Posts tagged Breaking news at Switched

Posts with tag breaking news

Princeton Review Accidentally Exposed Test Scores, Personal Information

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 5:01PM

Princeton Review is to Web Security as Krispy Kreme is to Healthy Living

Where there are standardized tests there are always companies making a killing on exam preparation books and classes. Princeton Review is one of those, specializing in training for exams ranging from the ACT to the USMLE. However, the company itself apparently needs a lesson when it comes to Web security -- it accidentally posted over 100,000 records of private information about students online for anyone to access.

The company exposed information on 34,000 students in Florida, including birth-dates, ethnicities, and scores on standardized tests. Information on a further 74,000 students in Virginia was also exposed and made public on the company's website apparently due to a massive security oversight when it switched Web hosting providers. If that weren't bad enough, the site also exposed confidential company documentation describing how to write mock tests based on the real exams while dodging copyright violations.

So, at least the students aren't the only ones left with their dirty laundry hung out to dry by this debacle, and we can't wait for all the well written legal briefs to come flying in from this one. Don't forget those semicolons, lawyers! [From: The New York Times]

Online Mixtape Site Muxtape Closed Down, For Now

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 3:57PM

Millions of Internet music lovers are probably shedding tears right now. Hot on the heels of being told that their beloved Pandora radio may have to close up shop in 2010, now the digital mixtape (we still prefer old school cassette mix tapes) service Muxtape has shut down, at least temporarily.

There is little explanation from the site or its owners, simply a message saying "Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA." Muxtape is notoriously easy to download songs from, despite measures instituted to prevent such violations of copyright law, which may have something to do with this most recent development.

Of course in the meantime, if you really need to get your Internet mixtape on, you can check out 8Tracks, which provides a similar service, and has yet to be closed down. [From: Valleywag]

Angry Father Nails Xbox To Tree

by Will Safer, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 12:46PM

What do you do when your kids get out of hand while playing with their Xbox? Your options are:

A time out.
No dessert.
Nail that Xbox to a tree, dammit!

Yes, option number three was in order for a Mechanicsville, Va., father, who apparently had enough of his kids' shenanigans/back talk/zombie-like addiction to Halo. Out into the backyard and up onto the tree the Xbox went.

Lest you think this punishment too harsh, the kids' mother -- who by the way posted this story on CNN's ireport Web site -- says the action was appropriate and that the kids don't hate their dad.

The shattered unit is available now on Ebay, with half the proceeds from the sale going toward the Hanover County School system and the other half to the kids' college fund. In return, you get a pile of junk, since we're pretty sure nailing a gaming system to a tree trunk invalidates the warranty. [From: Joystiq.com]

Click Here for the Top 5 Gamer Freakouts Caught on Tape

'Librarian' for Global Internet Child Abuse Ring Jailed

by Evan Shamoon, posted Aug 19th 2008 at 10:00AM

While we generally try to avoid putting the words "pedophile" and "librarian" in the same sentence, sometimes it cannot be avoided. In the UK, Reuters is reporting that after one of the biggest undercover police investigations into online abuse in Britain. A pedophile who acted as a "librarian" for a global Internet child abuse ring was jailed Monday. Police say they have identified 360 suspects around the globe.

Philip Thompson, who is 27 and unemployed (pictured above), had apparently collected nearly a quarter of a million indecent pictures of children. He is in prison for a minimum of 45 months, after pleading guilty to 27 child abuse charges.

The operation was assisted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), a police agency in the UK. The case began more than a year ago, when London's Metropolitan Police pedophile unit started monitoring an Internet forum, where users posted barely legal images of children and let others comment on them. They would then make direct email contact with one another, and exchange their own explicit material.

"He was a senior administrator for a pedophile Web site and was effectively a librarian for the storing and distribution of indecent images of children," Detective Sergeant Rebecca Driscoll told the press.

That's twice with the librarians. Sorry. [From: Reuters]

New Web Attack Hijacks Your Clipboard

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 18th 2008 at 3:01PM

An interesting new Web attack is making the rounds that hijacks your computer's clipboard and uses it against you. The code has been found lurking in Flash-based advertisements on legitimate web sites (we knew there was a reason we hated Flash).

