Australia passed controversial laws designed to compel technology companies to grant police and security agencies access to encrypted messages.

Scientists are racing to deploy foolproof quantum encryption before quantum computers come along that render all our passwords useless.

The Zika virus infects a type of neural stem cell that gives rise to the brain's cerebral cortex, Johns Hopkins and Florida State researchers reported in Cell Stem Cell. On laboratory dishes, these stem cells were found to be havens for viral reproduction, resulting in cell death and/or disruption of cell growth. While this study does not prove the direct link between Zika and microcephaly, it does pinpoint where the virus may be doing the most damage, medicalxpress.com wrote.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and American tech giant Apple will testify at a congressional hearing regarding a court order to force Apple to give the FBI data from the iPhone belonging to one of the alleged mass shooters in San Bernardino, California.

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey has criticized efforts by tech firms to encrypt smart phones to make them inaccessible to police.