Steps forward
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
DefCon Kids get guidance at Vegas hackers conference
August 8, 2011
Children 8 to 16 were welcomed for the first time ever at the DefCon hackers conference, held at the Rio hotel in Las Vegas this past weekend. It was part of a series of such confabs organized by Hackid.org. Federal agents spoke to participants of DefCon Kids — to persuade them that its cool to be a good guy hacker, who helps fight crime.. The kids got to …More
Companies begin to mitigate mobile device risks
June 23, 2011
Now comes a survey positing that many companies have begun to establish specific policies to deal with security and liability risks stemming from the rising use of mobile devices and social networks in workplace settings, as LastWatchdog wrote about in this story.
The study, conducted by messaging security firm Proofpoint and Osterman Research, polled 632 IT professionals and found that 84 percent of organizations allow their employees …More
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