Firefox add-on encrypts sessions with Facebook, Twitter

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Tor Project have released a public beta of a new Firefox extension that lets people encrypt their communications with Facebook, Twitter, and other sites.

The HTTPS Everywhere Firefox extension was inspired byGoogle's encrypted Web search option, the EFF said in announcing the tool on Thursday.

In addition to Facebook and Twitter, the Web sites that the software works on are Google Search, Wikipedia, The New York Times, The Washington Post, PayPal, EFF, Tor, and Ixquick.

The tool works by creating an HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) connection to the sites. But even if "https" is used, unless the address bar is colored and an unbroken lock icon is displayed in the bottom right corner, the page is not completely encrypted, EFF says.

Our colleagues over at ZDNet's Zero Day blog point out that using HTTPS doesn't hide a computer's IP address and users are still susceptible to tracking from broken SSL sessions displaying unencrypted third-party content.

"Forcing a full session on a popular social-networking service such as Facebook for instance, without taking into consideration the fact that SSL would not magically make all the personally identifiable information, including your IP, disappear, is wrong," writes Dancho Danchev on the Zero Day blog. "Full-session SSL, in combination with tools such as Vanish, next to Tor-like/VPN based anonymity network, are great for a fresh start."

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Apple quietly adds anti-malware in Snow Leopard update

Apple has updated the file that contains signatures of malware that targets the Mac in its Snow Leopard update.

(Credit: Sophos)

In the latest update to Snow Leopard, Apple included software to protect Mac computers from a Trojan horse that has been distributed by attackers disguised as iPhoto, but which opens a back door on the machine, security firm Sophos said on Friday.

When Apple released OS X 10.6.4 on Tuesday, the company said it addressed certain compatibility issues with VPN connections and other things, but failed to mention anything about adding an anti-malware update.

But buried in the code is an update to the XProtect.plist file, which contains signatures of malware written to target the Mac. The signatures now detect malware dubbed "HellRTS," Graham Clulely of Sophos wrote in a blog post.

HellRTS, which Sophos detects as "OSX/Pinheard-B," is a Trojan that has been around several months. It lets attackers use infected computers to send spam, take screenshots, access files, and pretty much take control of the computer, Sophos said.

"Unfortunately, many Mac users seem oblivious to security threats which can run on their computers. And that isn't helped when Apple issues an anti-malware security update like this by stealth, rather than informing the public what it has done," Clulely writes. "You have to wonder whether their keeping quiet about an anti-malware security update like this was for marketing reasons. "Shh! Don't tell folks that we have to protect against malware on Mac OS X!"

Representatives from Apple did not immediately return e-mails seeking comment late on Friday.

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Charge Phone For just Walking

I really want a pair of Orange Power Wellies, largely so I can say that I'm wearing "wellies," a word we just don't use enough on this side of the pond. But also because they're terribly cute thermoelectric rubber boots that charge your mobile phone using heat from your feet. These could come in very handy when hiking, camping, or engaging in other activities that lend themselves to wellie wearing but not to power outlets.

(Credit: Orange)

U.K. mobile operator Orange teamed with renewable-energy companyGotWind to create the boots, which feature a power-generating sole that converts feet heat into an electrical current. This "welectricity," as they're calling it (geddit?), can then be used to recharge a phone, which you plug in to the top of the wellie for a recharge.

The prototype Wellington boots will make their debut at the U.K.'sGlastonbury performing arts festival, a huge open-air entertainment blowout that this year runs from June 23 through June 27. Many festivalgoers camp out, making it a smart spot to show off a prototype eco-friendly kinetic charger. We wish we knew how much the Orange Power Wellies will cost if they hit the broader market.

We do know that 12 hours of stomping through the fest's muddy grass in the boots will keep your feet dry and supposedly give you enough power to charge a cell phone for one hour. In other words, these wellies were made for walking--and you're gonna have to walk plenty if you want to talk and text.

We've come upon other kinetic methods of charging gadgets, of course, including a "piezoelectric" rubber material out of Princeton and Caltech that produces electricity when flexed and could one day find its way into shoes that power cell phones and other mobile electronic devices as the user walks or runs.

In the case of the Orange Power Wellies, power is collected via the so-called Seebeck effect, in which a thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there's a different temperature on each side. The soles of the wellies house an array of semiconductor materials sandwiched between two thin ceramic wafers; when heat from the foot is applied on the top side of the ceramic wafer and cold is applied on the opposite side (from the cold of the ground), electricity is said to be generated.

This isn't the first time Orange has conceived of sustainable technologies for the Glastonbury Festival. Last year, the company unveiled a concept solar tent in conjunction with the opening of the event.

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