The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has halted new rules that would require high-speed internet providers to take ‘reasonable’ steps to protect customer data. In a 2-1 vote that went along party lines, the FCC voted Wednesday to stay temporarily one part of privacy rules passed in October that would give consumers the right to decide…
If your company has experienced a data breach, it’s probably a good idea to thoroughly investigate it promptly. Unfortunately, Yahoo didn’t, according to a new internal investigation. The internet pioneer, which reported a massive data breach involving 500 million user accounts in September, actually knew an intrusion had occurred back in 2014, but allegedly botched…
More than 130 Android apps on the Google Play store have been found to contain malicious coding, possibly because the developers were using infected computers, according to security researchers. The 132 apps were found generating hidden iframes, or an HTML document embedded inside a webpage, linking to two domains that have hosted malware, according to…
Microsoft today announced that it would offer customers more options for installing — and delaying — monthly security updates and once-or-twice-a-year feature upgrades in the Creators Update slated to ship this month or next. “What we heard back most explicitly was that you want more control over when Windows 10 installs updates,” John Cable, director…
Innocent toys Image by David DeHetre The most recent breach of smart teddy bears — which can receive and send voice messages from children and parents — have been involved in a data breach dealing with more than 800,000 user accounts. The company behind the products, Spiral Toys, is denying that any customers were hacked.…
Intel showed the future of smart cities at Mobile World Congress, and it’s an always-watching, always-communicating city. Maybe that creeps you out a bit, but there are potential beneifts: Improved traffic flow. Better information. Maybe even better help in an emergency. Here are highlights from the demonstrations. A traditional-looking lamppost had a ring of cameras…
Any reform of a controversial U.S. law allowing the National Security Agency to spy on people overseas will likely focus on its impact on U.S. residents, without curbing its use elsewhere. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on Dec. 31, and some digital rights groups are calling on Congress to overhaul the law to…
Twitter is taking the offensive in its ongoing battle online trolls and keep users from being abused. “We’re continuing our work to make Twitter safer, moving faster than ever to do so,” Ed Ho, Twitter’s vice president of engineering, wrote in a blog post. “This week we’re introducing additional updates that leverage our technology to…
Windows 7’s decline in user share, driven for a year by desertions to Windows 10, has stalled for the last eight months, data published today showed. According to analytics vendor Net Applications, the user share of Windows 7 — an estimate of the proportion of the world’s personal computer owners who ran that operating system…
A lucky few developers will be able to get their hands on a low-cost Windows virtual reality headset starting this month. Microsoft announced Wednesday that the Acer Mixed Reality Developer Edition headset will start rolling out to a handpicked batch of software makers starting the end of March, with more coming later. This marks the…