Internet of Things

Trend Micro among 22 joining AllSeen IoT Standards Group

In-brief: The security firm Trend Micro announced that it was joining the AllSeen Alliance, an open source platform for connecting Internet of Things devices. 

Sabotaging Encryption Software – The Perfect Crime?

  In-brief: A report from Bruce Schneier and researchers at the Universities of Wisconsin and Washington surveys the (many) ways that cryptographic protections can be weakened or subverted, and calls for research on fool-proof technologies. 

Doctorow: Fearing an Internet of Things That Do As They’re Told

In-brief: In an essay for O’Reilly Radar, Cory Doctorow argues that remote management features that allow carriers to disable mobile phones are a mistake – taking technology owners’ autonomy and control over their data away in the name of preventing muggings and other crimes. 

Verizon: 5 Billion Business IoT Connections by 2020

    In-brief: A report by Verizon finds business adoption of IoT is growing quickly, boosting that company’s Internet of Things numbers. But increased business adoption of IoT brings risks to privacy and security.

Gadgets That Spy On Their Owners

  When the recent brouhaha erupted over Samsung SmartTV’s habit of harvesting ambient conversations and transmitting that data to unnamed third parties, we noted that Samsung was hardly alone. In fact, Security Ledger reported on identical behavior by LG television sets back in May, 2014.  But, as this article notes, televisions aren’t the only sensor-rich devices that are seeing and hearing what goes on around us. Forget about Samsung or LG getting recordings of you laughing at The Daily Show, or foggy conversations you have about what to watch next. What about Microsoft Xbox Kinect, which includes sound, motion and infrared sensors that can track up to six individuals simultaneously? Also mentioned: Google Waze, Amazon Echo and GM’s OnStar. The question – as always- is about what privacy protections consumers should expect from connected devices. While all the above manufacturers sought “consent” from users in the text of verbose and legalistic Terms […]