Security

As consumers begin to own more and more devices, the risks of increased security threats and a greater need for cross-platform protection have emerged, according to McAfee. In a joint partnership with Intel, McAfee announced on Tuesday the all-encompassing security suite LiveSafe.

LiveSafe is a comprehensive set of security measures that protect the files and digital assets that users value most. According to Mike DeCesare, president of McAfee, "Our digital lives have become more complex as we connect, share, and store data through multiple devices."

McAfee addresses the rising need for security across the fragmented landscape of gadgets … Read more

It's no secret that any information you provide to a Google service is no secret.

When Google changed its terms of service last year, the company granted itself and any other company it chooses complete, unfettered access to anonymized (we hope) versions of all the messages you send and receive via Gmail, all the files you upload to Google Drive, and all the terms you enter in the Google search box.

As CNET's Rafe Needleman reported in April 2012, Google's rights go beyond simply perusing your personal information. Google's terms of service include the following:

You've probably heard that regularly changing your password is an important part of protecting your personal information. Even more critical is choosing a password that is difficult to crack. Intel aims to educate and hopefully inspire users to create safer passwords with their just-announced Password Win contest. 30 first prize winners will receive McAfee All Access 2013 and three grand prize winners will be given Intel Ultrabooks.

Entering is easy. Head to Intel's official sweepstakes page and input a password that you think is difficult to crack. Intel will then tell you how long it would take hackers … Read more

If you ask people what they like least about the Internet, the three items at the top of their list of complaints will likely be trackers, ads, and viruses.

While you may not be able to eliminate these and other Web nuisances, you can minimize their effect on your browsing via three free add-ons for Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer: Ghostery, Adblock Plus, and Web of Trust. (Note that Adblock Plus is not available for IE; blocking ads in Internet Explorer 10 is accomplished by using the program's Tracking Protection feature, as explained below.)

Do-it-yourself do not track … Read more

Yesterday, Avast Software made news with its acquisition of privacy company Secure.Me, a small developer best known for its Facebook apps of the same name. Secure.Me protects users' Facebook accounts, monitoring all activity and photos, detecting malware links, and identifying content that is questionable or unsuitable for children.

Today, Avast makes news again with a minor update to its complete suite of Windows security applications--Avast Free Antivirus; Avast Pro Antivirus, Avast Internet Security, and the full monty, Avast Premier.

Avast version 8.0.1488.286 fixes some bugs in the interface, adds a progress bar to the … Read more

Samsung is now clear to start pitching its new flagship phone to the government.

The handset maker announced Friday that its Knox-enabled mobile devices have been approved by the Pentagon for government use. Samsung's Knox software offers high-level encryption, a VPN feature, and a way to separate personal data from work data. The software also enables IT administrators to manage a mobile device through specific policies.

For now, the Galaxy S4 is the only Samsung device equipped with Knox. But the company promises that other smartphones as well as tablets will receive the security software.

The thumb's up … Read more

Technology doesn't just complicate our lives, it also does a number on our deaths.

Imagine the challenge of accounting for all of your digital assets once you've shuffled off to Buffalo. Even if you consider your e-mail, text messages, and social-media posts disposable, you've probably stored photos, videos, and very personal documents on one or more Web services. You probably want to bequeath some or all of these items to family and friends.

If you run an online business, ensuring a smooth transition in the event of your demise becomes even more important. To ease the burden … Read more

To paraphrase an old expression: Give a man an apple and you feed him for a day; teach a man to phish apple IDs and you feed him for a lifetime -- with stolen data. That's what some bold phishers are hoping for, according to a new report by security intelligence company Trend Micro, which documents a major phishing scam that has already compromised 110 sites in a plan to steal Apple IDs.

According to Trend Micro, all of these sites are "hosted at the IP address 70.86.13.17, which is registered to an ISP in … Read more

We've all heard of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack and know what it is: when a person or people attempt to take down a Web site by flooding it with connection requests. These max out the site's bandwidth, making it unable to accept new requests. The attacks are usually automated and can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The loss of traffic during the attack itself, and the recovery afterward, can end up costing Web sites quite a lot.

But what does that actually look like? Well, nothing by itself; but thanks to a Web site traffic visualization tool called Logstalgia, Ludovic Fauvet, developer of the Web site VideoLAN (which created and distributes the free multimedia player VLC), managed to capture an April 23 DDoS attack on his site. … Read more