Of stolen secrets and surveillance (week in review)
Global cyber-espionage effort steals dozens of secrets, while a White House report recommends social networks aid in monitoring extremists. Also: Microsoft and Google square off.
A widespread cyber-espionage campaign stole government secrets, sensitive corporate documents, and other intellectual property for five years from more than 70 public and private organizations in 14 countries, according to a McAfee researcher who uncovered the effort.
The campaign, dubbed "Operation Shady RAT" (RAT stands for "remote access tool"), was discovered by Dmitri Alperovitch, vice president of threat research at the cyber-security firm McAfee. The targets cut across industries, including government, defense, energy, electronics, media, real estate, agriculture, and construction. The governments hit include the U.S., Canada, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and India.
Meanwhile, a White House terrorism strategy says Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks aid in "advancing violent extremist narratives" and should be monitored by the government. President Obama said in a statement accompanying the report that the federal government will start "helping communities to better understand and protect themselves against violent extremist propaganda, especially online."
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Developers believe Google+ can beat Facebook
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Newt Gingrich accused of Twitter follower fraud
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Android Trojan records your phone conversations
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States weigh in on AT&T-T-Mobile merger
So far, 28 state governments have voiced an opinion on the proposed merger between T-Mobile and AT&T. Most are in favor, but a few are expressing concern.
Airbnb revamps policies in response to vandalism
After a customer's home was vandalized by a guest, travel marketplace Airbnb makes a slew of changes to its policies to help guard against future incidents.Also of note