Gpg4win integrates into Microsoft Outlook in the form of a plug-in and into Windows Explorer via extra options in Explorer’s pop-up menu. It supports both of the appropriate cryptographic standards; OpenPGP and S/MIME (X.509). Gpg4win is free software
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Gpg4win-encrypts-files-and-folders-1208690.html
Goodbye to one of the web’s oldest domains
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/16/oracle_closes_sun_domain/
A row is brewing today between government and ISPs following suggestions that greater informal policing of internet content might be needed, along with a new self-regulatory body to carry out the task
A report revealed that the IWF hotline processed some 48,702 reports during 2010, which was an increase of 27.9 per cent over 2009. This led to the identification of some 16,739 potentially criminal URLs – an increase of 89.3 per cent over the last year – over which the foundation took action.
These pages were tracked back to 41 different countries, with six top level domains accounting for 86.4 per cent of all pages identified (.com, .ru, .jp, .net, .es, .org).
We also asked Salomon about the claim, by Dutch ISPs, in a letter sent to the Dutch Minister of Justice in November 2010, but only released earlier this month, that URL-blocking was ineffective and counter-productive. The Dutch ISPs specifically cite the UK experience, where blocking has led to a dramatic initial reduction from 2,000 URLs on the blocklist at any one time, to the current figure of 500.
Salomon rejected this view, claiming that the IWF provided a safety net: that while it was true the number of active URLs had fallen, there was no guarantee that this state of affairs would continue if pressure provided by the IWF was removed. In addition, she pointed out, the amount of child abuse material hosted in the UK was now almost zero.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/16/internet_watch_foundation_celebrates_15_year_anniversary/
The lack of an HTTPS download service means that a third party could interfere with the initial installation of the Skype client by tricking people into installing their own Trojan-infected version of the software
Privacy International is also worried about the codec Skype uses to compress audio calls. PI reckons the VBR compression codec allows between 50 and 90 per cent of phrases to be identified
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/16/skype_security_holes/
The streaming giant reportedly outbid some major cable channels for the exclusive rights to two seasons, thereby giving Netflix a leg-up on the competition
Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblower website WikiLeaks, has warned that the Internet was the “greatest spying machine the world has ever seen” and an obstacle to free speech.
Speaking to students at Cambridge University on Tuesday, the former computer hacker claimed that the Internet, particularly social networking sites such as Facebook, gave governments greater scope for snooping.
The U.S. military has blocked access to a range of popular commercial websites in order to free up bandwidth for use in Japan recovery efforts, according to an e-mail obtained by CNN and confirmed by a spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command. The sites — including YouTube, ESPN, Amazon, eBay and MTV — were chosen not because of the content but because their popularity among users of military computers account for significant bandwidth, according to Strategic Command spokesman Rodney Ellison.
The block, instituted Monday, is intended “to make sure bandwidth was available in Japan for military operations” as the United States helps in the aftermath of last week’s deadly earthquake and tsunami, Ellison explained. U.S. Pacific Command made the request to free up the bandwidth. The sites, 13 in all, are blocked across the Department of Defense’s .mil computer system.
More: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/15/us.military.websites/index.html
That’s pretty clear code for “our board is killing us.”
According to the latest data from the NPD Group, there’s a 61 percent chance that any given (legal) movie stream or download is coming from Netflix. Netflix’s aggressive strategy of being on every device and set-top box is apparently working, and Amazon clearly has a long way to go if it wants to really compete on the instant streaming front.
After Netflix, NPD says Comcast made up another eight percent of “digital movie units,” while DirecTV, Time Warner, and Apple all shared the third-place spot with four percent each. NPD’s data was collected from 10,618 US-based Internet users over the age of 13 between January and February of 2011
Also, it should fund antipiracy research—and maybe change the wiretapping laws so ISPs can scan your traffic for copyright infringement
