Technology

Some companies, frustrated with intrusions into their networks by cyberattackers, are now trying to turn the tables in the ongoing and complicated cyberwar.

National

Victims Of Cyberattacks Get Proactive Against Intruders

8:56am February 13, 2013

by Tom Gjelten

Some affected private companies are so frustrated by their inability to defend against attacks that they have opted to go on the offense themselves. Some cybersecurity firms are now marketing cyberweapons and attack strategies to companies that want to go after their adversaries.

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Homeland Security analysts watch for threats to U.S. technological infrastructure at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.

Pentagon Goes On The Offensive Against Cyberattacks

6:38pm February 12, 2013

by Tom Gjelten

U.S. military commanders are emphasizing their readiness to defend the nation against cyberthreats from abroad. What they do not say is that they are equally prepared to launch their own cyberattacks against U.S. adversaries.

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A typical scene from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the latest in the series of wildly popular video games.

Arts

Video Game Violence: Why Do We Like It, And What's It Doing To Us?

9:57am February 12, 2013

by Sami Yenigun

As the gun-violence debate ratchets up to include mental health and violent pop culture, video games have become frequent targets of concern. But do violent games influence their players? Experts aren't clear, but violent games remain remarkably popular.

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An analyst looks at code in the malware lab of a cybersecurity defense lab at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Sept. 29, 2011.

National

In Cyberwar, Software Flaws Are A Hot Commodity

8:50am February 12, 2013

by Tom Gjelten

In the past, security researchers who stumbled on a software flaw would typically report the flaw to the software's manufacturer. But that changed when cyberweapon designers started looking at these flaws as vulnerabilities that could serve as a back door into a computer network.

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Science

Tracking Privacy and Ownership In An Online World

1:03pm February 11, 2013

Your phone knows where you are. Social networks know who your friends are, and what you ate last night. How much of your personal data is really yours to control? Khaliah Barnes of the Electronic Privacy Information Center helps sort out the politics and policies of privacy.

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This AR-15 rifle's lower receiver (in soft green color) was produced with a 3-D printer. The 3-D printing industry has criticized the use of the technology for gun part making.

National

Using 3-D Printers To Make Gun Parts Raises Alarms

2:48pm February 06, 2013

by Eric Molinsky

Owners of 3-D printers can create all sorts of imaginative items — cups, tools, jewelry. All they need is a design and the printer. But now some gun parts are being produced with this technology, alarming some in the burgeoning 3-D printing industry.

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An image depicts the SatoshiDice website, which exclusively uses Bitcoin, not dollars, for gambling.

Economy

Is Online Gambling Legal If Bitcoins, Not Dollars, Are At Stake?

10:51am February 06, 2013

by Cyrus Farivar

With no government ties, Bitcoin is used to buy everything from blogging services to Brooklyn-made cupcakes. Theoretically, millions of dollars are being kept in the digital currency. And it's increasingly being used by specialized websites to offer online gambling. But is Bitcoin gambling legal?

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Syrian women walk through a market area in the northern city of Aleppo last November. A new website is documenting the use of rape in the Syrian conflict.

Tracking Rape In Syria Through Social Media

8:17pm February 05, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Researchers are using data from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media sites. There are, however, questions about the accuracy of the reports coming from Syria.

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Craig McCarl dips Xlerator covers two at a time into a chrome bath. He has worked for Excel Dryer in East Longmeadow, Mass., for 31 years.

How One Company Reinvented The Hand Dryer

4:52pm February 05, 2013

by NPR Staff

Bathroom hand dryers used to be a hated product because they took too long to work. But a decade ago, a family-owned business in Massachusetts came out with a new product that changed the way we dry our hands.

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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown here in 2009, recently set up a Facebook page, though the Iranian government bans ordinary Iranians from access to Facebook and other social media sites.

World News

Iran's Leader Embraces Facebook; Fellow Iranians Are Blocked

10:29am February 05, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei turned to social media recently. Meanwhile, Iran's government has stepped up efforts to identify and target online pro-democracy activists. Analysts say the government is using increasingly sophisticated methods to shrink the online space for free expression.

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