Category Archives: Internet Security
Quid Pro Quo the truth | Opinion – Kingstree News
Dear Editor,
I read the Quid Pro Quo, 18 Dec. 20198, by Mr. Milton Duke. Of course in trying to substantiate his story he left out some very important details. And I know as far as Mr. Duke and his Trump supporters, truth isnt truth and alternative facts all saturates their thought process. So here goes the details as reported by seasoned administrators/ambassadors/diplomats, some appointed by the great Orange Guy himself and others are lifetime federal employees.
July 25, 2019Trump and Zelensky speak. As we later find out from a rough transcript released by the White House, Trump repeatedly notes how good the United States is to Ukraine and then proceeds to ask Zelensky to open two investigations. One investigation involves CrowdStrike, an Internet security company that probed the Democratic National Committee hack in 2016, and the other involves the Bidens and Burisma. I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it,
Trump says before floating the CrowdStrike investigation.
Four national security officials raised concerns about Trumps Ukraine efforts with a White House lawyer both before and immediately after the Zelensky call.
August 12, 2019The whistleblower files a complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community. Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson will later determine the complaint to be credible and a matter of urgent concern, which would trigger a legally required disclosure to the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Late AugustLawmakers raise concerns about Ukraine aid being withheld, citing its importance to defend the former Soviet republic from Russia.
September 1, 2019Bill Taylor (Charge of Ukraine Affairs) texts Gordon Sondland (European Union Ambassador): Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations? Sondland responds, Call me. The two speak, according to Taylor, and Sondland explains that Trump wants Zelensky to say publicly that Ukraine will investigate Burisma and the conspiracy theory about Ukraines alleged role in the 2016 election interference. Sondland tells Taylor that he regrets not telling Ukrainian officials that everything relied on their announcement of the investigations both a meeting and military aid.
What is provided is a very brief timeline of events. It wasnt until after the complaint was filed that the Great Orange guy stated, I want nothing. That tune was spouted in late September!! Trump changed his tune after he was caught trying to bribe a foreign government. However, Mr. Duke clearly left that part out of his narrative.
As a society drifts farther and farther away from the truth, it begins to despise those who speak it.
And we know, Trump and his supporters despise news networks and those who dare speak truth.
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Quid Pro Quo the truth | Opinion - Kingstree News
North Dakota’s building a cybersecurity operations center and everyone’s invited – StateScoop
Written by Colin Wood Dec 30, 2019 | STATESCOOP
After months of escalating cyberattacks against state and local governments dotted around the United States, North Dakotas technology agency is setting out to build a shared infrastructure in hopes of rallying a unified defense.
North Dakota Chief Information Officer Shawn Riley told StateScoop the Information Technology Department he leads is developing a suite of technologies and meeting with top technology officials in other states with the goal of developing a shared security operations center that can adapt to threats wherever they occur, calling on those with security resources and intelligence to help those who need it.
Theres a lot of conversations going on with this, Riley said. Part of what we have to work through is as we look at the potential of states supporting each other, how can we make sure there are no political overtones? Were doing assessments of multiple states and how that applies to the ability of all of us to really truly to work together.
North Dakota may seem an unlikely origin of such a project its the fourth-smallest state by population, and hasnt endured many high-profile cyberattacks, like the Aug. 16 ransomware incident that struck 23 communities across Texas but North Dakotas unique organizational structure combined with Rileys affinity for collaboration make it a fitting launchpad.
North Dakotas technology agency earlier this year assumed cybersecurity operations for all government offices throughout the state more than 252,000 users riding on the state network who come from state agencies, schools, courts and the state legislature. This unique arrangement presented Rileys office with an unprecedented level of responsibility and drove officials to begin thinking more holistically about how they can secure not only their own networks, but everyones.
More than 125 public institutions are known to have been hit by ransomware in 2019 and they were organizations at all levels of government and of all sizes. When word got out that North Dakota was working on this problem, Riley said he started getting calls from all around the country. Small communities and K-12 districts have a notoriously difficult time defending against cyberattacks, but its going to be a challenge for organizations of all sizes and sophistication levels, he said.
I think a good example is on one hand weve got a community of 48 people, 48 humans in the entire town where the mayor, city auditor and bus driver are all the same person and then you have a school district with 35,000 kids in it, Riley said. This technology can scale across that entire environment.
Riley said hes not yet ready to reveal which states will participate only that assisting local government offices and K-12 districts is a challenge widely shared by state governments. Tim Bottenfield, the CIO in neighboring Montana, told StateScoop he is among those talking to North Dakota, but Riley said this effort wont be limited to a particular geographic region.
There are already organizations that help to widely distribute strategic advice and information on cyberthreats, such as the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or MS-ISAC, which is operated by the nonprofit Center for Internet Security and funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. But North Dakota Chief Information Security Officer Kevin Ford said this project, rather, will focus more heavily on cybersecurity operations.
