UK considers ban on ‘key fob’ mobiles, Groklaw news site shuts down over US surveillance, and high speed, in-flight wi-fi is expected by 2014

UK considers banning ‘key fob’ mobile phones
The UK is considering placing a ban on the sale of small mobile phones that have been designed to look like car key fobs. The phones are sometimes marketed as the ‘world’s smallest mobiles’ and feature logos from companies such as BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. The Times has reported fears that the products have been advertised with prisoners in mind, allowing inmates to get around the ‘no mobiles in prison’ rule. The UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that it had reason to believe that the phones were being made without the permission of its members. Although the devices are still currently available on eBay and Amazon, the National Trading Standards Board has asked retailers to stop selling them.

Groklaw news site abandoned due to US surveillance
Groklaw founder Pamela Jones has announced that the award-winning legal news site is to close, citing her inability to guarantee contributors’ privacy. The site was launched 10 years ago and is known for its coverage of technology law, including privacy disputes and software patents. The news comes after secure email provider Lavabit also announced its closure, referring to an ongoing legal dispute, presumably with the US government, in its closing message. The owner of Lavabit supposedly spoke to Jones and warned her of the privacy dangers when it comes to using email. After concluding that Groklaw would be unable to run without email, Jones decided she felt too uncomfortable with the possibility of constant surveillance and shut down the site.

High speed, in-flight wi-fi expected by 2014
It’s thought that in-flight wi-fi fast enough to stream services such as Netflix could be available on airlines by 2014. The communications regulator Ofcom is currently considering licensing a new satellite that would deliver connections to aircraft, ships and trains at speeds ten times faster than those currently available. Certain communications operators are already planning to launch networks that support the higher speed Earth Stations on Mobile Platforms (ESOMPS) in just a few months. The Federal Communications Commission has already legalised the use of ESOMPS in the US.

HMA! Pro VPN Windows Client 2.8.1.10 Announcement

We’re very excited to announce the latest release of HMA! Pro VPN 2.8.1.10 (for Windows) and to get it into the hands of our users. This is our latest major release and will be available as an automatic update to all our users in the next coming weeks. You can also install this update straightaway if you prefer not to wait, by downloading the latest version from your VPN control panel.

In a nutshell, we have made stability a top priority across all our windows platforms. We have made significant improvements in fixing Windows 8 bugs, so users switching over to Microsoft’s latest operating system will have smoother ride using Hide My Ass!.

We’ve also reworked our load balancing messages, so that users are never left disconnected from our VPN when the client is trying to find the best server to connect to.
We have made many small tweaks to the user interface. Some of our favourites are:

• The client will automatically save what is typed into the ‘username’ and ‘password’ fields. There is no longer an additional step of clicking ‘connect’ to save your login details.
• If you like to test the same servers when doing a speed test, the client will now remember your choice from before, saving you time of having to tick the same servers every time.
• The ‘IP address change’ needed a better on/off switch, so we have now included a checkbox to quickly enable or disable the ip address change feature.

You can see the complete list of improvements and fixes found in this release in our forum here.

Please reach out with any thoughts or questions. We look forward to continuing development and making Hide My Ass! the best it can be.

We have not forgotten about our customers using Macs and we are now underway with new software for OSX. We’ll let you know here first as soon as it is ready.

Google claims that UK privacy laws don’t apply to them as they’re faced with a landmark legal case

Internet search giant Google is using an unusual defence against claims that it illegally tracked internet activity, arguing that the British laws they are alleged to have broken do not apply to them.
The UK-based claimants say that Google bypassed a privacy setting on their iPhones and Apple Mac computers in order to illegally track their activity on the internet and are currently trying to bring a landmark group legal case against the company.

Apple’s default privacy settings mean that websites are blocked from installing things like cookies that let companies like Google track the user’s internet usage and target adverts towards them personally. It’s alleged that Google wrote software that was specifically designed to work around these settings without notifying the users beforehand.

Google maintains that it didn’t use these cookies to harvest personal information, but the Federal Trade Commission has already imposed a record $22.5 million fine on them. The company is now battling hard to have the case dismissed from UK courts in order to have it heard abroad, asserting that it is not subject to British laws because its consumer service, Google Inc., is based in Silicon Valley, California.

The claim has sparked outrage among many campaigners as it comes on the heels of the news that Google had failed to pay a significant amount of tax in the UK, prompting some to claim that the company operate in the country only when it suits them.

Google’s attempt to have their case heard elsewhere will be considered in October, but given the fact that the offences were committed under a ‘.co.uk’ web address - and that the firm is currently constructing headquarters worth $1 billion in the UK - it’s not looking promising for the search giant.
If you’re worried about the safety of the personal information you have on your computer, then a VPN service can offer you some extra piece of mind. A VPN provides your computer with an extra level of security when you’re surfing the internet so that your personal data stays private.

Syrian Electronic Army’s latest hack affects the Washington Post, CNN and Time magazine’s websites

The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) seem to be everywhere at the moment and their latest hacking conquest has affected the websites of the Washington Post, CNN and Time magazine, placing links on the site redirecting readers to the SEA’s website for a short period of time.

