Google has launched its Dashboard which allows a Google user greater and easier access to his account and also permits him to change his privacy and other settings. This is because Google was on the hot seat for the potential its services had to invade a user’s privacy.

Google Docs, Google Desktop and Gmail and also Street View have been in the news for providing easy access to unauthorised personnel even if it was unintentional on Google’s part. With Dashboard, a user will be able to check which Google applications have access to his data which is on Google and disable those functions.

However, Google has not been able to address all privacy concerns with this application. When people access Google for its search engine features, Google stores the data for a longer period of time than the European commission would like. Its Street View application is still an invasion of privacy.

Another problem that users are concerned about is that Google has the facility to save the user’s password, which can then be misused if the computer is hacked into. However, it is good that at least Google is moving forward to address privacy concerns though it has not been able to do so fully and completely.

Sometimes all this can be a double-edge-sword because people on the one hand want privacy but also want to be provided with better services from Google and other online companies, but without bit of intrusion, this is not always possible. Take Street View, for example, while a lot of people hate the idea of their streets and homes being accessible by all, it has great benefits for others such as estate agents and house hunters, for example.

Search is another good example where people want to be served with relevant results but without Google keeping a record of a person’s internet activity, they wouldn’t be able to provide precise results. Same goes for ad serving.

Via: PC World

Nobody would likely suspect the innocuous soda/coke can lying in a room or a car to be camera. It is not only a high end digital camera recorder, but also records audio. Just in between the writing is a tiny lens which would be incredibly difficult to spot to the uninitiated.

The on-off switches are under the can and it comes with a record button and a remote which means that you don’t have to touch the can to start recording. With 4 GB of memory, it can record up to 15 hours of footage. And since the memory is built in, you don’t need an extra recording device.

The USB cord will help download the recording as well as charge the device, though it comes with a separate charger as well. There is only one downside to this – its range of view is going to be very limited and it can only record what the lens can view.

The positioning of the item when recording is very important because of the hole on the can. If someone were to notice the hole, they would become suspicious.

My guess is that this only records straight in line rather than having a wide angle recording (there is no mention of the angles), so the placement of the device is all the more crucial. But it seems the hole in the Coke Zero can is very cleverly integrated as one of the bubbles on the can which is much more difficult to tell. This is also from Chinagrabber and the item can be located here.

If you are just in the next room or outside a door, you can now listen in to whatever is going on in the room supposedly with absolute clarity with this spy eavesdropping device. While earlier you may have put your ear to the door and listened as hard as possible, this is a sensitive device that picks up on conversation or sounds emanating from it and can be heard clearly.

This sophisticated listening device comes with attached ear phones, a volume control feature, and a rechargeable battery charger. It amplifies the sounds that it picks up, so you can hear clearly.

Perhaps you want to hear gossip among your friends or try to listen into a conversation your superiors may be having about you behind closed doors, whatever the motive, this could do the job, theoretically at least. Though its very difficult to say how good the product may be without actually trying it, such spy devices coming out of China are not always of the highest quality, but that is not to say they are all bad. I have tested products sent to me by spy stores based in China and some have been very good but others not so.

As we regularly remind our readers, spy devices like this one may not be legal with out authorisation so you need to be careful when using it.

If you are one those people who have a fear of flying – and with good reason nowadays with terror threat – or who are totally phobic of being in a claustrophobic place up in the sky with no way of getting out, then Virgin Atlantic is ready to come to your rescue.

Initially Virgin Atlantic in partnership with Mental Workout (a software company) started a successful Flying Without Fear course. The same has now been developed as an application to be used with an iPhone and helps people calm down and be able to fly.

The application uses the video format to detail all the start to finish flight explanations, relaxation exercises and fear therapy to help the passenger cope with his or her fears. In the worst case scenario, the passenger can press the panic button and be guided through a set of breathing exercises to help control his panic.

It costs a small amount, but the fact is that it has already helped people like Whoopi Goldberg, who has not stepped inside a place for the last ten years, go to London for a commitment. No wonder Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Atlantic’s maverick owner is enthused about the new technology.

Via: Telegraph

Can we even imagine life without the internet today? Besides shrinking the world it has made everything easier to do, whether it is communications or work or even entertainment and gaming. However, it has also opened new vistas to the technologically savvy criminals in the form of identity theft, phishing, banking theft and stealing work and applications and software and worse.

As such, it is important to keep your pcs absolutely secure against viruses, hackers, data theft and more. The F-Secure is one such product which guards against virus, malware, spyware, secretly installed software on your computer, data theft et al. It offers real time detection and disinfection. Since this product is to be used with Windows Home Server software, obviously you should have that software installed on your home network computers to be able to use this protection.

While most customers find the product not as expensive as others in the market, it does seem to have a few negatives: it slows the system when scanning is in progress and some customers complain that their system hangs, thus causing a lot of problems. As security software it offers good value for money with one year’s license which can then be renewed and the product will update regularly. If you are not sure how your system will work with this, you can install a trial version for free and check it out before shelling out the cash.

But on the whole, it seems most customers are very satisfied with the product as it averages a rating of 4/5 with a substantial number of people casting their votes.

Its available from Amazon

Tracking devices designed to monitor the whereabouts of children are being pushed on to the market at regular intervals as it would seem they are quite a popular device with anxious parents. And here is another one – Little Buddy Tracker. This one is designed for younger children.

