Follow Me!
Six EU states go to war against ‘non-compliant’ Google over privacy policy
Leading European watchdogs have banded together to start legal action against Google, after the internet search giant repeatedly refused to alter its privacy policy. The US company denies any wrongdoing.
France, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain accuse the internet giant of potentially violating EU citizens’ rights in its unified privacy policy it adopted just over a year ago, and ignoring demands to change it.
“Google has not implemented any significant compliance measures,” said a statement from France’s regulator CNIL, referring to a document in which the EU-wide data protection committee published last October, but has provoked no alterations to the text of the policy.
“It is now up to each national data protection authority to carry out further investigations according to the provisions of its national law transposing European legislation.”
The six bodies will now be able to impose fines numbering in the hundreds of thousands… Continue reading
Spam no more: ‘Biggest’ cyber-attack in history grips web
The ‘biggest cyber-attack in history’ has caused a worldwide web slowdown as the battle between an anti-spam group and a Dutch web host continues to heat up.
The largest known distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in history was sparked when the non-profit group Spamhaus placed CyberBunker on a real-time blacklist of sites to be blocked for spreading spam earlier this month.
The (DDoS) attacks – which flood targeted web servers with fake traffic to make them inaccessible – have reportedly caused millions to experience delays with services such as the Netflix video-streaming service and made other sites temporarily unavailable. Experts fear the web congestion could lead to banking and email system slowdowns around the world.
Spamhaus servers were at one point being inundated with 300 billion bits per second (300Gbps) of data, three times larger than the previous record attack of 100 Gbps, Darren Anstee from Arbor Networks Solutions told IBTimes UK.… Continue reading
Twitter sued for $50m after refusing to reveal anti-Semitic tweeter identities
The Union of Jewish French Students (UEJF) has sued Twitter and is pursuing further court action after the social networking site declined to expose names of anti-Semitic tweet authors, despite a French court ruling commanding their identification.
The case began in October 2012, when #UnBonJuif (a good Jew) and # UnJuifMort (a dead Jew) became popular tags for posts on Twitter. Over 350,000 tweets were posted.
In January, the French Court decision decreed that Twitter was bound to hand over the names of the authors of the tweets. The UEJF demanded that it release the names so that police action could be taken against the authors for ‘hate speech’.
Twitter ignored the ruling, saying it was “currently reviewing the court’s decision” at the time of issue. It was given 15 days to either give up the names, or file an appeal. The ruling was exactly two months ago… Continue reading
US and China accuse each other of cyber warfare
Security experts in the United States claim that a 12-story office building outside of Shanghai is the headquarters of a sophisticated hacking unit within the Chinese military established to attack computer networks in America and elsewhere.
According to a report published Tuesday morning by a Northern Virginia-based information security company, an elusive squadron of Chinese cyberwarriors operating under the name Unit 61398 has engaged in countless battles with governments and entities around the globe for years under the umbrella of the People’s Liberation Army.
The group is accused of infiltrating the computers of some of the biggest businesses and agencies in the US, both public and private alike, and is assumed to still be at large.
Alexandria, Virginia’s Mandiant says they’ve been investigating PLA Unit 61398 for years now and has watched them compromise 141 companies across 20 major industries, infecting the computers at places like Coca-Cola and… Continue reading
Iran rolls out bold design for homemade fighter jets
Iran has presented its first domestically designed defense fighter-bomber jet with limited stealth capabilities. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that the plane was designed for defense purposes, and will not be used for aggression.
Codenamed Qaher-313 (‘Conqueror’), the jet is an advanced single-seat single-engine military plane. It is reportedly capable of engaging targets on the ground, as well as achieving air superiority in dogfights.
According to photos published by Fars news agency, the jet boasts impressive technical specifications, with a ‘stealth’ design similar to that of the US F-22 and Russian T-50. The large wingspan and inclined outward tail fins resembles the F-35, as well as the unusual-looking wings and modern seamless canopy. The jet may have been constructed using composite materials.
image from image from http://www.kaskus.co.id
Iranian engineers have claimed that the Qaher is capable of short take-offs and landings, and can be repaired easily.
