Articles by John P. Mello Jr.

A technical error that affected 28 million Windows users in Europe could cost Microsoft billions in penalties The glitch, which disabled the display of a browser choice screen in Windows, violates an agreement between Microsoft and European Union (EU) regulators....

Despite dire warnings, the Internet didn't break last week when the FBI pulled the plug on the server controlling the DNSChanger botnet An estimated 300,000 computers are still infected by the malware that ties them to the botnet, which was designed for large-scale click fraud. Those machines' connections to the Internet depended on a server the FB...

To listen to Microsoft's Steve Ballmer talk, you'd think he was the prime minister of a besieged nation, rather than the captain of one of the largest software companies in the world In an interview Tuesday with CRN, a website for VARs and technology integrators, the flamboyant head of Microsoft pledged to compete with arch rival Apple on every fro...

Those who follow the exploits of Stuxnet will remember June 24, 2012, as Big Sleep day for the infamous malware. On that day, it stopped replicating "It's more like neutered, rather than dead," Eric Byres, CTO and vice president for engineering at Tofino Security Products, told TechNewsWorld. "The June 24 date stops it from replicating, but if it h...

Claims by a team of international cyrptographic researchers that they've "cracked" the RSA encryption used on a number of smartcards and secure tokens has set off a tempest in security circles The scientists from France, Italy, Norway and the United States have found a method for compromising the code in as little as 13 minutes. They plan to divulg...

Zynga made a number of announcements at its Unleashed event in San Francisco Tuesday, most of them aimed at the same goal: making its services "stickier" to its players "Social games have become a crowded marketplace," Scott Steinberg , digital game consultant and principal in TechSavvyGlobal.com, told TechNewsWorld. "It's hard to sustain interest ...

There's evidence that Google's consumer privacy policy is being extended to government contracts for its software services, according to SafeGov.org. Citing contracts in Texas, Illinois and California, the group contends that Google's privacy policy is the "minimum standard" for handling customer data under the contracts....

After several missed deadlines, Asus has finally introduced a combination smartphone, tablet and notebook computer aimed at consumers who are tired of toting around disparate devices ...

The deluge of spam dropped on members of LinkedIn last week perhaps could have been expected after a data breach at the site exposed 6.5 million of their passwords. Those messages, though, are more likely to harm members unaffected by the breach than those victimized by it That's because members who had their passwords compromised also had them wip...

Fanned by a security community hungry for the next Stuxnet, a new so-called superworm called "Flame" made headlines last week Comparisons to the now infamous worm that attacked Iran's nuclear development program quickly appeared. Flame may have been created by a nation state. It apparently targets countries in the Middle East. It gathers informatio...

"Domestic Communications Assistance Center" is the kind of name you'd give to a couples counseling collective. At the FBI, though, it's the name that's been given to an agency designed to be at the cutting edge of digital snooping The mission of the DCAC, located at the FBI facility in Quantico, Va., includes intercepting and decoding Skype convers...

Motorola Mobility's financial performance has been less than stellar in the last three years, so its acquisition by Google for US$12.5 billion could be a boon for the company "Motorola has been running at an operating loss for quite a few quarters," observed Ramon T. Llamas, who analyzes mobile devices technology and trends for IDC. "Now it has acc...

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....