Stories by Robert McMillan

HP lowers financial guidance with webOS shutdown

After pulling the plug on its webOS phones and tablet computers Thursday, Hewlett Packard said it expected to be less profitable than expected during its current fiscal quarter, which ends Oct. 31.

Written by Robert McMillan19 Aug. 11 06:12

The collar bomber's explosive tech gaffe

The man who claimed to have attached a bomb collar to an Australian high school student two weeks ago thought it would be a good idea to leave a ransom note on a USB stick looped around her neck. What he probably didn't realize is that he also left his name, hidden deep in the device's memory.

Written by Robert McMillan18 Aug. 11 09:32

ICANN chief Beckstrom to step down

The head of the organization chartered with managing some of the Internet's complex routing systems is stepping down.

Written by Robert McMillan17 Aug. 11 10:31

Fired techie created virtual chaos at pharma company

Logging in from a Smyrna, Georgia, McDonald's restaurant, a former employee of a U.S. pharmaceutical company was able to wipe out most of the company's computer infrastructure earlier this year.

Written by Robert McMillan17 Aug. 11 09:14

Cell phones stay on, but protesters disrupt SF subway

San Francisco's commuter railway left mobile phone services untouched during a closely watched protest Monday, but for many commuters that didn't matter because they were locked out of the railway system altogether.

Written by Robert McMillan16 Aug. 11 16:37

FCC looking into BART mobile phone shutdown

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is looking into last week's shutdown of mobile phone services on a San Francisco commuter train line.

Written by Robert McMillan16 Aug. 11 06:28

Bay Area transit police cut mobile service to thwart protest

The agency that runs the commuter trains that rumble beneath San Francisco each day hit the panic button Thursday night, cutting off mobile-phone service to hundreds of thousands of commuters in an effort to thwart a protest that was expected to snarl up the evening commute.

Written by Robert McMillan13 Aug. 11 09:17

AntiSec hackers dump data after hacking police websites

The war between law enforcement and the Anonymous hacking collective continued this weekend as hackers dumped a 10 gigabyte database that included private e-mails and information sent by confidential informants. Hackers say they stole information during an attack on more than 70 small-town law enforcement agencies.

Written by Robert McMillan08 Aug. 11 01:52

Spam king Sanford Wallace indicted for Facebook spam

Notorious spam king Sanford Wallace is facing federal fraud charges for allegedly breaking into Facebook accounts and sending 27 million spam messages in 2008 and 2009.

Written by Robert McMillan05 Aug. 11 11:19

A power plant hack that anybody could use

The night before the start of this week's Black Hat hacker conference here in Las Vegas, security researcher Dillon Beresford gave a demonstration to a small audience in his room at Caesar's Palace. The topic: how a hacker could take over the Siemens S7 computers that are used to control engines, machines and turbines in tens of thousands of industrial facilities.

Written by Robert McMillan05 Aug. 11 08:55
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