ComputerWorld – Page 22 – Computer Security Articles

More than 1,100 technology luminaries, leaders and scientists have issued a warning against labs performing large-scale experiments with artificial intelligence (AI) more powerful than ChatGPT, saying the technology poses a grave threat to humanity.

In an open letter published by The Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organization that aims is to reduce global catastrophic and existential risks to humanity, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and MIT Future of Life Institute President Max Tegmark joined other signatories in saying AI poses “profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs.”

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 27, 2023 admin

Q&A: Cisco CIO Fletcher Previn on the challenges of a hybrid workplace

In April, 2021, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins announced he would let all 75,000 employees work remotely indefinitely, even after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. The company had seen no drop in productivity by allowing employees to work from home and expected to save money by not fully staffing offices. When and how often employees should come into the office would be up to their managers, who abide by a flexible hybrid policy.

But that shift brought technology challenges most companies are by now familiar with: how do you secure networks when the employee’s home is essentially a branch office? How do you create company culture from afar? And, how do you retain employees at a time when IT talent is in historically high demand.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 20, 2023 admin

Russia’s iPhone ban and the digital supply chain

Russia’s Kremlin ordered officials to stop using iPhones, apparently over concerns the devices could be vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, Reuters reports. When surveillance-as-a-service firms sit exposed for brazenly undermining device security, it’s hard to think there isn’t an argument there. But the bigger story isn’t the harm to Apple’s small business in Russia, it’s the threat to digital supply chains it shows.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 17, 2023 admin

Patch Office and Windows now to resolve two zero-days

Microsoft has resolved 80 new CVEs this month in addition to four earlier CVEs, bringing the number of security issues addressed in this month’s Patch Tuesday release to 84.

Unfortunately, we have two zero-day flaws in Outlook (CVE-2023-23397) and Windows (CVE-2023-24880) that require a “Patch Now” release requirement for both Windows and Microsoft Office updates. As it was last month, there were no further updates for Microsoft Exchange Server or Adobe Reader. This month the team at Application Readiness has provided a helpful infographic that outlines the risks associated with each of the updates for this cycle.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 15, 2023 admin

Feds to Microsoft: Clean up your security act — or else

The US government, worried about the continuing growth of cybercrime, ransomware, and countries including Russia, Iran, and North Korea hacking into government and private networks, is in the middle of drastically changing its cybersecurity strategy. No longer will it rely largely on prodding businesses and tech companies to voluntarily take basic security measures such as patching vulnerable systems to keep them updated.

Instead, it now wants to establish baseline security requirements for businesses and tech companies and to fine those that don’t comply.

It’s not just companies that use the systems who might eventually need to abide by the regulations. Companies that make and sell them, such as Microsoft, Apple, and others could be held accountable as well. Early indications are that the feds already have Microsoft in their crosshairs — they’ve warned the company that, at the moment, it doesn’t appear to be up to the task.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 8, 2023 admin

Why you should use Apple’s Rapid Security Response

Mac, iPad, and iPhone users can choose to automatically install system security patches as they are released with a new Apple feature called Rapid Security Response.

Rapid Security Response aims to secure Apple’s platforms with automated security updates. The idea is that if every user automatically installs such patches, the entire ecosystem becomes inherently more secure.

Announced last year at WWDC 2022, Apple began testing the feature in October. During beta testing, it shared four content-free downloads to test its distribution system, including one recent test in March. While the feature can be enabled on devices running the latest operating system, as of this month Apple had not yet begun to ship genuine security patches.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 7, 2023 admin

Jamf VP explains enterprise security threats — and how to mitigate them

Apple-focused device management and security vendor Jamf today published its Security 360: Annual Trends report, which reveals the five security tends impacting organizations running hybrid work environments. As it is every year, the report is interesting, so I spoke to Michael Covington, vice president of portfolio strategy, for more details about what the company found this year.

First, here’s a brief rundown of some of the salient points in the report:

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 6, 2023 admin

Maybe one day every platform will be as secure as Apple

A look at the Biden Administration’s recently updated National Cybersecurity Strategy document seems to reflect some of the approaches to cybercrime Apple already employs.

Take privacy, for example. The proposal suggests that privacy protection will no longer be something big tech can argue against – companies will be required to prioritize privacy. That’s fine if you run a business that does not require wholesale collection and analysis of user information, which has always been Apple’s approach. The best way to keep information private, the company argues, is not to collect it at all.

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