A group of Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to restore net neutrality rules at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The two bills, introduced Monday, come about three weeks after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Columbia Circuit The new bill, called the
The end is near – end of support for Windows XP, that is. April 7, 2014 is the last day businesses or individuals can expect any support at all for the operating system that has been the workhorse of many PCs for over twelve years. Loss of XP support can bring big security risks – no more patches when vulnerabilities are uncovered – and lead to productivity losses as users find that IT resources no longer can provide effective assistance to solve technical problems.
The planned overhaul of the European Union’s copyright laws has been set back by a month as a public consultation was extended. The European Commission had asked for feedback by Feb. 5, but following strong lobbying from all sides, has decided to extend that to March 5. The internal market department said that some interested parties had asked for more time to finalize and submit their contributions. The E.U. faces problems with the cross-border provision of services. Not all online services are available to consumers in all member states. In some instances, even if the “same” service is available in all E.U. countries, consumers can’t access the service across borders. “They can only access their ‘national’ service, and if they try to access the ‘same’ service in another member state they are redirected to the one designated for their country of residence,” reads a Commission document.
Germany’s federal prosecutor is considering if there is enough evidence to warrant a formal, criminal investigation into the German government’s alleged involvement in the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) data collection program, a spokeswoman said Monday. Privacy and human rights campaigners including the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), the International League for Human Rights (ILMR) and Digitalcourage on Monday filed a criminal complaint against the German federal government and the presidents of the German secret services for their alleged involvement in illegal and prohibited covert intelligence activities, they said in a news release. The complaint also targeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the German Minister of the Interior as well as U.S., British and German secret agents who are all accused of violating the right to privacy and obstruction of justice by cooperating with the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ to electronically spy on German citizens, they said.
Belgian cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater had his personal computer infected with malware as the result of a targeted attack that’s believed to be related to a security breach discovered last year at Belgian telecommunications group Belgacom. According to him, other cryptographers have also been targeted by the same attackers. Belgacom, whose customers include the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council, German news magazine Der Spiegel
Hackers found a new way to slip past security software and deliver Zeus, a long-known malicious software program that steals online banking details. Security company Malcovery Security, based in Georgia, alerted security analysts after finding that none of 50 security programs on Google’s online virus scanning service VirusTotal were catching it as of early Sunday. Gary Warner, Malcovery’s chief technologist,
Mobile Share Family Value plans now start at $130 per month for two lines and 10GB of data, but you'll have to pay full price for each smartphone upfront or in monthly installments.
Email, perhaps still the most widely used Internet application, has about the same level of security as a postcard. But unlike postcards, it’s widely depended on by businesses. It wasn’t designed with security in mind. It was just designed to work. But following disclosures of large-scale spying by the U.S. as well as other nations over the last several years, a variety of companies, including Wickr and Silent Circle, see commercial opportunities in making encrypted messaging products that are easier to use. Joining those companies is Washington, D.C.-based Virtru, co-founded by the Ackerly brothers. John, 38, has a background in private equity, and his younger brother Will, 34, joined the National Security Agency out of college in 2004.
Nothing about current sensor technology or the wearables space in general tells us that Apple can roll in and dominate.
If Lenovo’s spendy ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the laptop every corporate drone craves, Lenovo’s thrifty ThinkPad X240 is the laptop their employer is more apt to spring for (assuming, of course, that the company’s IT department has standardized on Lenovo and not Dell, HP, Toshiba, or some other commercial laptop builder). You might think the ThinkPad X240 is too thick and too heavy to qualify for Ultrabook designation, but it’s only 0.79 inches thick and it weighs just 3 pounds. And there’s a very good reason why the X240 doesn’t taper to a knife edge like the X1 Carbon does: The X240 is outfitted with two batteries and a battery bridge that enables you to swap a depleted battery for one that’s fully charged
Intuit, Microsoft, Beats Electronics, and more bought up air time during Sunday's Super Bowl. But which ads made it to the end zone and which ones fumbled?
When football players hit the field for Nike According to Performance Director Lance Walker, an athlete’s “Zero Step” is a pivotal point that can make or break an athlete’s 40-yard dash time. In the moments before that first step hits the turf, his propulsion and acceleration speed are determined. At that point, it’s all about geometry, Nike said.
