In spite of an earlier denial, the Chinese government has tightened its grip on the Internet, stepping up efforts against netizens’ access to unsupervised connections, including those via virtual private networks (VPNs) halfway through its 14-month-long crackdown nationwide. VPNs are third-party services that help bypass the so-called Great Firewall, installed …
Read More »Russian Parliament Bans Use of Proxy Internet Services, VPNs
Russia’s parliament passed a bill to outlaw the use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, and other Internet proxy services, citing concerns about the spread of extremist materials. The State Duma on Friday unanimously passed a bill that would oblige Internet providers to block websites that offer VPN services. Many …
Read More »Amid VPN Crackdown, China Eyes Upgrades to Great Firewall
BEIJING — A Chinese telecoms carrier said it had begun closing virtual private networks (VPNs) and other tools that can bypass the so-called Great Firewall, which state authorities use to filter and block traffic between Chinese and overseas servers. A spokesman for Guangzhou Huoyun Information Technology Ltd, which operates in …
Read More »UN Experts Seek Halt to Use of Spyware in Mexico, Want Full Probe
GENEVA — U.N. human rights experts called on the government of Mexico on Wednesday to “cease the surveillance immediately” of activists and journalists and to conduct a fully impartial investigation into the illegal spying. In the latest case, an international probe into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Mexico …
Read More »World’s most high-tech voting system to get hacking defenses
Tallinn – Estonia, the only country in the world where voters elect their leaders through online balloting, is taking steps to fend off potential hacking attacks as cyber-security fears intensify. A software overhaul for the system, introduced in 2005, is ready for testing before local elections in October, according to Tarvi Martens, …
Read More »Story of Afghan Girls’ Team Just One of Many at Robotics Event
WASHINGTON — An international robotics competition in Washington was in its final day Tuesday, with teams of teenagers from more than 150 nations competing. The team getting the most attention at the FIRST Global Robotics Challenge was a squad of girls from Afghanistan who were twice rejected for U.S. visas …
Read More »China Users Report WhatsApp Disruption Amid Censorship Fears
Users of WhatsApp in China and security researchers have reported widespread service disruptions amid fears that the popular messaging service may be at least partially blocked by authorities in the world’s most populous country. WhatsApp users in the country reported Tuesday on other social media platforms that the app was …
Read More »Two Iranians Charged in US for Hacking, Selling Weapons Software
Two Iranian nationals have been charged in the United States in an alleged scheme to steal and resell software to Iran, including a program to design bullets and warheads. According to an indictment unsealed Monday, Mohammed Saeed Ajily, 35, recruited Mohammed Reza Rezakhah, 39, to break into companies’ computers to …
Read More »Criminal gangs ‘scamming dating app users’ out of hundreds of thousands of pounds
Criminal gangs are using online dating sites to steal hundreds of thousand of pounds from their victims, the boss of eHarmony has said. Fraudsters are using a technique known as catfishing, where a person uses a fake identity to attract those looking for genuine dates, to trick victims into sending …
Read More »Ukraine Software Firm Says Computers Compromised After Cyberattack
The Ukrainian software firm at the center of a cyber attack that spread around the world last week said on Wednesday that computers which use its accounting software are compromised by a so-called “backdoor” installed by hackers during the attack. The backdoor has been installed in every computer that wasn’t …
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