Category Archives: Internet Security
5 Ways to Navigate the Threat Landscape Conveyed in Verizon’s DBIR 2021 – tripwire.com
On May 13, Verizon released its Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) 2021. This annual publication serves many purposes. It yields context into what security analysts are seeing, for instance. But it also affects organizations security postures at an even higher level.
Heres Anthony Israel-Davis, research and development manager at Tripwire, with more:
One thing that the DBIR does is it takes the things that are going on in the cybersecurity space, particularly with breaches and incidents, and breaks them down into something that is both interesting to look at from a statistics standpoint but then actionable to various industries or people who are actually doing the work to defend the enterprise. At a very high level, if you are a cybersecurity analyst and youre in the trenches, this might be old news, but if you are doing strategy, if youre trying to determine what to do in your space, this is a great report to understand whats going on out thereespecially year to year.
Of course, there are only so many initiatives that organizations can take on each year. Organizations therefore need to be strategic about what security priorities they elect to pursue. This reality raises some interesting questions. What if they dont know which security objectives to take up? What if theyre looking to maximize the latest DBIRs findings for the year ahead?
If organizations find themselves in that position, they can develop a multi-part strategy that focuses on some or all of the following five objectives.
In its DBIR 2021, Verizon explained that phishing continued its reign as one of the top Action varieties in breaches. But it also noted that phishing was more prevalent in 2020, accounting for 36% of breaches. Thats up from 25% a year prior, an increase which reflects the influx of pandemic-related phishing lures in the first half of 2020.
Acknowledging this growth of phishing, CISOs and other security professionals need to prioritize the creation of an anti-phishing program. Phishing attempts regularly target non-IT staff with convincing messages using psychological techniques to create a sense of urgency that motivates recipients to click. They thus need to invest in educating their personnel about phishing, making sure that everyone within their organization from HR to legal to R&D understands red flags to look for, how to report suspicious messages, and what to do if they clicked a link or opened a file contained within a phishing email.
At one point in its report, Verizon stated that doing the basics will help against the vast majority of the problem space that is most likely to affect your organization. Not every organization knows what the basics consist of. Fortunately, they can look to the CIS Controls.
A prioritized list of best practices maintained by the Center for Internet Security, the CIS Controls constitute a free, highly respected framework that organizations can use to ensure that they have the most important security controls in place. One way they can look at the fundamental security imparted by aligning with the CIS Controls is to think of their organizations digital environment as a house. Without basic security in place, anyone can enter. Adhering to fundamental security controlsespecially those listed in Implementation Group 1 of the CIS Controls v8can help to close the windows, lock the doors, and put a standard security system in place. While nothing can completely eradicate the possibility of a break-in, implementing the CIS Controls can help to decrease the likelihood and impact of a breach.
Verizon found in its DBIR 2021 that breaches involving older vulnerabilities were more common than those exploiting more recent weaknesses. Part of the reason for this trend is that organizations dont always approach patching as a priority. In the absence of diligent patching practices, attackers can use the same exploits against the same vulnerabilities for years on end.
Organizations can do their part to address this trend by emphasizing vulnerability management (VM), the process of scanning networks for known vulnerabilities (often referring to a list of CVEs or common vulnerabilities and exposures) before prioritizing and remediating those vulnerabilities based on risk severity. Admittedly, one of the more difficult aspects of running a successful VM program is understanding which vulnerabilities to work on mitigating first. When vulnerabilities pile up, it can be a challenge to tell which ones are the most serious and potentially damaging. Organizations can therefore elect to work with advanced VM solutions that provide flexible, granular scoring systems for prioritizing known flaws.
In this years publication, Verizon relayed that external cloud assets were more common than on-premises assets in both breaches and incidents. This observation highlights the need for organizations to understand their cloud security responsibilities. While their cloud security provider will safeguard the cloud infrastructure they are utilizing, its their responsibility to ensure that all their company data and processes added to the cloud are secure.
How do they do that? Advanced cloud account monitoring cybersecurity tools can scan their cloud accounts for the misconfigurations that could serve as open windows for attackers. For example, cloud monitoring tools can prioritize cloud account misconfigurations in order of risk level so they can address the most critical issues first. This will help them to keep their assets secure as their presence in the cloud continues to evolve and grow.
