Verizon to publish data requests

20 December 2013 Last updated at 06:47 ET

US mobile operator Verizon says it will reveal the number of requests for customer information it received from law enforcement agencies this year.

The move follows leaks about mass surveillance programmes run by the National Security Agency from fugitive ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Shareholders asked Verizon to disclose its dealings with the NSA last month.

The company says it will publish total requests received in criminal cases, as well as details on other legal demands.

This will include court orders, subpoenas and warrants.

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The aim of our transparency report is to keep our customers informed about government requests for their data and how we respond to those requests"

End Quote Randal Milch Verizon

'Transparency'

But Verizon, the second-largest US telephone company by revenue, says it is still working with the US government to establish the amount of information it can legally reveal about the number of national security letters it received. The letters are legal orders allowing the government to demand financial and phone records without prior court approval.

The report will also not publish "information about other national security requests received by the company".

"The aim of our transparency report is to keep our customers informed about government requests for their data and how we respond to those requests," Randal Milch, executive vice-president of public policy at Verizon, said in a statement.

"Verizon calls on governments around the world to provide more information on the types and amounts of data they collect and the legal processes that apply when they do so."

Much of the information it plans to reveal is already on available on an ad hoc basis, but the report - to be published in early 2014 and updated twice a year - aims to make it more consistently available, Mr Milch said.

More freedom

Several major internet companies, including Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Yahoo, already publish periodic reports disclosing the number of requests from federal agencies and police departments for personal data.

They have called for more freedom to disclose information on national security-related requests. Eight firms formed an alliance called Reform Government Surveillance earlier this month.

Verizon says its report will detail requests "to the extent permitted by applicable US and foreign laws and regulations".

Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Facebook have all confirmed they have complied with orders to hand over data relating to "national security matters" to the US authorities.

However, they have been forbidden from saying exactly how many requests they received or details about their scope.

A White House panel has recommended significant curbs on the National Security Agency's electronic surveillance programme following a ruling from a federal judge finding it unconstitutional.

Mr Snowden, an ex-US contractor granted temporary asylum in Russia, leaked documents to the media highlighting the various methods used by agencies to gather information.

The leaks have pointed to agencies collecting phone records, tapping fibre-optic cables that carry global communications and hacking networks.

That has lead to concern among users over how much customer information companies have been sharing with authorities.

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Artificial worm starts to wriggle

20 December 2013 Last updated at 09:49 ET

A project to create artificial life has hit a key milestone - the simulated creature can now wriggle.

The Open Worm project aims to build a lifelike copy of a nematode roundworm entirely out of computer code.

This week the creature's creators added code that gets the virtual worm wriggling like the real thing.

The next step is to hook the body up to a simulation of the worm's brain to help understand more about how and why it moves.

Swim speed

The Open Worm project started in May 2013 and is slowly working towards creating a virtual copy of the Caenorhabditis elegans nematode. This worm is one of the most widely studied creatures on Earth and was the first multicelled organism to have its entire genome mapped.

The simulated worm slowly being built out of code aims to replicate C. elegans in exquisite detail with each of its 1,000 cells being modelled on computer.

Early work on the worm involved making a few muscle segments twitch but now the team has a complete worm to work with. The code governing how the creature's muscles move has been refined so its swaying motion and speed matches that of its real life counterpart. The tiny C. elegans manages to move around in water at a rate of about 1mm per second.

"Its movement closely resembles published literature on how C. elegans swims," project leader John Hurliman told the New World Notes blog.

The immediate next step for the project is to plug in the system used to model how nerve fibres in the worm fire to get muscle segments twitching and propelling the whole creature forward.

Soon the Open Worm creators hope to make a virtual version of C. elegans available online so people can interact with it via a web browser.

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Target card heist hits 40 million

19 December 2013 Last updated at 15:17 ET

Payment details from up to 40 million credit cards could have been stolen after they were used in the stores of US retail giant Target.

The retailer said it was investigating after discovering that thieves had gained access to its payment systems.

The data breach began around 29 November, known as Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The attackers are believed to have been scooping up credit card details for almost three weeks.

"We take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice," said Target boss Gregg Steinhafel in a statement.

In addition, he said, the company was working with a data forensics firm to work out how the theft occurred.

Data-stealing code

Target said the thieves had taken credit card numbers, names, expiration dates and security codes for the cards.

It urged people who shopped at its stores in the vulnerable period to check credit card records and query unusual activity.

"We regret any inconvenience this may cause," said Mr Steinhafel.

Security researcher Brian Krebs, writing about the breach, said sources at credit card payment processing firms had told him the thieves had installed data-stealing code on to card-swipe machines at tills in all 1,797 Target stores.

It is not yet clear how the attackers managed to get their malicious program on to point-of-sale equipment in the stores.

