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No IoT Adoption? Security and Privacy Fears may be the Reason

January 6, 2015 Paul Roberts

As the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) rages in Las Vegas this week, its tempting to look at the reports about connected devices and wonder when it is, exactly, that the tsunami of smart devices, wearable tech and intelligent appliances will finally wash over us. But it might be even more useful to wonder why – given all the hype- we haven’t been washed out to sea already by the IoT wave. A recent article in Adweek calls attention to one leading theory about why the IoT isn’t gaining traction with everyday consumers: consumer worries about privacy and the security of data. The Adweek article (and groovy infograph) make hay out of a case study by Affinnova, a marketing technology firm that was acquired by Nielsen. The study asked consumers to evaluate “more than 4 million product concept variations and identify the most desired products and functions.” The goal: insight into consumer preferences as well […]

Study Reveals (Sad) Psychology of Facebook Scam Victims

November 4, 2014 Paul Roberts

Bad is good enough, according to a study of over 850,000 Facebook scams by the antivirus software provider Bitdefender. (PDF version of the report is here.) The two-year study of Facebook scams in the UK, the US and Europe found that a short list of lame, repackaged tricks are a well that never runs dry: fooling Facebook users by playing on their curiosity, vanity or naiveté. Almost half of social media e-threats prey on users’ curiosity. Far and away the top category of scam on Facebook are ‘profile view’ scams that offer Facebook users the ability to see who has viewed their profile. That ruse accounted for 45% of all scams on the 1 billion strong social network. The scam has been linked to malicious software downloads – often in the form of browser ‘plug-ins’ that promise to reveal Facebook profile views. It works well because it plays on Facebook users curiosity […]

Bad News About File Sharing Apps

October 28, 2014 Paul Roberts

Sensitive enterprise data may be leaving the safety of our corporate networks at a much faster clip than we believed – with web based file sharing services a major contributor to data flight. That’s the conclusion of a survey by the firm Elastica, which analyzed 100 million files shared on leading public cloud applications. According to the research, employees each stored an average of 2,037 files in the cloud. More concerning: fully 20 percent of the files that were “broadly shared” via file sharing services contained regulated data of one sort or another. The company put together a nice little infographic that highlights some of the larger findings. You can view it here. Read more via The Bad News About File Sharing Apps | Digital Guardian.

McKinsey: Consumers Want Connected Cars – And Fear Them, Too

October 9, 2014 Paul Roberts

The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has released an interesting report on the future of connected vehicles. But it has some sobering data for car makers: concerns about privacy and the possibility that connected cars could be hacked are major concerns for consumers that could dampen enthusiasm for smart vehicles. The report, “What’s Driving the Connected Car?” finds that connectivity features will be a major driver of car sales in the coming years, with car buyers increasingly accustomed to vehicles that sport sophisticated interactive and networking features. That said: security concerns may hamper the “rapid and broad adoption” of connected vehicle technology. For its report, McKinsey interviewed 2,000 new car buyers in four countries: Brazil, China, Germany and the U.S. The survey found that a quarter of respondents considered connectivity a more important feature than engine power or even fuel efficiency. The firm estimates that connectivity features will become increasingly important selling features […]

Senate Report Warns of Attacks on Military Transport Contractors

September 18, 2014 Paul Roberts

A Senate Armed Services Committee investigation has found evidence that hackers associated with the Chinese government compromised the computer systems of U.S. Transportation Command contractors at least 20 times in a single year. The attacks pose a serious risk to the system that moves military troops and equipment. The Committee released the report on Wednesday. (PDF copy here.) It presented the results of a year-long investigation of U.S. Transportation Command, or “TRANSCOM,” found a serious gap in awareness and reporting requirements. TRANSCOM was only aware of two of the 20 intrusions, while U.S. Transportation Command remained mostly unaware of the computer compromises of contractors during and after the attacks. “These peacetime intrusions into the networks of key defense contractors are more evidence of China’s aggressive actions in cyberspace,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee’s chairman in a published statement. “Our findings are a warning that we must do much more to protect strategically significant […]