Verizon witnessed threat actors preying on industrial environments, particularly those in the manufacturing sector. Indeed, researchers documented a 61.2% increase of ransomwares part in malware-associated breaches involving manufacturing organizations over previous years. They also learned that personal data was the most compromised data type in those breaches.
Organizations can respond by prioritizing their industrial cybersecurity. In addition to educating their teams about the importance of cybersecurity for increasingly connected operational technology (OT) environments, for instance, one of the most important things they can do to secure the OT side of their organization is to implement an industrial visibility solution. Visibility starts with holistic asset inventory, so they can use a tool that shows them exactly whats on their network via a complete inventory of hardware and software assets. They need to know who these devices are communicating to, know if their configurations are changing, know what vulnerabilities are applicable, and know what their logs are telling them. Once they achieve real-time visibility, they can then implement protective security controls and continuously monitor their environment.
For more information about where to spend your time in the DBIR 2021, check out this resource published on the State of Security.
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5 Ways to Navigate the Threat Landscape Conveyed in Verizon's DBIR 2021 - tripwire.com
Phishing attack dupes Indian taxpayers and steals their financial information – MediaNama.com
Elibomi, an Android malware, has targetted Indian taxpayers by stealing their financial information in a phishing attack, according to a blog post by McAfees Mobile Research team. The antivirus company disclosed that the attackers lure in unsuspecting users by pretending to be a fake tax-filing application.The company picked out two campaigns in November 2020, and May 2021, which relied on phony tax-filing themes to target users.
Cyber attacks have increased exponentially since the pandemic as lockdowns caused by COVID-19 triggered a rapid adoption of digital tech. The surge in digitisation has also invited the attention of hackers and scammers who see this as an opportunity ripe for the taking. Phishing is a cyber attack that uses disguised email as a weapon and is notoriously difficult to sniff out, given its sophistication.
It is also the reason why it is one of the most common types of cyber attacks. Phishing constituted almost one-third of all cyber attacks in 2019 as per Security Intelligence. The attacks have increased by 600% during the pandemic. The consequences can be damaging in most cases as it results in severe financial losses.
McAfee explained that the delivery of malware takes place through an SMS text.
The SMS message pretends to be from the Income Tax Department in India and uses the name of the targeted user to make the SMS phishing attack more credible and increase the chances of infecting the device. The fake app is designed to capture and steal the victims sensitive personal and financial information by tricking the user into believing that it is a legitimate tax-filing app, the post read.
Heres how cybercriminals display the original logo to trick users into installing the fake iMobile app:
Image credits: McAfee
The stolen data includes e-mail addresses, phone numbers, SMS/MMS messages among other financial and personal identifiable information. McAfee added that the malware exposes stolen information to anyone on the Internet.
McAfee advised users to follow these steps:
Elibomi has been able to gather sensitive information from affected users which could be used to perform identity and/or financial fraud. Even more worryingly, the information was not only in cybercriminals hands, but it was also unexpectedly exposed on the internet which could have a greater impact on the victims, the company informed.
February 2021: Hindustan Times reported that a number of senior government officials, including those from the ministries of defence and external affairs, were targetted in a phishing campaign with attackers using compromised government domain email accounts to launch their hacking attempts. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) issued an alert soon after the attack but there was no confirmation whether any targetted computers were compromised.
March 2021: A response to a parliamentary question revealed that CERT-In, Indias nodal cyber security agency, was working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other banks to track and disable phishing websites in an effort to thwart online frauds.
July 2021: Researchers at Seqrite, the cybersecurity arm of Quick Heal Technologies, claimed that they found sophisticated phishing attempts targetting Indian critical infrastructure PSUs across sectors of finance, power, and telecom by a Pakistan-linked group. The PSUs were targetted to get access to sensitive information including screenshots, keystrokes, & files from the affected system.
July 2021: Kaspersky Internet Security found that India was among the top three countries facing phishing attacks primarily via instant mobile messaging apps like Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Telegram. Countries experiencing the highest number of phishing attacks were Russia (46 percent), Brazil (15 percent), and India (7 percent).
August 2021:CERT-Inwarned that scammers were targetting banking customers in India with a new type of phishing attack to collect sensitive information such as internet banking credentials, mobile numbers, and OTP to carry out fraudulent transactions. It said that the malicious activity is carried out using the ngrok platform (cross-platform application).
