The news this week that search giant Google completed its acquisition of smart-home device maker NEST prompting at least one news outlet to proclaim that the “New Internet of Things Wave” has been set in motion. (Umm…new?) But there’s a cautionary note in the business headlines: news that Verizon shuttered its Verizon Home Monitoring service. Matt Hamblen over at Computerworld.com has the news and the confirmation from Verizon, which launched in 2012 and was designed to sink that company’s hooks deeper into wired homes. Verizon provided a common hardware platform for home automation and entertainment systems to plug into and talk to each other. Users could manage devices remotely from their computer, mobile device or from their televisions using FiOS TV. It comprised video surveillance, environmental control and physical security. In commercials, Verizon trumpeted it as the “ultimate 21st century green energy home control.” Verizon charged users $10 a month […]
Telecommunications
Facebook Joins In Tech Industry Demands For Surveillance Reform
Facebook on Tuesday reiterated calls for reform of laws pertaining to government surveillance practices in the U.S. and elsewhere. The company, in a blog post, urged governments to stop bulk collection of data and enact reforms to limit governments’ authority to collect users information to pertain to “individual users” for “lawful purposes.” The company also called for more oversight of national intelligence agencies such as the US National Security Agency, and more transparency about government requests for data. The blog post was authored by Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch. Facebook reiterated its calls for surveillance reform in recognition of “The Day We Fight Back,” a grass roots effort to use Tuesday, February 11th as a day to rally support for more civil liberties protections. [Read more Security Ledger coverage of Facebook here.] The date is the one year anniversary of the suicide of Internet activist Aaron Swartz. Leading online […]
Google Patent: Video Mob Sourcing Spots Public Gatherings
Google is adding to its arsenal of creepy, Big Data tools with crowd sourcing technology that can identify public gatherings and other events that draw spectators. The company has applied to the US government for a patent on what is described as a method for “inferring events based on mob source video,” according to the Web site Public Intelligence. The technology uses video clips submitted by Google users (to YouTube, etc.) to infer that “an event of interest has likely occurred.” The technology surveys time- and geolocation stamps on the videos to correlate the activities of individuals who might be part of a gathering. The Patent, US2014/0025755 A1, was published on January 23, 2014 and lists Google Inc. as the Assignee and Ronald Paul Hughes as the inventor. It claims the technology, dubbed “mob sourcing” will allow Google to correlate video and images to infer the existence of groups (i.e. a public […]
Podcast: Security Challenges Ahead For Blackberry
With another busy week behind us in the security world, we sat down with Zach Lanier, a senior security researcher for mobile authentication specialist Duo Security. Zach is a recognized authority on the security of mobile devices, and was able to talk about some ongoing research he’s doing on Blackberry’s BB10 operating system. Zach told us that Blackberry 10, the latest version of Blackberry’s mobile operating system, is a big improvement over previous versions, including the TabletOS that Blackberry (formerly Research in Motion) used for its PlayBook – the company’s first foray into the tablet space. But Lanier and fixed many of the information leaks that he and others found in TabletOS and reported to the company. “But there are still lots of questions we’re looking to answer,” Lanier said. Among other things, Lanier is examining whether Blackberry 10’s support for so many different runtimes might pose security problems for […]
After Snowden, State Department Eyes Cloud-Nationalism
Amid the very public debate about the civil liberties implications of Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA spying at home and abroad, the potential business fallout from the leak of classified information has been a footnote. But as the disclosures wear on, business leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere are beginning to discern the impact of the Snowden leaks. One place they’re voicing their concerns is The State Department, where technology vendors have been complaining of blowback from international customers, according to a senior State Department official who spoke with The Security Ledger. “We’re talking to cloud providers, including some very large cloud providers, about the challenges they face abroad,” the official said. The State Department has heard anecdotal reports of US firms losing business due to concerns about government surveillance, but companies have been reluctant to advertise lost accounts. At the same time, the State Department has heard of foreign competitors drumming […]
