Digital privacy | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

After several controversial data mining and privacy invasion features within Microsoft's newest operating system, Microsoft continued convincing its users that Windows 10 is not spying on anyone and that the company is not collecting more data than it needs. In addition, Microsoft also updated its privacy policy in order to clear how and when Windows 10 utilizes users' data. But wait, before you convinced yourself by this statement, just have a look on the milestones (listed below) that Microsoft recently announced, revealing that Windows 10 is now actively running on 200 Million devices . Also Read:   Microsoft WARNING — 'Use Windows 7 at Your Own Risk' Microsoft Tracks Your Every Move Here's the list of milestones that Microsoft just achieved: People spent over 11 Billion hours on Windows 10 in December 2015. More than 44.5 Billion minutes were spent in Microsoft Edge across Windows 10 devices in December alone. Windows 10 users aske...

North Korea has its own homegrown computer operating system that looks remarkably just like Apple's OS X, which not only prevents potential foreign hacking attempts but also provides extensive surveillance capabilities. Two German researchers have just conducted an in-depth analysis of the secretive state's operating system and found that the OS does more than what is known about it. Dubbed Red Star OS , the operating system based on a Linux 2009 version called Fedora 11 limits its users to a government-approved view of the world and has the tendency to ' watermark ' files on USB sticks to track user's shuttling contraband material. Red Star OS Tracks User's Every Move In short, whenever a user inserts a USB storage device containing photos, videos or other documents, into a computer running Red Star, the OS takes the current hard disk's serial number, encrypts that number, and writes that encrypted serial into the file, marking it. The p...

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Have you recently purchased a Windows computer? Congratulations! As your new Windows computer has inbuilt disk encryption feature that is turned on by default in order to protect your data in case your device is lost or stolen. Moreover, In case you lost your encryption keys then don't worry, Microsoft has a copy of your Recovery Key. But Wait! If Microsoft already has your Disk Encryption Keys then what's the use of using disk encryption feature? Doesn't Encryption mean Only you can unlock your disk ? Microsoft Probably Holds your Encryption Keys Since the launch of Windows 8.1, Microsoft is offering disk encryption as a built-in feature for Windows laptops, Windows phones and other devices. However, there is a little-known fact, highlighted by The Intercept, that if you have logged into Windows 10 using your Microsoft account, your system had automatically uploaded a copy of your recovery key to Microsoft's servers secretly, and you can't pre...

PRIVACY  – a bit of an Internet buzzword nowadays. Why? Because the business model of the Internet has now become data collection. If you trust Google, Facebook or other Internet giants to be responsible managers of your data, the ongoing Edward Snowden revelations are making it all clear that this type of information can be easily snooped by the intelligence agencies like NSA and GCHQ. In short, the simple truth is that you have no or very little privacy when you are online. So, if you are worried about identity thieves, or your ISP spying on or throttling your traffic, the most efficient way to secure your privacy on the Internet is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service. Though you can take other measures to increase security on your end, like installing a firewall as well as blocking known intrusive IP addresses that might be spying on you — But VPN takes your security to the next level by encrypting all inbound and outbound data. VPN (Virtual ...

Almost every day or every second day, When I come across various announcements in Newspaper, TV News Channels, and Press releases that... ...Indian Government and related Policy-making organizations are going to set up their so-called " CyberSecurity Task Forces " or drafted a " National Cyber Security Policies ," with an aim to boost cyber security in India… The first thing that comes to my mind is: Why Doesn't my Government Understand How Encryption and Online Cyber Security Works? Yes, My Government really have no idea, How Encryption relates to users' Privacy. And… Narendra Modi's Government has done it again! With the release of the draft National Encryption Policy , the government wants access to all your messages whether sent over online email services like Gmail or messaging services like WhatsApp, Viber, or Messenger. The National Encryption Policy ( before addendum ) required: Access to your Private Data To stor...

A new Tails 1.3 has been released with support to a secure Bitcoin wallet. Tails, also known as the ' Amnesic Incognito Live System ', is a free security-focused Debian-based Linux distribution, specially designed and optimized to preserve users' anonymity and privacy. Tails operating system came to light when the global surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden said that he had used it in order to remain Anonymous and keep his communications hidden from the law enforcement authorities. Tails 1.3 offers new applications, updates to the Tor browser, and fixes a number of security vulnerabilities from previous releases of the software and specially introduces Electrum Bitcoin Wallet . NEW FEATURES IN Tails OS 1.3 Electrum Bitcoin Wallet Updated Tor Browser Bundle obfs4 pluggable transport KeyRinger Electrum Bitcoin Wallet is one of the major changes Tails 1.3 received. Electrum is a new open-source and easy-to-use bitcoin wallet that protects you fro...

If you are fan of the largest social networking site Facebook, but also want to remain anonymous while using your Facebook account, then there is really a Good news for you. Facebook on Friday began offering a way for security and Privacy conscious users to connect to its social networking service using the anonymizing service running on the Tor networ k, by launching a .onion address. This is really a historic move of the social network. Tor Browser is an open source project, launched in 2002, designed to increase the anonymity of your activities on the Internet by not sharing your identifying information such as your IP address and physical location with websites and your service providers. Browsing and data exchange over a network is made through encrypted connections between computers. The social network just created a special URL – https://facebookcorewwwi.onion – that will allow users running Tor-enabled browsers to connect Facebook's Core WWW Infrastructure. Hidden service...

