A data leak by a company called AggregateIQ has revealed that the obscure Canadian firm developed the software Cambridge Analytica used and sold to clients during the 2016 election to help Republican campaigns target voters, security firm UpGuard revealed this week. Clues in the data suggest other well known GOP linked data and research firms were also involved.
In this industry perspective, Thomas Hofmann, the Vice President of Intelligence at the firm Flashpoint* warns that the effects of data breaches can often be felt months or years after the actual incident, as stolen data bubbles up in underground marketplaces. He has three pieces of advice for companies that want to develop an incident response plan that mitigates the damage of breaches in the short term and over the long term.
The majority of corporations fear that a “catastrophic” security incident stemming from the Internet of Things (IoT) is an imminent risk. However, those same organizations still lack simple knowledge of how many IoT devices they have in their organization and how they are being used, let alone have oversight for how to protect them, according to new findings.
In this week’s Security Ledger Podcast (Episode #89) we talk with Beau Woods of The Atlantic Council and the advocacy group I Am The Cavalry about the death of 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, who was struck and killed by an autonomous vehicle operated by Uber. Also: following Facebook’s privacy meltdown with Cambridge Analytica, we’re joined by Konstantinos Komaitis, the Director of Policy Development at the Internet Society about what real social media privacy reforms should look like. And a new Ponemon Institute survey finds companies are convinced that insecure Internet of Things devices will result in them being hacked – but they’re not doing anything to stop it.
Autonomous driving technology has the potential to save many more lives than it takes. But that may not matter if the public becomes convinced that autonomous vehicles are a danger to society.
