Over the past few years, some of the world’s most dangerous and daring computer viruses have originated on infected USB drives. One even got into the computers inside Iran’s largest nuclear power plant, even though it’s not connected to any outside network. See, what makes flash drives such an ideal host is that most people don’t think twice about sticking one in their computer. [More]
security
Best Buy Security Thinks I'm A Dumb Criminal, Stole iPad From Them
By 9.30.10
John has a bit of advice for iPad owners: don’t use the device in public. At least, don’t use it for price comparisons at a Best Buy with particularly clueless loss prevention staff unless you want to be accused of theft and have the police show up. He writes that this happened to him while checking some prices on his iPad. [More]
Track And Recover A Stolen Laptop With Prey
By 9.24.10
Lifehacker has a great tutorial on how to use the free software called “Prey” to track and recover your stolen laptop or Android. What’s cool is that the program can silently locate the laptop via triangulation and take pictures and screenshots, or you can more aggressively lock the computer down and send whoever is using it various warning messages. [More]
Mugging Alarms On ATMs Are Expensive And Useless
By 9.22.10
Anti-robbery systems at ATMs, like an alarm button button or a PIN code used to alert police you’re getting mugged, are rarely installed on the cash disgorgers, and with good reason. [More]
Anyone Who Has Your Phone Number Can Steal Your Rewards In Gas Promo
By 9.21.10
A Giant/Shell gas promotion ties access users’ rewards points to their phone numbers, opening up a gaping security breach for unscrupulous users who want to swipe points from others. [More]
Diesel Website Wants Color Scan Of Your Credit Card Via Email
By 9.21.10
I know credit card fraud is rampant, but I’m not sure sending full scans of your card through email is the proper way to fix things. [More]
Google Fires Employee Accused Of Spying On Kids
By 9.16.10
For a Google engineer who was fired in July, it apparently wasn’t enough just to Google people in order to stalk them. Instead, he allegedly abused his access and violated the company’s privacy policies to snoop on users. [More]
Airport Body Scanners May Replace Your Naked Body With A Generic Avatar, Eventually
By 9.8.10
Bloomberg reports that one of the big companies behind airport full-body scanners has released a software update that replaces your misshapen nakedness with a generically proportioned, nondescript avatar. The software then indicates on the avatar where you should be searched. [More]
Snoop Dogg Partners With Norton To Fight Cybercrime
By 9.3.10
Security software maker Norton has hired rapper Snoop Dogg to be the face of a new contest that asks people to upload to “hackiswack.com” a 2 minute videos of themselves rapping about cybercrime. Winners get to hang out with the Snoop Dizzle, free tickets to his concert, and a new laptop preloaded with Norton Internet Security 2011. The partnership makes sense, as computer on Norton runs as fast as if you “smoke weed everyday.” [More]
GPS And ID Card Tracks When Your Kid Gets On And Off Schoolbus
By 9.1.10
Before the kid gets on the bus, he has to swipe his electronic ID card. When he gets off, swipe again. The $16,000 kid-tracking system rolled out in a southwest Illinois suburban school district this week lets the school know where every bus and child is at all times. Parents and school administrators say it’s a welcome relief, but is it too Orwellian? [More]
TSA's "Enhanced" Pat-Down Procedure Lets Their Fingers Do The Searching
By 8.30.10
In an effort to make air travel safer but less appealing, the TSA has begun using an “enhanced” pat-down procedure for those who would rather not subject themselves to a full-body scan. And if you’re a fan of having strangers touch you all over, then you should just get straight in line for this one. [More]
This Hobby Lobby Reserves The Right To Search Your Car
By 8.16.10 — Updated: 5.3.13
A tipster in Louisville, Kentucky snapped this photo of a small warning sign taped to the window of his local Hobby Lobby. According to the sign, the store reserves the right to go through pretty much anything you happen to be carrying with you, plus your car. But shoppers shouldn’t feel too bad, because the sign says you can refuse and be escorted from the premises. [More]
Forever 21 Issues Statement About Choke Hold Video
By 8.13.10
Forever 21, the store responsible for the security force that put a choke hold on an apparently deaf shoplifting suspect has issued a statement about the incident. [More]
iPhones Help Cops Solve Crimes By Capturing Everything You Type, Do
By 8.7.10
Cops love finding iPhones at crime scenes because the phones carry so much priceless data about your usage habits, or as the cops call it, evidence. That email you typed months back about feeling stabby when you drink? It’s still there because there because the iPhone captures everything you type to help fuel its spellcheck abilities—even emails you thought you deleted. And that’s not all. [More]
Loading A PDF Could Give Hackers Total Control Over Your iPhone
By 8.3.10
Better not load any PDFs on your iPhone for a while, not unless you want to risk handing over total control of your device to hackers. The exploit affects all iOS 4 iOS 3.1.2 and higher devices, including the iPod touch and the iPad. [More]
Town Catches Pool Permit Dodgers With Google Earth
By 8.2.10
New technology often has unintended consequences. In the case of Google Earth, a popular program that combines various satellite and aerial images to create a navigable 3D globe, it’s being used by one town to catch unpermitted pool owners. [More]
Paypal's New Security Card Fits Inside Wallet
By 8.2.10
Like the idea of the Paypal security key fob, which auto-generates a 6-digit code that must be entered every time you use your Paypal account, but not so hot on its bulky shape? This year Paypal introduced a credit-card sized design that fits inside your wallet. [More]
Passengers Removed From Orlando-Bound Flight For Watching 9/11 Clips Before Takeoff
By 7.27.10
A father and his son were removed from an Air Canada flight in Toronto last Tuesday after another passenger saw the boy watching footage of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks on his iPod, reports Canoe News. The airline says the pair were determined not to be a security risk, just people with a really bad sense of tact, and it cleared them for a following flight. [More]
