Anonymous Takes Down San Antonio's NISD

Anonymous, a loosely organised hacktivist group, has been in the news a lot lately for many reasons: finding the cyber bully of a girl who committed suicide, tearing down government websites, and, most recently, for their taking-down of San Antonio's Northside Independent School District's website over the Radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip tracking (embedded in student ID cards) now deemed mandatory in the district's schools. Click the source link below for the full story.

Source: WOAI

University of Oklahoma Offering Two-Year Course in Cyber Espionage

The University of Oklahoma is offering courses in cyber espionage, teaching students how to hack other computers, plant tracking devices on cars, leave false trails on social networking sites, and acquire data from cellular phones. The program has been incredibly successful--placing over 85% of its participants in jobs with the NSA, CIA, FBI, NASA, and DHS. Students have worked with the Secret Service and aided in solving a triple-homicide.

Sources: SourceFed News, LA Times

The Government Doesn't Need A Warrant Anymore

A recent revision to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) now nullifies the protections built-into the original bill by granting twenty-two government agencies access to user data without a search warrant. See the source link below for the full article.

Source: The Verge

Congresswoman Asks Reddit Community to Help Write Tech Bill

Recent outrage over attempts at denying United States citizens basic privacy and freedom of speech rights on the Internet through "SOPA" have driven many people in positions of power to see the Internet for what it truly is: a hive mind of information and ideas. Reddit's response to SOPA inspired California Representative Zoe Lofgren to turn to them to aid in drafting a bill designed to help prevent bogus copyright takedown requests. Click the source link below for the full article.

Source: The Verge

Do Not Track Plus: A Chrome Extension Worth More Than a Look

Google Chrome is home to many of the best extensions available for web browsers. An extension by the name of Do Not Track Plus for Google Chrome allows you to see which sites companies are tracking you and where, and also automatically blocks many potentially less-than-savoury connections for you.

Do Not Track Plus is available for free on the Chrome Web Store.

Tek Syndicate: Internet Security, Part 1

Tek Syndicate takes a look at Internet security in this first video of a new series.

Do Not Track: Controversial, But Should it Be?

Mozilla's Firefox and Google Chrome include a feature called "Do Not Track"--a feature left on by default in Microsoft's most recent update to Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 10 (The browser included by default on Windows 8 which today launched a preview for users of Windows 7.)

Do Not Track is a feature which "opts out" of cross-site tracking. Advertisers are angry at Microsoft for having the feature enabled by default, and consumers are surprised that Microsoft, once the largest of the tech giants, is being so pro-consumer in its behaviour.

More Reading: ZDNet, The Verge, Wikipedia