Posts Tagged ‘security’
Simply Security – EU proposes data protection overhaul; criticism ensues
The European Commission this week revealed a proposed overhaul to decades-old data protection rules in an effort to improve online privacy and Internet security across the European Union (EU) and beyond. However, even before the effects of the proposed rules could settle, backlash was felt from companies and governments around the world.
But here’s the real kicker…
The U.S. government was also quick to respond to the commission’s proposal. According to news provider the AFP, U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Philip Verveer told reporters that the United States would examine the legislation closely in order to determine whether the proposal would be too costly for American businesses.
Sooo…as usual, the government would rather protect business interests rather than the public’s interest. It should be mandatory, that any business that retains any consumer’s Personally Identifiable Information, should have that info encrypted.
Read more…EU proposes data protection overhaul; criticism ensues | Simply Security.
Can Authorities Force You to Give Up Laptop Password?
News to watch – Can you be compelled by authorities to give up your encryption keys, passphrases, or passwords?
More reason to go with some sort of double encryption and a hidden encrypted file.
Read more on Wired.com –> Feds Want Judge to Force Suspect to Give Up Laptop Password | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Epsilon e-mail Marketing Breach
By now, you may have heard of the security breach at mass email marketing company Epsilon, where the names and email addresses of thousands, if not millions, of people have been stolen. The current list of companies include:
- 1-800-Flowers
- AbeBooks
- Ameriprise Financial
- Barclays Bank
- Best Buy
- Brookstone
- Citibank
- Disney Destinations
- Hilton Worldwide
- JP Morgan Chase
- Kroger
- Lacoste
- Marriott International
- McKinsey Quarterly
- New York & Company
- Robert Half
- Target
- Tivo
- US Bank
- Verizon
- Walgreens
The warning emails are starting to role in. This one from Target:
When will it become Standard Operating Procedure, and an industry standard, if you are storing customer info, to store it in an encrypted database! It can’t be that difficult!! The money you are spending on the resulting PR, could probably have been used to secure the database.
I blame, not only Epsilon, but also the companies that dealt with Epsilon for not making it a requirement that the customer info be encrypted.
SecureID firm, RSA, has it’s servers hacked
Man, security is getting tougher. When the servers at a well known security firm get hacked, we need to rethink our security protocols and business practices. From Sophos/Naked Security:
Read the full story @ Sophos.com…Security firm RSA warns that its servers have been hacked | Naked Security.
Rogue Facebook apps can now access your home address and mobile phone number | Naked Security
Time to revisit your facebook privacy settings again:
Facebook has announced that developers of Facebook apps can now gather the personal contact information from their users.
Read more…Rogue Facebook apps can now access your home address and mobile phone number | Naked Security.
