The New York Times has a really interesting story on the rise of Bitcoin’s “blockchain” technology as the foundation of a whole new wave of start-ups and applications – some of which could have big implications for Internet of Things. From the article: “As Bitcoin’s price has declined over the last year, critics have been quick to declare the virtual currency dead. Bitcoin’s true value, though, might be not in the currency itself but in the engine that makes it possible. Underlying Bitcoin — created as a way to make payments directly, anonymously and outside government control — is the block chain, a decentralized database that is driven by cryptography.” While the future of Bitcoin as a form of digital “cash” is uncertain, block chain is turning out to be a very useful technology for a variety of purposes – from streamlining financial transactions online to vouching for the authenticity of […]
Search Results for "Privacy"
Verizon: 5 Billion Business IoT Connections by 2020
In-brief: A report by Verizon finds business adoption of IoT is growing quickly, boosting that company’s Internet of Things numbers. But increased business adoption of IoT brings risks to privacy and security.
Update: Superfish is the Real End of SSL
In-brief: Outrage over Lenovo’s promotion of privacy busting adware continued to grow amid lawsuits and more spying revelations. The big question: is this the final – final straw for the beleaguered Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology? (Updated to add comment from Kevin Bocek of Venafi.)
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 […]
In Smart TV Land, Eavesdropping is Nothing New
In-brief: Samsung isn’t alone in asking customers to consent to the collection and transmission of “voice data.” But questions about the ethics and legality of the practice remain.