So what does this new Web attack do? It places a link (that is difficult to delete) to a Web site selling fake security software in your clipboard. The infection automatically flushes your clipboard any time you copy or cut text to it and replaces it with the bogus link.

What has security experts concerned is its potential to become widespread. The software has been found on both Macs and PCs and even targets users of alternative browsers such as Firefox. This new attack is particularly hard to protect yourself and defend against, especially considering the attack's proven ability to lurk in plain sight on legitimate Web sites.

Some users have reported success in thwarting the attack by simply killing Firefox from the task manager or rebooting but, as always, we recommend up-to-date security software; including virus protection and spyware protection. The truly paranoid can stop the attack before it happens by installing Flashblock, an add-on for Firefox that will prevent any Flash-based content from loading without your specific consent. [From: BBC]

Click Here for the Top Internet Threats Right Now

Hands-on Review: Boston Acoustics iDS-2 iPod Speaker Dock

by Tom Samiljan, posted Aug 18th 2008 at 7:14AM

It seems that not a day goes by when some new iPod speaker dock doesn't come out, but only so often do such products come from loudspeaker companies that have been around since the days of cassettes and LPs. Bose and B&W have offered up their models, but only now is Boston Acoustics getting into the iPod speaker game with this week's release of the i-DS2, a simple, one-piece iPod speaker dock from Boston Acoustics -- it's the first iPod dock from the company, in fact.

We got to try a model out this week and were impressed. Side-by-side with the much more expensive Bose SoundDock (which has been our favorite shoebox-sized iPod Dock until now), the i-DS2 actually sounds better (at least on the bass end) and louder -- and only costs $180.

It didn't quite outshine the much bigger, Hindenburg-shaped B&W Zeppelin, which can really fill a large room, sound-wise, but it's also about $400 less expensive (the Zeppelin is about $600).

Besides the all-white model we saw, the i-DS2 has customizable speaker grilles thanks to the Boston Acoustics Personal Options Plan (P.O.P.), which offers about six or seven different color options with ridiculous names like Chocolat (for brown) and Chili (for some kind of hot red). It also comes, of course, with adapters for all types of iPods, including the iPhone. Our only beef is that this thing is plug-in-only, so you can't really take it out to the yard or deck with you.

If you're looking for a sub-$200 compact iPod speaker dock with the ability to blast clear mid-range and thumping bass at high levels, you won't go wrong with the i-DS2, which is ideal for dorm rooms, small apartments, offices, or the den.

T-Mobile to Sell Google Smart Phone as Early as October

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 15th 2008 at 8:54AM

Here we go folks. The New York Times is reporting that T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer Android. According to "people briefed on the company's plans," the HTC phone will go on sale in the US "before Christmas, perhaps as early as October." The NYT's sources also say that the 5-row QWERTY slider from that Dream video (embedded after the break) matches the HTC device that T-Mobile will sell. The device is still waiting for FCC approval with a three-way Google, T-Mobile, and HTC announcement coming as early as September. The deal is expected to be exclusive making it the only Android phone available in the US this year.

Of course you know what this means? It's the birth of the Android fanboy -- sure you love 'em at First!, but then they never shutup about Street View.

Update: We've added a second video (from March) of what looks to be the same device demonstrated by Google's own Andy Rubin. The 3G reference design runs a 400MHz Qualcomm MSM 7200-based processor at just over 300MHz, includes a trackball, 3D graphics processor, and appears to have an HTC logo. [From: NYTimes]

Continue reading T-Mobile to Sell Google Smart Phone as Early as October

Apple Now Worth More Than Google (Surprised?)

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 14th 2008 at 10:27AM

In a development that has tech investors buzzing (or at least humming), a little computer and gadget manufacturer based in Cupertino, California, has managed to exhibit such overwhelming growth in recent years that its market value is now bigger than that of search behemoth Google. That manufacturer is, of course, Apple, and that this is even news shows the rather topsy-turvy state of the technology sector right now, where a simple search engine that relies primarily on tiny text ads to earn money could even be compared with a thirty-year-old Silicon Valley establishment (and that we'd be astonished that said establishment was bigger than the relative newbie).