While we will obviously ingest ISAC information to help prioritize operational responses, we are also offering improved operational capabilities, Ford said. We will be able to provide members the availability to respond to their own security issues as well as, when desired, pool resources to help each other respond to security emergencies. Our tech stack is heavily automated, and the more data we have flowing into it, the better the efficiencies will be for everyone involved.
Details such as whether its appropriate for the governors office of one state to see the security logs for another state run by a governor of an opposing party still need to be answered, Riley said. There are also complex regulatory and technical hurdles to overcome. In North Dakota alone, there are more than 300 privacy laws that could potentially bear on the projects implementation. But Riley says these challenges are trivial compared to the threat government is now facing.
The reality is, individually, we are all screwed, Riley said.
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North Dakota's building a cybersecurity operations center and everyone's invited - StateScoop
Down Over 30% Since August, Is Recent IPO Fastly a Buy for 2020? – The Motley Fool
Our demand for data is insatiable. Driven by smartphones and the rise of streaming video, the amount of information being transported via the internet has boomed in recent years, and network hardware giant Ciscostill sees traffic growing over 20% annually through 2022.
That made cloud-based edge computing company Fastly (NYSE:FSLY) an intriguing stock when it had its IPO in the spring of 2019. After surging in its debut and eventually doubling from its IPO price in early fall, shares are down over 35% from their highs in the fourth quarter -- putting many post-IPO investors in the red. It will most definitely be a bumpy ride, but now looks like a good time to pick up a few shares with a new year upon us.
Image source: Getty Images.
First off, as Fastly disclosed in its prospectus ahead of its public debut, edge computing and CDNs (content delivery networks) are a crowded space. All of the data moving around the world can't be handled by any one player, and Fastly is an upstart going against well-established legacy CDNs like Akamaiand other aspiring disruptors like Cloudflare, not to mention the biggest cloud computing providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabetinvesting in their own edge computing platforms.
Nevertheless, the market is massive and still growing by mammoth numbers -- especially CDNs, which Cisco says will carry 72% of all global web traffic by 2022 compared with just 56% in 2017. Plus, with mobile-based traffic growing twice as fast as the average and an increasingly diverse set of devices making requests -- from smartphones to smart watches, laptops to smart sensors -- that gives Fastly plenty of room to scoop up some market share. Its non-centralized delivery network at the "edge," which the company defines as the moment data leaves a company's control and moves to a user's device or network, is also well-suited to today's needs. Spending on cloud-based "edge" computing is expected to pick up some serious steam in the next few years, garnering tens of billions of dollars spent every year in short order.
And scoop up market share it has. In addition to picking up new customers (total customer count was 274 in the third quarter of 2019 compared with 213 a year ago), Fastly's net dollar-based expansion rate was 135% in the third quarter, implying existing users of its platform spent an average of 35% more than in the same period in 2018. Here's what that equated to in the way of business results.
Metric
Q3 2019
Q3 2018
Change
Revenue
$49.8 million
$36.8 million
35.3%
Gross profit margin
55.2%
54.6%
0.6 pp
Operating expenses
$40.3 million
$27.8 million
45.0%
Adjusted net profit (loss)
($8.3 million)
($7.1 million)
N/A
PP = percentage point. Data source: Fastly.
The only downside is that revenue growth does appear to be slowing, even though Fastly is still so small. The 35% revenue growth rate in its third quarter compares to 40% in the first quarter. That could account for some of the stock's recent tumble, as does the lockup period on insider shareholder ownership that expired in November. Net losses do keep adding up as well, though Fastly did have $54.7 million in cash on the books at the end of the last quarter.
Fastly hasn't yet provided numbers for its 2020 expectations, but the small internet experience delivery company sees shifts in business and consumer thinking ahead. With cloud infrastructure investment already having reduced costs substantially in the last decade, Fastly thinks that customer experience will be more important than price in the years ahead. With its software-defined network at the edge, the company thinks it is primed to pick up new business at the expense of legacy web CDN technology.
Management thinks it will be able to improve its profitability, too. As demonstrated in the third quarter, gross profit margin on services rendered is ticking up as it adds more clients to the list, and rising usage of its newer product launches (like internet security and edge computing tools) should help revenue begin to outpace growth in operating expenses. Simply put, 2019 was a year of investment after the IPO, and Fastly will focus on more profitable expansion going forward.
Nevertheless, expect a bumpy ride ahead. Shares look like a reasonable enough buy with a price-to-sales ratio currently at 9.6, but that will depend on the company being able to maintain its top-line growth trajectory and ability to start narrowing losses. The opportunity is substantial, though, and Fastly should be able to maneuver enough of the massive web traffic market to keep momentum rolling. I'm thus a nibbler on the stock right now, with plans to pick up a few shares here or there on a monthly basis while building up a larger position over time.
