Steps forward
Workarounds arise as Apple readies cure for Mac infections
April 12, 2012
If you suspect your Mac might be one of the 600,000 or so computers infected with the Flashback virus, Finnish antivirus company F-Secure has issued a free tool that detects and removes the nasty infection.
Another detection tool you can use has been made available by Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky. Meanwhile, Apple has issued a statement indicating that it is continuing to work on an …More
Mobile devices carry intrinsic security flaws
April 9, 2012
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, 09Apr2012, P1B
Those cool mobile devices beloved by consumers carry deep-rooted security flaws that are only now being discovered and addressed.
That’s the upshot of two recent deep examinations of popular mobile devices. The findings highlight how designers of the current generation of smartphones and tablet PCs failed to fully account for the security and privacy implications.
“Today’s smartphones and tablet devices perform the …More
Companies embrace tools to restrict social networks at work
February 29, 2012
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, 29Feb2012, P1B
SAN FRANCISCO – When Randy Kortering decided to upgrade computer network defenses at Haworth, a $1 billion-a-year office fixtures manufacturer, his chief of security warned him about social-networking use.
“He laid out what was coming through a Facebook connection and how it could very quickly spread a virus that we weren’t prepared to block,” recalls Kortering, vice president of global information services …More
Will Congress make Obama’s Privacy Bill of Rights law?
February 23, 2012
Getting a divided Congress to pass any hard-edged privacy legislation is the next big hurdle President Obama faces in getting his Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights made the law of the land.
“We urge the Administration to ensure that it carries out this process in a fair and transparent manner, and that consumer voices are heard and acted on,” Susan Grant, Director of Consumer Protection at Consumer Federation …More
Obama calls for a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights
February 23, 2012
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, 23FEB2012, P1B
The White House on Wednesday unveiled a strongly worded “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights’’ as the linchpin for a drive to get Congress to pass new laws protecting consumers privacy as they surf the Internet.
The announcement came as Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and attorneys general from 35 other states sent a letter to Google complaining about a new …More
FTC bars Facebook from using deceptive privacy practices
November 29, 2011
Facebook on Tuesday agreed to a Federal Trade Commission consent order barring the company from deceiving consumers about its privacy practices. The order also requires Facebook to submit to monitoring for 20 years.
The sanctions stem from privacy setting changes Facebook made in December 2009, without asking users’ permission.
The company told users they could keep full control of who could access their content on Facebook when, …More
Rockefeller, Bono Mack seek explanations from Facebook
November 16, 2011
Two federal lawmakers want Facebook to come before Congress to explain how the social media company tracks Web users and why Facebook members got swarmed by pornographic and violent images this week.
Reacting to details of Facebook’s tracking practices disclosed in LastWatchdog’s page 1A story in print editions of USA TODAY, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D – W. Virg., said he intends to invite Facebook and …More
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