Anybody who has a child knows how scary it can be when children are not where they are supposed to be. Children get lost or missing from schools, malls, parks, trains, buses, from crowded places and not necessarily because they are victims of any crime, but because they just tend to wander off.

It packs a powerful transmitter into its small body and can be kept in your child’s school bag or lunchbox or maybe even a pocket.

The device has to be activated via its web site. If the child is not at a designated place at a specified time you will get a text message. You have to specify the places and times. The Insignia will also let you know when its battery is running low. If the device is kept on the child even when he or she is at home, or at a friend’s place or in the backyard, and you are out, you will learn whether the he or she is really where he is supposed to be.

There are pros and cons with tracking children as some would argue it impedes in their independence and therefore development whereas others would argue their safe being a good reason for tracking.

A tracking device designed for children does not have to be used in an unsuspecting manner; a parent could agree with the child that they would carry the device so they can ensure they get to and return from school safely, for example. Likewise, it can be used when they go out with their friends.

The device is available for the American market from BestBuy, and at $99.99, it would seem good value, but since a lot of children these days carry mobile phones, they could just as easily have a tracking service integrated on in it for a small monthly fee.

This bug is small and discreet, but allows you to listen in to any conversation within a five metre radius of wherever it is placed. It is the size of a small matchbox and works as a transmitter. You merely have to insert a sim card into it to become operational.

As the transmitter works with sims on all three bands, it can be used in almost all places in the world. Its activation is extremely simple, you just place the sim in the bug and it is ready to use.

When you call from any landline or mobile phone, your call gets connected and you can listen in to all conversations around the bug on your mobile phone.

You can even put this bug in a car if you want to monitor conversations when people are on the move (though the sim should be able to receive the signal for it to work).

There may be better ways to listen into conversations as there are more discreet ways to do so, but this little device has one advantage – its size and versatility and the use of use. What’s more, its not covered with a fancy exterior, it could easily look like a device used for any purpose and not necessarily a bug.

Of course, given that its not a listening device specifically designed for a fixed location, it cannot run on electrical power so there is going to be a limit to how long it can be used for in a single session. For this reason, the recommendation is to use very long lasting batteries if its expected the listening in could be done over a period of several days at least.

The major disadvantage is the size of area it covers with only a 5 metre radius so it needs to be very precise where the device is located.

The Guardian recently decided to see what happens to mail during a postal strike using covert satellite tracking. Whenever there is a strike by Royal Mail, nobody really knows the fate of the post which may be lying in post boxes, in sorting offices or even get delivered on time or late.

Normally GPS tracking devices are used for other purposes – to track vehicles, keeping tabs on a person and other covert reasons. But Tracker Shack, a Yorkshire based company which supplies these nifty gadgets, decided to use for another purpose altogether. When Royal Mail was on strike and had announced the same, Tracker Shack cleverly mailed three of these devices as first class mail just in time for the last post to Essex, London and Bingley. The result: the trackers were able to provide information about how and where they were moving, every 30 seconds.

All legally done of course – and their paths can be tracked and traced via Google Maps. Surprisingly the Essex and Bingley ones reached safely, but the one which was addressed to Guardian is stuck somewhere close to the office. Hopefully it will reach.

You can find how they did in the Guardian blog here.

Many people use BlackBerries because the phones offer so many features and are easy to use. The phone is often used by high end users and many confidential conversations take place with most people unaware how easy it is to eavesdrop on these conversations.

A new software, PhoneSnoop, which was developed by Sheran Gunasekera who is director of security for Hermis Consulting in Jakarta, Indonesia, can be installed with or without the knowledge of the user and used to eavesdrop on conversations. Sheran says that the software which is available free is supposed to highlight the fact that BlackBerries are not secure.

Some users of this smartphone were tricked into installing the software when they received a message saying that a free software upgrade was available and to download it. Alternatively, you need to have physical access to the phone to install the application which works in a covert manner. The user may learn that it is installed on his or her phone if the batteries start draining much faster than they did before.

The spy software sets up a PhoneListener and waits for an incoming call from a specific number. Once it detects a call from that specific number, it automatically answers the victim’s phone and puts the phone into SpeakerPhone mode.

However, Sheran has also developed a software which will detect if any hidden programs have been installed on BlackBerries. Meanwhile, BlackBerries users better beware.

Via: ZdNet

All kinds of sensitive and personal data are stored by various organisations in the private and public sectors. Off and on the public hear about how sites were hacked or information lost or there has been breach of confidential data. What makes news, however, is only the tip of the iceberg – there are many more instances where cases are not reported and never come to light.

The European Commission is seriously considering passing laws that make it mandatory for organisations to notify all concerned parties if there has been any data breach. The Telecoms Package currently is only limited to telecom companies. In Europe the laws have still to be passed regarding accountability of breach of data, whereas in many US states these laws have been passed.

As many services are now accessible via the internet there is an increasing danger of people being put to hardship or open to crime if records of online transactions, e-banking and even medical records get into the hands of criminals.

If organisations are forced to make public the nature of data loss, the people concerned can take steps to safeguard themselves and the negative publicity will also negatively affect the company’s image, thus forcing them to use more secure methods.

This all comes after a spate of high profile cases of loss both by private and public organisations.

Via: The Register