Link:
Down Over 30% Since August, Is Recent IPO Fastly a Buy for 2020? - The Motley Fool
All You Need to Know About Indias First Data Protection Bill – CISO MAG
By Rudra Srinivas
Most people in India have never accessed the Internet through a computer. In fact, their encounter with the Internet is only through smartphones. As Indias consumers lap up Internet services, social media and other apps, they gladly submit their personal details to service providers in exchange for free use of their services. And these details are usually stored on servers outside Indias boundaries. That got the Government of India worried about data privacy concerns.
So, in July 2017, the Government of India formed a committee of experts to study the issues related to data protection in the country. The committee was led by retired Supreme Court Justice BN Srikrishna. After working on it for a year, the committee submitted a draft of the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill in July 2018 and requested feedback from the public, Ministers, stakeholders, and other industry experts.
A revised draft of the Bill was submitted in the Parliaments lower house, the Lok Sabha, on December 11, 2019, and has been sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for further deliberations before being taken up for passing. There was widespread anticipation for the passing of the Bill in 2019, however that has now been deferred. The Bill is expected to become a law or an Act in 2020.
What the Bill could achieve
The Personal Data Protection Bill (PDP Bill) is Indias first attempt to domestically legislate the mechanisms for the protection of personal data and aims to set up a Data Protection Authority in the country. The Bill regulates the processing of citizens personal data by government, companies incorporated in India, and foreign companies that are dealing with personal data of customers in India. Through the proposed law, the Government of India is rooting for data sovereignty by mandating certain class of data to be stored within Indian borders.
The proposed Bill also allows processing of data by fiduciaries with the consent of the individual. A data fiduciary is an individual or entity that decides the purpose of processing personal data. However, the Bill also permits personal data processing without consent in some cases like, when the government providing benefits to the individual, for legal proceedings, and in medical emergencies.
Kinds of Personal Data, according to the proposal
The proposed Bill forces companies dealing with peoples personal data to reconsider their data management practices. The Bill regulates three categories of data Personal Data, Sensitive Personal Data, and Critical Personal Data.
The Bill defines Personal Data as any information thats collected online or offline which can be used to identify a person, like name, address, phone number, location, shopping history, photographs, telephone records, food preferences, movie preferences, online search history, messages, devices users own, and social media activity.
Sensitive Personal Data includes health care data (like private information you share with a doctor or healthcare apps), financial data (banking and payments information), sexual orientation, biometrics (facial images, fingerprints, iris scans), caste or tribe, religious and political beliefs.
Critical Personal Data has not yet defined by the government.
Advantages to Citizens
The proposed Bill gives high priority for individual rights on data protection. As per the Bill, citizens personal information cant be collected, processed, and shared without their consent. Only the necessary data will be collected and can be used for pre-defined purposes only.
The companies are required to be clear and concise on what data is collected, its purpose, how its used, and for how long the data will be retained. The Bill also permits customers to move their data from one provider to another and allows users to know the number of companies with whom the data is shared.
Impact on Private Organizations
Private entities are required to place limits on data collection, processing, and storage of their customers data. Theyre subjected to report any instances of security incidents to the regulator.
Additional responsibilities are also imposed on companies based on the volume of data they collect from customers. This includes periodic security audits, appointment of a data protection officer, and performing data protection assessments defined by the regulator. Social media platform providers will also be mandated to enable customers to verify their accounts.
Penalties
Tough penalties have been proposed for failing to comply with the data protection requirements. According to the Bill, any organization sharing customers data without their consent will entail a fine of INR 15 crores (around US$ 2.1M) or 4 percent of its global turnover. Data breach and delay to address/report the same will result in a fine of INR 5 crores (US$ 0.7M) or 2 percent of global turnover. Individuals representing the companies can also be sentenced to term in prison.
Data Localization Requirements
In terms of data localization, the Bill allows transfer of personal data across borders without any limitations. However, restrictions are placed on sensitive personal data which needs to be stored in India. Sensitive personal data can also be processed outside the country if the regulator approves it. For critical personal data, the government will notify on its own, which needs to be stored and processed within the country.
Criticism on the Revised Bill
The Bill landed in controversy for being different from what was proposed by the expert group in its first draft in July 2018. The Indian government, through the proposed law, wants to allow law enforcement agencies and authorized third parties to have access to citizen data, to investigate crimes faster. In other words, it will exempt any government agency from legal obligations. This, of course, has led to a resistance, and delayed the passing of the bill. Justice BN Srikrishna, the chief architect of the draft law, also has concerns and said the law can turn India into an Orwellian State.
