wireless networks

Google has been ordered to pay a $25,000 fine for impeding a government investigation into claims the search giant inadvertently snooped on home wireless networks. However, it looks as though the company will escape serious sanctions for the act. ... The case resulted from Google's "Street View" project, which is now a part of its Google Maps tool. The project involved sending modified vehicles along nearly all public streets, using roof-mounted cameras to take a continuous stream of pictures. At the same time, the vehicles also scanned for local wireless networks. Google intended to ... (view more)

Google is once again at the center of controversy in Europe over the use of its technology in regard to privacy rights. Recent claims were made by German officials that the tech company is scanning for private wireless networks and recording the ... details through the use of its Street View service. According to Germany's federal data protection commissioner Peter Schaar, Google has been collecting MAC (Media Access Control) addresses of private citizens for some time now. A MAC address refers to a specific network adaptor -- and in this case, individual wireless routers. Schaar said that he was ... (view more)

How much thought do you give to security when you use your credit card at a retail location? According to the Chicago Tribune, most consumers don't think about what happens to their credit card information when their plastic gets swiped at the cash ... register. Unfortunately, large retailers have networks that are potentially vulnerable to breaches connected to cash registers, bar code scanners and store computers. (Source: chicagotribune.com ) In some high-profile cases of network vulnerability, thieves don't just pluck one credit card number. They pluck millions of them. For instance, in 2007 ... (view more)