security

National

Meet Mafiaboy, The 'Bratty Kid' Who Took Down The Internet

9:29pm February 07, 2015

by Rebecca Hersher

When he was just 15, Michael Calce pulled off one of the biggest hacks in history. Today, Calce works in computer security on the other side, and he says he thinks some good came of his 2000 attack.

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To protect against fraud, U.S. banks will be issuing credit cards with small computer chips. But some experts say using a PIN to complete a transaction is more secure than a signature.

U.S. Credit Cards Tackle Fraud With Embedded Chips, But No PINs

3:01pm January 08, 2015

by Jim Zarroli

The nation's biggest banks are leaning toward a new credit card security system that will rely on embedded chips and signatures rather than PINs. But critics say the PIN-and-chip system is superior.

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Particles of H5N1 virus — a particularly dangerous type of bird flu that can infect people — attack lung cells.

Feds Tighten Lab Security After Anthrax, Bird Flu Blunders

8:21pm July 11, 2014

by Richard Harris

The sloppy handling by federal scientists of the world's scariest germs must stop, says the dismayed head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Are his new rules enough?

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Tech Giants Pony Up Cash To Help Prevent Another Heartbleed

7:17pm April 24, 2014

by Aarti Shahani

Google, Intel and others say they will now financially support the open-source software that encrypts much of the traffic on the Internet. The effort follows the discovery of a key security flaw.

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Hannah Rood, 3, receives an H1N1 vaccine at a clinic in San Pablo, California, during the 2009 swine flu epidemic.

Health & Safety

Stopping Microbes Not Missiles: U.S. Plans For Next Global Threat

7:58pm February 13, 2014

by Jason Beaubien

The world is at greater risk than ever from pandemics and biological weapons, health officials said Thursday. In response, the U.S. government is spearheading a global effort to build an early warning system for infectious diseases, drug-resistant microbes and possible bioterror agents.

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Switching To Gmail May Leave Reporters' Sources At Risk

6:32pm August 16, 2013

by Steve Henn

This summer, The New York Times moved all of it reporters' email to corporate Gmail accounts. This move to a third party could leave Times reporters and their sources with fewer legal protections if they are the subject of a government investigation.

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The Toyota Prius, seen here at the New York International Auto Show in March, was one of the cars security experts Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller showed to be susceptible to attacks by hackers.

With Smarter Cars, The Doors Are Open To Hacking Dangers

7:46am July 30, 2013

by Steve Henn

Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller have been hacking into products for a long time. But they don't steal stuff or mess with people; instead, their purpose is to pressure companies into making their products more secure. Their recent research on hacking cars has shown just how dangerous these kinds of attacks could be.

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Cell phone communication can be hacked, tapped or otherwise tampered with. A new app aims to change that.

Want To Keep Your Messages Private? There's An App For That

8:46pm February 17, 2013

by NPR Staff

For a fee, Silent Circle erases messages from both the receiver and the sender's phones. The app's creators got the idea after hearing an all-too-familiar story: A friend of theirs inadvertently read a text meant for someone else.

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