Several industry experts have opined that unaccounted access to personal data of customers might lead to data -misuse. The Bill provides an exempt to any agency of government from the application of Act in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order. The unrestricted government access is like a two-sided coin scenario. On one hand, the privacy bill is a part of the governments efforts to have more control of data and help it track unlawful activities by using digital footprints. On the other hand, the users access may give the government unaccounted access to personal data of customers in the country leading to data -misuse and unauthorized access, said Jaspreet Singh, cybersecurity leader at EY told CISO MAG.
Several privacy concerns have also been raised by experts over the revised draft Bill. The Bill states that personal and non-personal data may be processed without obtaining consent from the concerned user to help in the delivery of government services.
The changes that were made
Justice B.N. Srikrishna, who led the committee that drafted the 2018 PDP Bill, stated that there is no oversight on government agencies on accessing citizens data. Sharing his thoughts on the same, Pavan Duggal, the Advocate Supreme Court specialized in Cyberlaw and the Chairman of the International Commission on Cybersecurity law, said, The chapter on exemptions under the Data Protection Bill represents a massive dilution of the bill by giving these exemptions to governmental agencies. However, we also need to be mindful of the fact that governments would want certain access to personal data for sovereign and governance reasons. But the way the current exemptions came out is independent. It is the classical piece of legislation which is going two steps forward and six steps backward.
Impact on International Trade
Data protection discussions often revolve around discussions of transfer of data. In this regard, the proposed Bill has received a lot attention from global tech tycoons as well as Indian firms that work for international companies.
Theres no denying that this bill, if becomes a law, will have a significant impact on foreign companies as well as trade between India and other nations. He stressed that the bill takes a U-turn from the stance the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took in April 2018. The RBI in its notifications stated that all data relating to banking must be physically in India and cannot leave Indian soil and that continues to be the position till today. However, the proposed Bill is a complete walk down on the RBI stance as it allows sensitive data to be stored outside India, Pavan Duggal told CISO MAG.
The bill is a ground-breaking step for the nation towards building the significant base of trusted digital India. It will change the way privacy is perceived and practiced by various businesses. Global organizations based in India and/or providing services will be particularly impacted. Considering the data transfer mandates, as most global firms which process personal data of Indians store their data at remote locations will face challenges in-terms of increased compliance costs, suggested Jaspreet Singh.
Where the Bill Stands Today
The much-awaited Bill, which was expected to be passed by the end of 2019, has been put on hold for now following severe concerns raised about changes in the proposal. The proposed Bill was recently referred to a JPC in consultation with various groups for further analysis. The joint committee, with 20 members from the Lok Sabha or lower house, and 10 from the Rajya Sabha (upper house), will be headed by Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament. The committee is expected to submit their views before the end of the upcoming budget session.
The PDP Bill lays down provisions for thwarting misuse of personal data in the country. It mandates data processing activities like data protection, storage, and management. On the flipside, the Bill, if passed, could bring major implications for national security, foreign investment, and international trade.
Rudra Srinivas is part of the editorial team at CISO MAG and writes on cybersecurity trends and news features.
Originally posted here:
All You Need to Know About Indias First Data Protection Bill - CISO MAG
Start the new year, and new decade, by making your slice of the internet more secure – SaultOnline.com
TORONTO In a year that saw companies such as TransUnion, Facebook and Desjardins urge their Canadian users to change their passwords and monitor their financial accounts due to data breaches, its never been more important to safeguardyour personal information.
The crucial part, however, is to actually take steps to make your personal data less vulnerable to cybercriminals.
Thats really what cyber hygiene is all about, said Adrian White, director of the financial crimes division at the Canadian Bankers Association.
You want to make sure you minimize the risks by doing things on a regular basis that keep you safe from these kinds of threats in the criminal space.
The start of a new year, and (by most accounts) the start of a fresh new decade, presents an excellent nudge to review digital passwords and take othersteps to protect yourself and your finances online.
Taking action is increasingly important amid a risingnumber of major data breaches,leavingmore sensitive datavulnerable tocriminals who find devious new ways to put it all touse.
As we move into 2020, people have less and less control over the security and privacy of their personal information, said Claudiu Popa, cybersecurity expert and CEO of Informatica Corp.
With so much out of your hands, its important to keep control of the key points of entry for your personal online accounts.
First and foremost is updating your passwords, those jumbles of characters that youve been haphazardly managing since you went online. Its time to create a system that will carry you through the next decade with greater safety and peace of mind.
One of the best ways to create a secure password is to think of a phrase, and then use the first letter of each word with some numbers and symbols mixed in asthe password.The full phrase can also be used if it is easier to remember, with some added random bits toadd security.
Ive stopped calling them passwords, I call them passphrases, said Popa.
Because the emphasis is on the most important attribute of passwords, which is length. The longer they are, the more useful they are.
Better yet, use a password manager, which can create complex passwords and them remembers them so you dont have to. There are a wide variety out there, including some quite functional free versions from providers like LastPass, KeePass, and Dashlane.