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Phishing attack dupes Indian taxpayers and steals their financial information - MediaNama.com
Microsoft warns of certain attacks through Office files and how we can avoid them – Market Research Telecast
The fact that Microsofts operating system, as well as its own office suite are among the most used every day on millions of computers around the world, makes them prime targets for cybercriminals. In this way, your threats can reach many more people and in this way, get a greater number of victims. This time, Microsoft is warning of the use of certain malicious files that try to install malware on our computers.
To do this, they usually use a .DOCX document that automatically opens the Internet Explorer browser to load the malicious website and that contains an ActiveX control that is responsible for automatically downloading the malware onto the victims computer. Several security researchers have informed Microsoft of these dangerous practices that are taking advantage of the vulnerability CVE-2021-40444.
The researchers themselves have managed to reproduce the attack on computers with the latest Office 2019 and Office 365 version on Windows 10. The way to act is through a Word document that carries an ActiveX control that is responsible for downloading the malware itself onto the computer just by opening said document.
Microsoft has confirmed that it has already got to work to solve the security problem, but in the meantime it is possible that many users could be victims of this type of attack. Therefore, they have given some guidelines to be able to avoid these attacks.
The technology giant indicates that the antivirus itself Microsoft Defender y Microsoft Defender for Endpoint they are able to detect this vulnerability and prevent us from being infected. Therefore, it is recommended to review your settings and make sure you have them activated on your computer. Similarly, in Microsoft Office we also find what we know as Application Guard, which allows you to detect untrusted files and avoid these types of infections.
In addition, users who make use of an account that does not have administrator permissions will be less exposed to attacks.
On the other hand, Microsoft indicates that another temporary solution for Office 365 users is disable ActiveX controls completely. In this way, we will prevent the hidden malware from being downloaded from the document. However, this requires making a change to some entries in the Windows registry. To do this, we just have to open a notepad and copy the code shown below:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Internet Settings Zones 0]
1001 = dword: 00000003
1004 = dword: 00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Internet Settings Zones 1]
1001 = dword: 00000003
1004 = dword: 00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Internet Settings Zones 2]
1001 = dword: 00000003
1004 = dword: 00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Policies Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Internet Settings Zones 3]
1001 = dword: 00000003
1004 = dword: 00000003
Then we save it as a .reg file, we go to the path where we have saved it and we click on it to execute it. This will cause the appropriate changes to be made to the system registry to completely disable ActiveX.
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Microsoft warns of certain attacks through Office files and how we can avoid them - Market Research Telecast
Missouri lawmakers discuss election security in hearing marked by conspiracy theories – Joplin Globe
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. The Missouri House Elections Committee convened last week to discuss ways to alter the initiative petition process and improve election security.
And over the course of more than three hours, lawmakers heard a parade of debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Im convinced the country suffered the greatest cyberattack in the history of the world that was ordered and orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party, retired military analyst David Stevens told the committee.
Stevens was referencing a conspiracy peddled by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell that claims the Chinese were behind President Joe Bidens 2020 victory. During his August symposium, Lindell offered $5 million to any cybersecurity expert who could prove his claims wrong, and at least one former military cyber expert, a longtime Republican from Texas, has said he easily can.
Others testifying Tuesday were similarly enamored with Lindells theories, including Rep. Ann Kelly, a Lamar Republican who doesnt serve on the elections committee but testified about attending a symposium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, organized by Lindell.
Missouri resident Keith Carmichael testified about false voter-fraud theories from Ohio mathematician Douglas Frank, which have been disproven by a Republican-led Michigan Senate Oversight Committee. Working together, Frank and Lindell contend they can prove voting machines were hooked up to the internet, which both Ohio and Missouri laws prohibit.
Just a moment ago, a veteran military analyst told you that you were attacked, Carmichael said. I dont know if you were listening. Nobody ran out. I didnt see anybody call home. I know during 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, I imagine people just stopped what they were doing.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or irregularities during the 2020 election.
The witnesses were met with numerous objections from both Republican and Democrat committee members. Election officials at both the state and county levels also testified for several hours to dispel the false claims.
We do have a very secure system that all of our election authorities use, said Trish Vincent, chief of staff for Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. We put in layers of security to make it doubly secure.
However, Vincent quickly added that a bill to require a photo ID to vote an idea that has been repeatedly rejected by Missouri courts would be one way to dispel mistrust and increase voter confidence.
