wearable computing Archives

wearable computing

Internet of Things Demands New Social Contract To Protect Privacy

September 19, 2013 Paul Roberts

Changes brought about by the Internet of Things demands the creation of a whole new social contract to enshrine the right to privacy and prevent the creation of technology-fueled Orwellian surveillance states in which individual privacy protections take a back seat to security and “control.” That, according to an opinion piece penned by the head of the European Commission’s Knowledge Sharing Unit. Gérald Santucci, in an essay written for the web site privacysurgeon.org, argues that technology advances, including the advent of wearable technology and the combination of inexpensive, remote sensors and Big Data analytics threaten to undermine long-held notions like personal privacy and the rights of individuals. The essays says that current approaches to data protection are “largely inadequate” to the task of reigning in the asymmetrical changes wrought by new technology. “Data collection and video surveillance will continue to grow as ubiquitous computing pervades almost all areas of our […]

Report: Crematoriums To Caterpillars Shodan Reveals Internet Of Things

September 9, 2013 Paul Roberts

What kind of stuff is lurking out there on the vast (and growing) Internet of Things? A recent story in Forbes makes the point that its a lot more varied than you might think – everything from Caterpillar trucks to public school classrooms to a crematorium. And “yes,” I said “crematorium.” The idea that surveillance cameras can be accessed from the public Internet isn’t really new. Security researchers have been showing off ways to sidestep security features for IP enabled surveillance cameras for years. We wrote last week about the Federal Trade Commission’s case against a California company, TRENDNet, which made a line of balky, in secure home surveillance gear. But Kashmir Hill makes the point in her story that surveillance cameras are just the tip of the iceberg. Hill interviewed security researchers and professional Shodan jockeys, who use that hardware focused search engine to uncover supposedly secure equipment and industrial control […]

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: Black Hat Preview With Trustwave’s Nick Percoco

July 26, 2013 Paul Roberts

Next week, the world’s attention will shift to Las Vegas for the annual Black Hat and DEFCON hacking conferences. What will be the big trends this year? We sat down last week with Nicholas Percoco of Trustwave’s Spider Labs to get his thoughts on the show. Nick is a regular at Black Hat and other events – both in the audience and on the stage. He said one of the big themes this year will be hacks on consumer electronics and home automation systems. As we reported, two Trustwave researchers have delved into the security of a wide range of “smart home” technologies, including home automation gateways and even a bluetooth enabled “smart toilet.” Percoco said that manufacturers of these devices need to pay more attention to security, and can’t assume that the people buying their devices are technically sophisticated enough to understand how to safely deploy or manage Internet […]

Welcoming A New Sponsor: Gemalto

June 12, 2013 Paul Roberts

Just a note to my loyal readers that The Security Ledger is welcoming a new sponsor this week: Gemalto. If you’re not familiar with them, Gemalto NV (GTO) is a ~3B firm that makes a wide range of software for e-identity documents, chip payment cards, network authentication devices and wireless modules, as well as the software to manage confidential data and secure transactions in the telecommunications, financial services, e-government, and information technology security markets. This is an especially exciting win for The Security Ledger because Gemalto, with 10,000 employees and offices in 46 countries is a key supplier to the global Internet of Things. Products like its Protiva platform provide the foundation of trust that undergirds online person-to-machine and machine-to-machine transactions and exchanges of all kinds: on mobile devices, smart cards, medical devices, automobiles and more. We’re really excited to have Gemalto on board as a Security Ledger sponsor. Please join […]