The sooner you get comfortable with a password database the better, said Popa.
Next is your email,which isthe way you access all those accounts whereyouve forgotten your password because you dont have a system or password manager in place.
You should keep your primary email linked to online banking and other important accounts secure by only giving it out when necessary. Have a second email for less important accounts that dont store personal data, and consider using disposable accounts when possible, said Popa.
A lot of people just constantly give out their real, their almost permanent, their long-term personal email address because they dont know how to get a disposable one.
Thereare plentyof online services that let you set up a quick email address to satisfy those sites that demand an address when you dont feel you need to give one.
And while youre considering whether an email is needed, expand thatassessmentto any other informationasked ofyou, whether it be a request for youremail address at the big box store or a social insurance number when applying for a credit card.
The less information you give out, whether to companies or to the general public onsocial media,the lower thechances it will fall into the wrong hands.
Other important steps to stayingsecure, like keeping programs updated,checking in onyour online financial accounts, being wary of what youre connecting your devices to (especially public wifi), and to generally keep a skeptical eye on everything online.
With these two mainareas more secureyou can venture out a little more confidently in the new year.
Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press
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Start the new year, and new decade, by making your slice of the internet more secure - SaultOnline.com
Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research – Riverton Roll
Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued on Friday, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, Cheetah Mobile Inc. engages in developing Internet security software. The Company operates a platform that offers mission critical applications for its users and global content distribution channels. Its mission critical applications include Clean Master; Battery Doctor; Duba Anti-virus; Cheetah Browser; Photo Grid and Antutu Benchmark. Cheetah Mobile Inc. is headquartered in Beijing, the Peoples Republic of China.
Separately, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Cheetah Mobile from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $3.17.
Shares of NYSE:CMCM opened at $3.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $531.75 million, a PE ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.78. Cheetah Mobile has a 52 week low of $2.90 and a 52 week high of $8.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.60.
Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The software maker reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $128.70 million during the quarter. Cheetah Mobile had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 22.27%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cheetah Mobile will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Cheetah Mobile by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 129,400 shares of the software makers stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Cheetah Mobile by 97.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 16,333 shares of the software makers stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 8,047 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Cheetah Mobile by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 53,100 shares of the software makers stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 10,309 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in Cheetah Mobile by 24.8% in the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 61,900 shares of the software makers stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares during the period. Finally, Coatue Management LLC acquired a new position in Cheetah Mobile in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 4.44% of the companys stock.
About Cheetah Mobile
Cheetah Mobile Inc operates as a mobile Internet company worldwide. The company's utility products include Clean Master, a junk file cleaning, memory boosting, and privacy protection tool for mobile devices; Security Master, an anti-virus and security application for mobile devices; Battery Doctor, a power optimization tool for mobile devices; Cheetah Browser, a Web browser for PCs and mobile devices; CM Browser, a mobile browser to protect users from malicious threats; and CM Launcher, which provides personalized experience in using smart phones.
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Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research - Riverton Roll
The Army Bans TikTok – WIRED
Happy New Year! Well, it was for a day or two, anyway. But after the US assassinated Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike, experts warned that the likely retaliation could include disruptive cyberattacks, along with more traditional strikes. It's an alarming start to the year, especially as tensions continue to escalate.
Elsewhere in the world, TikTok released its first transparency report this week, including the surprising and perhaps unlikely assertion that the Chinese government hadn't requested any user information from the viral app in the first half of 2019. A similar-sounding app called ToTok turned out to be an alleged spy app from the United Arab Emirates. And we took a look at the military lessons of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Chaos is king!
We also got retrospective, cataloging decade's most dangerous people on the internet and its worst hacks. It was also the decade that email scams leveled up, turning into a multibillion dollar industry.
And that's not all! Every Saturday we round up the security and privacy stories that we didnt break or report on in-depth but think you should know about nonetheless. Click on the headlines to read them, and stay safe out there.
Speaking of TikTok! The US Army closed out the year by banning TikTok on government phones, citing it as a "cyber threat." The Navy has taken the same step, following Pentagon guidance to "uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information." This doesn't mean that TikTok is actively spying on its users, or that you should also purge it. But it's always healthy to be aware of what data apps are collecting from you and where they send it. In the case of TikTok, that means China, which means government employees are probably right to take extra precautions.
A 2018 indictment detailed how China's elite APT10 hackers used access to so-called managed service providers to steal intellectual properly from dozens of companies. As bad as it seemed at the time, the Wall Street Journal has shared fresh details that make clear how much worse things actually got. Companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise were "so overrun that the cloud company didnt see the hackers re-enter their clients networks," the report says. By breaking into one company that provides services over the internet to several clients, APT10's hacking spree was brutally efficient, even by China's high standards.
