• Yahoo leaks private key, allows anyone to build Yahoo-signed Chrome extensions

  Yahoo was forced to release a new version of its Axis extension for Google Chrome after the original one contained a private key that allowed anyone to digitally sign extensions in Yahoo's name.

• Microsoft opens New York research lab, hires mainly Yahoo researchers

  Microsoft is opening Thursday a research lab in New York city that aims to benefit from interaction with the academic and tech communities in the metropolitan area, as well as attract new talent to Microsoft, the company said.

• Most of the Internet's top 200,000 HTTPS websites are insecure, Trustworthy Internet Movement says

  Ninety percent of the Internet's top 200,000 HTTPS-enabled websites are vulnerable to known types of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) attack, according to a report released Thursday by the Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM), a nonprofit organization dedicated to solving Internet security, privacy and reliability problems.

• Russian-speaking cybercriminals earned $4.5 billion in 2011, researchers estimate

  Russian-speaking hackers earned an estimated US$4.5 billion globally using various online criminal tactics and are thus responsible for 36 percent of the estimated total of $12.5 billion earned globally by cybercriminals in 2011, Russian security analyst firm Group-IB said in a report published on Tuesday.

• Vodafone protects smartphone communications with 'Secure SIM'

  Vodafone has developed a new SIM card that can be used on smartphones to provide secure access to data networks and tap-proof telephone calls as well as email and text message encryption, the operator said on Monday at the Cebit trade show.

• Open source FreeOTFE encrypts disks handily

  FreeOTFE may sound like a political bumper sticker, but it stands for "Free On The Fly Encryption." The "Free" part is self-explanatory; "On The Fly Encryption" refers to the encrypting/decrypting of data as it is written to or read from your hard disk.

• Firesheep, Blacksheep, and protecting your Wi-Fi data

  Despite the convenience, free public Wi-Fi networks like those found in hotels, Starbucks, and McDonald's are also a serious risk when it comes to your data and personal information.

• Full disk encryption comes to workgroups

  Losing your laptop can be expensive in three ways. First, you'll spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to replace the hardware. Second, you'll suffer the time and aggravation of restoring your data, all the while hoping you have everything backed up properly. But most expensive? Surviving the backlash and legal consequences of losing customer data, financial records and private company information.

• How DRM could ensure cloud security

  Yet another survey is indicating that security is a big issue for those intending to take up cloud computing.

• Your laptop data is not safe. So fix it.

  The largest single type of security breach is the stolen or lost laptop, according to the Open Security Foundation, yet these computers are among the least protected of all IT assets. The costs of a data breach can be huge, including the loss of trade secrets, marketing plans, and other competitive information that could have long-term business damage, plus the immediate costs of having to notify people if their personal information was possibly at risk from the breach. Particularly in a recession, enterprise management can't afford to take these risks lightly.

Whitepapers about encryption

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  Take the Guesswork Out of Online Security. VeriSign Guide: Move Beyond Traditional SSL to Establish Trust