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A father-and-son team of private investigators was charged in federal court last week on charges of conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud in connection with Hewlett-Packard's 2006 spying scandal, a court representative confirmed today.

The charges filed Thursday against Matthew DePante and his father, Joseph DePante, in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., stem from allegations that HP had indirectly hired their Florida-based private investigation firm, Action Research Group--a subcontractor to another firm--to probe boardroom leaks to journalists, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

In what evolved into an embarrassing boardroom drama, HP came under fire for … Read more

Euclid Elements today is unveiling a product that lets storeowners know exactly how many people walk into--or even pass by--their shops on the sidewalk or in the parking lot.

The company, based in Palo Alto, Calif., also snagged $5.8 million in first-round of venture funding.

The idea, in short, is to give merchants the sort of visibility into customer behavior that's long been available for websites owners: How many people come in your store? How long do they stay? How many came by but didn't enter?

Call it innovative. Call it powerful. Just don't call it … Read more

Adobe Systems is working on a fix for a Flash-related vulnerability that could be used by Web sites to surreptitiously turn on a visitor's microphone or Webcam.

The problem is in the Flash Player Settings Manager on Adobe's servers and not with software on customer computers, Adobe spokeswoman Wiebke Lips told CNET today.

"Engineering is currently working on a fix," she said in an e-mail. "Note that this issue does not involve/require a product update and/or customer action. (In other words, there will not be a security bulletin.) It's a fix we … Read more

You know you're one of them. Please, just admit it.

You see someone famous kissing someone who is not their spouse in Starbucks, and your first instinct is to whip out your cell phone and shoot the video in an act of star-flagellation. You see someone take a pratfall or merely pick their nose with their thumb, and you're all over them with video evidence. How else can you yuck up life with your friends?

I am delighted, therefore, to bring you (semi-)scientific proof that you are one of 50 percent of the American population: the Cell Phone Video Spy club.

Research carried out (in secret, no doubt) by Harris Interactive shows that you Cell Phone Smileys would think nothing of filming the most embarrassing, the most excruciating and, of course, the most sexy life episodes. … Read more

This isn't the first leaked look at the upcoming update to the Hyundai Genesis Coupe that we've seen, but it's definitely the clearest.

The headlamps, fog lamps, and general grille shape echo the design direction of the upcoming Hyundai Veloster sport compact, but with less visual complexity. On the other hand, the hood vents, which are more clearly visible here than in any previous spy shot, in my opinion, don't do the new Coupe any favors. Also, we've yet to see a clear shot of what the rear end's changes (if any) will look … Read more

Several great new games were released this week for iOS that are perfect for keeping you busy during downtime over the long Labor Day weekend.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about Spy Mouse, Firemint's latest game that has you play as Agent Squeak, the mouse who stealthily steals cheese across tons of cleverly made levels. I highly recommend that you grab that game in addition to this collection, but I found three more that will satisfy just about every gamer's personal taste.

This week's collection of iOS apps are all hot new games from different genres. The first lets you draw your path around a racetrack; the second lets you use a jetpack to go for distance; and the third is a beautifully made hack-and-slash RPG.… Read more

It's a tenet of modern existence that if you are online (and even if you're not) someone might be watching. Is there a limit, though, in what they're allowed to see?

I mention this existential conundrum because of a case in Ohio, which has seen a judge decide that it might not be alright for a laptop-tracking company to espy some of the more intimate parts of your life and body--even if they are being displayed on a stolen laptop.

A Wired report suggests that Absolute Software was quite wired in to where an allegedly stolen laptop … Read more

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Ad-Aware 9.5 Free.

Ad-Aware 9.5 Pro Internet Security continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in the previous version. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing … Read more

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation has been well-justified. The latest version adroitly addresses some user concerns, yet performance-based annoyances remain.

Review:

Ad-Aware 9.5 continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in version 8. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first started changing Ad-Aware's protection engine more than a year ago in version 8.1, when it introduced Genotype. This heuristics-based technology identified … Read more