Computing
Urban Bungle: Atlanta Cyber Attack Puts Other Cities on Notice
The city has spent the past two weeks restoring online services disrupted by ransomware that held encrypted data hostage...
"security"
The Sciences
Fears of Future Belligerence Should Not Derail Iranian Nuclear Deal
While many provisions of the proposed agreement expire after 15 years, the dynamics of the Middle East are shifting too quickly to predict what lies in store
Mind & Brain
Is It Time to Rethink Life-without-Parole Sentencing?
If violent criminal tendencies peak during the teen years and seldom extend to midlife, should we still lock people up and throw away the key?
Is there more to locking up than personal safety?
Do you lock the door to your home when you're inside during the day? Or do you leave the door open if you are just running out for a minute?
Mind & Brain
Can Science Solve Terrorism? Q&A with Psychologist John Horgan
For years, I’ve been getting e-mails from people who praise my brilliant research on terrorism and then ask me tough questions about the topic
Technology
Shopping Habits Reveal Personal Details in "Anonymized" Data
Details about where and when you use your credit card could help reveal your identity to data thieves—even if they don't know your name, address and other personal information.
Science Far from Center Stage in Obama’s State of the Union
President Barack Obama's sixth State of the Union address, his first before a Republican-led legislature, was studded this evening with references to science and technology amidst talk of middle class tax cuts, thawing U.S...
The Sciences
Science Far from Center Stage in Obama's State of the Union
President Barack Obama's sixth State of the Union address, his first before a Republican-led legislature, was studded this evening with references to science and technology amidst talk of middle class tax cuts, thawing U.S...
Technology
Scientific American Editor's Picks for the Top Tech Stories of 2014
Wallets, wreckage and digital coin. Before the new year appears, let's look at some of the most important technology stories Scientific American covered over the past 12 months.
Technology
A Guardian "Agent" to Protect You From Digital Fraud
Today, maintaining privacy without guided assistance is an onerous task, whose initial costs are high, immediate rewards low and solutions fragile and constantly evolving.
Technology
Why Lasers Won't Protect Airliners From Missiles
Questions over the best way to protect civilian aircraft from surface-launched missiles have reemerged in light of the recent Malaysia Airlines tragedy over the Ukraine.
Technology
3 Projects Prove Privacy Is Not Dead
Web and mobile phone users willingly share personal data in exchange for free stuff, but not everyone is ready to throw in the towel on privacy
Health
Poor Oversight Catches Up with High-Security Infectious Agent and Disease Labs
The Centers for Disease Control plans to take measures to better protect lab workers and the rest of us from dangerous biological samples
Technology
How You Can Hide Your Smartphone Data from Thieves—and the Cops
A new software technique thwarts forensic software by making indiscernible changes in a handset’s operating system
Technology
Squiggly Lines Secure Smartphones
To protect your financial and personal data, most mobiles come with PIN-based security, biometrics or number grids that require you to retrace a particular pattern to access your device...
Technology
Is Your Home Security System Safe?
Tech Talker: Quick and Dirty Tips to Navigate the Digital World
Technology
The Day the World's ATMs Stood Still--or Didn't
You're probably on tenterhooks wondering what will happen to your reliable, convenient ATM on April 8, the day Microsoft officially sticks a fork in its hugely popular Windows XP operating system...
Mind & Brain
How Hard Is It to Catch a Fake Passport?
Imagine that you are a bouncer, checking IDs outside a popular bar in a college town. It is somewhat dark outside the door, there are many distractions: loud music is playing and your job requires you to also keep an eye on the crowd for trouble...
Policy
How To Reconcile Big Data and Privacy
In many ways "big data" and "encryption" are antithetical. The former involves harvesting, storing and analyzing information to reveal patterns that researchers, law enforcement and industry can use to their benefit...
Computing
How Hackers Take Down Web Sites
Many of the Web sites we visit every day are under cyber attack by malicious hackers looking to disrupt business transactions, discourage people from using a particular online service or exact payback for some real or perceived slight...
