Cyberwarfare and the secrets of PRISM: top tech stories you should read

Sometimes, the big things actually appear to be quite subtle. Like the level of applause in a crowd during Sony’s PS4 event at E3, which becomes an early indicator of the fan sentiments to follow. Some things aren’t visible to the public — like the data-capturing going on through the PRISM programme or the measures spy chiefs are taking to arm themselves for cyber attacks. Even the stories behind less mysterious projects are unknown — like the real time scoring system that existed years before the rise of the second screen and live tweeting.

This round up of some of the top tech stories on the web touches on secrecy and the uncertain realm of prediction, as well as the story of a man with a Rubick’s Cube who exposed the lesser-known activities of an intelligence agency.

The secret war

Wired dives into the world of espionage, zero-day exploits, cyber weapons and online attacks which can have devastating offline effects with this narrative piece on the spy chief with immense power who is preparing for electronic onslaught.

Cryptic overtures and a clandestine meeting gave birth to a blockbuster story

Edward Snowden’s revelations about the widespread monitoring going on under the NSA’s PRISM programme has left tech titans like Google and Facebook proclaiming their innocence and others denouncing him as a traitor. But what happened before the story hit the front page? The New York Times explains the secret conversations and sheds (some) light on the man behind the leaked documents.

The one-two combo Sony used to knock Microsoft out of E3 2013

Trying to predict if a product is going to do well? Watch the early adopters and the fans who live and breathe it. And, judging from some of the responses to the announcements at mega gaming conference E3, Sony may be gaining favour in the console war. But how long will it last?

One night in 1996

If you’re a cricket fan, chances are you’ve watched Cricinfo’s ball-by-ball scoring at some point in your life. But maybe you’ve never wondered how it came about. It’s actually a pretty dramatic story, involving people across the globe collaborating to produce an online scoring system in close to real time years before Twitter was even thought of.

Connecting the PRISM dots: my new theory

Step into the realm of uncertainty a minute and consider this: the tech companies implicated in PRISM have denied the NSA has access to their servers. But the leaked slides suggest it’s pulling vast amounts of their users’ data — so how does the system work? Michael Arrington puts forward some ideas.