Washington’s Encryption Debate
Many of the headlines recently have centered on the VTech breach, and the ongoing investigation into the intrusion that revealed information on more than 5 million accounts, including disturbingly personal data on thousands of kids. So perhaps a little under the radar might slip the new White House request, in response to a petition that… Read More
VTech’s Security Negligence
As it turns out, when I was a little ankle-biter, I had a sort of talking toy phone. You know, the kind a kid can pretend to make a call on, and have some garbled, digital ‘90s voice answer back. Not that I had any idea at the time, a couple of decades ago, but… Read More
CISA – a threat to your privacy and liberty?
Has your email ever been hacked? Probably. I’ve had a couple of accounts compromised before and used to send out spam to my contact list (which can make it awkward when a relative thinks you’re suddenly saying hi out of the blue, and the relief they must feel when they realize it was a mistake… Read More
Data Security Update – Cyber Insurance
Insurance commercials proliferate the TV landscape these days. You can’t go five channels without tripping over a gecko, a general, or a JK Simmons. Sometimes an ad will mention other insurance companies making premiums skyrocket after one accident, and claim that they don’t treat their customers that way. Well, cyber insurance brokers sure have no… Read More
You know you’ve made it when you get your own month
Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Yes, October is host to a number of awarenesses, including cybersec (which makes it timely for Ed Snowden to join Twitter), and this year, some, like the folks at Experian and T-Mobile, might find this awareness to be quite relevant to their interests. A new data breach, announced last week, hit… Read More
Data Security Update – Chip Cards
Today’s the day! *leaps out of bed* *runs to calendar* *trips and bangs knee* *hobbles to calendar* *circled by hearts and smiley faces, October 1: CHIP DAY* Oh, boy! It’s finally here. The day when credit card companies across the U.S. must start rolling out new cards embedded with microchips designed to prevent fraud, meant… Read More
Data Security Update – Android Exploit
Amid a troubled security year for Android (including the Stagefright bug found in April), earlier this month Google released the Android 5.1.1 build LMY48M on September 9, containing a fix for a vulnerability that had been discovered in June by John Gordon, security analyst at the University of Texas’ information security office. The bug, which… Read More
Mr. Robot – Cybersecurity’s Growing Prevalence
A new hacking drama premiered last week on USA Network to rave reception. “Mr. Robot” is a show about an antisocial cybersec engineer-by-day/hacker-by-night named Elliot who gets approached by a secretive hacker collective that is attempting to bring about a financial revolution by way of wealth redistribution on an unprecedented scale. After putting the first… Read More
Healthcare hacks – how much is your personal information worth?
Last month, I spoke of the predicted rise in 2015 of data breaches, for health care organizations in particular. Anthem may have been the biggest name, but it certainly hasn’t been alone. Even as we watch how that plays out, it’s important to recognize just how much cyber attacks have already cost the industry. Compared… Read More
And the main worry in wearables is…
The Apple Watch is almost here! After an extremely confusing and limited online-only launch, with marketing campaigns promoting an April 24 release date when in fact most early buyers won’t get their shipments until possibly June—after all this, but now word out of Cupertino is that company is preparing watch stock for retailers, to allow… Read More