You literally hate to see it. When a Reddit user tried to stream images from his Xiaomi camera to his Google Nest Hub, the display instead showed what appeared to be still photos from other people's homes. It appears to be an isolated incident, and Google has suspended its Google Home and Assistant integraton with Xiaomi until it figures out what happened. Starting to feel like "smart home" was a pretty serious misnomer.
Remember that thing about email scamming becoming a big business over the last few years? Still is! Fraudsters tricked officials in the town of Erie, Colorado to send $1.01 million of payments intended for a construction company to an unauthorized bank account instead. From there, the funds were wired out of the country. It's not the biggest so-called BEC score in recent memory, but every one of them hurts.
More Great WIRED Stories
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The Army Bans TikTok - WIRED
Acer Introduces New TravelMate P6, a Durable and Thin-and-Light Notebook for Mobile Professionals – PRNewswire
Also introduced is the new TravelMate P2, a modern device for an increasingly mobile workforce
Editor's Summary
LAS VEGAS, Jan.5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Acer today announced its latest TravelMate P6 andTravelMate P2 commercial notebooks for modern, mobile, security-conscious customers. The powerful and robust 14-inch and 15-inch notebooks feature up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processors, comply with MIL-STD-810G U.S. military standards and run Windows 10 Pro.
"Durable yet thin-and-light, the latest TravelMate P6 provides mobile professionals with performance they can rely on," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "We're confident they'll appreciate the ability to work for two days without having to recharge, in addition to the notebook's military standard compliant chassis and enhanced security."
Acer TravelMate P6: For Professionals On-the-Go
The new Acer TravelMate P6 sports a premium quality magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis that is stronger and lighter than standard aluminum alloys at the same thickness. It also gives the laptop a sleek and modern aesthetic. Weighing just 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg)[3] and measuring only 0.6 inches (16.6 mm), it's easy to take on the road. With up to 23 hours[1],[2] of battery life, professionals can stay productive on transcontinental flights or work through two full days on the go without having to recharge. This high-performance notebook can also be charged up to 50% in less than 45 minutes. Optional eSIM-enabled 4G LTE connectivity enables users to work and collaborate on-the-go. Certified for Microsoft Teams, the TravelMate P6 delivers crystal-clear videoconferencing via a four-mic array that picks up vocals from up to 6.5 feet away.
Co-engineered with Intel as part of Intel's innovation program codenamed "Project Athena", the TravelMate P6passed rigorous testing to achieve the program's experience targets[4] and hardware specifications, ensuring it consistently delivers the responsiveness[5], instant wake[6], and battery life[5],[7],[8] that ambitious people need to focus from anywhere.
"Acer's TravelMate P6 showcases the exceptional co-engineering efforts driven by Acer and Intel through the Project Athena program. Our Intel Core processor performance and the vPro platform provides standout capability for businesses and matches the ambition of on-the-go professionals," said Josh Newman, Vice President, Client Computing Group, Intel.
The new Windows 10 Pro notebooks are packed with up to 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processors, up to 24 GB DDR4 memory, up to NVIDIA GeForce MX250 graphics, and up to 1 TB of responsive Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD using NVMe technology for speeding through editing large spreadsheets, and creating presentations. The TravelMate P6 makes sharing and collaborating easy with a 180-degree hinge design, enabling it to lay flat so the display can be shared with others.
Tough, Tested and Reliable
The Acer TravelMate P6 was designed for mobile professionals, and part of that is being able to handle real-life situations that might come up in and outside the office. Made to be MIL-STD-810G and 810F compliant, a set of military durability tests[9], the TravelMate P6 can survive the bumps from airport security, accidental drops and other mishaps. Other tests check the laptop's resistance to rain, humidity and extreme temperatures.
Solid Security
In addition to keeping data safe, companies want devices that are easy to deploy and manage remotely. Outfitted with Windows 10 Pro, the TravelMate P6 offers powerful security features to help safeguard data. Customers can log in using Windows Hello via the fingerprint reader on the power button, or through the IR webcam that leverages biometric facial recognition. Both methods eliminate the need to remember and use a password. When the webcam is idle, the camera shutter can be physically closed for additional security. An integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chip delivers hardware-based protection for passwords and encryption keys. The pre-loaded Acer ProShield includes a suite of security and management tools that help safeguard sensitive data, while Acer Office Management lets IT professionals deploy security policies and monitor assets from one interface.
Acer TravelMate P2: A Versatile Device for the Modern Workforce
The Acer TravelMate P2 is a response to an ever diversifying and modernizing world, where employees are expected to wear several hats and work in a variety of locations. The ability to connect to not only Wi-Fi but also 4G LTE[10] ensures that users can work from anywhere, and a wide host of customization options enables the TravelMate P2 to adapt to work on anything.
