Privacy

Senator Warns of DHS Struggle with Cyber Security

U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) used his final days in office to warn that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is struggling to fulfill its mission to protect the nation from cyber attack. The report, “A Review of the Department of Homeland Security’s Missions and Performance,” (PDF) was released on Saturday, as the retiring Senator from Oklahoma was leaving office. In it, the outgoing Senator said that DHS’s strategy and programs “are unlikely to protect us from the adversaries that pose the greatest cybersecurity threat.” The warnings on DHS cyber operations were part of a larger critique of the Department in the report, in which Coburn called on reforms of Homeland Security focused on accountability and streamlining. Despite spending $700 million annually on a range of cybersecurity programs, Coburn said it is hard to know whether the Department’s efforts to assist the private sector in identifying, mitigating or remediating cyber […]

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Wearable Cameras Birth A New Biometric

  Wearable technology is a burgeoning category, and products like Google Glass and smart watches are just the beginning. As with mobile phones, on-board cameras are sure to be de rigueur. But, as this article over at The Verge notes, those cameras will present new challenges (for privacy) and new opportunities (for security). Specifically: cameras coupled with your body seem to create new kinds of opportunities to uniquely identify you. One example: gait biometrics. The Verge notes recent research published by Professor Shmuel Peleg and Yedid Hoshen of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Those researchers created a way to identify first-person filmmakers based on the signature wobble of their cameras. The identity of the user can be determined “quite reliably from a few seconds of video,” the researchers write in their paper. [Interested in biometrics and wearables? Check out our article “Are Wearables the Future of Authentication?“] “The idea of distinguishing one person from […]

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Five Steps to Secure Internet of Things | Network World

Colin Neagle over at Networkworld has a nice piece that takes provides some common-sense advice for enterprises that are worried about their exposure to the Internet of Things. As Neagle notes: surveys of IT leaders (albeit industry-sponsored surveys) suggest that businesses are anxious to embrace Internet of Things technologies that improve the productivity of workers. But they may be underestimating (or entirely overlooking) the security and privacy risks that go along with that adoption. Neagle notes the recent TripWire survey that suggested 63% of C-level executives said they were likely to adopt the IoT to increase productivity and efficiency, while just 27% reported being “very concerned” about the security risks. His advice: don’t underestimate the risk posed by Internet of Things products. Also: make sure that IT operations is pulled into the discussion of any new IoT technology deployment. Read more via 5 ways to prepare for Internet of Things security […]

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Security Ledger Talks Car Hacking on NPR’s AirTalk

Just a note to our readers that you can listen to a great conversation on hacking automobiles on Airtalk, a National Public Radio call-in talk show that airs on WPCC, Pasadena, California. Interestingly: the other expert guest on the show was none other than Chris Valasek of IOActive, one of the most recognized researchers on security vulnerabilities in modern automobiles. [Read more Security Ledger coverage of Chris Valasek’s research here.] Chris and I spoke with host Larry Mantle about the current state of affairs with regard to car hacking: what is possible (theoretically), what is practical and what are car makers doing about it. Check out our conversation via KPCC’s web site: The next frontier for computer hackers: Your car | AirTalk | 89.3 KPCC.

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Big Data, Security Drive Dell In Post-PC Future

If you consider how the Internet of Things is transforming the technology industry, one of the most interesting and thought-provoking areas to pay attention to is what we might consider technology “majors” – firms like HP and IBM and Cisco that made their mark (and their hundreds of billions) serving the needs of an earlier generation of technology consumers. How these established technology firms are pivoting to address the myriad challenges posed by the “Internet of Things” tells us a lot about how the IoT market is likely to shake out for consumers and – more pressingly- the enterprise.

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