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New "surveillance--proof" app, Silent Circle has been released providing an easy way for people to text and call people without anyone else ever knowing what has been said, including ISPs and governments. This app makes sure no one can eave drop on your personal business by using what's called encryption. Encryption is the process of changing data into a secret code, the secret code can then only be read by the device you are trying to communicate with. The encryption codes are randomly generated each time the app is used so it is almost impossible to crack the code. This app is can be used on iOS and is currently in development for other devices and platforms as well. Some feel that free communication should be a right, but governments must be feeling a little bit nervous about this app. I chose the tag "privacy and security" because this article is about how Silent Circle has given people an easy way to speak in a secure and private environment without any intervention from anyone else other than the communicators. In my opinion I feel that free communication is important, but people will abuse this through using this app to possibly deal drugs, plan terrorist attacks, or other illegal activities. Who knows, maybe even the government controls this network to monitor people who use it, but that is just a theory.

This article is about the iPhone app "Black SMS."This app will enable you to send private messages to your recipient without having to worry about someone else being able to see it.  When you download the Black SMS app, you attach a password to your message and then type whatever you'd like into the app. Once the message is complete, hit Send and the app will automatically open your SMS app. Paste the message and the recipient (and everyone else) will only see a black text bubble. secret and encrypted black text bubble, that is. The person on the receiving end then copies the black bubble and unlocks the message by pasting it into Black SMS with the password. The only downside of this app is you can't encrypt pictures with it.

This article is about a new phone being released by a company called FreedomPop. FreedomPop is an internet service provider that provides mobile service in the US. The phone is known as the Privacy Phone. It is the only phone currently on the market that allows for encrypted communications. It supposedly has 128 bit encryption for voice calls and text messages. Data from the internet is sent through a virtual private network, which is very secure and encrypted. Also the privacy phone allows you to change your phone number whenever you like.I think this is a great idea because many people can be hacked easily these days and finally there is a private way for people make calls, texts and access the internet. With that being said, who knows how long it will be before someone successfully hacks and bypasses the security on this phone.

Google is taking one step forward in personal protection with their recently added feature. By automatically adding an "s" to http at the begining of the URL, they are encrypting the website and protecting its viewers from being seen by random people snooping around their searches, by making it more difficult to do so. This feature will soon be an available setting for Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, and Internet Explorer servers. Firefox users can install HTTPS Everywhere extention. Chrome and Chromium users can right click on the URL bar and add an "s" to the end of the "http". Internet Explorer users can add the setting in IE add-ons page.

Everyone has used google at one point in their lives. Well, a new revolution of google is on its way. When we google something have you noticed besides the 'www.' there is an 'http://'. This is means that your search worked but it isn't encrypted. This means that people can see what you're searching. With a new google search engine under development, the search engine revolution will advance. Instead of having to look for the website or whatever you're searching for, which sometimes makes me want to pry my eyes out of my head, the new google plans to take you directly to the website you searched for. What about 'http://' or whatever you ask? Another feature the new google will have is using the 'https://' system. The 's' at the end of the 'http' means 'secured', so basically no one can see what you're searching besides google itself. In other, more technical words, your data is encrypted. Looking forward to the new future of google!

Google is improving the security of their email application. Gmail is switching to https, and is looking at a more private future for its users. Sending messages over a secure https connection ensures no one can come in contact with a message. This now has become the default in all gmail practices. It is no longer an option like in 2010. In addition, emails sent will be encrypted, along with communication. This is the news that I actually liked hearing from google, most of the time it's them trying to steal our identities through google search and targeting ads towards us w/out permission.

AdBlock is tool that many of us know of, and would totally never use because it can take revenue from content creators *shifty eyes*. All of us hate annoying ads, whether they be prerolls on videos or pop ups, or less than appropriate advertisements on streaming and torrenting websites. Adblock is a wonderful creation that hides most of those, and is thusly loved by many. Recently Adblock has done another thing which will undoubtedly make its user base happy, the web application now also blocks trackers, malicious cookies and scripts. This can be extremely important to people who value their privacy as it helps to ensure that as little of your private data is being sold as possible. The issue of online privacy has been gaining traction over the past few years and especially sine the Snowden revelations. I personally commend Adblock for their goal to protect their users, I and many others care about privacy and make active decisions to stay anonymous (I, for instance, use encrypted search engines and web browsers that encrypt data). This decision by Adblock isn't a huge step forward in online protection and privacy, but it is a step, and that's important.

A scam that takes advantage of Google Docs is making is spreading throughout the web. It uses the same google.com URL and even makes us of Google's SSL encryption. It is very difficult to tell that it is a hack. The scam starts with an email that leads to a GoogleDocs link. It then takes you to a fake login screen. Once you login, you'll be taken to an actual google doc but your credentials will be sent to a PHP script on a compromised server. To avoid this, you must be careful when clicking on links sent in emails, and if the login does not recognize you as a google user, the you should notice that it is the fake log in page. This is actually scary, and everyone should always be aware of their emails and scams.

