anonymization

Massachusetts authorities apparently thought that asking nicely would suffice to keep secret their subpoena for information on a Twitter user involved with Occupy Wall Street. They thought wrong.

So when the Suffolk County District Attorney's office sent its request to Twitter, its subpoena ended up in the inbox of the DA's target, following a decision by Twitter to share it as part of its privacy policy.

The user in question goes by the handle @p0isAn0N, who last week posted the document in full on Scribd. Dated December 14, the subpoena requests IP address information about the accounts of @… Read more

The Internet's most popular destinations, including eBay, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, seem to view Hollywood-backed copyright legislation as an existential threat.

It was Google co-founder Sergey Brin who warned that the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act "would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world." Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman argue that the bills give the Feds unacceptable "power to censor the Web."

But these companies have yet to roll out the heavy artillery.

When … Read more

Now that the Yuletide fog has cleared, details are emerging about the extent of an Anonymous hack on security think tank Strategic Forecasting that was first reported Christmas Day and appears to have affected some 50,000 individuals.

Austin, Texas-based Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, disclosed over the weekend that its Web site, which remains down, was hacked and information about its corporate subscribers--who include the likes of the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and Miami Police Department--was disclosed. AntiSec, an Anonymous-affiliated hacktivist group, quickly claimed responsibility and promised "mayhem" with plans to release even more documents.… Read more

Anonymous is claiming to have stolen 200GB worth of data, including e-mails and clients' credit card information, from a U.S.-based security think tank, the Associated Press reported today.

The hacking group also used Twitter to post a link to a list of clients apparently belonging to think tank Stratfor Global Intelligence.

"Not so private and secret anymore?" read one of numerous tweets from AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account linked to Anonymous.

This morning Stratfor's site was down. A notice reads: "Site is currently undergoing maintenance."

Anonymous also tweeted that it has "enough targets … Read more

We asked CNN technology writer Mark Milian to come into the studio today to wrap up the last show of the year, and he surprises us with Peter Ha from The Daily in tow!

Our two favorite guests join us for a discussion about the tech trends of 2011 ("hacking," privacy, mobile OS wars, Tumblr, and Reddit), and we'll also take a look at Mark's new book, Letters to Steve: Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs.

It's a collection of e-mails sent from the legend himself that shows his dedication to customer service and Apple fans. Some of them aren't so nice, though, as Mark tells us a few stories about his lesser-known messages.

I know you're probably super upset that this is the last episode of the year, but we'll be publishing exclusive Yuletide and Throwback episodes throughout the break, all the way up until we start our block of CES shows, live from the CNET stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center!

Thanks to everyone who helped us out this year--too many names to list, but we wouldn't be here without all our awesome guests, fans, moderators, producers, callers, and co-workers!… Read more

There are several reasons to disable browser history recording, ranging from personal to practical.

If you're a Chrome user, you have to toggle into Incognito mode in order to avoid adding to your browsing history. However, forgetting to enter Incognito mode or accidentally browsing with the wrong open window defeats the purpose of having an Incognito mode available. The Ghost Incognito extension for Chrome alleviates this issue by allowing you to create a filter that will automatically place pages in an Incognito window based on domain name.

Step 1: Install the Ghost Incognito extension from the Chrome market.

Step … Read more

week in review In the face of regulatory resistance, AT&T appears to be bracing for the end of its intended $39 billion merger with T-Mobile.

AT&T said this week that it will take a $4 billion accounting charge in the fourth quarter to cover a breakup fee to T-Mobile should the deal fail to gain regulatory approval. AT&T and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telecom also said they've withdrawn their pending approval applications to the Federal Communications Commission "to facilitate the consideration of all options at the FCC and to focus [the companies'] continuing … Read more

Fame can be a hydra.

One tentacle can lift you up. Then another wraps itself around your throat.

Lt. John Pike of the University of California at Davis police force might be feeling some constriction today, after the online world began to pay him many-tentacled homage.

Yesterday, it was merely touching retouchings of famous photographs and works of art.

Today, though, Lt. Pike has attracted the attention of hacktivist group Anonymous.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the group managed to create a little 10-minute video that happens to be peppered with Lt. Pike's address, home telephone number, and … Read more

Israeli government sites were down yesterday following a threat from online activist collective Anonymous over Israel's interception of a flotilla bound for Gaza. However, an Israeli official said the outage was a system malfunction.

In a YouTube video posted on Friday, Anonymous threatened to "strike back" if Israel continued to block humanitarian boats trying to reach Gaza. Earlier that day, the Israeli Navy boarded a Canadian and Irish ship headed toward Gaza and made arrests.

"Your actions are illegal, against democracy, human rights, international, and maritime laws," the Anonymous video says. "Justifying war, murder, … Read more