Weve been wrestling with that for a number of years, she said.
The GOP-dominated General Assembly made requiring a photo ID to vote and making it harder to change state law through the initiative petition process top priorities this year. But the session ended in May without any of the election bills finding their way to Gov. Mike Parsons desk.
Tuesdays hearing is seen as clear indication that election legislation will once again sit atop the GOP agenda in January when lawmakers return to Jefferson City.
Rep. Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said Tuesdays hearing was part of a strategy to sow seeds of doubt and distrust in the electoral system.
Even though the Republican committee members didnt outwardly support the election-fraud conspiracy theories touted by witnesses, Aune said she had serious concerns about the level of legitimacy they gave the claims by inviting witnesses to talk about them.
They just need to put it out there and leave people to stew on it, Aune said. It paves the way to create policies to make our elections safer if they think they are unsafe.
At one point in the meeting, committee chair Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, said that he brought forth the issues of data hacking to make sure the states election authorities have the tools they need.
That was my purpose today to make sure that we talked about these odd things that could impact the integrity and the trustworthiness of our systems, Shaul said.
The first hole in Lindells Chinese cyberattack theory is that election authorities dont certify election results via the internet, said Rep. Peggy McGaugh, a Carrollton Republican who is vice chair of the elections committee and a former county clerk.
Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller, a Republican and former state legislator, agreed.
Missouri is a paper ballot state, Schoeller said. We certify elections off of paper. We use electronic equipment on election night in order to be able to put uncertified results out to the public.
All that equipment is certified by the secretary of states office. They use an encrypted memory stick thats certified by a bipartisan election team.
Schoeller walked through the rigorous auditing steps that election results go through after election night.
We have these safeguards in place, he said. I think we all agree we are going to trust but we are going to verify.
Aune said a public school in her district had to close down for two days because its system was hacked.
She co-sponsored the Missouri Cybersecurity Act, which lawmakers approved in May and will establish a commission of cybersecurity experts to address issues like this. It went into effect Saturday.
If lawmakers are interested in cybersecurity, they should ignore baseless election conspiracies to focus on safeguarding utilities and entities like public schools, she said.
Thats where our time should be spent, Aune said. Lets put our attention where we know we need it.
Excerpt from:
Missouri lawmakers discuss election security in hearing marked by conspiracy theories - Joplin Globe
Business this week – The Economist
Aug 28th 2021
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Joe Biden held a summit at the White House with the chief executives of Americas biggest tech, financial and infrastructure companies to discuss cyber-security. Those attending included Tim Cook of Apple (pictured), Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase. Criminal hackers have attacked several critical infrastructure- and software-systems this year. Mr Biden urged companies to help fill the half a million job vacancies in cyber-security.
Chinese tech stocks had a good few days, in part because robust quarterly earnings from JD.com, one of Chinas biggest e-commerce companies, suggested that it was coping well with the governments regulatory crackdown on the tech industry. Chinas internet giants are making sure they are seen to respond to the latest edicts. Pinduoduo and Tencent, two online platforms, said they would donate billions to worthy causes, after President Xi Jinping pressed high-income enterprises to return more to society. See article.
The share prices of Uber, Lyft and other gig-economy companies wobbled after a judge in California struck down Proposition 22, a voter-approved measure that allows the firms to continue classifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than workers. The judge found that the measure was unconstitutional and unenforceable, but stayed his decision until appeals can be heard.
Providing a contrast to the image of tech companies as fiendish reprobates, Airbnb offered free temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world. The home-rental platform and its charity have housed 25,000 refugees over the past four years.
South Africas official unemployment rate rose to 34.4%, the highest level since the current method of counting joblessness began in 2008. Including those in the labour force who are discouraged from looking for work, the rate rose to 44.4%.
South Koreas central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 0.75%. It was the first rate increase in almost three years, and comes amid growing consumer debt in the surging economy.
Britains Competition and Markets Authority published its report into the proposed takeover of Arm, a British chip designer, by Nvidia, Americas most valuable semiconductor manufacturer. The CMA concluded that the deal would result in less competition and called for an official investigation. The government has already voiced separate concerns about the takeover on national-security grounds.
