Bill Lindner

Britain and the U.S. use similar tactics fighting 'terrorism,' but Britain has taken the delusions to a new level: it now appears that the British have surpassed U.S. in becoming a police state. Like the U.S. version of George Orwell's book "1984," ... Britain's descent into a full-fledged police state has been building for a long time. We've reported on Britain's super database , remote PC searching and the warnings issued over the egregious surveillance techniques , but there are still other facts to be examined. Spying On Domestic Extremists and Political Dissenters The British have ... (view more)

According to reports, a Los Angeles woman is suing Microsoft because she was charged an extra $59.25 to downgrade the operating system of her new Lenovo laptop from Windows Vista Business to Windows XP. Emma Alvarado filed the lawsuit in U.S. ... District Court in Seattle. She reasons that Microsoft has used its market power to take advantage of consumer demand for the Windows XP, requiring consumers to purchase computers pre-installed with the Vista operating system and to pay additional sums to downgrade. (Source: nwsource.com ) The complaint goes on to say that most consumers prefer to ... (view more)

A reward of $250,000 has reportedly been offered by Microsoft to find who is behind the Downadup/Conficker virus. Since its inception last October, the Conficker worm has infected millions of computers worldwide. Microsoft is offering a cash reward ... because they view the Conficker as a criminal attack and believe the people responsible for writing it have to be held accountable. As noted by Sophos, Microsoft's reputation is badly shaken whenever a computer virus causes widespread problems for its users, so it's not surprising that they would offer a reward. (Source: sophos.co.uk ) George ... (view more)

A new strain of malware that can spread rapidly from machine to machine using a variety of infection techniques, including the poisoning of web servers which then go on to contaminate visitors, has reportedly been identified by Security Researchers. ... (Source: theregister.co.uk ) The malware, dubbed VIRUX by security researchers at Trend Micro, is spreading around the globe, but seems to be propagating faster in the U.S. than anywhere else. (Source: trendmicro.com ) VIRUX appears to be more complex than its cousin VIRUT and has the ability to circumvent Microsoft's Windows Firewall security ... (view more)

A recently released report from Javelin Research suggests that identity fraud rose 22 percent in 2008 and reached its highest level since 2004. The study included nearly 4,800 U.S. adults surveyed over the telephone. 482 of those surveyed admitted ... they had been victims of identity fraud. The Javelin Strategy ... (view more)

According to a recent report from the British House of Lords, Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras and the UK's DNA database -- purported to be the "largest in the world" -- are two examples of "pervasive" threats to privacy in British society, and may ... even threaten to undermine democracy. The report warns that pervasive and routine electronic surveillance and the collection and processing of personal information is almost taken for granted. (Source: guardian.co.uk ) Although the government calls CCTV and DNA essential to fight crime, privacy advocates say abuses of power mean that even the ... (view more)

According to recent reports, $250 worth of electronic equipment allowed Chris Paget, an "ethical hacker," to scan and copy the information stored on radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips embedded in new passport cards (but not the traditional ... passport books), as well as some enhanced drivers' licenses while he drove around San Francisco. The 20-minute experiment was captured on video by The Register. According to Paget, it would be trivial to program blank tags with the skimmed identification numbers -- a key part of the process of creating counterfeit cards. Because the embedded RFID ... (view more)

A note on a Microsoft blog aimed at Enterprise IT professionals says the Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) blocking tool will expire on April 28, 2009 and the Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) blocking tool will expire on May 19, 2009. (Source: technet.com ) ... The blocking tools, released in December 2007, prevent service packs from reaching PCs via the Windows Update service, and are used primarily by corporations that have not yet tested or approved the newest upgrades. (Source: computerworld.com ) Microsoft issues those tools on a regular basis when they roll out major updates to its operating system ... (view more)

As noted by the New York Times, new technologies have become so powerful that protecting individual privacy may no longer be the only issue. With the Internet, wireless sensors, and the capability to analyze an avalanche of data, a person's profile ... can be drawn without monitoring him or her directly. (Source: nytimes.com ) Every time you use your credit card to make a purchase, you give up your privacy. When you use your credit or debit card, a record of that transaction is logged into a database of information collected by your credit card issuer. (Source: creditcards.com ) Tracking systems ... (view more)

Microsoft recently commissioned research in two cities to try to understand how different types of consumer, from teens to professionals to baby boomers, think about privacy. During the recently held Data Privacy Day in San Francisco, Microsoft ... participated in a panel discussion with privacy experts from the California Office of Privacy Protection, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Intel and MySpace. According to Microsoft's Chief privacy strategist Peter Cullen, breaches impact consumer trust and is causing increased concern. (Source: google.com) Microsoft and other organizations ... (view more)