Spotlight Features

Spyware is fast becoming the next generation of spam. It is software that installs onto a computer or local network, monitors computing habits and delivers the information to third parties. Usually, the user is unaware that the software exists on his or her computer. Much like spam, spyware is becom...

Cell phones are no longer used simply for voice communications; increasingly, they support text messaging, e-mail, Web surfing and even video transmissions. With this transformation has come the need for a more sophisticated mobile operating system. Half a dozen vendors, including Microsoft and Symb...

One of the great promises of the Internet has always been that it can bring people together, no matter their location or technology. Social network sites like Friendster, Orkut and LinkedIn are making this promise into a reality every day by attracting millions of members that spend hours chatting w...

Spam is stuffing consumer and corporate e-mail inboxes with useless pitches for unwanted products and services. It is also clogging bandwidth and contributing to traffic congestion on the Internet. Experts estimate that as much as 60 percent of all e-mail that enters inboxes every day is spam, unsol...

Junk e-mail, the way most computer users see it, has become more prolific than postal junk mail. It overloads inboxes and consumes valuable hours each day. Every day, e-mail users must weed through appeals to buy everything from phony products and stock offers to drugs and body-part enhancers -- not...

Is it possible to end the investigations and prosecutions that the RIAA, the music download police and similar entities use to prosecute users of file-sharing networks? The answer depends, say online security experts, on which next-generation technology proves to be more successful. So far, enforcem...

Viruses delivered by e-mail, phishing attacks and spam are becoming as much a part of using computers as accidents, tolls and bumper-to-bumper delays on the freeway are in commuting to work each day. Both situations cause frustration, steal productivity and cost money. Phishing scams trick e-mail re...

In a move applauded by legal experts in the free software movement, the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) yesterday announced its support for enhancements to the Linux kernel submission process that it hopes will improve accurate tracking of contributions to the kernel and ensure developers receiv...

Searching for data on a PC used to be a series of isolated activities. Users needed one or more computer-based software utilities to hunt through the hard drive for specific files containing keywords. Finding information beyond the hard disk meant logging in to a library or university system and ent...

A real security threat is looming with wireless PDAs, WiFi devices and smartphones. These are the electronic marvels that are pushing the goal of wireless telecommunications to new limits. Industry watchers report that people are dropping their older PDAs like hot potatoes and snapping up the latest...