You know you’ve had that thought — “I OPPOSITE OF “LIKE” THIS, FACEBOOK!” — whether it was on the eleventy trillionth gushing baby photo post or whatever ridiculous political thing that person from high school is posting this time. And while Facebook has long stood firm against a “dislike” button, it seems the negative Nellies out there have some sway with The Zuck, nevertheless. [More]
Data & Privacy
In Wake Of Target Ruling, Will Retailers Scale Back Security So They Can Plead Ignorance?
By 12.10.14
Last week, a federal court in Minnesota gave the go-ahead to a lawsuit filed against Target by several banks trying to claim damages from the massive 2013 payment systems breach. Now, some worry that the court’s decision could lead retailers to go with simpler, perhaps less secure, systems rather than risk missing a red flag on a more complicated one. [More]
Nationwide Data Breach Hits Clothing Retailer Bebe, Payment Card Info Stolen
By 12.5.14
It’s the most wonderful time of the year: when consumers nationwide can find out that their credit and debit card information has been lost to hackers right when they’re trying to get all of their holiday shopping done. This week’s unfortunate victims? Consumers of women’s clothing retailer Bebe, found in malls nationwide. [More]
Report: Sony To Officially Point Finger At North Korea For Huge Hack
By 12.3.14
Last week, it was revealed that Sony had been the victim of a massive data breach, resulting in the leak of Sony films, scripts, passwords, and sensitive information about employees and business operations. There have been rumors of suspected involvement by the North Korean government in the hack, and a new report claims that Sony will officially name the country as the source of the breach. [More]
Pasting A Copyright Notice On Your Facebook Timeline Still Won’t Work
By 12.2.14
It’s like an annual tradition: Facebook announces revisions to its privacy or data use policies, and the people of Facebook Nation respond by copying and pasting a boilerplate notice warning Mark Zuckerberg and his cronies that their political rants and snapshots of their kids’ drawings belong to them, thank you very much. The problem: this does not actually work. [More]
Swedish Hotel Offering Free 7-Night Stays For People With More Than 2,000 Facebook Friends
By 11.24.14
We already know the value companies place on attracting new fans on social media, which is part of the reason using sites like Facebook and Instagram is free: Advertisers want your attention and they want the attention of your friends. So in order to harness the power of social media, one Swedish hotel is offering up a tasty bit of bait in the form of free stays for the big hitters on Facebook and Instagram. [More]
Report: Payment Information Breaches At Staples And Michaels May Be Linked
By 11.17.14
It’s no longer surprising news when hackers infiltrate the systems of a brick-and-mortar retailer and run off with our credit card numbers. Shoppers have come to expect that kind of thing as a normal part of shopping. However, it’s interesting (and a bit scary) to note that two relatively small breaches at national chains could be linked. [More]
Report: Facebook Planning “At Work” Version For Networking On The Job
By 11.17.14
Stop whatever you’re doing at work — talking to Joanne in accounting about her weekend or crunching those numbers — and get on Facebook. Seriously, your boss might want you to do that in the future if the new reported “Facebook at Work” test becomes a workplace reality.
Report: “Secret Spy Program” Targeting U.S. Cell Phone Signals From the Skies
By 11.14.14
As Thanksgiving approaches, perhaps you dread having your turkey with a side of the latest conspiracy theory served up by that uncle (there’s always one) who is convinced the government is spying in from helicopters overhead. This year, though, that relative has some evidence on his side. He’s wrong about the helicopters, as far as we know, but a new report finds that law enforcement agencies actually are using aircraft to scoop up Americans’ mobile phone calls from the skies. [More]
Report: Breach Of USPS’ Networks Compromises Personal Data Of 2.9M Customers, 750K Employees & Retirees
By 11.10.14
Let’s all pick our jaws up off the floor because, and I know you won’t believe this, yet another security breach has compromised the personal information of millions of people. The latest in what has become an unfortunate trail of hack attacks has hit the U.S. Postal Service computer system, officials say. [More]
Researchers: iOS Bug Allows Malware To Replace Your Phone’s Real Apps
By 11.10.14
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — don’t download apps from third-party sites, or do so at your phone’s peril. Security researchers say they’ve found a particularly sneaky bug in Apple’s iOS that allows hackers to replace real apps with fakes, that can then steal log-in credentials and gain access to a treasure trove of your information. [More]
Google Study: Email Users 36 Times More Likely To Get Scammed If Friends’ Accounts Get Hacked
By 11.7.14
So you think your job is done — you’ve secured your email against hackers by thinking up the best password in the entire world. You’re safe, or so you think. But a new study from Google says that if your friends and email contacts have already been hacked, you’re much more likely to get scammed, too. [More]
Mark Zuckerberg Explains Why Facebook Forced Everyone To Download A Separate Messaging App
By 11.7.14
Whether you were dragged, kicking and screaming into downloading Facebook’s standalone messaging app when the time came, went quietly or straight up refused to do it at all (take that, The Man!), no one was really quite sure why Facebook was so into the mandatory move. Until now [cue suspenseful music]… [More]
Facebook Is Raising Money To Fight Ebola
By 11.6.14
You may have heard the news recently that Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a $25 million donation to Ebola relief efforts. Most of us don’t have that kind of money sitting around to donate, even to important causes, but Facebook wants us to check our metaphorical couch cushions and make our own donations to help treat Ebola patients in western Africa, and to prevent the disease from spreading further. [More]
Secure Messaging Scorecard Shows Just How Unprotected Your Online Chats Are
By 11.5.14
The Internet is a place where hundreds of millions of people go to write things they wouldn’t — or can’t — say in public, and many of the most private and secretive communications occur via the many instant messaging services available to consumers. But what you may not realize when sharing your personal thoughts (and images) with someone online is that the level of privacy and security on these services varies wildly from one to the next. [More]
Facebook: Govt. Requests For User Data Up 24% In First Half Of 2014
By 11.4.14
The whole notion of companies being transparent — or at least as transparent as they are allowed to be — about governmental requests for personal data is still quite new, so it’s too soon to identify trends based on the little bit of information we’re given, but today Facebook said that governmental requests for user data during the first half of 2014 were 24% higher worldwide than they were during the six months previous. [More]
Survey: The Crime Americans Worry About Most? Credit Card Hack Attacks
By 10.28.14
Times used to be, a person worried enough about pickpockets to keep personal belongings clutched as close as possible while walking through that dark alley, possibly filled with ruffians. But nowadays, the crime Americans worry about most is another kind of thievery, one you can’t protect yourself against by sticking to well-trafficked streets — namely, that of the credit-card hacking kind. [More]
Facebook’s Next Big Thing: Bringing Back That AOL Chatroom Feeling
By 10.23.14
A few weeks ago, we all heard that Facebook — the site where your real name and offline social connections are meant to rule supreme — was planning to launch an app that supported anonymous use. Today, Facebook announced their new product for real… and it sounds an awful lot like a phone-focused version of the chat rooms and message boards AOL brought into our living rooms 20 years ago. [More]
