data

The wave of high-level cyberattacks continues as the Federal Reserve confirmed that one of its internal Web sites was hacked into today, according to Reuters.

"The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product," a Fed spokeswoman told Reuters. "Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. This incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system."

Apparently the hackers accessed data associated with specific individuals, according to Reuters.

This attack comes on the heels of the hacking group … Read more

A coalition of privacy groups has written to leading U.S. politicians to seek assurances that policymakers "advance the aim of privacy" in Europe, rather than hinder the development of new European data protection and privacy laws.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and more than a dozen other groups are seeking to meet with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and U.S. Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, to ensure that new European data law proposals are bolstered … Read more

The cloud may be the future of all things storage, but the present is more complicated: it can be expensive, potentially insecure, and you're left trusting a third party with all your data.

That's what inspired The Transporter, a Kickstarter project started by former employees of Drobo. Transporter aims for something more secure and distributed, while still being sharable. The concept largely works like Dropbox, with a Transporter folder that lives on your desktop and syncs with files stored on the physical Transporter drive (which resides someplace you designate). You can easily give others access to specific folders, … Read more

One of the world's most popular cross-platform applications "violates" international privacy laws, according to the Canadian and Dutch data protection authorities, because it requires users to provide their entire contact list to the service.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Dutch Data Protection Authority today announced their findings for what they called a "collaborative investigation into the handling of personal information" by the California-based company.

WhatsApp, an instant messenger application for iPhone, Android devices, and BlackBerry smartphones, provides a free service to rival text messaging, and sends more than 1 billion … Read more

Samsung was the clear leader in the smartphone market last quarter, according to new data from Juniper Research.

The research firm today reported that Samsung shipped 63 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, accounting for 30 percent of all shipments worldwide during the period. Apple came in second with 47.8 million sold. Most companies report shipments into the retail channel. Apple, however, reports total sales, which is why Juniper was forced to interchange those measures.

Apple and Samsung have easily separated themselves from the rest of the mobile pack. Nokia was only able to ship 6.6 million smartphones … Read more

Proposed legislation in the European Union would force tech companies that have access to user data -- such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft -- to report any security breaches to local cybersecurity agencies, the Financial Times reported today.

This is the European Commission's effort to make private companies accountable for privacy and security problems, European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes told the Financial Times.

If passed, the measure would require each of the EU's 27 member states to set up local cybersecurity agencies to implement security standards on online networks. Social networks, e-commerce companies, and large online platforms … Read more

Some Verizon Wireless subscribers will do almost anything to keep their unlimited data plans. And that includes buying a new device at full price instead of signing a two-year contract and taking a sweet subsidy on that new phone.

But what happens when a Verizon subscriber who bought a 3G iPhone realizes she may still see her unlimited data service slowed? In this edition of Ask Maggie, I explain the finer points of Verizon's unlimited data policy and why 3G device users need to be careful. I also help another reader decide if the Verizon Share Plan could work … Read more

iPhone 5 users in Europe are keeping mobile networks busy by eating up the most data.

Among 125 devices included in a study out today by Arieso, users of the newest iPhone downloaded 50 percent more data than did those with an iPhone 4S and four times as much as did those with an iPhone 3G. But Samsung users also proved to be big data hogs, at least in terms of uploads.

Owners of the Galaxy S3 took first place in terms of the amount of data uploaded, followed by those with the Galaxy Note 2. That put the iPhone … Read more

Prepaid carrier MetroPCS is rolling out a new line of wireless plans that it's dubbing "simpler" 4G LTE plans. All three plans offer unlimited data and are available on several of the smartphones MetroPCS offers.

The cheapest plan is $40 per month and includes unlimited data with the first 500MB of data running at 4G LTE speeds. The next unlimited data plan is $50 per month and the first 2.5GB of data runs on 4G LTE. And the final $60 per month plan offers complete unlimited data at 4G LTE speeds. All three plans include unlimited … Read more