<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/231198/lulzsec_calls_it_quits_after_50_days_of_mayhem.html">LulzSec</a> , the hacker group that has been a thorn in the side of major institutions ranging from Sony to the CIA, says it is going away -- but not quietly.
Security firm Symantec is warning that more people may end up like Bitcoin user "Allinvain" and find their Bitcoin digital wallets pilfered by malicious hackers.
The recent online intrusion into International Monetary Fund servers may have been the work of malicious hackers working for a foreign government, according to online reports.
Apple says it has a fix in the works for the Mac Defender fake antivirus app that has plagued a surprising number of Mac users in recent weeks. The company recently posted a Mac Defender support page explaining how you can remove the malware from your system. Apple also says it will roll out an OS X software update to protect Mac users from future attacks.
Apple is in the hot seat again in a new lawsuit that says iPad and iPhone user location data and other personal information is being shared with third-party advertisers. Apple is accused of aiding and abetting the "intentional taking and transmitting" of user data to third parties. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico, also names Pandora Media and The Weather Channel, but leaves the door open to name more defendants at a later date.
The royal wedding went off without a hitch Friday morning, and the Internet appeared to survive the event as well. Web traffic was high during the nuptials, but YouTube was able to stream the event live to millions around the world without choking (much). Twitter's fail whale managed to stay off the royal guest list, but online scammers are just getting started with their royal wedding scams and shenanigans. Here's a breakdown of the online highs and lows during Prince William's marriage to Catherine Middleton on Friday.
Sony has admitted that account details, logins and online IDs for registered Sony PlayStation Network users, as many as 77 million people, have been compromised. The information was stolen sometime between April 17 and 19, according to a Sony blog post, as early as nine days before Sony notified its users of the breach. Even worse, the company says it can't be sure whether credit card information was stolen.
Apple appears to be headed for a Google-size privacy snafu over its iOS location-tracking database after lawmakers in Europe and Washington recently started asking questions.
Samsung says it is not using rogue software to record every keyboard stroke users make using Windows-based Samsung laptops.
You may not want to think about your taxes until Tax Day on April 15, but online scammers are already plotting to separate you from your tax refund and your identity. Scams for the 2011 tax season include promises of tax credits for charitable donations to disaster relief in Japan, malware-laden Websites optimized for search engines, dangerous e-mail, and so-called 'likejacking' techniques found on the social network Facebook.
Online malicious activity was a major headache in 2010, and so far, 2011 is no different: We've seen scams and malware on Twitter, Facebook, and the Android Market, as well as a rise in politically motivated online attacks. But that's no surprise to security experts such as Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for security firm Sophos. Cluley says that Sophos analyzes about 95,000 pieces of malware every day that is either brand-new or a variant of an older attack.
Gmail is hard at work restoring service to about 40,000 Gmail users after a software bug deleted their e-mail messages, folders, labels and filters. So, while things are looking good for those users affected by the bug, this episode proves, once again, that while Web-based services may be robust, you still have to take responsibility for your own data.
Facebook should overhaul its third-party developer program and require every app on the social network to go through an approval process, security firm Sophos says. The suggestion was part of Sophos' annual security threat report for 2011, published Wednesday. The report takes a look at threats from 2010, and offers advice on how to stay secure for the coming year. Sophos said in 2010 it analyzed 95,000 pieces of malware every day, almost double the amount the company tracked in 2009.
Your home address and phone number are now part of the information dump third-party developers can obtain through Facebook-powered Website logins and applications.
Be careful the next time you visit some of the Web's most popular porn, news, and torrent sites as they could be peeking at your browser history without your consent. Researchers at University of California, San Diego have discovered that 485 of the 50,000 most popular Websites in the world are exploiting a flaw that lets them read your browser's Web history. The offending sites include YouPorn.com, Gamesfreak.com, Newsmax.com, and TwinCities.com, according to the researchers.