Virgin Orbit said it would list on the Nasdaq stockmarket by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in a deal that includes an investment by Boeing. An offshoot of Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit is expanding its satellite-launch business and developing a constellation for internet-of-things services.
Maersk, the worlds biggest container-shipping firm, ordered eight vessels with dual-fuel engines that will be powered mostly by green methanol. Maersk is busily decarbonising as freight customers look to reduce their own emissions in supply chains. But it may encounter problems securing stock of the methanol, which is made from renewable sources such as biomass and solar energy.
The British government rejected a plea by the retail and transport industries to fill an acute shortage of lorry drivers by giving temporary work visas to lorry drivers from the EU. The shortage of drivers has been caused by covid-19 measures and the departure of EU nationals after Brexit. Delayed deliveries are causing goods shortages. McDonalds ran out of milkshakes this week because of supply-chain issues.
Goldman Sachs became the latest big bank in America to insist that employees and visitors to its offices produce proof of vaccination against covid-19. Delta Air Lines became the first big company to impose a health-insurance surcharge, of $200 a month, on unvaccinated staff, though it is not requiring its workers to have the jab.
Matt Mendelsohn was appointed as Yale Universitys chief investment officer after the death of David Swensen in May. Mr Mendelsohn worked closely with Swensen and now takes on full responsibility for Yales influential $31bn endowment fund.
Perhaps confirming the adage that sex sells, OnlyFans reversed its ban on explicit acts by adult performers on its platform, after a backlash from the porn stars who have driven the sites success (they say it gives them a safe space to earn money). OnlyFans had introduced the ban on rumpy pumpy after coming under pressure from creditors worried about reputational risks, but it has now found alternative ways to support our diverse creator community. See article.
This article appeared in the The world this week section of the print edition under the headline "Business this week"
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Business this week - The Economist
Microsoft and Google pledge $30bn to fight cyber crime over five years – The National
US tech giants Microsoft and Google have committed to invest $20 billion and $10bn, respectively, to fight cyber crime over the next five years.
The two companies announced pledges after their chief executives met US President Joe Biden on Wednesday and discussed measures to strengthen the country's cyber ecosystem. Top executive of other technology companies such as IBM, Apple and Amazon also attended the meeting.
Thank you @POTUS for convening a critical conversation on cybersecurity, Satya Nadella, Microsofts chief executive, said on Twitter.
Microsoft will invest $20bn to advance our security solutions over the next five years, $150 million to help US government agencies upgrade protections and expand our cyber security training partnerships."
The Washington-based company has been one of the prime targets for cyber criminals. Recently, thousands of apps and portals that use Microsofts Power Apps platform mistakenly leaked about 38 million confidential records and left them exposed for months on the internet.
In March, cyber espionage group Hafnium reportedly exploited Microsoft's widely used email and calendar Exchange server, breaching more than 30,000 commercial and local government entities in the US.
Microsoft said it would also expand its partnerships with community colleges and non-profit groups for cyber security training programmes.
US President Joe Biden addresses members of his national security team and private sector leaders at the White House in Washington on Wednesday. Reuters
The meeting [with President Biden] comes at a timely moment, as widespread cyber attacks continue to exploit vulnerabilities targeting people, organisations and governments around the world, Kent Walker, senior vice president of global affairs at Google, said.
Governments and businesses are at a watershed moment in addressing cyber security [cyber attacks] are increasingly endangering valuable data and critical infrastructure."
The Alphabet-owned company said it plans to invest in strengthening cyber security and securing the software supply chain. It also pledged to train 100,000 Americans in the fields of information technology support and data analytics, learning in-demand skills, including data privacy and security.
Cyber crimes globally have risen amid a rise in remote working and a rapid digital uptick due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to IBM.
The average global cost of a data breach rose about 10 per cent a year to $4.2m over the past 12 months, it said. The US continued to top the list, with average costs of $9m, up from $8.6m a year ago, followed by Saudi Arabia and the UAE at $6.9m. Canada ($5.4m), Germany ($4.9m) and Japan ($4.7m) complete the list.
Last week, T-Mobile US said cyber attackers breached its computer networks and stole personal details of more than 40 million past, current and prospective customers.
The information stolen from the company's servers included victims names, dates of birth, social security numbers and driving licence details.