Video of the jet… Continue reading
Iran to unveil new indigenous fighter jet
The Iranian Defense Ministry has announced that the country will unveil a new advanced fighter aircraft. The domestically-designed and developed fighter jet, codenamed Qaher-313 (Conqueror-313), will be put on display on Saturday on the occasion of the Ten-Day Dawn celebrations commemorating the victory of 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a number of high-ranking military officials will attend the unveiling ceremony.
Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Karshki said in February 2011 that the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force was collaborating with the Defense Ministry on an extensive project to design and build an advanced fighter jet.
The fighter jet is said to be similar to the US-built F/A-18, although its appearance looks similar to F-5E/F Tiger II. The new single-seat bomber will have the ability to track down enemy aircraft, engage in combat, target locations on the ground, and carry a payload of assorted weapons and ammunition.… Continue reading
Data Privacy Day 2013: Twitter reveals US government makes 80% of info requests
Twitter has released its second transparency report, which demonstrated a frightening increase in requests for user data by the US government and ignited serious concerns over privacy and free expression.
The list disclosed data requests from over 30 nations, and revealed that the US government was responsible for 815 of the 1,009 information requests in the second half of 2012 – just over 80 percent of all inquiries.
Twenty percent of all US requests were ‘under seal,’ meaning that users were not notified that their information was accessed.
The overall number of requests worldwide also steadily increased last year, rising from 849 in the January to June 2012 period to 1009 in the July to December 2012 period.
Twitter’s legal policy manager Jeremy Kessel blogged that, “it is vital for us (and other Internet services) to be transparent about government requests for user information.”
“These growing inquiries can have a… Continue reading
Iran sends living creature into space
The Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a monkey into space aboard an indigenous bio-capsule as a prelude to sending humans into space..
The space capsule, code-named Pishgam (Pioneer), was launched on Monday on the auspicious birthday anniversary of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). On January 15, the director of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli said because of biological similarities between humans and monkeys, the latter were selected for the space mission.
Fazeli further highlighted that the plan to send animals into the space is part of a broader project to send human beings on space missions.
The ISA director stated that Iran’s first manned mission to space would be launched within the next five to eight years. Elsewhere in his remarks, Fazeli said the indigenous Sharifsat satellite will be put into the orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2013). … Continue reading
Google faces UK class action over secret iPhone tracking
Google is embroiled in its biggest privacy battle yet in the UK over reportedly tracking users’ online habits. At least 10 UK citizens began legal action with dozens more lining up. According to media estimates up to 10 million Britons could join in.
Google is accused of evading security settings on Apple’s devices and Safari’s web browser in order to keep tabs on people’s online preferences.
This is the first group claim over privacy issues that the tech-giant is facing in the UK, the lawyer behind the action Dan Tench told The Guardian.
“It is particularly concerning how Google circumvented security settings to snoop on its users. One of the things about Google is that it is so ubiquitous in our lives and if that’s its approach, then it’s quite concerning,” Tench said.
On top of that there are plans in the works to launch an umbrella privacy action… Continue reading
London to Sydney in 90 minutes: Hypersonic SpaceLiner that travels at 24 times the speed of sound ‘to be built by 2050′
- SpaceLiner would reach 24 times the speed of sound
- Will launch with the help of a liquid oxygen and hydrogen-fuelled rocket
- It would take eight minutes to climb 50 miles to upper Earth, then break away from rocket before gliding down to destination
A hypersonic SpaceLiner capable of reaching 24 times the speed of sound and transporting passengers from London to Sydney in 90 minutes could be with us by 2050. Although the finished article is still a long way off, Martin Sippel, project coordinator for SpaceLiner at the German Aerospace Center believes the project could attract private funding within a decade.
The current concept includes a rocket booster stage for launch and a separate orbiter stage to carry up to 50 passengers halfway around the world without ever making it to space.
Artist’s impression of the ‘SpaceLiner’, capable of reaching 24 times the speed of sound and… Continue reading