High-Speed Connectivity and All-day Power
The Acer TravelMate P2 is built with connectivity at the forefront, making it a reliable and pain-free choice for mobile workers. Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) technology ensures users have a smoother wireless experience with up to three times faster[11] speeds than standard Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). The Nano SIM and/or eSIM-enabled 4G LTEsaves users the hassle of finding a local data plan if Wi-Fi isn't available. The TravelMate P2 has up to 13 hoursof battery life[1],[12] and a MIL-STD-810G compliant, impact-resistant chassis, allowing users to work uninterrupted for the whole day in a wide range of work environments.
Robust, Secure and Easy to Manage
The TravelMate P2 combines accessibility, manageability and ease of use and is ready-to-go at a moment's notice with optimized, pre-configured device settings and multilingual capabilities for quick, pain-free device rollouts. A TPM 2.0 module ensures secure authentication and safeguards company data, while additional security features, such as the fingerprint reader andWindows Hello gives users easy yet more secure access via fingerprint or face recognition.
Powerful Productivity
With up to 10th Gen IntelCore i7 processorsand an optional NVIDIAGeForceMX230 GPUfor powerful computing and graphics performance, the TravelMate P2 features up to 32 GB of rapid DDR4 memory,a configurable dual-drive system featuring a 1 TB high-capacity HDD and a super-responsive 512 GB 4-lane PCIe SSD. The TravelMate P2 comes with a full range of ports such as VGA, HDMI and USB Type-C, while available ports can be easily expanded through an Acer USB Type-C Dock.
Pricing & Availability
The TravelMate P6 will be available in North America in February, starting at USD 1149.99; in EMEA in Februarystarting at EUR 1,099; and in China in January, starting at RMB 9,999.
The TravelMate P2 will be available in North America in February, starting at USD 699.99; in EMEA in Januarystarting at EUR 599; and in China in January, starting at RMB 4,499.
Exact specifications, prices, and availability will vary by region. To learn more about availability, product specifications and prices in specific markets, please contact your nearest Acer office via http://www.acer.com.
[1]Listed battery life is based on MobileMark 2014productivity mode testing with wireless on. Details of MobileMark 2014 testing are available at http://www.bapco.com. Battery life rating is for comparison purposes only. Actual battery life varies by model, configuration, application, power management settings,operating conditions, and features used. A battery's maximum capacity decreases with time and use.
[2]Up to 23 hours for 4-cell model, and up to 18 hours for 3-cell model
[3]1.1 kg for 3-cell model, 1.164kg for 4-cell model
[4]Minimum Program Key Experience Indicator (KEI) Targets and Claims- Wake from sleep in less than a second[6]- consistent responsiveness, and >9 hours' battery life during real, intensive use, plugged in or on the go[5]- >16 hours of battery life in local video playback mode[7]- and 4 hours' battery charged in less than 30 minutes[8]
[5]Testing as of 30 September 2019. For systems with FHD displays. Simulated to replicate typical scenario on wireless web browsing workload: shipped HW/SW configuration running multiple background applications and open web pages; on 802.11 wireless Internet connection, DC battery power, and 250nit screen brightness
[6]From button press, lid open, or voice, to display on and ready for authentication
[7]Testing as of 30 September 2019. For systems with FHD displays. Simulated to replicate in-transit local video FHD playback scenario: 150nit screen brightness, in airplane mode
[8]For systems with Full HD (FHD) displays, when used for wireless web browsing. When powered off, from OEM default shutdown level
[9]The testing follows stringent procedures such as dropping 26 times from a height of approximately 48 inches (122 cm) on various parts of its frame-- landing on 2 inches of plywood placed on concrete.
[10]Specifications may vary depending on model or configuration
[11] 802.11ax 2x2 160MHz enables 2402Mbps max theoretical data rates, 3X faster than 802.11ac 2x2 80MHz (867Mbps) as documented in IEEE 802.11 wireless standard spec and require the use of similarly configured 802.11ax wireless network routers
[12]Up to 13 hours for 14-inch model, and up to 12 hours for 15-inch model
About Acer
Established in 1976, Acer is a hardware + software + services company dedicated to the research, design, marketing, sale, and support of innovative products that enhance people's lives. Acer's product offerings include PCs, displays, projectors, servers, tablets, smartphones and wearables. It is also developing cloud solutions to bring together the Internet of Things. Acer celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2016 and is one of the world's top 5 PC companies. It employs 7,000 people worldwide and has a presence in over 160 countries. Please visit http://www.acer.comfor more information.
2020 Acer Inc. All rights reserved. Acer and the Acer logo are registered trademarks of Acer Inc. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the property of their respective owners. All offers subject to change without notice or obligation and may not be available through all sales channels. Prices listed are manufacturer suggested retail prices and may vary by location. Applicable sales tax extra.