The cyber security market is forecast to be worth $363 billion over the next five years, according to Mordor Intelligence. Getty
In May, cyber criminals targeted the US company Colonial Pipeline, which ships about 2.5 million barrels of oil each day across the country. It had to pay a ransom of about 75 Bitcoin to regain control of its systems. However, US investigators have said they recovered about 63.7 Bitcoin.
Updated: August 27th 2021, 6:11 AM
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Microsoft and Google pledge $30bn to fight cyber crime over five years - The National
Cartwright and Alhambra school districts soon to deliver free Wi-Fi – ABC15 Arizona
PHOENIX Nearly $34 million in CARES Act money is going to be used to provide free Wi-Fi to students from kindergarten through community college. Its part of an effort to even the playing field for families who just cant afford internet at home. The problem is far from new but the solutions to bridging the digital divide at Phoenix-area schools is.
Its about making access available to students, its about removing inequities, said Paul Ross with Phoenix College.
Ross is the brainchild behind the Phoenix Digital Education Connection Canopy, an idea put into motion after schools serving high poverty populations struggled to transition to online learning during the pandemic. On September 1, the canopy will begin delivering free Wi-Fi to potentially thousands of students.
It brought awareness to where the gaps really existed, for a lot of people it went from being a number on a spreadsheet to being weve got real households, students who really dont have access at home, said Ross.
Hes talking about students like Greg Arzola, now studying cyber security at Phoenix College, and helping to make this program a reality alongside Ross as part of his internship. But in high school, his family struggled to make ends meet while his single mother cared for seven children.
It was just really my mom taking care of us and we didnt have a lot of extra money to spend on internet, its kind of like either paying the rent or just having internet access, said Arzola who said he didn't have internet access at home in high school.
The solution looks like this, infrastructure for Wi-Fi access is now installed across seven locations, casting a four-square-mile net providing internet coverage for both the Cartwright and Alhambra school districts.
With this, I know that children will have more benefits, better opportunities than I did, and have a better time succeeding in school and getting a better education, said Arzola.
Thats going to benefit our students for years and years to come, said Cartwright School District CFO Victoria Farrar.
Farrar says the network comes with security measures to protect children using it, giving one of the poorest districts a hand up towards a brighter future.
This is really laying the foundation for what we know our students need, and now we have the tools and ability to make sure we sustain it going forward, said Farrar.
Its a partnership of schools, the City of Phoenix, and Phoenix College that will eventually add the connection canopy over 13 area districts in the next few years.
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Cartwright and Alhambra school districts soon to deliver free Wi-Fi - ABC15 Arizona
The lies of free sign-ups – The Kathmandu Post
When I say browsing through any website isnt free, I dont mean the price you pay to your internet service providers or the price you pay for your electricity bill. It's not even the price you pay to get hold of the electronic devices to access such accounts; instead, it's your datayour private informationwhich is sold; auctioned off to the highest bidder. Over and over again. To quote an Internet user named bluebeetle If you are not paying for it, youre not the customer; youre the product being sold.
In the infamous hearing of Facebooks Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg in 2018 when Senator Hatch had asked him, "How do you sustain a business model in which users don't pay for your service?" Zuckerberg replied, "Senator, we run ads." So, for the platforms which heavily rely on their users' watch time and click-through rate on ads to earn money, it is only logical for their business model to focus on what their advertisers want and how to market relevant ads to the users. Hence they use targeted ads. Targeted advertisements are done by marketers where the users get ads that revolve around their specific interests, traits and shopping patterns.
The websites run their ads specific to their users to benefit their "customers", who are the companies who buy the advertisement slots. In the Netherlands, a 2013 study showed that when a law was introduced that required websites to inform visitors of tracking in the advertisements, click-through rates dropped. So it is obvious why companies would use sneaky ways and abuse loopholes in the law to mine data.
With users sharing their personal data and the web cookies tracking every click of the users, the marketers have been able to tailor ads to each user according to their needs. Research shows that many people don't know that their data dictates the ads they receive.
Most of us have got ads of the products or services specifically when we need them. Researchers discovered that users perceive personalised ad content as more appealing and more connected to their interests.
Have you ever wondered how much information Facebook or Youtube, or Instagram has on you? How much information has Google stored on you and to what extent it keeps track of your search history and click-through rates? Well, you can request a copy of the data these websites have on you. When I got curious about how much Google has tabs about my personal information, I exported my personal data from Google. It created a copy out of 46 products that contained 39.25 GB worth of data. Your privacy settings determine how much information you allow Google to access your browsing history and activity on related products.
