When it comes to smuggling drugs, people come up with the most innovative methods that you can think of, yet usually still end up getting busted. Whether it’s the marijuana catapult or carrier pigeons used as drug mules, all of this innovation goes to waste and only gets the people involved into more legal trouble. The latest drug smuggling attempt, although creative, still ended up the same way. [...]
The latest in a string of high-profile hacks, the office of the Australian Prime Minister has reported that several thousand emails have been breached since February. [...]
IBM’s Jeopardy! winning supercomputer, Watson, has proven to be one of the most intelligent machines ever created. Not only can this computer answer complex questions better than humans, it can also use sophisticated analytics to analyze about 200 million pages of content in about 3 seconds and come up with a solution for almost any problem or question asked of it. [...]
Normally when a thief rips off a laptop the case is closed—the computer disappears forever, or there’s an unlikely fluke and the crook slips up and gets caught by police. There’s an even more bizarre twist, however, when the victim is computer-savvy enough to bust the criminal himself. [...]
Bullying used to mean bigger, more aggressive kids picking on the timid or different. With social networking sites giving millions of young adults a new place to expose their identities, opinions, interests and vulnerabilities came a new arena for predators to ridicule those differences. As a sign of the times, the Arkansas Senate could make cyberbullying a crime. [...]
Terrorists are always on the lookout for new ways to cause chaos and create discreet weapons. Bombs have been hidden in shoes, underwear, printer cartridges, and even up their butts. Bottom line, terrorists usually show preference for explosives as their weapons of choice. This time is no different—just the destructive delivery system. [...]
Typically when we write about Facebook it’s riddled with invective about its liberal use of your personal information, its unchecked spam applications, and even its ability to ruin marriages. Today, however, we appluad the social networking site’s efforts in removing approximately 20,000 underage users every day. [...]
In the past few years, surveillance and other technological advances within airports have drastically increased security, while simultaneously inconveniencing almost every run-of-the-mill passenger. New Wi-Fi tracking systems, while a potential harbinger of an overstep in personal privacy, could actually prove beneficial to the average traveler. [...]
Search engine/information megalith Google is no stranger to legal battles over privacy concerns. Monday, the site was fined by France’s privacy watchdog for illegal collection of personal data to the tune of euro100,000 ($141,300)—the largest fine ever handed down by the agency (and the only fine Google has ever received for such maleficence). [...]
Portable authenticators, tiny devices that you can carry on your keychain for an added level of security, appear to be one of the best ways to ensure that your digital identities can’t be hacked. The way that these authenticators work is by displaying a new code every 60 seconds and are entered along with a password or a pin to gain access to an account. So if a hacker was able to steal your password in some way, they would also need your personal authenticator to log into your account. [...]
With all the serious, heavy news recently, we figured our readers could use a story to lighten their moods a bit. What better way to do so than with a story of criminal stupidity, or as we like to call it, one of our criminal fail stories. [...]
Video technology has revolutionized surveillance and communication over the past few decades. Usually, we highlight developments in the industry that will challenge or elevate the status quo. When confronted with the lunchbox video camera, however, all we can do is shake our heads, befuddled, and wonder why. [...]
In today’s day and age, cars are no longer merely the mode of transportation they were 50 years ago. Instead, they’ve become Internet-connected entertainment machines as well as complex computers. And like other complex computers, they are vulnerable to viruses and malware. But the surprising twist on this automobile virus vulneravility is the delivery method developed for this malware: simple .mp3 files; meaning, all it takes to gain complete control over a car is an audio CD. [...]
Endoscopes, small cameras attached to fiberoptic cables used to explore the innerworkings of the human body, have revolutionized diagnostic medicine. Their only drawbacks up until this point have been their prohibitive price, and the fact that they need to be thoroughly sanitized after each use. A German institute, however, may have remedied these deficiencies by making the cameras significantly smaller, and disposable. [...]