Russian Aleksandr Andreevich Panin has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for his role as primary developer and distributor of the SpyEye bank fraud Trojan, the U.S. Department of Justice said last week. Panin, known as Gribodemon and Harderman, was primary developer of SpyEye, a sophisticated, malicious computer Trojan designed to automate the theft of confidential personal and financial information, including
Windows XP’s disappearance and Windows 8’s march toward some kind of success were both put on hold in January, after a December when XP’s user share plunged and Windows 8’s swelled, a Web analytics company said Saturday. Neither are good signs for Microsoft, which has bet the future on According to Aliso Viejo, California company Net Applications, Windows XP increased its share by a quarter of a percentage point in January, ending the month at 29.2 percent of all desktop and notebook computers worldwide, the first time it had meaningful growth since March 2012.
Refrigerators might hold spam to keep it cold in the meat bin. But in the Internet of Things world, can fridges connected to the Web blast malicious email as part of a botnet? And how about TVs or other smart devices? In the stranger side of the The phrase
The legal fraternity has made it first foray into the use of Bitcoin as payments for services rendered. LegalVision, an Australian legal service provider, is the first to allow its customers to pay for legal services with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a LegalVision installed Bitcoin support on January 21. LegalVision chief executive Lachlan McKnight said he was interested in using the crypto-currency because it fitted with the online firm’s emphasis on efficiency and innovation.
Can't be in front of a TV for Sunday's big game? Fox and Verizon have you covered.
Ein flexibles Display und alternative Energiequellen: Ein Artikel der «New York Times» kurbelt die Gerüchteküche um Apples mittlerweile fast schon sagenumwobene iWatch neu an.
Meilenstein für schwedische Entwickler: Die PC/Mac-Version des Klötzchenspiels hat sich 14 Millionen Mal verkauft. Rechnet man alle Plattformen zusammen, sind es sogar 35 Millionen Mal.
Der Chef des deutschen Bundesverfassungsschutzes schenkt den Aussagen von Edward Snowden keinen Glauben und sagt, dass sich die Amerikaner an geltendes Recht halten würden.
Der exklusiv für die Playstation 4 erhältliche Ego-Shooter hat sich seit dem Start von Sonys Next-Gen-Konsole rund 2,1 Millionen Mal verkauft.
Der französische Telekommunikationskonzern wurde Opfer einer Hackerattacke, bei der Namen und Adressen von Hunderttausenden Kunden gestohlen wwurden.
Nach den teilweise heftigen Reaktionen im Talkback nimmt UPC Cablecom jetzt Stellung zum Wi-Free-Pilotprojekt und beantwortet die Fragen der 20-Minuten-Leser.
Einst war der iPod der beliebteste MP3-Player der Welt. Nun gab Apple-Chef Tim Cook bekannt, dass das Geschäft mit den bunten Gadgets rückläufig ist. Bedeutet dies das Ende des iPods?
Die globale Internetverwaltung ICANN hat den Adressraum um neue Top-Level-Domains erweitert. Ab 5. Februar können neue Domain-Namen registriert werden.
Es heisst, Männer könnten gut einparkieren im Umgang mit technischen Geräten sind sie dafür aber ziemlich ungeschickt.
20 Minuten hat sich ans Sterben gemacht: In Frankfurt konnte unser Gamejournalist das Spiel «Dark Souls 2» anspielen. Beinahe hätte er ins Gamepad gebissen.
Facebook in Hübsch: Das soziale Netzwerk hat eine eigenständige Newsreader-App namens Paper angekündigt. Diese soll den Benutzern beim Entdecken von Inhalten helfen.
Zynga, der Entwickler von Spielen wie «Farmville» oder «Mafia Wars» drängt ins Mobilgeschäft. Für eine halbe Milliarde Dollar übernehmen die Kalifornier die Firma hinter «Clumsy Ninja».
Die 24 Millionen aktiven User von Spotify verschmähen rund 20 Prozent der auf dem Streaming-Dienst angebotenen Lieder. Ein neuer Service verschafft diesen Tracks nun Gehör.
Der Weg zu einem Ausbildungsplatz bei Google ist steinig. Doch die Mühe lohnt sich: Der Suchmaschinenkonzern bietet ein angenehmes Arbeitsklima und spannende Einblicke.