The thieves stole data between Thanksgiving and 15 December, said Target.

The US Secret Service, which has official responsibility for investigating financial fraud, told Reuters it was looking into the breach.

The largest ever credit card breach at a US retailer took place in 2007 when cyber-thieves managed to steal information related to almost 46 million credit and debit cards from TJ Maxx and Marshalls.

The thieves amassed the huge cache of data over an 18 month period after penetrating the retailers' computer network.

I am a British ex-pat living in the US. My wife and I regularly shop at Target and typically use a credit card as payment - whether online or in the store. My wife also has a store credit card through Target. This news is very disconcerting as I know we have shopped at Target at least a couple of times during the reported period. Our credit company (American Express) has been very good at identifying anomalies in the past and dealing with fraudulent transactions, so between us and the company checking activity on the cards I am hopeful we will not be caught out. Russell Hitchen, St Petersburg, Florida

It's becoming apparent that the system of handing a card with personal and financial details to a store clerk is outdated as it seems the criminals have more technological savvy than those who are supposed to protect us from this kind of fraud. We shop at Target all the time but in the future we will pay cash until the problem is resolved. If ever... Peter O'Brien, Monroe, New Jersey

Target is my go to store for everything. So concerned after reading this news piece. Have to go though my credit card statement to make sure I see don't see any anomalies. Fariha, Fremont, California

I did shop at Target during that time and this just isn't that surprising to me. Isn't that sad? I have already had my credit card number stolen twice this year, despite being careful. I've begun monitoring my credit card transactions on a daily basis because this has just become so common. Amy Kolinko, Dublin, Ohio

Interestingly enough, I work for a credit card processing company. I also happened to shop at Target over the course of Black Friday. My thoughts, as we move into a world where electronic payment methods are becoming more widely used, we must take a step back and evaluate why they are so convenient in the fist place. This convenience is obviously coming at a cost, and that cost is our privacy. This goes into the broader discussion of how the web has been used and is currently used to illicit intimate details of individuals. Getting back to the matter at hand, Target should have definitely invested more money in its security infrastructure, but at what point is security considered to be adequate? Will the 'hackers' always be one step ahead? Time can only tell, but my guess, this is an ongoing threat that will never truly be resolved completely. Omar Khalid, Astoria

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Crowd-funded Lego car powered by air

19 December 2013 Last updated at 11:06 ET By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter

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A car made from Lego blocks and powered by compressed air

An air-powered car built of Lego, that can reach a top speed of around 20km/h (12mph) has hit the roads of Melbourne.

It was built by an Australian entrepreneur and a Romanian technologist who used more than 500,000 pieces of Lego to complete the car.

The crowd-funded project began with a tweet asking people to invest in an "awesome" start-up.

Four air-powered engines and 256 pistons, all built of Lego bricks, enable the car to move.

Everything bar the wheels is made from Lego.

Co-founder Steve Sammartino told the BBC that he was "neither a car enthusiast nor a Lego enthusiast".

"What I am is a technology enthusiast and I wanted to show what is possible when you crowd-fund an idea and use young talented people," he said.

"I met this crazy Romanian teenager on the web and we came up with the idea but I knew that I couldn't afford to fund it," he added.

So he sent out a late-night tweet which read: "Anyone interested in investing $500 - $1,000 in a project which is awesome and a world first tweet me. Need about 20 participants."

Forty Australians offered cash and the Super Awesome Micro project, as it is dubbed, was born.

It took 18 months and a lot more money to build, said Mr Sammartino.

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Using Stickle Bricks in the crumple zones would have made for much better crash performance"

End Quote Matt Saunders Deputy road test editor

The car was constructed in Romania by him and his business partner Raul Oaida and then shipped to Australia where large parts of it needed to be rebuilt.

"We drove it in a suburb of Melbourne. The engine is fragile and the biggest fear was a giant Lego explosion impaling passers-by," Mr Sammartino told the BBC.

For the time being he has no plans on expanding the fleet.

"I've been up to my neck in Lego for four weeks and my fingers are still sore so I'm not keen on building another one just at the moment," he told the BBC.

"This can't have been an easy thing to make, let alone to make move. The engine in particular must have required some innovative thinking," said Matt Saunders, deputy road test editor of Autocar magazine.

"It doesn't look too comfortable though, and I wouldn't want to drive it very far. Or into anything by accident. Using Stickle Bricks in the crumple zones would have made for much better crash performance," he added.

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Microsoft boss gives cow via Reddit

19 December 2013 Last updated at 12:49 ET

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has donated a cow as part of Reddit's Secret Santa gift exchange programme.

He bought the $500 (£305) cow from charity Heifer International on behalf of a Reddit user known as NY1227 with whom he had been paired.

