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According to SplashData, a new list of "Worst Passwords of 2012" has been published and some of the new worst passwords include "jesus", "ninja", "welcome", and more. SplashData gets their information based on files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers. These are perhaps the worst passwords that can ever be used when protecting your account. The best passwords contain at least eight characters and uses a combination of numbers, letters, and even symbols. "password" remains the most used, but worst password ever. For some of my less important accounts, I too also have use the password "password".

Apparently around 650,000 mac computers were infected with Trojan horse virus called "Flashback" This trojan is hijacking people's search engines in result of their web browsers it pretty much damages the inside of the computer, it also steals banking or log in credential.  Cyber criminals could send new malware to their systems that cause bigger problems. This flashback was designed to conduct a click fraud scam.  Apple released a security patch for Java  that prevents Flashback Trojan from infecting your computer/mac.  

In 2012 Chrysler is releasing a new feature for the Dodge Dart. They will have a place where you can put your iPhone securely in your car and it will charge. There are no wires required although your phone must have this special case on it. It is a small compartment where you're phone can be placed and charge without it moving as you drive. I think this is convenient because you wouldn't need those cables to charge your phone in the car, and eliminates the distraction of the wire.

This article notifies the world that the CIA wants to spy on you through your TV and has the means just to do so. Anytime you download a movie from Netflix to your television or turn on a Internet-based radio, you could be alerting people who you don't want or need watching you. The CIA organization will not need to plant bugs in homes or other places to spy on individuals because of coming advances in computer and Internet technology. Just by people purchasing and using new apps and various "connected" devices, people will essentially be bugging their own homes. The CIA agency and others will be able to "read" these and other gadgets from outside places to monitor via the Internet and perhaps even with radio waves outside your home. This is astonishing information and what makes it even more surprising is it can get worse, it the sense that everything, not just electronics, will be controlled by an app or chip, and will ultimately be viewed and seen by outside sources. This is a scary idea that can be put to action and that fact that we won't even be secure and safe in our homes because there may always be someone watching us and viewing what we are doing. I understand technology is helping us in our everyday lives, but I feel this is too far and the government is now using there means of advancing technology against society. They have the power and resources to possibly monitor and maybe to control what we go on the Internet or what we watch on TV and this will alter our once safe and comfortable environment to have the freedom to use technology how we like in our home.

Could it be, that Apple products can finally get viruses? Security analysis have identified a pair of Trojans using the same exploit that's worked on Window system for years.

This article informs the world of a computer program created by researchers from North Carolina State University, that allows a computer to have the tools to help, guide, and take control of a unpleasant driving experience. A computer with this program installed can understand what a camera is looking at and makes decisions based on what it sees. The program is highly intelligent because it can sort visual data and make decisions related to finding the lanes on a road, detecting how those lanes change as a car is moving, and controlling the car to stay in the correct lane. I find this program extremely fascinating and more importantly is also useful for lazy or bad drivers because if it just so happens you fall asleep at the wheel, this program acts as a lifesaver to prevent you and others from severe harm while you can trust you will be safe and secure with your computer taking over. This computer is essentially driving your car and is designed to notice a pedestrian or a stop sign and is assigned the appropriate action to complete. This could be the start in advances in technology where more computer programs can allow assistance and advisement when someone is struggling or in need of help. Something like this can definitively be cool and if it works effectively at all times, I believe this will be a huge invention that we all look back on one day. 

This article basically gives you an idea on how to protect all the information and data on your computers if you are planning on going abroad. It's helpful especially if you are going to hostile countries because you never know when you'll be targeted by someone who could easily hack into your computers and erase all your data. In short, the article gives you tips on how to easily conceal your data during situations like these. It is important to remember that even if you are going abroad, going on the internet isn't exactly the same as going online in the comfort of your own homes.

As the title states, hacking will soon be a top threat over terrorists. Hacking is a big deal because the people who do hack are able to take data - especially important data - from their sources and use it for their own benefit. For businesses, this is highly critical because just like that, any ideas you may have stored on computers could be gone and in the hands of others. Also, hacking might not be just for stealing data but also inputting viruses into other computers. In the US, two bills are being set to beef up the security of government networks to be protected from any cyber attacks. 

scary, but true

These hackers have stolen a lot from NASA such as access codes to over 150 NASA employees and causing significant disruption to mission operations. This just goes to show that big important companies like NASA aren't as secure with their stuff if people are able to hack into their computers.  These intrusions were discovered to be hackers working through China-based IP addresses. This worries me as to how easily people are able to hack because if they are able to bypass even NASA's computers then they could also hack into other places just as easily.

