Security

Clean Your Ears, Because Airport Security Might Soon Be Scanning Them

New research says your ears are like snowflakes—completely unique in the world. Which is neat! But also means you have two giant finger prints on the side of your face, and airport security wants a look. A team at the University of Southampton hopes that ear scanning, unlike facial biometrics, will allow security teams to…

Privacy & Security Sam Biddle

Microsoft Wants To Keep Your Sick Computers Off The Internet

According to Microsoft, your virus-infected computer is no different from a diseased human. This means that it should be quarantined until it’s healthy so that it doesn’t put others at risk: Just as when an individual who is not vaccinated puts others’ health at risk, computers that are not protected or have been compromised with…

Tech News Rosa Golijan

Lockheed Martin’s Kenneth Van Meter Profits If You Fear the Smart Grid

The benefits of a smart electrical grid are substantial—efficiency, conservation, and safety. Well, except that last part, according to Lockheed Martin’s Kenneth Van Meter, calling the smart grid a security nightmare. And guess who’s in the security business? In a recent interview, Van Meter forecasts that “by the end of 2015 we will have 440…

Privacy & Security Sam Biddle

ADT Ad Campaign Scares Homeowners Into Buying ADT Security

ADT’s latest marketing effort sought to educate Santiago, Chile apartment owners about the dangers of home invasion by scaring the piss out of them when they got home. The ploy, while no doubt startling to those who discovered it, was actually pretty ingenious. Using a spring loaded box, ADT marketing professionals (Née burglars working for…

Privacy & Security Jack Loftus

Simple Lack of Hygiene Fools Most Biometric Scanners

A new report out of the US National Research Council asks that you leave the severed fingers and popped out eyeballs at home when trying to fool biometric scanners. Turns out the body’s natural aging process is enough to fool these fallible systems, as are the grime, grease, moisture and dirt that naturally accumulate on…

Privacy & Security Jack Loftus

Some Airport Employees Use Body Scanners As Personal Nudie-Vision Goggles

We’ve heard of airport employees abusing body scanners to get naughty looks at their coworkers, but now we’re hearing that some security officials at a Nigerian airport might be using them like personal nudie-vision goggles. https://gizmodo.com/airport-employee-abused-body-scanner-to-get-a-naughty-l-5501485 According to a report by THISDAY, some airport employees at Lagos airport sneak off to the cubicle where the…

Privacy & Security Rosa Golijan

Another Apple Patent to Identify Users Automagically

Apple seems obsessed with researching methods to identify users of iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices. The last effort is a patent that describes a device with sensors capable of figuring out the user’s hand shape and adjusting the device’s settings and buttons based on the user’s profile. The sensors would be placed on the…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

A 17-Year Old Caused Yesterday’s Twitter Mess

An 17-year old Australian is taking responsibility for unwittingly causing yesterday’s Twitter bug. While the teen didn’t directly bring the flood of spam and porn retweets, he burst open the dam. I guess that passes for precociousness these days? https://gizmodo.com/there-was-a-new-twitter-exploit-and-it-was-spreading-li-5643732 The trouble began when the Melbourne-based high school student decide to test the security flaw…

Privacy & Security Brian Barrett

Stolen Credit Card Sites Have Hidden Fees—Just Like the Credit Cards Themselves

Did you know that credit card details are sold for around $1.50 each? What might cost you hundreds or even thousands (not to mention the stress), costs black market-buyers less than a coffee, as Krebs On Security discovered. Just like in McDonalds, where you walk in with a desire for a Coke and come out…

Privacy & Security Kat Hannaford

That Twitter Exploit Patch Brought Some Neat New Features Along With It

Twitter was going nuts this morning with a fresh exploit that had people inadvertently retweeting spam links left and right, but thankfully Twitter was quick to patch things up. And as it happens their fix didn’t just fix things, it improved them: the patch brought Reply to All and Auto-Complete features to the recently revamped…

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

There Was a New Twitter Exploit and It Was Spreading Like Wildfire

Twitter is seriously screwed up at the moment, thanks to a new Javascript exploit that’s currently slamming the service. Visitors of Twitter’s website are inadvertently retweeting spam and porn to their followers, just by hovering over tweets. UPDATE: Patched Update: As of 9:50, Twitter says “The exploit is fully patched.” The exploit takes advantage of…

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

HDCP Master Key Is Real, But It Won’t Do You Much Good

Intel confirmed that the HDCP “master key” posted anonymously last week is indeed real. But while it’s always fun to see restrictive security measures get picked apart, this particular crack probably won’t do you a whole lot of good. https://gizmodo.com/hdcp-copy-protection-unlocked-by-master-key-5638085 CNET talked to all types of security folk to get the scoop on the implications…