Google keeps track and stores your location. Google has a record of every place you've been to (if your location tracking was turned on). I was shocked to find Google still keeping records of a random restaurant I visited on July 31st, 2015. It stores your search history across all of your devices, even the ones you have deleted. It knows all the apps youve used, every extension used. It has all of your YouTube historylikes, comments, searches and subscriptions. So, based on the content you watch on YouTube, Google can figure out your personality, political inclination, religious stance, health data, and tastes and preferences on basically anything. Google Photos has access to all the photos you've taken through your phone. Much like Google, Facebook, too, keeps track of every message you have sent and people you've befriended or unfriended. It also keeps track of your log-ins or log-outs, the devices you have used, and the places you have visited. Even if you delete any piece of information, it just becomes invisible but never really disappears.
Inspired by Brian X. Chens article in the New York Times, I downloaded the information that Facebook has on me. To my horror, I found out that they had 3.46 GB worth of data on me. I found a folder labelled "Ads_information. A section named Advertisers who uploaded a contact list with your information had an overwhelming majority of companies I had never heard of or interacted with. It also had an "Advertisers you've interacted with" folder that records every advertisement I've interacted with.
Chen further explains how brands obtain users' information. These include: Buying information from data providers like Acxiom and taking that information to Facebook to serve targeted ads. Brands use tracking technologies like web cookies and invisible pixels to collect information about your browsing activities. According to Ghostery, Facebook offers different trackers to help brands harvest your information, advertisers can take some pieces of data that they have collected with trackers and upload them into the "Custom Audiences" tool to display ads to you on Facebook. After receiving a backlash, Facebook has limited the practice of allowing advertisers to target ads using information from third-party data brokers.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss but not when its your data that is in danger. The free services that these companies provide us doesnt automatically mean were getting fair compensation in exchange for our data. As MIT Technology Review has put it, "have little idea how much personal data they have provided, how it is used, and what it is worth." If the general public were aware of viable alternatives, they might hold out for compensation for free.
In the same internet space where browsers like Gener8 Ads respect your choice to either limit your data collection or generate money from it, we are obligated to analyse whether Google has been selling our data in exchange for providing "free" services. In a Harvard Business Review, Maurice E. Stucke wrote how Data-opolies have been depressing privacy protection below competition levels and collecting personal data above competition levels. (The Data-opolies consist of Google, Facebook, Amazon and similar companies who have minimal competition.) Stucke compares the collection of excessive personal data with charging an exorbitant price for a product/service. Since the companies have limited - or no- competition, they without a doubt have no competitive alternatives hence the bargaining power for the users is nonexistent.
These companies are also at a considerable risk of getting a security breach as the hackers have more incentives to hack such companies. The personal data of over 533 million Facebook users was leaked online in April 2021. This exposed the users' data for free, leaving the users vulnerable to data theft or impersonation.
When there should be stronger regulations on internet security and data privacy, Data awareness amongst users is necessary. So maybe next time you sign up for a website, you first at least skim-read the "Terms of Service", and the next time you click on "Accept Cookies", you first read what data you're willing to let the website track and collect from your browser.
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The lies of free sign-ups - The Kathmandu Post
Why Kubernetes isnt just another tech buzzword – IT Brief New Zealand
Article by New Relic ANZ solutions consulting senior director Myk Shaforostov and Innablr CTO Prateek Nayak.
Kubernetes, or K8s, the popular container orchestration platform, has profoundly transformed the way development teams deploy software, and for good reason.
Its rapidly becoming the source of truth for many organisations due to its centralised platform structure and has numerous benefits, including increased deployment agility, cost savings and scalability.
In fact, new research has found that 68% of IT professionals increased their K8s usage due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefits of K8s are being realised by tier-one enterprises to smaller-scale business operators and everything in between. So why should businesses get on the K8s bandwagon?
K8s is an open-source container orchestration platform designed to automate the deployment, scaling and management of containerised applications. K8s comes with many benefits, including effective resource consumption control, easy canary deployments and rollbacks, and easy scalability.
Initially developed by Google, K8s today is the de facto standard for container orchestration and the flagship project of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).
