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Technology Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 11, 2017 37 Comments
No, this isn't an Onion article.  Facebook has a new pilot program aimed at protecting users from having their nude bodies plastered all over Facebook . . . by requiring that you upload a photo of your nude body to Facebook. They will then "hash" your nakedness (turn it into a unique code); once this is done, your hashed image (now code, not a pic of you in all your glory) will then be flagged and refused upload permissions on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Facebook's "intimate safety" pilot is currently only available in Australia. Facebook writes:
We don’t want Facebook to be a place where people fear their intimate images will be shared without their consent. We’re constantly working to prevent this kind of abuse and keep this content out of our community. We recently announced a test that’s a little different from things we’ve tried in the past. Even though this is a small pilot, we want to be clear about how it works.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 05, 2017 11 Comments
Russian hackers for the Kremlin have allegedly stolen the U.S.'s cyber defense details after an NSA contractor took home classified documents and uploaded them on his home computer. These documents provide details on how our government agencies get into "foreign computer networks" and how we defend ourselves "against cyberattacks." Experts believe this breach is "one of the most significant security breaches in recent years."

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 02, 2017 3 Comments
Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) admitted that hackers accessed its network in 2016, but assured everyone that no one anyone's personal information. It turns out the hackers did access at least two people's information: names, Social Security numbers, birthdays.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 28, 2017 5 Comments
You gotta love government agencies. They lash out when private businesses hurt consumers and yet evidence always seems to surface that they do the exact same thing, sometimes even worse. Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency not many know about. Dodd-Frank birthed this agency as a way to protect consumers from another financial crisis. Its webpage claims that it "makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 28, 2017 2 Comments
An initiative sponsored by the Embassy of Israel in India seeks to connect Jerusalem's startup ecosystem with India's technology scene. Contrary to the popular perception, Jerusalem is fast catching up with Tel Aviv as a leading technology center in the world. In 2015, TIME magazine named Jerusalem as one of the world’s fastest growing hi-tech hubs. The annual startup competition "Start JLM", supported by Indian government and local private sector players, is being held in the country for the first time. This year's winner, Bangalore-based Mimyk startup will be taking part in an technology boost camp in Jerusalem. Four other finalists will be getting access to startup incubators.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 18, 2017 14 Comments
In July, major national credit-reporting company Equifax was hit by a cyberattack that exposed personal information of about 143 million U.S. consumers. Three executives at the company sold shares that totaled $1.8 million only a few days after the company learned of the breach. However, Equifax didn't reveal details about the breach until September 7. Now the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly opened an investigation to find out if those executives violated insider trading laws.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 12, 2017 2 Comments
India wants to strengthen ties with Israeli start ups, a visiting delegation of Indian IT companies to the Jewish State stressed. The delegation was organised by Nasscom, Indian association representing software companies, and the global consulting firm Accenture. "The Nasscom Product Council and IT consulting major Accenture plan to collaborate with Israel Innovation Authority to help startups from both countries in joint product development, knowledge transfer and in the creation of hardware ecosystem," Indian business daily Economic Times reported.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 08, 2017 31 Comments
On Thursday, major national credit-reporting company Equifax revealed that a cyberattack from July exposed personal information of about 143 million U.S. consumers. The company wrote in a statement:
The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed. As part of its investigation of this application vulnerability, Equifax also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents. Equifax will work with UK and Canadian regulators to determine appropriate next steps. The company has found no evidence that personal information of consumers in any other country has been impacted.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 25, 2017 22 Comments
Amazon passed two major hurdles on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods' shareholders cleared the way for the internet giant to acquire the grocery chain. With that out of the away, Amazon is going all in and has already announced it plans on slashing Whole Foods prices as early as Monday.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 09, 2017 32 Comments
Back in 2003, Bill Burr wrote the primer on password development.  His definitive work recommended random characters, letters, numbers, caps, casing, etc. in a mishmosh that the user not only had to remember (or remember where they'd recorded it) but had to, per his '03 recommendation, change each month into another nonsensical string of random characters and letters. Burr now regrets these rules and says that he was wrong about them.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 09, 2017 22 Comments
Netflix took a major blow on Tuesday when Disney announced it will remove all of its content in 2019 to start its own streaming service. ESPN, which Disney owns, will start a streaming service in 2018. From The Hollywood Reporter:
Details of the Disney streaming service were sketchy Tuesday, with CEO Bob Iger saying that if a movie is Pixar- or Disney-branded, it will probably appear exclusively on the new service — including shows and movies made specifically for the service — but the jury is still out on Marvel and Star Wars films.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 04, 2017 2 Comments
The FBI has arrested Marcus Hutchins, the British security researcher that stopped the WannaCry ransomeware attack, for allegedly being a part of a software attack on banking accounts. The Guardian reported:
According to an indictment released by the US Department of Justice on Thursday, Hutchins is accused of having helped to create, spread and maintain the banking trojan Kronos between 2014 and 2015.

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 21, 2017 1 Comment
The FBI and Dutch authorities have successfully shut down AlphaBay and Hansa, two of the largest marketplaces on the dark web, which sold drugs, firearms, malware, and forged documents. AlphaBay, which the FBI seized, "allegedly serviced some 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors." It disappeared earlier this month with Attorney General Jeff Sessions describing the seizure as "one of the most important criminal investigations of the year."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on July 06, 2017 1 Comment
In a stunning display, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel received favourable coverage from across the Indian media landscape. The Indian Prime Minister was in Israel on a 3-day visit, first ever by an Indian premier. Prime Minister Modi’s visit lays “the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel," commented the country's leading business daily Economic Times. Both countries took "historic steps towards a new engagement," wrote newspaper Hindustan Times. Like many Indian newspapers, The Hindu described the visit as "ground-breaking" and noted the "extraordinary welcome" Indian leader received in "the Jewish nation."
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