Anonymity on the web has been called both a blessing and a curse. Online alter-egos allow people an unprecedented freedom to communicate their deepest hopes or explore alternate activities or pastimes without risk to their real lives or reputations. It can also empower our worst human proclivities, setting loose trolls, scams and, in some cases, serious criminal activity. Either way,...
We’ve all seen corporate entities reacting badly to difficult circumstances. They might blame it on others, engage in deceitful acts or just flat-out deny the incident before attempting to bury it. Only occasionally do we see companies actually respond with a solution or “make-good,” and even then, they often still refuse to confess to any wrongdoing. Rarely do we see a company admit...
Should our faith in humanity be as shaken as this stock-art house? The jaded among us might think people are generally untrustworthy, but is that how most of us really feel? You wouldn’t know it based on our behavior en masse: We make our whereabouts known via social networking or geo-locating apps. We bid on strangers’ items in eBay auctions. We sell our well-loved goods on...
This is the part in the movie when a montage usually happens. The subjects of a criminal investigation have just taunted the authorities, saying “You can’t stop us,” spurring images of field agents working tirelessly to prove them wrong. And usually, the action culminates in some sort of big showdown. But that’s fiction… or is it? Because at least part of this storyline is playing out...
The world of technology leaks sure isn't child's play — just ask Walter Shimoon. Snared in an investigation on "expert networks," a money-making venture that puts hedge funds together with tech insiders, Shimoon, a former exec at Apple parts supplier Flextronics, appeared before a Manhattan court yesterday to face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and security fraud. Expert...
Sean Power’s laptop may have been stolen, but let’s make one thing clear: This tech author and consultant is no victim. He didn’t cry or shrug it off, but tracked his computer, got it back and even shamed the guy who took it. All this, from hundreds of miles away. Power, whose computer was taken in New York City, was actually on a trip to Canada when the drama went down a couple weeks...