In 2011 we saw an increase concern about, and scrutiny of, what exactly social networking sites do with the data you input, both internally as well as what gets shared with third parties. But in 2012 some of that scrutiny will shift to those third parties as more people ask: What are they doing with
More websites stored unencrypted credit card payment information than ever this year, according to a recent report. I thought we had this figured out? Obviously this is a direct violation of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. But seriously, this stuff is simple for the developers to fix, so why don’t they?
Recently we see allegations that CarrierIQ is quietly collecting more information than Android users bargained for. In one case, Trevor Eckhart thinks he proved that they register users’ keystrokes without the users’ knowledge for reasons subject to ongoing speculation. We certainly had no trouble finding the CarrierIQ software on an HTC phone, where it possessed
Well, okay, if you happen to be an extremely fast reader. The Association of Anti Virus Asia Researcher’s (AVAR) 14th AVAR Conference just wrapped up in Hong Kong on Friday. This year, the focus was on security issues in and around the emerging Asian security market, and how to rise to the challenge. As one
Months back a rather vocal series of micro-hacktivist groups formed a somewhat larger, more vocal pseudo-organized non-organization ruled essentially democratically via IRC (among other things), attempting to cast light on perceived misdeeds by the large corporation (or government organization) du-jour they thought had behaved badly. The idea was to hack an organization, parade them around
Awhile back we posted findings of a Harris poll showing public perception of Internet security, with some interesting results. This time we take a look at whether respondents perceive the Government and/or their schools have an implicit responsibility, or whether it lands squarely on their shoulders in the end (or should). Both schools and government
A recent report from Commtouch finds about one third of Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and Facebook users even noticed when they were hacked, and more than half found out later after friends alerted them. This lag time provides a wide open window for scammers to use social engineering techniques to target more valuable targets, and harvest
Actually $26, according to a study conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, which was able to hack a Diebold voting machine with “about $26 and an 8th-grade science education.” In light of the rapidly approaching 2012 U.S. Presidential Election, it seems there may be a need to give serious attention to securing our election
This morning we recorded a podcast posing the question “can legislation solve cybercrime?” Well, The Senate Judiciary Committee seems eager to play a part, passing a measure yesterday attempting to thwart computer attacks. Measure S.1151 sets a national standard for data breach notification, replacing the various state initiatives already in place. It also makes concealing
Since 2010 that is, following a law enacted in 2007 that requires all companies doing business in Massachusetts to inform consumers and state regulators about security breaches that might result in identity theft. Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office released the information, including a breakdown of the data. It seems her office received 1,166 data breach
Following the recent spree of data breaches at Sony, resulting in a bevy of class-action lawsuits, it has updated the Terms of Service to preclude future class action suits from being leveled. To be sure, Sony has had sleepless nights following the breaches, but they’d prefer not to deepen the stack of lawsuits if similar
What happens after you share data online, and others re-share it, etc.? As data becomes increasingly inter-connected, with multiple parties touching the same data, Internet users are starting to wonder: who DOES have access to their data? Are they acting in your best interest? And who should be checking to make sure they do? The
According to a tweet from World Privacy Forum, California state governor just signed an update to a data breach notification law that would require organizations to submit a sample of the breach notification sent to customers also to the Attorney General, to ensure what’s being sent out, and that it’s sent out in a timely
Forensic software developer PassWare announced a new version of its eponymous software forensics kit on Tuesday. Already several news sources are writing about how the program can automatically obtain the login password from a locked or sleeping Mac simply by plugging in a USB flash drive containing their software and connecting it to another computer
2 days ago, the FBI announced a series of raids resulting in arrests of alleged members of the hacking group ‘Anonymous’. Hoping to deal a critical blow to the organization, they swept up more than a few potential members, and a tidy stash of computers to boot. So we’re done with ‘Anonymous’, right? Today, we
The mobile devices of late have more compute power than the full desktop PC of yesteryear, and they fit it your pocket, great news for folks “on the go.” And since you’re so multi-tasked anyway, why not load it up with things to make your life easier, after all, it’s really a phone with a
On Wednesday we heard additional documents had been leaked from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS). “Will this ever end?” has to be the most commonly-asked question in Arizona nowadays at the DPS. The original attacks last week were claimed by the group LulzSec, which was making the rounds exposing private information through hacking
Following a string of data breach notifications which seem to be less than forthcoming, the EU is urging much stricter guidelines for data breach reporting timelines. It a recent article, European Commissioner Viviane Reding was shocked “that companies needed two or three weeks to inform people that their personal data had been stolen.” Recently I
Mt. Gox, the most popular Bitcoin exchange, has had a database compromised and user information stolen, sparking rapid devaluation and temporary exchange freeze to halt the slide. According to a Mt. Gox breach notification e-mail sent to users on June 19th: “Our database has been compromised, including your email. We are working on a quick
Old western cowboys beware, this heist didn’t happen with a stagecoach at gunpoint, it’s a new era out there. A user, going by the username allinvain reports he had 25,000 Bitcoins (BTC) stolen when his computer was infected. At the current BTC exchange rate, that haul would net about $500,000. Not too shabby for a
