mobile devices Archives

mobile devices

Insecure At Any Speed: Are Automakers Failing The Software Crash Test?

September 3, 2013 Paul Roberts

Editor’s Note: You can view the rest of my conversation about application and supply chain security, featuring Joshua Corman of Akamai and Chris Wysopal of Veracode by visiting Veracode’s web site. – PFR You’re in the market for a new car, and you’ve made a list of the features you want: a cool, tablet style interface for the audio and navigation system, side impact airbags for the front and rear compartment, a pop-up third row of seating. Heck, maybe you even want to hold out for the automatic seat temperature control that some Lexus cars now come with. While you’re at it, how about some secure software, too? That last item probably isn’t on most buyers’ check list today, but it may be soon, according to two, prominent security experts: Chris Wysopal, of Veracode, and Joshua Corman of Akamai. Speaking on Talking Code, an exclusive video hosted by The Security Ledger […]

That ARM-Sensinode Buy: What Does It Mean For Security And IoT?

September 2, 2013 Paul Roberts

We wrote last week about the decision of chip-maker ARM to buy the small(ish) Finnish software maker Sensinode Oy, which has become a big player in the market for software that runs low power devices like embedded sensors. The deal makes sense at the 100,000 foot level – ARM makes chips that power embedded devices, Sensinode makes the software that is powered by them. Perfect. But the deal actually works at a bunch of different levels, as I learned from a conversation with Michael Koster, the co-founder and lead architect at the group The Open Source Internet of Things (OSIOT). Koster is an authority on The Internet of Things and has helped create open-source toolkits and APIs that promote interaction among intelligent devices. Koster said that ARM’s purchase of Sensinode is as much about both firms’ investment in emerging IoT standards for low-powered, intelligent devices like Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) […]

ARM Buys Software Maker Sensinode To Spur IoT Development

August 27, 2013 Paul Roberts

We have noted before how the lack of cross-industry standards (including those governing security) is a major stumbling block to the Internet of Things. This is especially true in the enterprise space, where the security of data that might be passed between Internet-connected devices is paramount, but not well addressed by the current generation of (PC-centric) security products. As with so much in the fast-emerging Internet of Things, change on this score will come from unlikely places, as we see with the news today about ARM acquiring the Finnish software maker Sensinode Oy – a major player in the market for software to power connected devices. The news, which was announced on Tuesday, will join ARM – a leading maker of chips that power mobile devices – with Sensinode, which has pioneered software and software standards for low-power devices used in everything from mobile phones and tablets to wearable computing. Following […]

Podcast: Made In China, Secured In The U.S.

August 26, 2013 Paul Roberts

We’ve written a lot about the threat posed by nation-state sponsored hackers to U.S. corporations and the economy. So-called “advanced persistent threat” (or APT) style attacks against corporate and government networks have been linked to the theft of sensitive data and intellectual property. Difficult as it is to stop APT attacks against networks, it’s even more challenging to identify threats one-step removed from direct attacks. Lately, attention has shifted to vulnerabilities in the supply chain of companies selling networking gear, servers and other critical IT components. Concerns about corrupted products from foreign suppliers were enough to prompt the U.S. Congress to hold hearings focused on the threat posed to government agencies by Chinese networking equipment makers like Huawei and ZTE. In this week’s podcast, The Security Ledger talks with Jerry Caponera, of Cyberpoint International. Cyberpoint is a Baltimore, Maryland firm that sells Prescient, a service that verifies where true vulnerabilities exist […]

SANS’ Pescatore: Security Needs Rethink For Internet Of Things

August 16, 2013 Paul Roberts

Our friends over at InfoSecurity Magazine have an interesting interview with SANS’ Director of Emerging Security Trends John Pescatore about security and The Internet of Things. Pescatore gets a somewhat skeptical hearing from the enterprise-focused IT security publication. (“Granted, it’s unlikely that anyone would be sending a car an email with a malicious executable, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t threat vectors for hackers to exploit,” InfoSecurity opines, by way of an introduction. Oh really?) But Pescatore brings a “deep field” view to this topic, noting that the security issues around IoT are already upon us in the spent almost two decades as Gartner’s Obi-Wan Kenobi for security, where he advised companies and technology vendors on the best way to navigate the shifting sands of the IT security space. Speaking to InfoSecurity, Pescatore says the 100,000 foot message is: ‘let’s learn from our mistakes.’ Specifically, that means not looking at intelligent devices, including […]