In a note accompanying the gift, Mr Gates said the cow would be given to a family in need.

In addition, Mr Gates donated an unnamed amount of cash to Heifer International to help its work.

Mr Gates' participation in the gift-swapping scheme came to light via the reports that many members of Reddit write about their experience with the programme. In 2012, more than 44,000 people took part in Reddit's Secret Santa programme.

Redditor NY1227 wrote about opening her gift package and her gradual realisation that it had been sent by the Microsoft co-founder. A note and a picture in the package confirmed that the gift came from Mr Gates.

As well as the donated cow and cash for the charity, Mr Gates included a stuffed toy cow and a National Geographic travel book in the package for NY1227. In the write-up about her gift, NY1227 thanked Mr Gates for his generosity and for matching it so well with her interests and the items she had put on her Secret Santa wish list.

All participants in the gift-swapping programme write a list of items they would like to receive as gifts.

However, NY1227 did feel moved to apologise for one item on her list that Mr Gates did not provide.

"Sorry for the apple ipad on my wishlist," she wrote, "that was really awkward."

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Ex-Microsoft manager faces charges

20 December 2013 Last updated at 04:13 ET

Former Microsoft manager Brian Jorgenson, and his friend Sean Stokke, have been charged with insider trading by the US securities regulator.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Mr Jorgenson, 32, tipped off Mr Stokke, 28, about Microsoft news before it was made public.

Mr Stokke traded on the information and the two shared in the profits, the regulator said.

It said they made $393,125 (£240,000) in profits over 18 months.

According to SEC documents filed in Seattle, the two men have admitted that "they knew it was illegal for them to trade on the basis of material non-public information".

Jenny Durkan, a US attorney, added in a statement: "For every stock market winner, there is a loser, and trading on confidential inside information is a cheater's way of gaining at the expense of others."

Continue reading the main story

They knew that Microsoft's earnings were going to fall well short of analysts' consensus estimates and bought Microsoft options"

End Quote US Securities and Exchnage Commission

The commission said the two traded shares based on insider information between April 2012 and October this year.

It said the first trade was carried out ahead of Microsoft's announcement in April 2012 that it would invest $300m in Barnes & Noble's e-reader and digital media business.

The regulator alleged that the pair purchased Barnes & Noble call options ahead of the announcement, "which they sold for almost $185,000 in illicit profits".

'Conceal their fraud'

In July this year, they traded in advance of Microsoft's fourth-quarter earnings.

"They knew that Microsoft's earnings were going to fall well short of analysts' consensus estimates and bought Microsoft options," the regulator said, adding that they made profits of over $195,000 when they sold the options.

They also traded ahead of the Microsoft's first-quarter earnings in October this year, which the commission said they knew "would exceed analysts' consensus estimates".

"This time, in an effort to conceal their fraud, instead of trading directly in Microsoft options, they traded in options of the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, which held Microsoft common stock," it alleged.

They made almost $13,000 in profits from the trade.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Mr Jorgenson's attorney, Angelo Calfo said his client accepted he "made a really bad decision, and he's prepared to take his medicine".

Microsoft said it had "zero tolerance for insider trading. We helped the government with its investigation and terminated the employee".

Mr Stokke had previously worked with Mr Jorgenson at an asset management company.

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Google hit by Spanish privacy fine

20 December 2013 Last updated at 06:04 ET

Google has been fined 900,000 euros (£751,000) for breaking Spanish data protection laws.

The fine is the maximum it is possible to levy on a firm that has broken the nation's privacy laws.

It was imposed after Google changed its privacy policy and started combining personal information across its online services.

Google said it had co-operated with the Spanish inquiry and would act once it had seen the agency's full report.

Biggest fine

Google changed its privacy policy in March 2012 and began the process of combining the data that people surrendered when they used its many services.

The change led many European data protection authorities to look into Google's privacy policy. The investigation carried out by Spain's privacy watchdog has now led to it imposing a fine - the maximum possible under Spanish law.

Google collected information across almost 100 services, said the Spanish data protection agency, but had not obtained the consent of people to gather information nor done enough to explain what would be done with the data.

The "highly ambiguous" language Google employed on its privacy policy pages made it hard for people to find out what would happen to their data, said the agency in a statement. Google also kept data for too long and made it far too hard for people to delete data or manage the information they surrendered.

The 900,000 euro fine is made up of three separate penalties of 300,000 euros each for breaking different parts of Spanish privacy laws.

Google said it had worked closely with the Spanish data agency during its investigation and said it would await publication of the full report before taking any action.

The search giant could also face further action from other European data protection bodies. In late November, the Netherlands data protection authority said Google's 2012 policy change also broke its laws. France is also believed to be contemplating levying a fine over Google's data handling policies.

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