While K8s itself sits in the developer and engineering realm, it has notable flow-on effects on the wider business, especially in terms of operational efficiencies and logistical concerns, both of which impact the organisations bottom line.
Distributed teams and security best practices
One of the biggest concerns companies tend to have around K8s and indeed open-source technology is security. Traditionally when businesses are on-premises, they are isolated behind the network, so security isnt so much of an issue. However, for companies that operate in the cloud with distributed teams, that boundary doesnt exist. When teams are in disparate locations deploying their own VMs, tracking the security posture is challenging.
One Melbourne-based K8s Certified Service provider (CNCF) with a focus on cloud engineering and next-generation platform consultancy explained that the open-source community has built an ecosystem of robust software to bolster K8s security landscape. And because K8s promotes the centralising of infrastructure, security oversight is simplified, and security mechanisms can be bolted on with ease.
With K8s, there are many controls such as Centre for Internet Security (CIS) and National Institute for Standards of Technology (NIST) guidelines that outline how to secure K8s infrastructure, plus tools that provide necessary automation to benchmark clusters.
Reports alerting users to potential security risks can be easily run and is powerful for security personnel because it gives them one place to focus on for all the teams in the business. Furthermore, when security modifications or enhancements are made, everybody in the team benefits from it.
This can be characterised as localised improvements that allow for global benefits. By making one local improvement to a K8s cluster, every team that is deploying onto that cluster benefits from it and inherits the improvements instead of having to implement them themselves.
Localised improvements that allow for global benefits
The benefits of K8s extend beyond security. Business engineers no longer need to spend large amounts of time implementing security controls and going through weeks of checks and balances. Engineers are free to focus purely on writing features or enhancements for customers and react faster to market changes.
The pandemic is a prime example. Businesses that were already well into their K8s journey could react much faster to the switch to digital than those working in on-prem environments. The agility benefits are an inherited part of a central platform like K8s.
Solutions for businesses big and small
Its not just smaller, more nimble businesses that are reaping the benefits of K8s. Some of the biggest names in Australias banking and insurance industries have been on their K8s adoption journey for well over two to three years. What these businesses find most compelling is the centralised nature, flexibility, and scale that the platform offers. It also works with all the cloud providers, with on-prem systems, and offers developers a straightforward interface to deploy applications.
Even given the platforms success to date, K8s is still early in its journey towards achieving its full potential, which makes it all the more exciting.
Kubernetes is here to stay.
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Why Kubernetes isnt just another tech buzzword - IT Brief New Zealand
Protect Your Privacy For Life With This VPN Loved By Its Users, Now Less Than $40 – IGN Nordics
If you use the internet, you need a solid VPN. It keeps your private data away from prying eyes, makes even public Wi-Fi safe to use, and allows you to browse the internet totally unrestricted by geo-blocks. Considering that93%of data breaches could have been avoided through basic data security measures, if you havent been keeping your browsing information, online banking and personal data secure through a VPN yet - now is the time to do something about it.
Thats because today, weve found an awesome deal with one of the absolute best VPN services on the internet. Right now, you can grab alifetime subscription to BelkaVPNon sale for just $39.99 - thats a massive 94% discount off the regular price of $719.
Belka protects all your private data thanks to its encryption shield tunnel, which secures your activity even when using public networks - and it comes with a zero log policy, and no speed or bandwidth restrictions, so your connection will always be fast and secure.
Belka uses more than 120 VPN servers across 25 global locations - keeping your information private, and meaning that you can bypass online region restrictions, too. Excitingly for entertainment fans, that opens up a whole new world of international TV, movie, and music streaming - allowing you to access the servers for US and international Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, ESPN+ and HBO, and over 40 other streaming services. So, whether you want to always be able to watch US shows wherever you travel, or you want to enjoy international shows you cant see on regular US channels, youll never be unable to watch anything by location - ever again.
This VPN comes extremely highly rated, too, with 4.1/5 stars on theGoogle Play storeand a 4.2/5 star rating on Trustpilot. Its no surprise the service is loved by its users. As one recently wrote, I have been looking for a good and secure VPN and this VPN has everything.
Ready to secure your private data for life? Get yourBelkaVPN: Lifetime Subscriptionon sale with 94% off right now, for $39.99 (reg. $719).
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Protect Your Privacy For Life With This VPN Loved By Its Users, Now Less Than $40 - IGN Nordics