Apple was founded back in the '70s as an upstart personal computer manufacturer and boomed in the '80s as more and more schools wanted easy-to-use machines for classrooms. By the early '90s, however, Apple couldn't keep up with the growth of the Microsoft. In the late '90s and early part of this decade, the company reinvented itself to focus more on lifestyle computing, releasing the iPod in 2001, and, last year, the iPhone, both of which have been huge successes, as have been the company's line of laptops, most recently the ultra-chic MacBook Air.

As of now, Apple doesn't look to be showing any signs of slowing down. While Google hasn't exactly done anything massive lately, the pending release of the first Android mobile phones makes us think this fight is bound to go on for quite some time to come -- or until the two companies merge and take over the world. [Source: AllThingsD]

Gamers Upstage Bob Dylan at Music Festival

by Thomas Houston, posted Aug 13th 2008 at 7:01PM

Last weekend at the New American Music Union Festival in Pittsburgh, PA, Bob Dylan took to the stage and soon found himself competing with another 'band.' For reasons we can't quite comprehend, several boys had apparently set up a pretty serious gaming rig less than 50 yards from Dylan's stage. According to the New York Daily News, the troublemakers jammed out to a boisterous game of 'Rock Band' in the middle of the show. While Dylan's classic 'Tangled Up in Blue' is featured on the upcoming sequel, 'Rock Band 2,' we doubt Dylan was too pleased when his voice was drowned out by a video game. [From: NY Daily News]

Georgia Accuses Russia of Conducting Cyber-Warfare

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 9:26AM

Georgia Claims Sites Attacked by Russian Hackers

The conflict with the former Soviet state of Georgia continues to rumble with Russian forces still on the offensive. But,in this modern conflict, Georgia is also claiming Russian assaults on a very different battlefield: cyberspace. Georgian officials are accusing Russian forces of engaging in attacks against official sites, like that of the Georgian Ministry of Defense, which was knocked offline over the weekend.

As of now, the sites are back up, but this is thanks to the work of Georgian (Information Technology) IT folks doing their best to thwart the attackers. It remains to be seen, however, whether the attackers are acting as part of a concerted effort by the Russian government, or are instead led by Russian nationalists letting their pride get the best of them, as was the case in last summer's the Estonian cyber attacks. [Source: CNet News]

Gmail Goes Down, Google Apologizes

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 8:34AM

If you were having problems accessing your Gmail account yesterday afternoon, you weren't the only one. A glitch in Google's immensely popular online e-mail system kept most people out of their inboxes yesterday, a problem that was so widespread Google felt compelled to offer up a formal apology via its blog.The problem apparently was related to the contacts system portion of Gmail, which enables you to find and e-mail your friends and associates. But no need to worry -- everything was sorted within a few hours, and it's business as usual now.

That's a stark contrast to the continuing woes of Apple's MobileMe system, which was declared "stable" two weeks ago. However, users are still finding frequent issues accessing their mail online, and Apple's not exactly jumping forward with any explanation of what's going on or when it'll be fixed. This is despite Apple charging $99-per-year for MobileMe, versus the entirely free Gmail. Needless to say, in the world of online services you don't always get what you pay for. [Source: The Official Gmail Blog, and ars technica]

60 Million iPhone Apps Downloaded, Says Steve Jobs

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 9:39AM

Steve Jobs, presumably speaking from a hyperbaric chamber where he's being nourished with an infusion of liquified developers-souls before his next public appearance, had a few interesting tidbits about the AppStore for the Wall Street Journal this morning. Namely, users have downloaded some 60 million programs for the iPhone, representing sales of about $30 million since the launch last month -- a 30/70 revenue split between Apple and developers, respectively.

"The thing's going to crest a half billion soon," Jobs added, "I've never seen anything like this in my career for software." He went on to say that phone differentiation is no longer about radios and antennas (or uh, battery life) but about software.

Steve also confirmed the controversial iPhone application kill switch in the event that Apple inadvertently approves a malicious program for distribution. Jobs said, "hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull."

As to the $999.99 'I Am Rich' application, the dubious download that displayed nothing but a glowing red gem, pulling that from the store was a "judgment" call. Sure, but that doesn't explain how it made it through the vetting process to begin with.