The redirection was due to a security breach at Outbrain, a company that provides link recommendations for all three sites. A spokesperson for the group said that their staff had been fooled by a spoof email that claimed to be from the company’s chief executive. Outbrain immediately took their service down once they realised what had happened, and then took a further seven hours to ensure that everything was fixed and working correctly before they relaunched their site.

For the Washington Post, this attack marks the SEA’s second targeted attempt at the paper in the space of a week. The publication’s managing editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz claimed that, ‘A few days ago, the Syrian Electronic Army, allegedly, subjected Post newsroom employees to a sophisticated phishing attack to gain password information.’ At present, however, all three affected websites believe that nothing else was altered on their pages other than the content of the links.

Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, condemned the attack and warned that it was the same kind of technique used by hackers attempting to get malware out into the web. He claimed that, ‘In this case it may only be sending you to the Syrian Electronic Army's website but it could also be used to install viruses or copy cookies to try and later impersonate a visitor.’

Douglas McCabe, an industry consultant from Enders Analysis, warned that the attack was symptomatic of a wider challenge facing the media: ‘"It is a reminder that while digital news organisations have lower distribution costs, those of technology and security are greater. The technology sophistication required to protect sites is continuously growing. The commercial and editorial implications of down periods during major news events are clearly far-reaching.’

If you’re worried about the security of your personal computer, then using a VPN service can give you extra peace of mind. A VPN acts as a barrier between hackers and your personal data when you’re surfing the web, which means that your private information should stay safe.

Hacker exploits child monitoring camera, cybercriminals using mobile ad networks to siphon money and Google increases the rewards for its bug bounty program

Hacker shouts abuse at child through monitoring camera
A hacker has exploited a vulnerability in a camera marketed as an ideal ‘baby monitor’ in order to shout abuse at a two-year-old child in Texas. The baby’s parents heard a voice coming from the camera as it directed offensive and sexualised language at their young child who was asleep in bed. The camera is manufactured by Foscam, who have recently released an emergency fix for vulnerabilities like this, although it’s not clear whether the parents had applied the emergency updates. The child’s parents have described the fact that their daughter is deaf as ‘something of a blessing’ under the circumstances.

Malware using mobile advert networks to steal money
Cybercriminals from Asia are reportedly using mobile ad networks to steal money from their victims. App developers normally assess the ad networks that they choose to partner with before entering into any agreements, but those that don’t leave themselves open to malicious ad networks. These networks can run their own software in otherwise legitimate apps, and download malware to the user’s smartphone. This malware then sends text messages to premium rate numbers and downloads instructions from a command and control server, effectively siphoning off the user’s money. Android users are advised to only download apps through Google Play, which runs its own scans for these kinds of scams.

Google increases bug bounty programme rewards
Google has announced that it has paid out nearly $2m to security researchers who have uncovered bugs for the company. To celebrate the success of the reward scheme, Google is now set to increase the amount of money on offer to anyone who first alerts them to bugs in future. In some instances this could mean an increase of up to five times the previous reward. Providing a patch along with the bug report will still earn researchers a bonus, and bonuses will continue to be awarded for the discovery of bugs in critical pieces of open source software.

15 days till the end of the HMA Summer Sale!

We’re halfway through August, which now means there is only 15 days left of our summer sale. Don’t leave it too late, grab a discounted HMA! VPN Pro subscription today.

With our 12 month plan receiving the largest discount (save over 56%!), it has therefore been our most popular plan amongst our users. When you order a 12 month plan you will continue receiving the 56% summer sale discount on your renewals for as long as you’re with us.

How to watch Canadian TV in the US with a Canadian IP Address?

Hulu might be an efficient solution to enjoy the American TV programming streaming online, but some might also miss the Canadian TV channels. Actually Canadian expats must be faced with the geo-restriction issue.
This blocking system is operated on content sites, even for Hulu or Netflix. When this kind of website put some content on the internet, it had pay broadcasting rights for each chosen country. Because it’s quite expensive for such companies, they don’t allow every user to access to their contents.
In this case, the sites thus implement a blocking system. It analyzes your IP, that contains your precise location. If it turns out that your don’t live in the granted area, the contents will be blocked.
As other content sites, the Canadian TV sites are concerned with this issue. For example the CBC site implemented this kind of restriction:

How to watch Canadian TV in the US?

As you browse from America, your IP is American. To bypass the restriction you must change your IP and appear as a Canadian.
The VPN is an user-friendly application that provides new IPs. When you use a VPN, you see a list of available servers. If you connect to one of them, you will get a new IP, according to the server location.
Thus to bypass the restriction choose a VPN offer with Canadian servers.

Best providers to unblock Canadian TV in the US

Name of the Provider	Website Address
Hide My Ass	Visit Provider
Strong VPN	Visit Provider
Switch VPN	Visit Provider
Pure VPN	Visit Provider
IPVanish VPN	Visit Provider
Hotspot Shield Elite	Visit Provider

Bottom line

The VPN is an unmissable tool for the expats, it allows to bypass the geo-restriction wherever you are. Aside from unblocking the Canadian TV, you can benefit from a free access to the French, German or British TV.
Furthermore the VPN encrypts your data which prevents you from any kind of security breach on your computer, your mobile phone, your tablet…