Security

Thieves have made off with personally identifying data on 24 million customers of online shoe and apparel retailer Zappos. Announcing the hack on Sunday, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh said that the thieves broke into the company's system through one of its servers in Kentucky. Although customers' personal d...

If there were ever a mobile device that could not handle another blow, it would be Research In Motion's tablet device, the PlayBook. News has emerged of a vulnerability in the way the Playbook connects to corporate emails. Essentially, the flaw allows hackers to tap into the Bluetooth connection tha...

As essential as open systems and mobile applications are for doing business, they also put significant strain on an organization's security systems and, in particular, the key line of defense: identity and access management systems. Allowing a broad spectrum of users -- from employees to partners, t...

In a response to privacy concerns over controversial software made by Carrier IQ, wireless provider Sprint has announced it will disable the data collection tool on its handsets. Carrier IQ software is designed to be installed in handsets to give wireless carriers information about how their network...

In May 2011, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a report based on a consultation process for online tracking, profiling and targeting of advertisers, and cloud computing. The goal was to engage the public on recent technological advancements and privacy complications in behavioral advertisi...

It seems that every day a new crisis hits the news about our privacy, but not many news stories are as astonishing as the recent revelation by a 25-year-old researcher about the Carrier IQ software that is installed on most modern Android, BlackBerry and Nokia phones. Carrier IQ software collects m...

Online retailers considering selling their goods overseas need to know the expectations of consumers in the countries in which they want to do business. This is particularly important at the checkout -- with payment methods becoming an increasingly sensitive issue, consumer trust will help determin...

A Nevada judge has ordered that 228 online domains belonging to outfits that sell counterfeit Chanel items be seized, shuttered and removed from social networks and search engines. The case has raised questions regarding the control of Internet fraud in a widespread global marketplace and what const...

Facebook has agreed to settle charges of privacy violations with the Federal Trade Commission. As part of the settlement, the social networking giant will submit to periodic independent privacy audits for the next 20 years. The company has also agreed to ask users for permission before changing the ...

Seven members of a massive alleged Internet fraud ring have been charged by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The ring infected more than 4 million computers worldwide with malware and rerouted online searches fraudulently to websites and ads, which then paid the ring's member...

Anyone who attended last year's McAfee Focus conference was likely struck by the strangeness of the event. Since Intel had announced plans to acquire the company just a couple of months before Focus, McAfee was officially in "quiet" mode -- unable to discuss literally any and every business and prod...

Victims bilked of their money by fake online ads are not the only ones hurt. "Blatant fraud, like the fake-news diet promotions and other online scams that have sprouted in recent years, only serves to undermine consumer confidence and eventually marketers and business as a whole," said attorney Bil...

The U.S. Department of Justice expanded its online gambling crackdown Tuesday when it filed a civil suit against the owners of the website Full Tilt Poker for defrauding thousands of members out of more than $300 million in what it called a "global Ponzi scheme." The suit alleges that Full Tilt co-o...

You've seen the ad a thousand times on the Internet: "1 Tip for a Tiny Belly" says the hand-lettered headline above the crudely drawn swelling-and-shrinking belly. "Cut down a bit of your belly everyday following this one weird tip," it goes on to say. If starvation caused by having funds continuous...

The mobile age has arrived. In 2011, global shipments of smartphones and tablet devices surpassed shipments of laptops and desktop PCs, laying the groundwork for an era in which consumers are increasingly using mobile technology for everything from airline reservations to vehicle purchases. The mobi...