Were Parts of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies Faked?

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 11th 2008 at 8:47AM

After all the drama leading up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Tibetan demonstrations, the censorship, and the bogus tickets, it seems some news organizations couldn't let the amazing opening ceremonies themselves pass without trying to stir up a little more drama. The show went off without a hitch on Friday night, but some are complaining now that one particularly impressive portion of the evening's entertainment, the firework footsteps walking toward the stadium, was digitally faked.

The sequence was deemed to have been "prohibitive to have tried to film it live," and so the 55-seconds of the footsteps spanning the city were done digitally. In the American broadcast, NBC did indeed indicate that particular sequence was done digitally, but other broadcasters worldwide apparently did not, leading to the controversy. So, good on NBC for that, but it too is being called out for some digital hijinx, which consisted of re-arranging the sequence of the parade of nations and omitting some entirely (apparently the US team came out earlier than was shown on the broadcast).

Both of these supposed controversies seem a bit silly to us. Given all the pressure and fears leading up to the games, we're just glad things went off without a hitch. [Source: The Telegraph, and The LA Times]

Related Posts

Hackers Using Facebook Wall to Spread Viruses

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 5:17PM

Usually walls are used to keep things out, you know, like the wind, or bugs, or barbarian invaders. Ironic, then, that Facebook's iconic Wall, the thing that helped to set it apart from MySpace and grab a huge share of the online social networking space, is actually being used by some to spread malicious software capable of turning your machine into a zombie, so that others with bad intents can control it and make it do their bidding online.

The "attack" is actually rather unsophisticated -- just a link posted to the wall to a site that supposedly has a video of, what else, a celebrity caught in a private moment doing naughty things with a special someone. Naturally the site doesn't have any such video, just a fake version of the Flash plugin that is actually the malware itself. You're prompted to install it to view the video and, once installed, your machine is theirs for the taking.

So, as always, be careful where you click, keep your virus scanner up to date, and only install plug-ins like that from official sources, like Adobe.com. [Source: PC World]

Losing Face on Facebook: Five True Stories

Three in Four Parents Spy on Their Kids With Webcams

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 2:11PM

Parents are getting desperate in the battle to stay on-top of their kid's online activities. The preferred method of combat used to be occasionally sitting down at the PC with your child and/or picking up some filtering software, but that just isn't cutting it anymore.

Kids are on social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, even if they're under the 13-year-old age limit. Even worse, many of these kids have gotten into bad habits such as befriending complete strangers, and, according to a recent study by research firm Garlik, one in five even admit to meeting these online-only friends offline. A full two thirds of kids admit to posting personal information such as what school they attend or their home phone number on their profile.

Instead of sitting down with their children and explaining to them how to be safely use such services, parents have reduced themselves to the electronic equivalent of reading their child's diary. According to the Garlik survey, a full three quarters of parents admitted to spying on their children online. Some created fake profiles to keep tabs on their kids, while others actually log in to their child's account when they aren't around.

While it's important that parents understand the potential pitfalls of social networking services, snooping isn't going to get them anywhere. Teaching a child proper behavior and what information is safe to share is the only way to make sure they're safe even when you aren't around to break into their PC. [Source: Telegraph]

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Princeton Review Accidentally Exposed Test Scores, Personal Information

Online Mixtape Site Muxtape Closed Down, For Now

Angry Father Nails Xbox To Tree

'Librarian' for Global Internet Child Abuse Ring Jailed

New Web Attack Hijacks Your Clipboard

Hands-on Review: Boston Acoustics iDS-2 iPod Speaker Dock

T-Mobile to Sell Google Smart Phone as Early as October

Apple Now Worth More Than Google (Surprised?)

Gamers Upstage Bob Dylan at Music Festival

Georgia Accuses Russia of Conducting Cyber-Warfare

Gmail Goes Down, Google Apologizes

60 Million iPhone Apps Downloaded, Says Steve Jobs

Were Parts of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies Faked?

Hackers Using Facebook Wall to Spread Viruses

Three in Four Parents Spy on Their Kids With Webcams

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