A few weeks ago, Network World ran a couple of articles about using smartphones as devices to transact credit and debit payments. One article said this would be "possibly dangerous." I completely disagree with that assumption. In fact, I say using your smartphone as your credit card is much more secure than using your regular old plastic credit card. Read on to learn why this is true.

In the wake of revelations that the US military network was compromised in 2008, and that US digital interests are under a relative constant threat of attack, the Pentagon is establishing new cyber security initiatives to protect the Internet. The Pentagon strategy--which is part digital NATO, part digital civil defense, and part Big Brother--may ruffle some feathers and raise concerns that the US Internet is becoming a military police state.

The developers of the uTorrent file-sharing application have released an updated version that fixes a problem that could allow an attacker to load malicious code onto a user's computer.

Still haven't embraced the Foursquare fad or Loopt's "check-in" feature? Me neither. I don't understand the point of letting everybody on my Twitter feed know where I'm ordering a meal or what stores I'm hitting up on my lunch hour. Though the trend may seem silly and pointless right now, national re­­tailers see this check-in model as a way to track--and increase--store foot traffic. But will consumers play along?

In an unusual move, security software company ArcSight has reportedly put itself up for sale with a $1.5 billion (£966 million) price tag believed possible.

Seems like scams are all the rage lately, with one offering a free iPad--in exchange for personal information, naturally--on the loose in social networks, more mysterious iTunes account hacks, and there's a patent suit against Apple and a bunch of other companies. Not that that's a scam, of course. Ahem. Fortunately, the remainders for Thursday, August 26, 2010 come with a guaranteed genuine seal of approval.

Workers who can’t browse certain Web sites or access particular networks at the office are voicing their complaints, says staffing firm Robert Half Technology.

Updates to a new version of the malware dubbed Alureon, TDL and Tidserv are designed to infect 64-bit Windows PCs for the first time.

27% of those infected by malware found that the attack originated from USB drives

Following a report that a USB drive was used to compromise US military networks in 2008, a security company has claimed that 25% of all new worms are designed to spread through the portable storage devices.

Research In Motion offers to lead forum focused on supporting the law

Research In Motion has offered to lead an industry forum in India focused on supporting the lawful access needs of law enforcement agencies, while preserving the legitimate information security needs of corporations and other organisations in India, RIM said Thursday.

China is imposing rules that require companies like Cisco and Symantec to use Chinese security products

China is stepping up efforts to keep the security systems that protect its critical infrastructure in the hands of local firms, and that could be bad news for companies based outside the country.

China is imposing rules that require companies like Cisco and Symantec to use Chinese security products

China is stepping up efforts to keep the security systems that protect its critical infrastructure in the hands of local firms, and that could be bad news for companies based outside the country.

China is stepping up efforts to keep the security systems that protect its critical infrastructure in the hands of local firms, and that could be bad news for companies based outside the country.

With the clock ticking and the continued service of a million BlackBerry users in India is at stake, Research In Motion has made a play to delay the shutdown of its services on the subcontinent on August 31. It has offered to lead an industry forum to work up solutions that will balance the security concerns of the Indian government with the privacy needs of users of RIM's BlackBerry smartphone in its country.

Intel considered acquiring either Symantec or McAfee for years before it announced last week that it would buy the latter, former Intel senior vice president Pat Gelsinger said on Thursday.

Company hopes more developers will take up SDL best practices with move to Creative Commons license

The U.S. military wants to exert more influence over the protection of power grids, transportation networks and financial network systems, a Pentagon official says in a broad-ranging essay published in Foreign Affairs.

Hard on the heels of a report that a USB drive was used to compromise U.S. military networks in 2008, a security company today claimed that 25% of all new worms are designed to spread through the portable storage devices.

Sun is the king of unpatched software vulnerabilities followed closely by Microsoft and Mozilla, according to the mid-year security report by IBM's X-Force.

The UK was responsible for 4.5 percent of all global spam produced between April and August this year, says MessageLabs.