Search Results for "Home Depot"

Obama Uses Executive Order To Push Chip and Pin

Add data security to the long list of issues on which U.S. President Barack Obama has resorted to unilateral action in order to push the government forward on a crucial matter. On Friday, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing the government to require the use of so-called “chip and PIN” technology for any newly issued or existing government debit and credit cards. The Order was intended to make the federal government “lead by example in securing transactions and sensitive data,” the White House said in a statement. The new BuySecure Initiative will provide consumers with more tools to secure their financial future by assisting victims of identity theft, improving the Government’s payment security as a customer and a provider, and accelerating the transition to stronger security technologies and the development of next-generation payment security tools. The Order launches a new initiative dubbed “BuySecure” intended to “drive the market towards more secure payment systems” […]

Chief Security Officer: The Toughest Job In IT?

Register now for our CISO Hangout with Jon Trull of Qualys, the former Chief Security Officer for the State of Colorado. Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are in the news a lot these days. The breaches at prominent corporations like Target, Home Depot and (this week) JP Morgan have solidified the consensus that the CISO is a necessary complement to the CIO. They’ve also shone a spotlight on what many consider to be the toughest job in corporate America. After all, successful cyber attacks and data breaches are the quickest path to a ruined corporate reputation. And a strong and capable CISO is increasingly seen as the best defense against such an unfortunate occurrence. (Target’s misfortune was the direct result, some argued, on its lack of a CISO.) With all that in the air, the time couldn’t be better to sit down with some of the top CISOs in industry and the public […]

Consumers Embrace IoT And Wearables, Worry About Security Consequences

A new survey of consumer attitudes and expectations about technology finds that a strong majority of Americans expect wearable technology and biometric security to be common within the next decade. The survey, sponsored by the security company McAfee, asked 1,500 U.S. consumers about lifestyle and technology trends in the home and workplace. The results suggest that consumers are already adjusting their expectations about the future to include pervasive connectivity, a wealth of intelligent devices – and some of the problems that come with both. More than 60% of those surveyed by McAfee said they anticipate having connected appliances like refrigerators that will “automatically add food to a running grocery list if the product is running low.” A strong majority of those polled – 84% – said they were convinced their home security systems will be connected to their mobile device. “As technology, especially the Internet of Things, continues to rapidly advance and […]

Nest Thermostat

Google’s Nest Labs Joins Race to Define Platform for the Internet of Things – NYTimes.com

The New York Time’s BITS blog has an interesting look at the companies that are gearing up to compete against Google in the home automation market.   Google has picked up its investment in so-called “smart home” technology, from the acquisition of Nest, the smart thermostat maker, and DropCam a maker of wireless cameras used for home monitoring and surveillance. The Times notes the entry of firms like Quirky, which has the backing of major retailers like Home Depot and manufacturers like General Electric, Honeywell and Philips. That company announced a new spin-off firm, Wink, that will focus on software. There’s also (of course) Apple, which last week announced HomeKit, a new platform for home automation products that leverages the company’s iOS mobile platform. For its part, Google and Nest have alliances with companies like Whirlpool, Jawbone and Mercedes-Benz. The company seems to be focusing on getting cool products to market that […]

Podcast Episode 110: Why Patching Struts isn’t Enough and Hacking Electricity Demand with IoT?

In this week’s episode (#110): the second major flaw in Apache Struts 2 in as many years and has put the information security community on alert. But is this vulnerability as serious as the last, which resulted in the hack of the firm Equifax? We talk with an expert from the firm Synopsys.  And: we’ve heard a lot about the risk of cyber attacks on the critical infrastructure used to generate and distribute electricity. But what would happen if someone figured out to how to hack electricity demand? The Internet of Things just might make that possible. We talk to a Princeton University researcher behind a paper that discusses how even small changes in demand can have big consequences for the grid.