wearable computing Archives

wearable computing

Wellness Apps & Wearables Put You up for Sale | SANS Institute

December 1, 2014 Paul Roberts

The SANS Institute’s Securing the Human blog has a nice, contributed article by Kelli Tarala of Enclave Security on the security and privacy implications of wearable technology. Among Tarala’s conclusions: health and so-called “quantified self” products do much more than gather health data like pulse and blood pressure. Rather: they are omnivores, gobbling up all manner of metadata from users that can be used to buttress health data. That includes who you exercise with, favorite walking- and jogging routes and the times you prefer to work out. Of course, social media activity is also subject to monitoring by these health apps, which often integrate with platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to share workout information. [Read more Security Ledger coverage of wearable technology here.] All of this could spell trouble for consumers. To quote Tarala: “there are companies interested in your Quantified Self, but their goals may not be to health related.” […]

The Security of Things: Video Available

October 28, 2014 Paul Roberts

We held our first ever security and Internet of Things event back in May. The Security of Things Forum took place in Cambridge, MA (“Our Fair City”) on May 7 and brought together about 100 thought leaders and entrepreneurs for a day of discussion and debate about how best to prepare for the explosion of connected devices in the enterprise, the home, the public sector and public spaces. Since then we’ve made a couple of these sessions public: the keynote presentation by In-Q-Tel CISO Dan Geer, and a panel on enterprise risk and IoT, chaired by INEX Advisors’ founder Chris Rezendes. Attendees have had access to all the sessions, as well. But now we’re throwing the doors open to the public and making all the conference sessions available to the public, as well as some 1:1 interviews with our speakers. We invite you all to head on over and check […]

Congress To Probe the Internet of Things?

October 25, 2014 Paul Roberts

A bipartisan contingent of senators from the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has requested a hearing on the topic of the Internet of Things before the end of the year, according to published reports. Lawmakers Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote to the committee chairman, Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and ranking member,John Thune (R-S.D.), requesting “a general oversight and information-gathering hearing” on the IoT before the end of 2014, citing concerns about consumer privacy and security, as well as potential government applications of IoT technology. IoT technologies including wearables and connected health products represent an “expanding industry of connected products,” the congressmen and women wrote. “The proliferation of connected products is sparking a number of important policy questions,” the October 20th letter reads. “The number and the scope of these issues demands our prompt attention so we can better understand the technologies and explore how best to preserve America’s global leadership […]

Europol Warns of Internet of Things Risk

October 6, 2014 Paul Roberts

In a newly released report, Europol’s European Cybercrime Center (EC3) warns that the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) threatens to strengthen the hand of organized cyber criminal groups and make life much more difficult for police and governments that wish to pursue them. EC3’s latest Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (iOCTA) says the “Internet of Everything” will greatly complicate the work of law enforcement creating “new opportunities for everything from cyber criminals to state actors to child abusers. The growing numbers of connected devices will greatly expand the “attack surface” available for cyber criminal activity, the EC3 warns. Cyber criminals may co-opt connected devices for use in common criminal activity (like denial of service attacks and spam campaigns). However, advancements like connected (“smart”) vehicles and infrastructure create openings for large scale and disruptive attacks. The report, which was published late last months, is a high level position paper and pulls data mostly […]

Digital Revolution in Healthcare Infographic

FDA Issues Guidance on Security of Medical Devices

October 1, 2014 Paul Roberts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued final guidance on Wednesday that are designed to strengthen the safety of medical devices. The FDA called on medical device manufacturers to consider cyber security risks as part of the design and development of devices. The document, “Content of Premarket Submissions for Management of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices,” asks device makers to submit documentation to the FDA about any “risks identified and controls in place to mitigate those risks” in medical devices. The guidance also recommends that manufacturers submit documentation of plans for patching and updating the operating systems and medical software that devices run. The document, which will be released on Thursday, does not contain specific requirements. Rather, it describes the kinds of things that medical device manufacturers should consider when preparing pre-market submissions for medical devices in areas such as information confidentiality, integrity, and availability, the FDA said. The release of the document follows the […]