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The NSA's salivary glands no doubt started working overtime when it became apparent that technological advances were moving the world toward an Internet of Things -- a world where everything would be connected to everything else wirelessly or over the Web. Almost two years ago, David Petraeus, then ...

Microsoft is ready to make its enterprise and cloud head, Satya Nadella, the company's new chief executive officer, and it may replace Bill Gates as chairman, according to reports. Nadella appeared to stand out as one of the stronger options to replace retiring CEO Steve Ballmer several weeks ago, b...

Linux Mint 16, also known as "Petra," is a very solid release that fixes a lot of annoying traits left behind in previous versions. The operating system is based on Ubuntu 13.10, and that solid underpinning is made even better with the upgrade to Cinnamon 2.0 and new functionality in the Nemo file m...

A malware decline and ransomware rise are in the security crystal ball for 2014. There will be less malware spreading through networks next year as hackers focus on obtaining credentials that allow them to access systems under the guise of authentic users. "Malware will still be important in estab...

Microsoft said last week that it had disrupted the ZeroAccess botnet, which has been around since 2011. It joined forces with the FBI, the European Cybercrime Center, and several high-tech companies. Microsoft also filed suit against various John Does believed to be involved with the botnet. However...

Yahoo on Monday announced it will extend 2048-bit encryption planned for Yahoo Mail across its entire network. CEO Marissa Mayer reiterated that the company "has never given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency." However, documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Sno...

Strong encryption and natural language search can be like oil and water. That's because encrypted data can't be digested by your typical search engine. However, CipherCloud announced a solution to that knotty problem last week. The latest version of the 3-year-old company's cloud-based service inclu...

Symantec has removed more than 500,000 infected PCs from the botnet created by the ZeroAccess Trojan. ZeroAccess uses a peer-to-peer mechanism. It is the latest technique botnet authors have adopted to avoid having their networks taken down by security experts. Symantec used a DNS sinkhole to fight ...

Symantec on Tuesday disclosed the existence of a group of 50 to 100 top-rate hackers. Named "Hidden Lynx," the group is an advanced persistent threat that has skills well ahead of similar organizations in the region, such as APT1, Symantec said. "The Hidden Lynx group is methodical in its approach a...

Web applications have become attractive targets for hackers because they allow bad actors to maximize the reach of their mischief with a minimum of effort. That's what originally attracted the Internet underworld to programs like Windows and Adobe Acrobat, and it's what continues to attract them to ...

Long known for its out-and-out censorship, Beijing now appears to be filling Chinese social media with pro-government messages. The new tack was on full display after the Thursday indictment of fallen Communist Party member Bo Xilai, who was busted for corruption and abuse of power in 2012. While Ch...

Adobe Reader and Oracle Java aren't alone in having a bull's eye painted on their code. WordPress also is becoming a popular target for Internet outlaws. It's quite a large target, too. About 18 percent of the sites on the Web -- about 60 million of them -- use WordPress. One reason WordPress is att...

A coalition comprising Microsoft, the FBI, financial industry companies and technology firms has taken out more than 1,400 botnets that used the Citadel Trojan to steal victims' online banking information and information about their identities. "This was a lengthy process, and we relied heavily on o...

Chances are you've never heard of the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, but you may be familiar with its former Internet domain: PW. That's because the domain, now owned by Directi, has become a favorite of spammers. According to Fort Systems, Directi -- which christened PW "Professional Web" -- ...

Protecting Internet information has become a costly enterprise, with worldwide spending on security estimated at $60 billion in 2012. That figure will grow to $86 billion by 2016, according to a Gartner study. To help ensure that those investments are being spent wisely -- and to keep technology a s...