SOURCE Acer Incorporated
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Acer Introduces New TravelMate P6, a Durable and Thin-and-Light Notebook for Mobile Professionals - PRNewswire
Know in Depth about Internet Security Software Market Trends, In-Depth Analysis and Forecast To 2026 | Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, AVG – AnalyticSP
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The global Internet Security Software market was xx million US$ in 2018 and is expected to xx million US$ by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2019 and 2026.
The Top Key Players include: Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, AVG, Avast Software, ESET, Bitdefender, Fortinet, F-Secure, G DATA Software, Avira, Qihoo 360, Kaspersky, Panda Security, Quick Heal, Comodo, Microsoft, Rising, Cheetah Mobile, AhnLab and Others.
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Chapter 3 Rising Trends and New Technologies with Major key players
Chapter 4 Global Internet Security Software Market Analysis, Trends, Growth Factor
Chapter 5 Internet Security Software Market Application and Business with Potential Analysis
Chapter 6 Global Internet Security Software Market Segment, Type, Application
Chapter 7 Global Internet Security Software Market Analysis (by Application, Type, End User)
Chapter 8 Major Key Vendors Analysis of Internet Security Software Market
Chapter 9 Development Trend of Analysis
Chapter 10 Conclusion
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Staying Out Of Trouble In 2020 With New Security Practices And Human Firewalls – Forbes
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As of January 1, 2020, Californias new Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect, and with it a series of new requirements about how your company protects information. Those protection requirements include, among other things, something called reasonable security when handling that information. Fail to provide that reasonable security, and you could find your company hit with significant fines.
You need to make a data driven decision that having a human firewall is a really good idea.
Whats reasonable security, and how do you achieve it? The California Attorney General lists compliance with the Center for Internet Security list of 20 controls and resources as recommendations as being reasonable security. Whats notable about the CIS list is that theres no specific technology solution. Instead, the means of complying with the CIS Controls is primarily a management process.
Human Firewalls
The danger is thinking that theres going to be a silver bullet, but it never arrives, said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, a security training company. As a community in IT, you need to make a data driven decision that having a human firewall is a really good idea.
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The idea of a human firewall is that a company thats properly managed will have employees that wont fall for the social engineering that precedes most data breaches. This means that your employees must be instilled with what Sjouwerman calls a security culture. With a proper security culture, your employees will know not to open phishing emails, theyll know not to send out the company phone book or the CEOs contact information. Theyll also know when to report suspected intrusion attempts to the CISO staff.
Security Culture
Getting a security into your company isnt necessarily the easiest thing in the world, because it requires that your employees not take the easy way out when it comes to protecting your organization. It means they must choose long complex passwords, they must not let people follow them into secure areas and they must not answer questions over the phone unless their role in the organization is that they communicate with the public.
Youre better off hiring the right people and training them, Sjouwerman said. Youre hiring for a security culture. They have a security awareness level so that they can be trained.
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To accomplish this, you need to have buy-in from your board so that you can have the boards backing when you institute security controls and limit your hiring to people who understand why security is important, even if they have to be trained.
Getting your employees motivated to be part of the security culture will take some effort. Youll need an internal sales and marketing campaign, but everyone needs to be sold on the fact that security is important. Sjouwerman said.
Sjouwerman noted that having data breaches covered in the media on a near daily basis helps drive home the need to prevent them. A boatload of those data breaches are caused by human error, he said.
The Management Approach
But if you look at the 20 CIS Controls, youll see that they are management tasks, not technological solutions. A few of the tasks can use technology to implement part of the solution, but in most of the cases there is no hardware or software solution available.
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For example, the requirement for malware protection can use anti-malware software or devices, but the requirement for controlled access based on need to know is purely a management task. Likewise, the task to implement a security awareness and training program requires management desire and the appropriate funding.
No doubt youre aware of the many companies selling products that they claim will solve all of your security problems if only you put them to work in your organization. The problem with these products is that theyre not totally effective. Even the best of the appliances or software packages will let miss some threats, if only because the attackers are very good at finding ways to get past those products you bought.
This doesnt mean that you shouldnt buy these products, because you should. Even though they may miss 5 to 10 percent of the bad stuff thats trying to breach your network, Thats still a lot less than youd have otherwise.
But for your security to be effective, your employees helped by your management approach, need to discover and block the rest.
Employee Focus
To make all of this work, your employees need to see that their management encourages their security awareness. This could mean a bonus for finding and reporting a threat. It could mean the backing of management for reporting a poor security practice in the workplace. It could even mean praise for finding a new and better security practice.
Whats key is that your employees are willingly and even enthusiastically part of the security solution. This should not appear to them to be a burden or to require unreasonable difficulties. The bottom line is that they should want to be part of the security solution.
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Staying Out Of Trouble In 2020 With New Security Practices And Human Firewalls - Forbes