Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
50 billion household devices will be on the Internet by 2020, according to Cisco. And we're hearing foreign governments are hacking our infrastructure. Surely our refrigerators are next!
ITRC found that more than 600 security breaches took place in 2012. Flaws were found in some of the nation's most respected companies: Apple, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. So, it seems the bad guys are doing better than the men in the white hats.
The new UltraViolet online DRM model has people upset, but the question we should ask ourselves is whether we want a flexible model to harmonize content owner and content consumer rights, or a one-takes-all model that probably results in less online content.
Multi-tenant clouds assure security for clients, but not necessarily for their ideas. Here's one thing you should discuss with your cloud provider before you sign on.
The growth of big-data, the BYOD phenomenon, and the popularity of social media all present challenges to the notion of defending the security perimeter.
The FBI recently issued a warning to smartphone users, highlighting two mobile malware applications: Loozfan, which steals personal information, and FinFisher, which is spyware that takes over a smartphone's functions.
Sean Smith, a US Foreign Service IT manager, gave his life in service of his country and the world. His life and death are a humbling example for all of us who work in IT.
All the recent hoopla about cloud security overlooks an important point, which is that it's not strictly a cloud problem. The linkage of online services into cooperative chains creates the risk, and only biometrics and federation of providers can save us.
Many vendors are moving away from hardware. The latest to join that movement is a bit of a surprise: Lowe's has decided to offer networked home security services. So, how will the company fare in this segment?
Mozilla's Firefox OS could be a major advance in building smartphones and tablets with a more cloud-friendly and open interface, but there are still questions of performance and security that will have to be managed.
It wouldn't be the first time, but a group of Chinese engineers has proposed a means by which the Internet's root could be split, enabling secondary, independent networks that could be government-controlled. The Internet's root security committee is taking such proposals seriously.
Recently, security software supplier Kaspersky identified Win32.Flame as malicious code that seems to have been developed, not by hackers, but by government agencies. Warring nations may set aside their bombs and wage their wars online.
With the advent of low-cost Web cameras and broadband network connections, home security systems have become a hot business. In addition to traditional security suppliers, like ADT, the market is attracting telcos, cable companies, and energy providers, thereby creating an area of increasing competition.
Self-driving cars are being tested in Nevada, but can this technology work optimally without Internet integration, and can we offer integration without improving security considerably? In fact, all M2M is a potential risk until security is tightened.
The Murdoch/News International scandal has all the elements of the digital age, from phone-hacking through embarrassing emails to agile digital reporting.
The plan for unmanned police drones to patrol traffic and other city conditions in Seattle has sparked a new set of legal concerns about privacy. Law traditionally lags technology, but we can expect now to see a new round of activity in the courts as legal definitions begin to emerge on what "next-gen privacy" will look like.
Blackhole 1.2.3, the latest version of the most popular black-market exploit kit, apparently has already been used by Brazilian fraudsters to try to perpetrate a scam. The new kit, released at the end of March, can bypass sandboxes in Java, and the Brazilians used it to try to convince accountants they were about to lose licenses.
A problem with ICANN's application software has delayed the "big reveal" of new domain names for two weeks. What the organization calls a "glitch" allowed some domain applicants to see the data of others – not exactly inspiring confidence in ICANN's ability to bring potentially hundreds of new names online.
US counterterrorism expert Richard Clarke, who came to prominence with his prescient warnings before the 9/11 attacks, tells Smithsonian Magazine the US was responsible for the Stuxnet supersmart worm that attacked parts of nuclear reactors in Iran – and in the process, has given away one of the world's most sophisticated cyberweapons.
In the interest of providing true 24/7 processing in a global economy, more enterprises are toggling production among datacenters, sharing databases, and placing key IT subject matter experts in remote areas.
Companies are still getting their feet wet with social networking and what employees should and shouldn't broadcast. But they don't always involve HR and PR. Here's why they should, and what they risk when they don't.
Less than a year ago, we were debating whether private or public cloud would prevail. Private cloud now appears to be a clear favorite. The reason? Organizations of all sizes are getting comfortable with cloud, and vendors are providing solutions that make the adoption of private cloud straightforward and less risky.
