Welcome To The Dark Side Of Connected Cars
December 11, 2015 | Technology
Are you getting just a little bored hearing about the benefits of connected cars? It wasn’t that long ago all we worried about was the size of the engine, how fast it went, how good it looked and how many gizmos it had on the dashboard.
The most popular technological advance of the recent past was the introduction of in-car entertainment to keep the screaming kids quiet in the back. Oh, and we can’t forget those brilliant GPS systems that cost a small fortune to buy and another small fortune to be kept up to date with the latest maps.…
Explained: Secret-Camera Apps
November 18, 2015 | Technology
For kids, the joys of friendship are often expressed in the photos they share on social apps such as Snapchat, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
These types of photos - the group shot from a day at the beach, a selfie - document kids' lives and strengthen relationships.
But as we all know, cellphone cameras can be misused, and a new crop of photo apps are being used to hide photos instead of share them.
Sometimes called "ghost apps", these secret-camera and hidden-photo-vault apps let you snap pictures or video without anyone knowing and sta…
The New Generation Of 'Genuinely Creepy' Electronic Devices
October 27, 2015 | Technology
Surprise! All those electronic devices you adore and rely on so much, like your TV and XBox can be just as much a security threat as a hacker who reads all your emails.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sent a letter last week to the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department asking regulators to look into “always on” technology. The group cited technology from Microsoft, Amazon, Google and others as worrisome.
EPIC fears the average consumer isn’t aware that some of these devices are actually spying on them…
Police Arrest 15-Year-Old Boy Over Cyber Attack
October 27, 2015 | Technology
Police arrested a 15-year-old boy over a cyber attack on telephone and internet provider TalkTalk, feared to have breached the data of millions of Britons, Scotland Yard said on Monday.
The teenager was arrested and held for questioning in Northern Ireland, on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, according to the Metropolitan Police.
"An arrest has been made in connection with the investigation into alleged data theft from the TalkTalk website," a spokesman for Britain's Metropolitan Police said.
The boy was apprehended during…
6 Windows 10 Privacy Tools That Will Stop It From Spying On You
October 9, 2015 | Technology
The latest OS from Microsoft, i.e. Windows 10 has received immense praise from several journalists and bloggers in the IT industry.
The operating system has been welcomed with open arms by a number of consumers who are willing to remove Windows 8 from their systems and start afresh.
Although the Windows 10 OS has given a fresh start to Microsoft, it is not entirely good news.
The reason that it’s not such good news is that there are some serious privacy issues which have been raised after the eye-opener that Windows 10 operating sys…
The Darknet
Exclusive: The Darknet
October 6, 2015 | Technology
As a private investigator I have been aware that a hidden internet exists underneath the traditional web, hidden from the view of the normal web users. It my business to know how these things operate, but I have never really followed up on my curiosity, to see whether I could actually access this hidden internet.
The ‘Dark net’ sounds intimidating and you’d be right to assume that it’s full of criminals and would offer little to law abiding citizens.
A lot of people think that it is difficult to navigate and difficult to access and r…
Privacy In The Time Of 'Internet Of Things'
September 29, 2015 | Technology
The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is the new darling of the technology world thanks to our love of being tethered to our electronic devices. Watches, fridges and even dog collars are connected to the internet these days and these devices are generating an unrelenting wave of data.
This has inevitably led to some privacy concerns over how the data is collected and used. How is one of the world’s biggest cloud companies dealing with this IoT conundrum? We find out.
Whack a chip in and make it connect to the internet. It’s so easy to creat…
Hacker's Tiny Device Unlocks Cars And Opens Garages
September 28, 2015 | Technology
The next time you press your wireless key fob to unlock your car, if you find that it doesn’t beep until the second try, the issue may not be a technical glitch. Instead, a hacker like Samy Kamkar may be using a clever radio hack to intercept and record your wireless key’s command.
And when that hacker walks up to your vehicle a few minutes, hours, or days later, it won’t even take those two button presses to get inside.
At the hacker conference DefCon in Las Vegas, Kamkar presented the details of a gadget he’s developed called “Roll…
Pause Before Hitting The Share Button
September 22, 2015 | Technology
Some friends recently had a bad experience overseas, the kind of one that made headlines back home in New Zealand.
To assure everyone that they were safe, they posted something on Facebook which was then picked up by news media.
My friends were taken aback when journalists contacted them after seeing their post, but it's not unusual and it's not only the media who are using Facebook and other social networks to find information about people.
This happens all the time and there's only one way to avoid the surprise of your post spread…
Danish Man Arrested After Cyber Attack On Auckland Girl
September 16, 2015 | Technology
A Danish man has been arrested in his home country following allegations he launched a "persistent online attack" targeting an Auckland schoolgirl.
Police said the 24-year-old was charged with posting private photos online and hacking private computers.
He was caught in the city of Vejle, in Denmark, and will appear in a Danish court.
The arrest was the result of a joint investigation between New Zealand Police, the Danish National Cyber Crime Centre and South-East Jutland Police.
Detective Senior Sergeant Cliff Clark of the Ne…