Security

The Internet is slowly changing, and security experts say that today's security issues will continue to be major players in driving that change. Here are four trends that dominated headlines in 2012, and will continue to play a major role in 2013.

The Internet as governmental tool The collective realization by governments around the world that the Internet is an excellent network for conducting surveillance, monitoring, espionage, and war, says Finnish computer security firm F-Secure's Chief Technical Officer Mikko Hypponen, may not come to full fruition in 2013. But the foundation for that change is already underway.

"… Read more

In 2010, we began a year-end program to recognize the most popular software on Download.com. In 2011, we got a little crazy, recognizing the top 11 programs in Windows and Mac, as well as the top 11 programs in the top 11 software categories.

In 2012, we return to Earth with a more classic list of the top 10 most downloaded software programs in our 10 most popular categories for Windows and Mac. The total download count for this distinction is based on the period from January 1, 2012 to December 14, 2012. Congratulations to all of this year'… Read more

I am currently on a psychiatrist-imposed company retreat in Miami.

I have been told not to engage strangers, nor those from or to whom I would like to become either estranged or engaged.

Sitting quietly at my beloved News Cafe this morning (yes, where Gianni Versace had his last coffee), I detected an increase in traffic but a block away.

There was the slamming of truck doors. There was a flurry of fetching TV presenters, pressing down their beige trousers by hand.

Not being an investigative reporter, I sidled over and asked a burly cameraman what was going on.

"It's John McAfee," he replied. "He's in there." … Read more

Do you talk to your fellow passengers on public transport or perhaps on your cell phone to your beloved?

Do you enjoy listening in to passengers' conversations? It's so much more interesting than watching them clip their toenails.

Do you even, as I do, talk to yourself on occasion, when there's nothing better to do?

How would you feel if you local police force could listen in? I merely ask this, because of the mundane fact that they might be.

It seems that video surveillance just isn't enough these days. Your local everyday busybody authorities apparently are feeling the need to listen in on buses, just in case someone is discussing yesterday's bank robbery or tomorrow's drug deal.… Read more

Microsoft Security Essentials may not have done well in recent independent tests, but it's now the global leader in security suite market share for the first time since it debuted in 2009, says Opswat's latest study.

Opswat gauges usage by looking at the software installed on computers running their AppRemover program. The data came from more than 150,000 computers.

When asked about the differences between Opswat's numbers and research and analysis firm NPD, Opswat marketing manager Elisse Lockhart wrote in an e-mail, "Our data looks at all applications installed on machines and aggregates various versions … Read more

Your really, really strong password just became a little bit easier to break.

Jeremi Gosney, founder and CEO of Stricture Consulting Group, a company that handles password-cracking, has unveiled a computer cluster boasting 25 AMD Radeon graphics cards. The cluster's horsepower allows it to make 350 billion password guesses per second against the NT Lan Manager (NTLM) security protocol Microsoft has used in Windows Server since 2003.

Ars Technica was first to report on the cluster.

Speaking to Ars in an e-mailed statement, Gosney said that his company's technology "can attack hashes approximately four times faster" … Read more

Call it too little, too late.

Mitsubishi is the latest Japanese conglomerate to show off a new robot to work at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, following Toshiba's flubbed demo of a quadruped walker.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), Japan's largest defense contractor, yesterday unveiled the Maintenance Equipment Integrated System of Telecontrol Robot (Meister), a two-armed unit that rolls around on four tracks.

The remote-controlled bot can wield a variety of tools such as cutters and drills, clear obstacles, and pierce through concrete to check radiation levels, according to MHI.

Just like human arms, its robotic appendages can move along seven axes. Check it out cutting a pipe in the video below. … Read more

Windows 8 and RT are set to receive their second lineup of bug fixes when next week's Patch Tuesday rolls around.

The patches are also aimed at the other current versions of Windows, including XP, Vista, and Windows 7, as well as Server 2003 and 2008.

Five of the patches are rated critical, while two are deemed important. The critical ones are designed to shore up holes in the OS that could allow an attacker to infect a PC with malicious code.

Assuming Windows Update is set to automatic, critical patches are automatically installed, while those considered important can … Read more

Congrats to Jonathan P. of Lawton, Okla., for winning an Element Case Sector 5 for the iPhone and a Joule II for the iPad in last week's giveaway. Now, some good news and some bad news. First, the bad: It's getting to be that time of year when online holiday-related scams proliferate faster than big-box deals. The good? This week's giveaway is here to help.

We're giving away a copy of Symantec's new Norton 360 Multi-Device security suite. A couple of months back, CNET highly recommended Norton 360. The Multi-Device version of the software simultaneously … Read more