Recent Posts

Gadgets That Spy On Their Owners

  When the recent brouhaha erupted over Samsung SmartTV’s habit of harvesting ambient conversations and transmitting that data to unnamed third parties, we noted that Samsung was hardly alone. In fact, Security Ledger reported on identical behavior by LG television sets back in May, 2014.  But, as this article notes, televisions aren’t the only sensor-rich devices that are seeing and hearing what goes on around us. Forget about Samsung or LG getting recordings of you laughing at The Daily Show, or foggy conversations you have about what to watch next. What about Microsoft Xbox Kinect, which includes sound, motion and infrared sensors that can track up to six individuals simultaneously? Also mentioned: Google Waze, Amazon Echo and GM’s OnStar. The question – as always- is about what privacy protections consumers should expect from connected devices. While all the above manufacturers sought “consent” from users in the text of verbose and legalistic Terms […]

After White House Summit a Consensus – on Pessimism

In-brief: Even with a high-profile summit in the heart of Silicon Valley, partisan gridlock back in Washington D.C. will make progress on cyber security impossible, experts say. 

Russian Linked To Theft of 160m Credit Cards Appears in US Court

  In-brief: Vladimir Drinkman, 34, of Moscow, Russia, was arraigned in District Court in New Jersey on Tuesday. He is linked to a string of attacks that stole credit card information on more than 100 million people, according to a statement by the Department of Justice. 

Datakinesis? IoT Makes The Threat Real

In-brief: The Internet of Things will make “datakinesis” – the impact of data attacks on the physical world – common, says Cisco’s Marc Blackmer. 

Russian Firm Alleges 15 Year NSA Cyberespionage Campaign

In-brief: Kaspersky Lab issued a report Monday alleging its researchers discovered evidence of a long-running cyber espionage campaign with links to the U.S. government and National Security Agency.