Tag Archives: Technology

Police secretly track cellphones to solve routine crimes

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“The suitcase-size tracking systems, which can cost as much as $400,000, allow the police to pinpoint a phone’s location within a few yards by posing as a cell tower. In the process, they can intercept information from the phones of nearly everyone else who happens to be nearby, including innocent bystanders. Dozens of police departments from Miami to Los Angeles own similar devices. A USA TODAY Media Network investigation identified more than 35 of them in 2013 and 2014, and the American Civil Liberties Union has found 18 more. When and how the police have used those devices is mostly a mystery, in part because the FBI swore them to secrecy.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/08/23/baltimore-police-stingray-cell-surveillance/31994181/

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IRS: 330K Taxpayers Hit by ‘Get Transcript’ Scam

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“The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) disclosed today that identity thieves abused a feature on the agency’s Web site to pull sensitive data on more than 330,000 potential victims as part of a scheme to file fraudulent tax refund requests. The new figure is far larger than the number of Americans the IRS said were potentially impacted when it first acknowledged the vulnerability in May 2015 — two months after KrebsOnSecurity first raised alarms about the weakness. The IRS’s experience should tell consumers something about the effectiveness of the technology that the IRS, banks and countless other organizations use to screen requests for sensitive information.”

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/irs-330k-taxpayers-hit-by-get-transcript-scam/

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FTC can sue companies with poor information security: U.S. court

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“On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the power to take action (PDF) against companies that employ poor IT security practices. The FTC sued Wyndham in 2012 for failing to protect its customers from hackers, and Wyndham countered by saying that it was a victim of the hack itself and should not be penalized by the FTC for the breach.  Although the US government has not mandated a level of security necessary for businesses to meet when they hold customer data, the FTC has been trying to push companies to invest in security.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/ftc-can-sue-companies-with-poor-information-security-appeals-court-says/

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UK surveillance “worse than 1984,” says new UN privacy chief

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“The mandate of the new post of UN special rapporteur on privacy is broad. Cannataci, who is a professor of law at the University of Malta, and uses neither Facebook nor Twitter, is empowered to review government policies on digital surveillance and the collection of personal data, and to identify activities that harm privacy protection without any compelling justification. He can also give his views on how the private sector should be addressing its human rights responsibilities. His four main tasks: drawing up a universal law on surveillance; tackling the business models of the big Internet companies; defining what ‘privacy’ exactly entails; and raising awareness of these issues among the public.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/uk-surveillance-worse-than-1984-says-new-un-privacy-chief/

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Twitter shuts down 30 sites dedicated to saving politicians’ deleted tweets

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“Twitter has shut down a network of sites dedicated to archiving deleted tweets from politicians around the world. The sites — collectively known as Politwoops — were overseen by the Open State Foundation (OSF), which reported that Twitter suspended their API access.  The US arm of Politwoops was shut down in June this year, but this new decision affects countries all over the world including Canada, Egypt, India, Ireland, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, Norway, and the UK. The Diplotwoops site, dedicated to archiving deleted tweets from diplomats, was also shut down, with the OSF noting that all the accounts had been ‘extensively used and cited by journalists around the world.'”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/24/9196969/twitter-shuts-down-politwoops-diplotwoops

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Google ordered to remove links to stories about Google removing links to stories

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“The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ordered Google to remove links from its search results that point to news stories reporting on earlier removals of links from its search results. The nine further results that must be removed point to Web pages with details about the links relating to a criminal offence that were removed by Google following a request from the individual concerned. The Web pages involved in the latest ICO order repeated details of the original criminal offence, which were then included in the results displayed when searching for the complainant’s name on Google. Understandably, Google is not very happy about this escalation of the EU’s so-called ‘right to be forgotten’.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/google-ordered-to-remove-links-to-stories-about-google-removing-links-to-stories/

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Unicorns Hunt for Talent Among Silicon Valley’s Giants

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“The unicorns, a class of hot start-ups valued at $1 billion or more, are all aggressively pursuing the best and brightest minds in Silicon Valley with promises of talked-about workplaces and eye-popping payouts. Amid a general scramble for talent, Google, the Internet search company, has undergone specific raids from unicorns for engineers who specialize in crucial technologies like mapping.  In particular, Uber — the largest unicorn, with a valuation of more than $50 billion — has plundered Google’s mapping unit over the last 12 months, aiming to bolster its own map research. The recruiting is not confined to the best engineers; sometimes it spills over to nontechnical employees too.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/technology/unicorns-hunt-for-talent-among-silicon-valleys-giants.html

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Airbus patents plane that could fly from Paris to Tokyo in three hours

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“Airbus has won a patent for a hypersonic passenger plane, but Concorde’s hydrogen-powered successor is unlikely to leave the drawing board any time soon.  The proposed aeroplane would cut the journey time from Paris to Tokyo from 12 to under three hours. The idea, first published in 2011, is to use three different kinds of engine power to jump above the atmosphere while still using regular runways for takeoff. It has now won approval from the US Patent Office.  The concept comes as commercial space companies such as Virgin Galactic pursue plans for low-level space flights. Airbus’s proposed plane has ‘gothic delta wings’ that echo the elegant curves of Concorde.”

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/05/airbus-patents-hypersonic-plane-paris-tokyo-three-hours

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This $21,700 Land Rover Lookalike to Go on Sale in China

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“A sport utility vehicle that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Land Rover Evoque will go on sale in China this week at a third of its sticker price.  More than 5,500 people have put down deposits for the Landwind X7, which will be available in dealerships from Thursday at a starting price of 135,000 yuan ($21,700). The Evoque, which is Jaguar Land Rover’s best-selling model worldwide, retails from 398,000 yuan. Both models feature similar broad fenders, recessed door panels and a sloping roof. Jaguar Land Rover Chief Executive Officer Ralf Speth railed at what he called the the rise of Chinese ‘copy-and-paste‘ jobs earlier this year at the Shanghai auto show.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-04/this-21-700-land-rover-lookalike-to-go-on-sale-in-china

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Visa to Deploy Blockchain Research Team in Bangalore, India

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“Visa, the world’s largest payment network, will soon deploy a team of developers in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India, to use blockchain technology to improve its digital payments processes, Live Mint reports.  Last week Visa announced the opening of its new technology development center in Bangalore, which will host 1,000 fintech engineers and play a central role in the company’s efforts to accelerate digital commerce globally. As part of the opening ceremonies, Visa announced mVisa, a new mobile payment service that will be tested this summer with merchants across the Bangalore region and with customers of Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and SBI (State Bank of India).”

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/21547/visa-deploy-blockchain-research-team-bangalore-india/

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