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The computer virus Stuxnet, which some experts believe was created specifically to target Iran's nuclear facilities, could also threaten U.S. infrastructure, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. "That virus focused on specific software implementations, and those software implementations did exist in some U.S. infrastructure," Greg Schaffer, the department's assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications, told reporters at a breakfast Monday morning. "So, there was the potential for some U.S. infrastructure to be impacted at some level." Schaffer described Stuxnet as a "very tiered, complex, and sophisticated virus" that has attracted worldwide attention because it specifically targeted supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems at Siemens plants, including those in Iran. Experts have suggested that the cost and manpower required to create such a virus indicate that a government, rather than a rog...

Google has made its most direct challenge to Microsoft with the launch of its new operating system, Chrome OS, which aims to surpass Windows. This marks a significant move in the battle for the future of personal computing. With Chrome OS, users can get online much faster. The system powers up instantly and logs onto the web within seconds. During the first public demonstration in San Francisco, Google showcased that a user could be surfing the net within 60 seconds of turning on their computer. Chrome OS also brings users closer to storing all their photographs, music, and emails online instead of on a hard drive. These files would be kept in the "cloud" on the internet and accessed from any device with an internet connection. Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chief Executive, stated, "Cloud computing will define computing as we know it." The first computers running Chrome OS, made by Acer and Samsung, will go on sale in mid-next year—more than six months behind schedule....

Microsoft has detailed new security features for Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) that will help users prevent sites from tracking their activity across browsing sessions. The new feature, set to launch with the first release candidate of IE9 early next year, uses a list to control which third-party elements can be blocked from tracking. These elements include advertisements and embedded widgets from specific providers. Dean Hachamovitch, head of Internet Explorer development, explained how this feature works on Microsoft's IE blog: "A Tracking Protection List (TPL) contains Web addresses (like msdn.com) that the browser will visit (or 'call') only if the user visits them directly by clicking on a link or typing their address. By limiting the calls to these websites and resources from other web pages, the TPL limits the information these other sites can collect. You can look at this as a translation of the 'Do Not Call' list from the telephone to the browser and we...

Two college students from Kohat, missing since October, have been formally charged by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for allegedly sharing information about the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan with an Indian hacker, officials and parents have reported. The FIA's Cyber Crime Wing registered a case against Saim Ali Shah, son of Zulfiqar Ali Shah, and Salal Ali Shah, son of Sajid Ali Shah. The charges were filed in the Rawalpindi circle under Sections 419, 420, 468, and 41 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Ordinance (ATO) related to cyber crimes. On October 13, 2010, a special unit of FIA, Rawalpindi, raided a house in Garhi Banoorian. They took both cousins, along with their computers and CDs, without informing the local police or their parents. Zulfiqar Ali Shah, speaking to this scribe, explained that his son and nephew had developed an online friendship with an Indian national in August. This individual claimed to have hacked the official ...

WikiLeaks' main website became inaccessible on Friday via its WikiLeaks.org domain after EveryDNS.net, a subsidiary of Dynamic Network Services, terminated its domain name service. EveryDNS.net terminated the WikiLeaks.org domain due to repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks. These attacks threatened the stability of EveryDNS.net's infrastructure, which supports nearly 500,000 other websites. This information was stated on EveryDNS.net’s website. EveryDNS.net notified WikiLeaks via email, Twitter, and the chat function on the WikiLeaks.org website that its domain name service would be terminated within 24 hours. This period ended on Dec. 2 at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the U.S. EveryDNS.net remarked, "Any downtime of the Wikileaks.org website has resulted from its failure to use another hosted DNS service provider." In response, WikiLeaks tweeted, "WikiLeaks.org domain killed by U.S. EveryDNS.net after claimed mass attacks," urging su...