Like "cloud," the phrase "security intelligence" is used so often that it's difficult to know what it really means. At the IBM Pulse Conference, security expert Jack Danahy explains his vision for security intelligence and how to understand it.
Video conferencing is becoming much more common in business today, but it introduces new security issues. For instance, intruders may be able to tap into your sessions and learn trade secrets. Here are steps companies can take to ensure their sessions are secure.
The Internet has changed the way that companies market products. Now "Likes" and thumbs up carry a lot of weight. So perhaps it's not surprising that a black market technique has emerged whereby some Websites offer to boost ratings in exchange for cash.
Malware designed to infect Google Android smartphones has increased dramatically, and now the government is stepping in. The National Security Agency has developed SE Android, a system that tries to close up its security holes.
Disaster recovery is about restoring service to users, but when restoration times are protracted, companies should empower users so they have maximum flexibility for dealing with their situations.
We're getting wrapped around the wrong issues with SOPA. The problem isn't in how it's enforced. It's the fact that the basic concept is a violation of due process.
As companies begin to embed real-time business analytics and business intelligence in their operations, they'll need more than 24/7 availability. Companies will also need to include BA and BI in their disaster recovery plans.
M2M is a hot acronym, but maybe it should stand for "Mine-to-Mine" because our appliances exist in a zone of personal information. Managing cooperation of the devices within this zone will allow us to create value and understand and mitigate the security risks they pose.
Bad guys are following the money, according to a recent report from Lookout Mobile Security. The company expects mobile device attacks to increase by 400% in 2012. In addition to traditional attacks, users need to be aware of new attacks, such as SMS fraud.
65% of CIOs are on board with cloud, but 55% are still thinking about it. Risk is the major barrier to entry. Cloud purveyors can help to address this by providing turnkey cloud solutions targeted at specific vertical industry markets.
The Internet is offering addicts new treatment options in the form of virtual programs from companies like egetgoing.com and Lionrock Recovery. These programs present benefits as well as drawbacks.
The quest for Webpage clicks and ad impressions is creating a market for sensational truths and lies in equal measure. How are we going to get to the bottom of any real issue online – like what's really going on with Carrier IQ, for example – if we can't separate hype from reality?
Ontario's information privacy commissioner explains the unintended consequences of facial recognition technology and how biometric encryption can make it safer.
David Vladeck, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission, discusses the state of "Do Not Track" and the problem with consumer behavior tracking online.
The US government is funding controversial projects to collect daily Internet activity, including Web searches, Twitter messages, Facebook and blog posts, and the digital location trails generated by billions of cellphones. Its goal is to map these interactions to predict social behavior, such as protests.
Mobile device hacking in business is dramatically on the rise as companies use more consumer-grade devices. User education remains one of IT's best preventive strategies.
Smartphone users are aware that their systems are open to possible security breaches. But NPD Group found that more than 82 percent of them do not have any security software on their phones. That's just dumb.
With more and more executives relying on mobile devices to complete their work, mobile device management has become as popular as traditional IT management solutions.
President Obama may soon earn the badge as "Mayor" of the White House, thanks to his joining the mobile check-in service, FourSquare. Let's all sigh in unison, shall we?
For cyber criminals, crime does pay. The Ponemon Institute found that the median cost of a cybercrime is $5.9 million this year, which is 56 percent higher than the year before. In addition, the organization found that there was a 45 percent increase in successful attacks.
Anonymous retaliated against recent arrests of its members on a large scale but apparently engaged in pointless hacks of rural police forces in the United States.
The founder of 4chan, Christopher Poole, has become a VC darling now that he's started his own beta site, Canvas – proving that the troll's path can lead to entrepreneurial success in these strange days.
Only a few new domain name applications have been given the go-ahead, so be wary of offers for "pre-registration" of the .suffix of your choice. Most likely, the registrars making such offers don't have the authority.
Law enforcement agencies are poised to use iPhones as facial recognition systems in the coming months. The technical advance promises efficiency but has created a backlash among civil liberties proponents.
