Feds Provide Solution to Android's Security Problems
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.
The public is being typically dysfunctional about the phone security issue. Phone hacking is a terrible thing, and a scandal, and should be stopped. But everyone still uses 2580 as a pin.
I think it is a matter of company philosophy. My take is Google wants to keep everything open and not have the tight control that someone like Apple has. If there are fewer restrictions on development, it thinks the pluses will outweigh the minuses. Fewer restrictions leads to more creative solutions.
Also, its focus is on the consumer market. The fact that companies are very concerned about smartphone security is not as important as making sure that their latest devices create a significant buzz. The end result is security has not been as high a priority with its systems as enterprises would like. I am not sure that its outlook will change as the market continues to evolve.
Perhaps the answer lies in the "BYOD" (Bring Your Own Device) trend, whereby end users -- in government as well as the private sector -- are insisting on using favored smartphones of different brands for work.
I'm looking for some consistent policy here. On the one hand, the government puts trusted identities in cyberspace firmly in the private sector's ball court, and at the same time we have a government agency producing security fixes for a commercial product. Odd one.
Thanks for the video, Paul. I don't quite understand why Google wouldn't make security on Android a top priority, especially considering it wants to make a greater push into the enterprise. Furthermore, considering Android is so insecure, I'm beginning to have a harder time understanding why anyone would bother with it at all. Is it really worth the security risks and hassle?
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
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.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
Increasingly, companies are using videoconferencing technology to help employees collaborate with co-workers, partners, and customers. As a result, demand for technicians is rising, and companies are finding it difficult to retain their quality workers.
Software-defined networks, which deliver virtualization functions to enterprise networks, have the potential to dramatically change network design and significantly reduce costs and maintenance.
A recent survey by Endace found that 23% of companies experience some type of network problem daily and another 25% have a serious problem each month. Enterprise networks are still very unreliable and probably will continue to be in the near term.
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 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.
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.
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?
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.
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
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