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

Smartphones Are Only the Tip of the Security Iceberg

While smartphone security is an issue that’s close to our hearts (being only a few feet away, in our pockets), security group Mocana shows that soon, smartphones will only make up a small fraction of all the connected devices. The data, taken from analyst projections for 2009-2013, might not be exact, but it does serve…

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

Amtrak Security Scares You Silly Just Because They Can

Amtrak spokesperson Cliff Cole would like to inform you that the company doesn’t conduct searches because there’s an actual threat. That would be silly! Instead they do it randomly, you know, just to make sure you’re paying attention. It’s a delicate line that Amtrak has to walk between vigilance and privacy invasion. So delicate, in…

Privacy & Security Brian Barrett

Antivirus Software: It’s What Keeps Dolph Lundgren From Lighting Your Unicorn On Fire

If you don’t quite understand the threat that cyber criminals pose to your online banking, let Norton explain: your bank account is like an adorable little unicorn and the hackers are like Dolph Lundgren with a flamethrower. See? Simple. [DailyWh.at]

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

Spammers Create 57,000 New Websites Every Week

They may be an unscrupulous bunch, but you can’t say spammers aren’t efficient. Just imagine the time spent registering those domain names! Those 57,000 websites being registered every week were uncovered by—surprise, surprise—an anti-virus company, PandaLabs, whose best interest is reminding you of the ongoing threat of such evils. It’s mostly eBay and Western Union…

Privacy & Security Kat Hannaford

How to Catch a Terrorist: Read His Brainwaves

It’s been a dream of scientists, interrogators and law enforcement professionals for years: Strap a terrorist suspect to a couple of electrodes, start asking him questions, and watch his brainwaves rat him out. In a recent paper, a Northwestern University professor uses some of his recent fieldwork to urge the intelligence community to give the…

Privacy & Security Spencer Ackerman

Airport “Naked” Body Scanners Get Privacy Upgrade to Anonymize Your Naughty Bits

Airport security scanners that literally see through your clothes are contentious. Because … well, think about shadowy TSA guys peeping at your bits. Hence some firms are now tweaking them to anonymize your “x-rays” to protect your decency. The issues surrounding through-clothes airport security imagers are complex, and the matter has got stickier in the…

Privacy & Security Kit Eaton - FastCompany

Facebook Will Let You Kick Yourself Off Other Signed-In Devices

Similar to when AIM notifies you that you’re still logged in on another computer, Facebook will go even deeper and not only tell you how long you’ve been logged in for, but the name of the device and location, too. While the feature hasn’t gone live yet, it’s going to be so handy knowing where…

Social Media Kat Hannaford

A Heat-Seeking, Automated Nerf Sentry Gun

Nerf guns these days are very scary. They have reloadable magazines and fire automatically and look like they could provide a suitable defense during an alien invasion. But how to render one even scarier? Make it heat-seeking. Video, please: https://gizmodo.com/so-this-is-what-nerf-guns-are-like-now-huh-5588890 Click to view That terrifying toy took Grand Prize at the MAKE/Design News Gadget Freak…

Privacy & Security Kyle VanHemert

Clean Your Ears, Because Airport Security Might Soon Be Scanning Them

Microsoft Wants To Keep Your Sick Computers Off The Internet

Lockheed Martin’s Kenneth Van Meter Profits If You Fear the Smart Grid

ADT Ad Campaign Scares Homeowners Into Buying ADT Security

Simple Lack of Hygiene Fools Most Biometric Scanners

Some Airport Employees Use Body Scanners As Personal Nudie-Vision Goggles

Another Apple Patent to Identify Users Automagically

A 17-Year Old Caused Yesterday’s Twitter Mess

Stolen Credit Card Sites Have Hidden Fees—Just Like the Credit Cards Themselves

That Twitter Exploit Patch Brought Some Neat New Features Along With It

There Was a New Twitter Exploit and It Was Spreading Like Wildfire

HDCP Master Key Is Real, But It Won’t Do You Much Good

Smartphones Are Only the Tip of the Security Iceberg

Amtrak Security Scares You Silly Just Because They Can

Antivirus Software: It’s What Keeps Dolph Lundgren From Lighting Your Unicorn On Fire

Spammers Create 57,000 New Websites Every Week

How to Catch a Terrorist: Read His Brainwaves

Airport “Naked” Body Scanners Get Privacy Upgrade to Anonymize Your Naughty Bits

Facebook Will Let You Kick Yourself Off Other Signed-In Devices

A Heat-Seeking, Automated Nerf Sentry Gun

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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