The volume of spam dropped from 225 billion to 40 billion in the past year. Kudos to law enforcement officials for shutting down some of the world's largest botnets.
The US government's notion of "Internet in a suitcase" to provide online access where repressive regimes suspend it might be helpful in a democratic sense, but it may provoke more government attacks on the Internet itself, opening real online warfare.
Our online communications and privacy are being threatened by governments and corporations. Eben Moglen believes it's time for a People's Internet, made possible by "Freedom Boxes."
Security issues are all over the media today, along with condemnation of hackers who "create" them, but the sad truth is that only one enterprise in eight says it would submit to a public security audit. We need to get serious about this issue as we head into the cloud era.
Unscrupulous marketers and fraudsters have been using "black hat" search engine optimization techniques for a while, but now the practice is spreading to many different kinds of subjects, making it harder for people to find useful destinations.
The proliferation of "dumb" devices that use the Internet to obtain data or communicate may turn what was once a creative network of users into something resembling a power grid. Security risks and the connection of millions of low-cost PCs in developing countries won't help matters.
The National Security Agency says in some ways we are more vulnerable while working from home, and that you may want to try "sandboxing" to prevent malware attacks.
Google’s Android@Home is the first step in its plans to create an Android-powered "life fabric," where appliances lead us through changing, controlling, and, yes, maybe monitoring our lives. Are we ready to sort out the bad from the good in this?
Skype's acquisition by Microsoft should speed up some long-needed security measures and help the company rise above the social networking risk level. Skype users faced an increasing onslaught of spammers and would-be fraudsters, while left with less-than-friendly means of setting privacy filters.
WikiLeaks' founder says that Facebook is an instrument for government spying. Whether that's true or not, we're sharing too much, and we’re on the edge of compromising the notion of identity, and with it of privacy and commercial protection.
European scientists recently announced RoboEarth, an "Internet for robots." RoboEarth has the potential to create smarter robots by networking them and allowing them to communicate. But are there risks? The time is now to set protocols for robot interaction across networks.
It's not Apple or Google "tracking" us that we have to worry about, it's their app developers and their policies on disclosing just what phone data they grab for their apps, and what they do with it. Apple and Google need to force them to disclose.
Does Reiter feel safer because a new Department of Homeland Security policy will allow broadcasting terrorism alerts over Twitter and Facebook? There’s only one way to find out!
In the wake of the Epsilon data breach, executives should ask themselves this: If customer data is gold, how much control should third-party companies have over it?
Deep Packet Inspection to intercept behavioral data has never been a popular idea, but recent comments by the FTC and ISPs suggest that the players are dodging the most critical issue of all, which is whether DPI use should be considered wiretapping.
The president of Egypt has shown how an Internet kill switch is possible. It would be easy to deploy in the US as well. That’s probably not a good thing
The Egyptian decision to temporarily kill Internet service raises the question of whether the US needs such a capability to combat cyber warfare, and whether rules to provide it would be justified. It turns out that we already have the answer.
It’s time to come up with a concrete definition of spam, otherwise actual spam will become unrecognizable. And there’s nothing more troubling than unrecognizable spam…
The UK’s Information Commissioner's Office has reopened its investigation into Google after the company admitted to taking more than just pictures with its Street View car, but some of the responsibility should fall on the people.
Nielsen says worldwide ad spending is recovering, and that's a good sign for online ad ventures, but we're also facing record levels of click fraud and privacy violations. To avoid the fate of Wall Street and its "easy morals" we may need to start policing ourselves better.
We're all bothered about the government wanting to extend wiretap to OTT services, but a university study shows that half of tested Android applications are already spying on us.
There are way too many players who have to drive their own IPv6 migration, too few people worried about how it will come together, and nobody much responsible for making that happen. We’re heading toward IPv6 anarchy. AHHHH!
Cloud services bring great benefits to IT, but they also force revisions to IT practices. One area where cloud services are having an impact is disaster recovery and business continuation.
Is China a threat because it censors US sites, or could it be that the country might have an economic formula that will out-innovate us on the Internet that we invented?
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