Larry Barrett

Security issues always seem to come down to the weakest link. In the latest major security breech, it appears the weakest link was with whoever had custody of a portable flash drive containing hundreds of thousands of patient’s Medicaid records. As eSecurity Planet reports the drive in question had patients’ names, addresses and other health […]

Motorola managed to exceed analysts’ estimates in its third quarter thanks to the solid performance of its network equipment unit and the continued strong demand and sales for its Android-based smartphones. As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, Motorola moved more smartphone units than expected and returned its wireless device unit to profitability a good quarter or […]

Research In Motion this week unveiled the new-look BlackBerry Bold 9780, a new smartphone running the company’s latest mobile operating system that includes several new bells and whistles for the BlackBerry crowd. As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the BlackBerry Bold 9780 has HSDPA support for high-speed mobile broadband, the company’s QWERTY keypad for mail and […]

A pair of retailers was hit with an inordinately large number of targeted malware attacks this month, according to security software vendor Symantec. As eSecurity Planet reports, the attacks represent the next stage in online crime where more sophisticated and complex scams are perpetuated with data harvested from social networking sites and other publicly available […]

Internet trends come and go, but one pesky annoyance never seems to go away — spam. Facebook is taking to the courts to try and curb what it said were deceptive practices on the social networking site. And, as eSecurity Planet reports, Facebook said its move is the latest crackdown in its ongoing effort to […]

The Mississippi National Guard this week is in the process of notifying thousands of members that their names, Social Security numbers and other personal information was posted on a public-facing website for more than a month. As eSecurity Planet reports, this latest security miscue highlights how an innocent mistake can have enormous consequences in the […]

Since January 2009, McAfee has counted more than 108 data breaches that have compromised people’s Social Security numbers at colleges and universities alone. When expanded to include the myriad other government, nonprofit and business organizations that collect and store what McAfee calls the “de factor national ID,” the problem becomes almost epidemic. In an alarming […]

HP wants a piece of the smartphone pie and after investing $1.2 billion to buy Palm earlier this year, it’s ready to start cooking. As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the release of its new webOS 2.0 mobile operating systems and Palm Pre 2 smartphone is the first step toward relevance in this rapidly growing sector. […]

Can a smartphone succeed if it is molded in the flip form factor? After dramatic failures such as the Motorola Backflip and the Nokia N76, it seems a fair question. But Research In Motion is giving it a try, announcing with Sprint the forthcoming Style 9670 device, set to make its debut on Halloween, selling […]

The third quarter was kind to IBM, which reported healthy growth across each of its principal business lines. The gains in software, hardware and services were buoyed further by rising margins, Big Blue said. IBM saw brisk growth in emerging overseas markets, along with sustained growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China, the so-called BRIC […]

Authorities at the University of North Florida are working with the FBI this week to investigate how a foreign-based hacker managed to pry his or her way into a critical server housing Social Security numbers and other personal information belonging to some 106,000 students and applicants. As eSecurity Planet reports, this latest security gaffe at […]

First they came for the passwords. Next could be the identity. And not just the top-line stats — but all of it. In a disquieting new study, researchers have described a sort of reverse CRM tactic, through which stealth hackers could compile a “rich identity profile” about users by analyzing their communications patterns and their […]