Wayne Rash

If you’re worried about the malware revealed by Kaspersky Lab a few days ago and attributed to the shadowy “Equation Group” the latest word is that it’s probably no longer active and any spyware that was put into place on hard drives and elsewhere is likely sending its reports uselessly into the ether. Unfortunately, that’s […]

Think of the GrayFish malware as being something like Ebola for computers. Like Ebola, this malware only spreads through direct contact, it can infect its victim in a variety of ways and it may be impossible to cure—at least before it has done irreparable damage. This malware, which is just coming to light through research […]

If you’ve done much traveling, then it’s certainly happened to you. It’s your first day in a new city and you present your credit card for payment and things grind to a halt. Depending on the circumstances, the transaction may require the clerk to check your identity, or it may require that you speak to […]

Microsoft’s troubles with the U.S. Department of Justice would come to an immediate end with the passage of the LEADS Act, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Feb. 12. The bill, known more formally as the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act, would among other things put a stop to the […]

It’s not often that you hear discussions about smart automobiles and smart coffee makers bandied about in the halls of the U.S. Senate, but it happened on Feb. 11 as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held its first hearing on draft legislation aimed at safeguarding Internet security. Senators’ comments showed they were […]

A proposal as sweeping as moving Internet providers into regulation under Title II of the Communications Act is sure to gather criticism. When Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that he was sending a proposal doing just that to his fellow commissioners, that’s exactly what happened. But unlike the usual partisan reactions that characterize […]

One of the store managers at a Walmart store in Fairfax, Va., stood next to me as we watched a sales transaction fail—again. This was the third time I’d tried to pay for a phone charger using a debit card equipped with an EMV chip, and for the third time it failed. Each time the […]

The announcement on Feb. 4 by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler that he was proposing that all broadband communications be placed under the FCC’s Title II authority has generated no shortage of comment, much of it by pressure groups that don’t seem to have actually read what has been published so far. In a fact sheet […]

The good news for companies that accept credit cards is that some clarity is beginning to emerge about the transition to a more secure card payment system in the United States. The latest developments include an increasingly growing universe of secure payment cards making their way to customers throughout the country. Other good news may […]

The Federal Communications Commission vote on Jan. 29 to change the definition of broadband to require 25M-bps download speeds is not meeting universal accolades. The previous definition, which the FCC wants to scrap, defined broadband as 4M bps. And those are just the download speeds. Upload speeds would need to be at least 3M bps, […]

HANNOVER, Germany—I ran across professor Martina Zitterbart while visiting a few companies at the CeBIT Press Preview here. This event is designed to give members of the press a brief glance at some of the top exhibits coming for the CeBIT trade show in March. When I stopped by the display for the Karlsruhe Institute […]

Marriott International has told eWEEK that the company has decided to drop its petition for rulemaking that would allow the hotel chain to block personal WiFi hotspots in conference and meeting facilities. “Marriott International has decided to withdraw as a party to the petition seeking direction from the [Federal Communications Commission] on legal WiFi security […]