Headline News Archive

2010

March

12

• Instant ads set the pace on the web. Time is now on the side of online advertisers. Advertisers have been able to direct online messages based on demographics, income and even location, but…

10

• LifeLock settles amid allegations that it misled consumers. Its chief executive prominently displays his Social Security number in ads for his identity-theft protection company. But LifeLock Inc. couldn't protect customers from the company's…

09

• Target puts coupons on customers' cellphones. Using your cellphone during checkout at Target could soon earn you discounts. Starting Wednesday, the giant retailer will allow customers to take advantage of special…

08

• Working from home might be the new calling in sick. Jeremy Lesniak owns a small Web design firm in Randolph, Vt. He has 10 employees and hundreds of clients. Sick isn't an option. "I have…

• Prenuptial agreements: Unromantic, but important. Let's face it: The afterglow of that Valentine's Day proposal often begins to dim as discussions of wedding details get started. The happy couples face…

05

• Homeland Security seeks to thwart cyber-attacks. Cyber-security researchers in the private sector have lamented for many years that collaborations with government officials on addressing cyberthreats have been few and far between.…

• Smartphones have changed the way we travel. Business traveler Mike Monroe no longer rummages through his bag at the airline counter fishing for his flight ticket or confirmation number. The consultant from…

04

• How cybercriminals invade social networks. "Hey Alice, look at the pics I took of us last weekend at the picnic. Bob". That Facebook message, sent last fall between co-workers at…

February

23

• F.T.C. links data breach to file sharing. The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that it has uncovered widespread data breaches at companies, schools and local governments whose employees are swapping music, software…

19

• Trove of stolen logons in hands of 'amateur' hackers. A band of hackers who were recently discovered hoarding a trove of account logons pilfered from thousands of companies worldwide are garden-variety cyberthieves, security experts…

18

• Systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks. More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be…

17

• Spammers adjust to security trends. Last fall, Henry Stern, a senior security researcher for Cisco Systems, got a social-network request from someone claiming to be a colleague, asking to become…

• Privacy watchdog files complaint about Google Buzz. A privacy watchdog group complained to federal regulators on Tuesday about Google's new Buzz social networking service, saying it violates federal consumer protection law. The…

16

• More use trusted traveler plans through customs. The U.S. government trusts Ricardo Castro as a customer. And it wants more like him. Castro, an oil industry executive who travels internationally and lives…

• Google Buzz planning more changes to appease users. Even more changes are coming to Google Buzz. That’s the upshot from my conversation with Google product manager Todd Jackson. His team has assembled a…

15

• A comeback for credit card come ons. After three quarters of near-paralyzing caution, credit card issuers last quarter increased the number of offers they were sending out to American households.

• A fine line when ads and children mix. When an arts and crafts company placed an ad in Discovery Girls magazine for Tulip Glam-It-Up iron-on crystals, it hardly seemed controversial. The ad, which…

14

• Guard your health insurance card. You may want to make sure you know where your health insurance card is. According to a new study, the 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report,…

13

• Debt collectors want you to know they're here to help. Y ou're having a hard time coming up with the cash. That's understandable. The economy tanked and dragged you down with it. Trish Hilliard gets…

10

• Some ditch social networks to reclaim time, privacy. Facebook reports that it has 400 million active users worldwide. Make that 399,999,999. Laura LeNoir is done. "I feel better, I feel lighter, I got…

09

• Google's Gmail to try to challenge Facebook. The search giant is upgrading its Gmail program to add social-media tools similar to those found on Facebook. Google will incorporate photo and video sharing…

07

• Can the U.S. government require you to get an IRA?. One of the biggest priorities for the Middle Class Task Force led by Vice President Biden is a push to improve and standardize American retirement…

04

• NSA to help Google ward off cyberattacks. The world's largest Internet search company and the world's most powerful electronic surveillance organization are teaming up in the name of cybersecurity. Under an agreement…

January

31

• Chiropractic visits lead to higher premium. As the prospects for meaningful healthcare reform grow murkier by the day, it's helpful to remember why we started this discussion in the first place.…

25

• Corporate antagonism goes public. When Time Warner Cable was tussling over fees with the News Corporation, it did something that would have been unthinkable in the backrooms where deals…