Last Saturday millions of France Internet users saw a strange message on Google's Homepage, rather than any GOOGLE DOODLE, as shown above. Despite Paying €150,000 ($228,147)  Fine to France Government, Google has been forced to post a ' Privacy Fine Notice ' on its French Search Engine homepage for violating Data-Processing and Freedoms Laws. The French Data-protection authority - ' The Commission Nationale de l'information et des Liberties ' (CNIL) said on Friday that Google's appeal to suspend the order of January decision has been denied by the Conseil d'Etat i.e. The Administrative Court and the company is ordered to post a notice for 48 hours on its Google.fr page within eight days as of the notification of the decision. In 2012, Google's new privacy policy that combined several separate policies under one umbrella and allowed Google to take advantage of user data from multiple different services at once, was in violation of " fun...

Privacy is "workings of your mind". We share our personal moments captured in images, credit card details, thoughts that are personal or professional with a person or a certain group at different instances of time and want it to be safe and secure. We use an electronic gadget to share something trusting blindly the service provider company which may have to obey some unveiled laws of that country to which it belong and our data might be at risk. The surveillance programs can force these companies to store the information and share it with the Government and can even sniff all the data passing through the channels i.e. Wire or Air, and hence compromise our privacy. Though surveillance programs were in existence before Snowden's leaks, but after the revelation of NSA's surveillance programs, we need to think twice when it comes to our privacy. 28% of all Internet users, i.e. 415 Million people say that they use some sort of privacy tool for their Internet browsing sessio...

In an interview to be published in this week's of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said the US National Security Agency  works closely with Germany and other Western states. The interview was conducted by US cryptography expert Jacob Appelbaum and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras using encrypted emails shortly before Snowden became known globally for his whistleblowing. Snowden said an NSA department known as the Foreign Affairs Directorate coordinated work with foreign secret services. NSA provides analysis tools for data passing through Germany from regions such as the Middle East. " The partnerships are organized so that authorities in other countries can 'insulate their political leaders from the backlash' if it becomes public 'how grievously they're violating global privacy ,' he said. Germans are particularly sensitive about eavesdropping because of the intrusive surveillance in the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) a...

If you have followed the startling revelations about the scope of the US government's surveillance efforts, you may have thought you were reading about the end of privacy, and about the Enemies of the Internet. " My computer was arrested before I was ." a perceptive comment by an internet activist who had been arrested by means of online surveillance.  Online surveillance is a growing danger for journalists, bloggers, citizen-journalists and human rights defenders. Over the last few years, law enforcement agencies have been pushing for unprecedented powers of surveillance and access to your private online communications. This week the PRISM surveillance scandal has consumed the Internet as the implications of massive scale U.S. Government spying begin to sink in. The US National Security Organization (NSA) is almost certainly one of (if not the) most technologically sophisticated, well-funded and secretive organizations in the world. The Prism initiative was launched ...

A Michigan man faces prison time for accessing a laptop at his home and reading his wife's email. Leon Walker, 33, was charged with a felony after accessing his wife Clara Walker's email account and discovering she was having an affair, reported the Detroit Free Press. Upon discovering that his wife was communicating with her second husband, who had previously been arrested for beating her in front of her son, Leon Walker turned the emails over to Clara Walker's first husband, the child's father. This led to Leon Walker being charged with hacking—a law typically used for breaking into highly sensitive government or business computers or systems, the newspaper reported. "I have to ask," Walker's attorney Leon Weiss told the paper, "Don't the prosecutors have more important things to do with their time?" Apparently not. Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper described Walker as a "hacker" who used his skills as a computer technic...

Spam is arguably the most irritating aspect of the internet and email for people globally. However, there is hope in Canada for those who have been targeted by spammers. A new law, Bill C-28, aims to facilitate government efforts in prosecuting and fining individuals and companies guilty of sending spam. This law allows the government to impose fines of up to $1 million on individuals and up to $10 million on companies. Company directors and owners can also be held personally responsible if they are aware their networks are sending spam. Additionally, the law criminalizes the use of aliases or false information in emails, making it easier for victims to prosecute offenders. However, nearly 70 percent of the world's spam is distributed by botnets, meaning the senders are often as much victims as the receivers. Therefore, these laws might not significantly reduce the volume of spam sent and received. The new legislation closes a loophole in Canadian law, as Canada was previously ...

Nearly 100 law enforcement officers recently witnessed how easily an identity thief can steal electronic information. During a UNLV conference, a cybercrime expert used a $30 device to intercept data from their smartphones. Welcome to the dark side of the 21st century. As technology advances, so do the methods of thieves. They now target computers, phones, ATMs, credit card machines, and any device holding personal information. Identity theft is a severe crime. Criminals can quickly wreak havoc by draining bank accounts, taking out loans, and racking up credit card debts. A victim's credit score can be ruined in no time. As reported by Steve Kanigher in the Las Vegas Sun, Nevada has been a hotspot for identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Nevada ranked fifth in the nation for identity theft last year. This is an improvement from 2005 when it was second. Metro Police reported 2,063 cases from January to November 13 this year, down from 2,440 during the same...