Articles by John P. Mello Jr

An FBI report about Bitcoin leaked to a number of online media outlets earlier this month may have caused anxiety in some corners of the Internet, but not for one developer of the decentralized digital currency Bitcoin "provides a venue for individuals to generate, transfer, launder, and steal illicit funds with some anonymity," says the 20-page re...

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned overseas travelersto be careful when using hotel WiFi networks "Recent analysis from the FBI and other government agencies demonstrates that malicious actors are targeting travelers abroad through pop-up windows while establishing an Internet connection in their hotel rooms," a bulletin from the I...

For months, the nation's natural gas pipeline industry has been under persistent cyberattack from unknown parties, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed this week "DHS's Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team [ICS-CERT] has been working since March 2012 with critical infrastructure owners and operators in the oil...

Targeted attacks on organizations and Web-born infections like the recent Flashback outbreak on Macintosh computers will continue to poison the security landscape in 2012, according to John Harrison, Symantec group product manager for endpoint threat protection and security technology and response Targeted attacks -- attacks aimed at specific indiv...

Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of IT pros believe their organizations will be the target of a cyberattack in the next six months, and three out of five (61 percent) say the attack will come from hactivists That was one of the findings in cybersecurity firm Bit9's annual security survey released last week....

Last week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) let Google off with a tap on the wrist for hindering the commission's efforts to investigate allegations that Google was slurping information from WiFi networks with its fleet of mapping vehicles. [*Correction - April 23, 2012] The search giant's punishment -- a US$25,000 fine leveled on G...

A new all-in-one home entertainment center announced Tuesday by Ikea may give some Baby Boomers a sense of deja vu The new product line is called "Uppleva" by the Swedish furniture retailer, known for making attractively designed products with odd names and selling them at affordable prices. It combines all the components of a home entertainment sy...

A week after the Flashback Trojan began running rampant on Macintosh computers, the malware appears to be in remission The number ofinfections from the Trojan have plummeted to around 270,000, from a highof more than 600,000, according to the latest numbers from Symantec....

A new version of Google's personal computer operating system, Chrome OS, was released for developers Tuesday. It adds design elements of more conventional offerings like Windows and OS X The new Aura interface includes a home screen with a task bar, or shelf, from which you can launch applications. Previous versions required all activity to take p...

In what could be the largest mass infection of Mac computers to date, the Flashback Trojan was estimated to have reached some 700,000 Macs by the end of last week The Trojan is being planted on the Macs by owners who've been lured to infected Web pages that send a malware downloader to their computers as soon as they land on the page....

Two zombie networks infamous for stealing banking information and spewing spam were hit with a right-left combination last week by botnet fighters Using the power of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, Microsoft, along with organizations representing the financial services industry, took down two command-and-contr...

Microsoft continued to expand its television offerings for members of its Xbox Live Gold service Monday by adding HBO Go, Major League Baseball video and Comcast's on-demand video service Comcast Xfinity TV allows Xbox Gold members to access the cable carrier's expansive library of entertainment programming whenever they want it....

Iran apparently has developed an antivirus program to neutralize the notorious Stuxnet virus that put a kink in the country's nuclear development program in June 2010 Iran has vowed to distribute the antivirus program for free in about a month, according to Trend, a publication that describes itself as a private media outlet in Azerbaijan....

Security experts have been debating for years the merits of whitelists versus blacklists in securing an enterprise, and last week the debate continued to rage with the release of some test results from the Tolly Group The group tested three endpoint protection programs: McAfee Endpoint Protection Suite, Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 and Parity ...

Nearly 80 percent of organizations have experienced a data breach in the last two years due to employee negligence or maliciousness That was one of the findings in a study released last week by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by antivirus software maker Trend Micro....

Google tore down the silos around its app, music, movie and ebook stores Tuesday and melded them into a single outlet called "Google Play." The move emulates Apple's highly successful iTunes model. "Apple has set the standard with the iTunes store where you can get books and music and apps all in one place, so this is a logical thing for Google to ...

Before your company finds itself embroiled in a lawsuit over a data breach that spills personal information about your customers all over the Internet, you might want to take a look at some recent research by Carnegie Mellon and Temple Universities Data breach victims are six times less likely to file litigation against a company if they receive fr...

A camera that allows photographers to control the focus in a picture after it's shot is set to start shipping on Friday ...

Google on Tuesday rebuffed a request by a European Union privacy body to delay implementation of changes in the search giant's privacy policies set to take effect on March 1 "[W]e have notified over 350 million authenticated Google users and provided highly visible notifications on our homepage and in search results for our non-authenticated users,...

Internet privacy appeared on the big stage last week when the Obama administration unveiled its plans on the subject, which included a bill of rights for consumer privacy The president's privacy framework evoked reactions from stakeholders ranging from enthusiastic to guardedly optimistic....