Steps forward
FTC bars Facebook from using deceptive privacy practices
November 29, 2011
Facebook on Tuesday agreed to a Federal Trade Commission consent order barring the company from deceiving consumers about its privacy practices. The order also requires Facebook to submit to monitoring for 20 years.
The sanctions stem from privacy setting changes Facebook made in December 2009, without asking users’ permission.
The company told users they could keep full control of who could access their content on Facebook when, …More
Rockefeller, Bono Mack seek explanations from Facebook
November 16, 2011
Two federal lawmakers want Facebook to come before Congress to explain how the social media company tracks Web users and why Facebook members got swarmed by pornographic and violent images this week.
Reacting to details of Facebook’s tracking practices disclosed in LastWatchdog’s page 1A story in print editions of USA TODAY, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D – W. Virg., said he intends to invite Facebook and …More
Why the FTC’s COPPA revisions fall short
November 9, 2011
The Federal Trade Commission has drawn positive reviews from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers for its proposal to update the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
The 1998 COPPA law bans website publishers and social networks from collecting or using information from children under 13. Enforcement, however, has been spotty. And it’s common practice for website operators to do the minimum to meet the letter …More
The case for wider use of Next Generation Firewalls
November 1, 2011
Cyberattacks have gotten very sophisticated, to say the least.
Traditional perimeter firewalls are still in wide use as a fundamental defense mechanism. But a group of security vendors are pushing for wider use of so-called Next Generation Firewalls, or NGFWs, that integrate firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, application monitoring and authentication and policy-use controls.
These vendors include NSS Labs, Barracuda, Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper, Palo Alto Networks and …More
Why you may soon need to carry two smartphones
October 10, 2011
Eugene Kaspersky, co-founder and CEO of Moscow, Russia-based Kaspersky Lab, has made Kaspersky antivirus software a well-regarded product in Russia, Europe and North America. Kaspersky believes, as do several other technologists, that some day in the not too distance future many employees will routinely carry and make use of two sets of computing devices — one for company use, the other for personal use. He explains why …More
Mobile security offerings multiply
September 19, 2011
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY, p.1B, 19Sept2011
Losing one’s smartphone or touch tablet has become a nightmare scenario for many.
The prospect of consumers and employees physically losing their information-packed mobile devices, or getting them hacked, has become the driver for a red-hot sector of the tech industry: supplying mobile security.
Research firm IDC says global spending on mobile security is on track to balloon to $1.9 billion by 2015, …More
Corporations vs. consumers in fight to block AT&T – T-Mobile merger
September 1, 2011
Security and privacy are intertwined. One big question raised by the proposed AT&T – T-Mobile merger is whether the large scale consolidation of two top mobile service providers will result in better security and privacy, especially in our fast-changing world of Internet-connected devices accessing cloud service.
The Justice Department filed this lawsuit Wednesday, 31Aug2011, to block AT&T’s planned acquisition of T-Mobile, bringing into high relief the debate over …More
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