The world of information technology is reeling from last week’s massive ransomware attack that affected machines all over the globe. The WannaCry program is a malicious software that infects Windows computers taking advantage of a security flaw that was made public earlier this year by a hacking collective called the Read more…
Last year there was a highly reported public debate between the FBI and Apple regarding the encryption used to protect an iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino terrorist shooter. The FBI wanted Apple to unlock the phone, but Apple argued that doing so was not only difficult, but it would Read more…
The problem It seems like every week brings a new story about stolen passwords and hacked accounts. This week Twitter locked two million accounts after a password leak was detected, and more indicative, Mark Zuckerberg had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts hacked. All of these have accelerated concerns that passwords Read more…
The history of Internet Law is littered with bad legislation and legislative proposals. From the infamous SOPA and PIPA, to the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, there is no shortage of badly-conceived legislation dealing with the Internet. Sometimes the bad law is the result of powerful lobbying, sometimes it is caused Read more…
In a world where online security has become an important element of our lives, it is becoming more difficult to trust information, even if they present a trust and/or security seals. A new report by the EU’s cyber security agency ENISA analyses the conditions under which online security and privacy Read more…
So far, the most serious report to arise from the NSA files has been the revelation that US authorities have been involved in a systematic program to defeat Internet encryption. By any objective measure, the revelations are astounding: intelligence agencies have been building backdoors into cryptographic technology by tampering with Read more…
The Cold War is long over. Or is it? Slowly, a new conflict is brewing in the frontiers of cyberspace between armies of hackers deployed to inject viruses in enemy systems and disrupt a country’s economy before a shot has ever been fired. Or so the reports go. Is there Read more…
The United States Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has passed in the US House of Representatives despite vocal online opposition, and the surprising threat of veto from the White House. H.R. 3523 drew criticism because it is purported to be a threat to privacy as it encourages Internet Read more…
The above xkcd cartoon should be required viewing for every IT professional making decisions about cybersecurity. We are now constantly faced with services that ask us to change passwords all the time, and these must meet certain requirements. The password must have a cap, a number, and increasingly, a special Read more…