The new tool is the latest attempt by Reddit to minimize the sometimes toxic atmosphere of the site.

White House Won't Support or Oppose Encryption Legislation

The White House is declining to offer public support for long-awaited legislation that would give federal judges clearer authority to order technology companies like Apple to help law enforcement crack encrypted data, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The Obama administration's refusal to either endorse or oppose legislation from Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, the Republican chair and top Democrat respectively of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stems in part from ongoing divisions among various federal agencies over encryption, the sources said.

Data on 50 Million Turks Posted Online After Data Breach

Turkey is investigating how hackers have posted online the identity data of some 50 million Turks, including what they said were details about the president and prime minister, after what is believed to be the biggest data breach seen in the country. While no group has taken credit for uploading the data to a website called the Turkish Citizenship Database, the comments posted suggest Turkey may be a target of political hackers.

WhatsApp Completes Universal End-to-End Encryption

It’s a security project that’s taken around a year and a half to complete, but messaging giant WhatsApp has now fully implemented strong end-to-end encryption on its platform and across all mobile platforms for which it offers apps. This means users of the latest versions of the messaging app will have their comms and media end-to-end encrypted by default.

Chinese Hackers Blamed for Heist from Bangladesh Bank

Chinese hackers were possibly behind one of the world's biggest cyber heists, the theft of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank, a senator in the Philippines said, while a Manila bank manager involved in the case said she was a pawn of senior bankers and unnamed tycoons. Unidentified hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February and funneled it through a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) to casinos and gambling agents in the Philippines.

Underground Market for Hackers Growing, Security Firm Says

Intelligence analysts found that business is booming in underground markets for Russian and other hackers, according to a new report released by security firm Dell SecureWorks Inc. Malware, which includes viruses and other software intended to disrupt computer users, is becoming “much cheaper and continues to offer a low barrier to entry for cybercriminals looking to steal information,” wrote the analysts, who scoured dozens of sites on the dark web over the past eight months.

Federal Circuit Reverses $85M Patent Award Against Google

The Federal Circuit threw out an $85 million judgment against Google, finding the tech giant's Cloud Messenger service does not infringe on a 1996 patent. SimpleAir owns a patent called "A System and Method for Transmission of Data" that describes a method of data communication between online and offline computers involving the wireless broadcasting of push notifications.