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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: encryption

encryption stories: 16 news summaries

New Software Can Delete Emails Permanently

Software scatters encryption keys among temporary BitTorrent nodes

Aug 5, 09 6:24 PM CDT
(Newser) - Email is inherently insecure, because it has a long shelf-life—even deleted messages can be stored infinitely on the email service of the sender or recipient. Now a team of scientists is poised to unveil software later this month to make them disappear for keeps, reports the Economist. “Vanish”... More »

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email • BitTorrent • Internet security • computer security • P2P • mall security • encryption • message

 200-Year-Old 
 Presidential Code 
 Cracked 

Mathematician unravels cipher that stumped Jefferson

Jul 2, 09 2:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - A code that stumped Thomas Jefferson and other cryptologists for over two centuries has finally been cracked, the Wall Street Journal reports. The cipher—sent to Jefferson in 1801 by mathematician Robert Patterson as an example of the perfect code—piqued the interest of defense cryptologist Lawren Smithline, who tackled... More »

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encryption • mathematics • Thomas Jefferson • code

 Prez's Pimped-Out 
 BlackBerry 
 Nearly Ready 

The NSA begins final tests on encryption software this month

Apr 23, 09 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama’s super-secure, high-powered new BlackBerry could soon get the thumbs-up from the National Security Agency, which is about to begin final tests on its encryption software. The president could be texting, emailing, calling and Facebooking other high-security personnel—like Michelle O.—within months, the Washington Times reports,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Michelle Obama • BlackBerry • software • National Security Agency • hackers • encryption • President Obama • security clearance

 Prez Will Keep His BlackBerry 

Spy-proof smartphone tech means Obama won't have to give up beloved 'BarackBerry'

Jan 22, 09 4:13 AM CST
(Newser) - Security agents aren't going to have to pry the BlackBerry out of Barack Obama's hands after all, Marc Ambinder reports in the Atlantic. A government agency has added super-encryption technology to a standard BlackBerry, which the president will be allowed to use for routine and personal messages. It's not known... More »

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Barack Obama • email • BlackBerry • smartphones • encryption • Obama administration • President Obama

Google Agrees to Give Viacom Encrypted Data

YouTube visitor data will be 'anonymized' before release

Jul 15, 08 7:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a deal reached last night, Google has agreed to hand over YouTube user data Viacom had demanded in its copyright lawsuit, but only after replacing user names and IP addresses with unique substitutes to protect users’ privacy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move will allow Viacom and other... More »

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Viacom • YouTube • lawsuit • anonymous • encryption • copyright infringement • private data

Pirate Bay Treasure: Total Web Encryption for Privacy

Project could protect all data exchanged between computers from prying eyes

Jul 10, 08 2:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The founders of hugely popular torrent site Pirate Bay have announced ambitious plans to develop technology to encrypt all web traffic to ensure users absolute privacy, reports NewTeeVee. "Transparent end-to-end encryption for the internet"—or IPETEE—would protect all information sent from or received by a PC, including... More »

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Internet • file sharing • BitTorrent • data • The Pirate Bay • encryption • Internet privacy

Eavesdropping on Internet
Calls Is Easy

Researchers find potential encryption security problems

Jun 17, 08 7:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Not only are most Internet phone calls not encrypted, but a bandwidth-saving technique could undermine encryption once it’s implemented. Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that a compression method called variable-bit-rate encoding makes it possible for eavesdroppers to identify given phrases in an encrypted VoIP call 50% of the time,... More »

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VoIP • eavesdropping • Internet phone • encryption

Open-Source Security Flaw Exposes Millions

Encryption error went undetected for nearly 2 years

May 22, 08 6:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - A programming error discovered last week makes at least four open-source operating systems and 25 applications vulnerable to hacking, and a patch distributed to fix it doesn’t solve the problem. Worse, the vulnerability can extend to computers not even running the deficient code, reports Technology Review. The mistake went... More »

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cyberwarfare • computer security • hacking • encryption

Patients' Info Swiped Along With Laptop

Unencrypted data on 2,500 government study subjects missing

Mar 25, 08 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - A government laptop loaded with personal medical info on thousands of patients just “fell through the cracks,” a top exec with an NIH subsidiary says. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute machine was stolen Feb. 23, apparently at random, from an employee’s car trunk. None of... More »

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identity theft • Government Accountability Office • laptop • computer security • encryption • medical records • National Institutes of Health • private data • breach of security • National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute

Website Offers Post-Mortem Security

Departed users can leave wills, photos, passwords to family

Mar 14, 08 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Think of it as a safe deposit box for the dearly departed: A website in California allows subscribers to store digital versions of important stuff—wills, photos, credit card numbers, bicycle lock combinations, you name it—so beneficiaries don't have to scramble after the funeral, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • will • death • website • Internet security • encryption • passwords • AssetLock.com • Collin Harris • testament

Data Encryption Isn't So Secure, After All

Researchers find
easy method to steal protected information

Feb 22, 08 1:29 PM CST
(Newser) - Accessing encrypted data can be as simple as chilling a computer memory chip, according to a Princeton research group. The researchers were able to break through encryption in Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems, reports the New York Times, calling into question the security methods that companies, government agencies,... More »

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Princeton University • data theft • Internet security • computer security • encryption • memory chips • computer memory

Congressional Report Blames TSA for Botched Website

Site lacked basic security features

Jan 11, 08 10:40 PM CST
(Newser) - The TSA awarded a website design and maintenance contract to a firm with whom an administration official had close personal and professional ties, ComputerWorld reports. The site, meant to handle individual requests to have names removed from the TSA’s no-fly list, lacked even rudimentary encryption mechanisms and was not... More »

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identity theft • Department of Homeland Security • TSA • Internet security • phishing • encryption

Why IT Isn't Buying the iPhone

It's hard to accomodate this vogue

Dec 13, 07 2:55 PM CST
(Newser) - Your company's IT department isn't just being snotty when it refuses to support iPhones. Fortune runs down 10 ways Apple's new baby is problematic for business:
  1. Your infrastructure has to be configured to get business email and calendars
  2. It won't support third-party apps
  3. You can't encrypt data or otherwise
... More »

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iPhone • Apple • list • AT and T • IT departments • encryption

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

Nov 16, 07 1:36 PM CST
(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used... More »

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shopping • wireless • identity theft • Internet security • hackers • computer security • retail stores • encryption

iPhone Update Enrages Owners

Apple plays hardball
as update shuts down all hacked phones, not just unlocked ones

Oct 2, 07 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Apple’s latest firmware update doesn’t just shut down unlocked iPhones as threatened; it shuts down all phone hacks, including homemade applications, ringtones created by third parties,  and the ability to use the phone as a drive. Even some unhacked phones have become completely inoperable. That’s enraged... More »

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iPhone • Apple • Internet security • hackers • encryption

French Government Develops BlackBerry Allergy

Security concerns prompt ban for top-level officials

Jun 20, 07 11:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - BlackBerrys may feel like tools of high-tech spycraft, but they're not—or so the manufacturer is attempting to convince the French government. Worried that American intelligence could intercept transmissions from the addictive devices, the government has renewed an apparently futile 18-month-old ban on high-level officials' use, according to the Times ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Research In Motion • France • BlackBerry • French government • encryption

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