Previously, Twitter, Apple, and Facebook have been on the list of tech companies hacked within the last couple of weeks. As of March 2nd, 2013, Evernote also joins this list when their network is breached by an attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote Service. Evernote has notified users via  e-mail, blogs, and social media to change passwords so that users personal information can remain safe on the Evernote network. The hackers had successfully accessed usernames, e-mail adresses and encrypted passwords, however, they were stopped before any damage could be done. This relates to the "Privacy & Security" category because users data and personal information is being accessed without authorization. Obviously, this can cause many problems for users especially because their work and information can be stolen or deleted. Evernote encourages creating a strong password to ensure that an account remains secure, however, this is a questionable matter because the website should also consider upgrading their system in order to keep users safe. As part of the eLifestyle, many users rely on cloud storage to store information, especially on Evernote. The recent hacking just proves how reliable cloud storage really is. When saving data, it is important to consider the possibility of it being stolen or deleted. With this in mind, one shouldn't depend on cloud storage for saving all of their work or important material as it hasn't proven to be very reliable. And if you are using cloud storage, it would be smart to backup important files on a USB or Computer.

This article is about South Carolina which had a hacker break into the state's computer system. It was said that a hacker from another country staged several attacks on the State Department of Revenue since August. This exposed 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers and all but 16,000 of the credit card numbers are protected by encryption, but hackers can decrypt them. People that filed tax returns since 1998 are to contact state law enforcement officials to prevent identity theft. They still haven't found the hacker. This article relates to Privacy and Security as well as legal issues because it deals with hacking important information profiles of people such as their credit card numbers and social security numbers. As well as creating a possibility for identity theft.  This could create lots of problems for people and the government because of a hacker. It is times like these where we think how we can tighten security for these things stored on the computer? We also think is it just best to stay away from technology for these matters, because of moments like these where mass information that was stored is now exposed.

This is a great tool that can be used to further advance how we work as technological people.  This allows us to work more effiently by giving you more options.

I learned from this article how to secure your information on your mobile device using 6 simple tips. Setting a solid password, installing antivirus or security apps, and using encryption, a hardware security system, are just a few various methods of how to help and improve the security on the everyday use of your phone. Mobile security is important especially if you have a lot of important and valuable data and information, such as passwords or your email is accessible, you want to know that this information is stored and saved safely on your mobile device for no one but yourself to be able to use. With technology evolving and more and more people are being familiar and learning about hacking and breaking into systems, it is more important and necessary than ever in our society for everyone to have their information secured. Taking your mobile device's security seriously and keeping it at high maintenance is crucial so nobody can hack or see what information is important to you but also so that you aren't giving people the opportunity to rearrange or change this data that you trust that you are the only person to see and alter your personal data at your leisure. 

FreedomPop has come out with a new phone that will protect your phone calls and data from hackers. The phone is nicknamed the "Snowden phone" but is actually a Samsung Galaxy S2 that FreedomPop remodeled. The phone is selling now for $189 and comes with unlimited voice and texting. They also throw in 50MB of monthly data access for the first three months and then charges the users $10 a month. FreedomPop's Chief Operating Officer Steven Sesar says: "In light of recent violations in consumer's privacy across social networks and mobile devices, privacy is becoming increasingly important to many Americans and we all have a right to communicate anonymously. Large carriers don't have the flexibility, desire, or creativity to invest in privacy." I think this is a great idea because today, so many people don't know if their information is safe. This will help people feel more secure and safe with their information and not have to worry about who could have their phone calls or text messages.

Turns out storing private information with no encryption is a bad idea. In other news, researchers today have discovered that the sky is in fact, blue.

Yes, very true indeed!!

okay i have finally gotten to write a description about this :).. anyway... so basically what this article is about is secure internet web servers that use SSL encryption. what this does is make it very hard for hackers, malware, spyware, and all other bad kinds of "wares" out of your computer making it virus free and it doesn't allow ip hackers to watch what you are doing on the internet. The reason for this is mainly to protect bank account numbers, login id's, passwords, credit card information, and even personal information that, if not protected can get your identity stolen. Two big issues that website hosts do not agree with is that SSL (HTTPS secure connection) costs money. It is not that easy to keep a secure server blocking out hundreds of thousands of malware virus', phishing programs, and spyware, while at the same time keeping it free. Also another big problem with this is that it slows down the server. If there are a limited amount of people going on your website (meaning barely into the hundred hits) than you shouldnt have this problem, but for big websites like facebook,that have millions of hits per day, this is a big deal because they want to keep themselves on top of speed and one of the most popular social networking websites out there. basically, to sum everything up, HTTPS servers cost too much money, some websites dont even need them, and they slow down the servers a significant amount.

New to the world of phones and transactions alike: the Blackberry Bold 9900 and Curve 9360 are the first SIM-based smartphones to earn the "MasterCard PayPass Certification." This means that MasterCard thinks the phones are advanced and secure enough to handle MasterCard's NFC-based Paypass system. Now that this has been decided, any MasterCard Paypass-issuing bank can give a PayPass account to the SIM card in these phones. As a Vice President of RIM puts it, this is a "significant step forward in the way we use mobile devices for payments." Indeed, VP, indeed. This quite the large leap for Blackberry, and Blackberry users alike, as it will affect the way we do our business and transactions, and therefore out everyday lives. Jealous, Apple & Co.? 

The latest in RIM's collection of Blackberry's have now been deemed secure enough to handle Mastercard's pay pass system which means that when one of these phones SIM cards is encrypted with a pay pass account it will allow the user to make payments from their Mastercard account through their smartphone