Larry Barrett

The wait has been long: as if a floodgate was open, iPhone users are migrating to Verizon. Larry Barrett reports. Though only initially available on its 3G wireless network, Verizon Wireless set an all-time, first-day record for pre-orders with Apple’s iPhone 4 last week, forcing the wireless carrier to momentarily shutter online orders. In a […]

With an essentially limitless supply of technologically naive users, Facebook is too tempting for hackers to resist. Larry Barrett reports. Facebook once again finds itself under attack from hackers looking to spread spam and snare personal information by trying to convince users that their accounts have either been commandeered by spammers or suspended. With more […]

Yahoo today announced fourth-quarter sales and earnings that narrowly surpassed Street estimates, earning $312 million, or $0.24 a share, on sales of $1.2 billion, down 4 percent from the year-ago quarter. Analysts pegged the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm for a profit of $0.22 a share on sales of $1.19 billion. Ahead of the earnings report, Yahoo […]

Who says the U.S. isn’t the world’s top dog? When it comes to relaying spam via hacked computers, America plays second fiddle to no one. Larry Barrett reports. We’re still No. 1. According to security software vendor Sophos, the U.S. leads the rest of the world in relaying annoying and potential dangerous emailed-based spam, accounting […]

Hackers, seeing the dramatic rise in mobile use, are upping their attacks on handheld devices. Is your unit safe? Larry Barrett reports. Malware specifically targeting mobile devices rose 33 percent in 2010 as hackers quickly pushed out new campaigns designed to capitalize on the popularity of smartphones and the fact that far too many users […]

There may be no more fiercely competitive market today than enterprise mobile, with the iPhone, Android and Blackberry (among others) all jockeying for market share. Larry Barrett reports. The latest report from IT research firm ABI Research portends both good and bad things for Research In Motion, the longtime leader in the U.S. enterprise smartphone […]

The devices are small but USB drives can cause some very big headaches for IT security. Larry Barrett reports. USB devices are handy, powerful and convenient. They’re also a major headache for IT security administrators because they’re almost impossible to police and they can spread malware like wildfire. Security software developer AVAST Software did some […]

Venture capital spending took a precipitous dip in the third quarter but software startups focused on cloud computing, social media and wireless apps received the most funding of any industry sector, according to the MoneyTree Report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Total venture capital investments tumbled to $4.8 billion in the […]

The Android operating system’s support for multi-tasking enables a wide range of mobile security functionality to run in the background, including virus scanning and automated backups. A new phishing scam is taking aim at members of the U.S. military and their families, using unsolicited emails purportedly from USAA, one of the nation’s largest financial services […]

IBM easily exceeded analysts’ estimates in its third quarter, posting a profit of $3.6 billion, or $2.82 a share, on sales of $24.3 billion. A survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters pegged IBM (NYSE: IBM) for a profit of $2.75 a share on sales of $24.1 billion. IBM shares closed up $1.77, or 1 percent, […]