This article is about iOS exposing the private data on your phone to third party apps. These include your photos, contact numbers and even your present geographical location. And a week later, Android was also discovered having the same security flaw. Both companies promised that they are working on fixing it. They should do it fast because soon, we are going to run out of personal data to expose. 

The United States governments is spying on everyone, and the easiest way to monitor people is through the internet. Many people believe that one day the US government's way of monitoring people will be shared with or found out by a criminal organization. I believe that although it is important for that US governments to put surveillance they should just monitory anyone suspicious. Also I believe that if they spy on everyone it will become easier to find and hack them back. Personally I would not care if a government was watching my every move on the internet because I have nothing to hide. Finally I believe that most people would sleep better if the Government would tell the population if their spying program was compromised.      

Bitcoin; the once elusive currency reserved for shady transactions on the deep web has become popular over the past 12 months, but a recent collapse has its integrity in question. Firstly, it is important to understand what bitcoin is. For the uneducated, Bitcoin is a digital only 'currency' that is used like regular money, to make transactions, with the added bonus of (possibly) being anonymous. Due to an exploit in Bitcoin and in the online wallet service, Mt. Gox, Many people are raising an eyebrow about the reliability and integrity of the currency. Goldman Sachs, a HUGE investment banking company, recently weighed in and called Bitcoin a "speculative financial asset", not a currency. Personally, I think the currency, which was created with the purpose of being an anonymous hard currency, has failed because it has gone to the mainstream. The money isn't heavily secured, as the recent online bank heists have shown, and has no real advantage for the public. Bitcoin worked fine, amazing even, as a P2P currency only used by the deep web community, but its gotten to big and needs regulation to stay constant. This, however, is against the very nature of BTC and will therefore not be supported by the community. All in all, BTC is an interesting idea that worked on the micro scale, but cannot hope to function on the macro.

This week, pro-russian hacking groups have said that they have took down many of NATO's websites. The group that claimed attack was Cyber Berkut a hactivist group. The type of attack was a DDOS attack (distributed-denial of service). The attacks came when Ukraine decided if its Crimea region was to join Russia. The Russian government has also ordered ISP's (internet service providers) to block certain anti-Putin websites. I believe this hacking is just a less violent form of Ukraine vs Russia. I still do not believe why Pro-Russian hackers would interfere with a referendum that would actually co-inside with their very own beliefs.

Simply, there are creepers on the internet that will steal whatever image you think yourself to be without hesitation and then commit mysterious, illegal, dangerous, suspicious activity under your name which could unfortunately get you into jail even though you are innocent. This is a fact. And you know what helps them create this problem of identity theft? It is the information people freely and openly decide to share on their social media accounts like Facebook. Just one insignificant status allows bad people to assume your identity - all they even need is a vague birth date and birth place, and you are basically done for. YOU COULD BE FRAMED. This goes beyond security issues and transcends what illegal is defined as. Say goodbye to your privacy laws and hello to a never ending game of pretend. Identity fraud is swarming on this site and people don't even realize the massive extent it goes to. People are oblivious and frankly don't care if someone is unfortunate enough to fall victim to identity theft.

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!

Sony is suffering from yet another hack attempt on its networks. But this time, the company seems to be better prepared, and apparently all credit card information is safe. Philip Reitinger, Sony's Chief Information Security Officer, has posted an article on the official PlayStation blog explaining the incident.

brandon copied me

DON'T LISTEN TO CODRIN HE COPIED ME!

Now when a Video Game is released, there is always DLC (Downloadable Content) to be released shortly after, but almost 50% of gamer's don't want to buy them, and the top reason is Security. And this tells why, according to Wired but personally I think that 1. That people are scared to buy anything online due to a recent oopsie when PSN got hacked, plus according to Inside Gaming at Machinima.com is that Xbox live got hacked two. And 2 is why wont they just go to a store and buy a points card at a store, they cant be THAT lazy...right?

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

Christopher "moot" Poole, creator of 4chan and Canvas, talks at the web 2.0 summit on identity and the average person's persona on the web. According to him, social networking sites like Facebook think problems with security lie in who we share with, but Poole says that it's really our jobs to monitor the person we portray ourselves to be online. He says Facebook misrepresents people, making us think that a person's personality can be generally summed up in a name along side a photo. Poole praises Twitter for doing the exact opposite. We can't just blame companies like Google and Facebook for skewing our online image, because we are the ones who are abusing it by posting too much information anyways. But in the end, it's up to us to be careful what we post online.