Data Privacy – Page 19 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Michael Horowitz| Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 15:27:00 -0700

Now that Republicans in Congress have sold us out, everyone is writing about technical ways to prevent your Internet Service Provider (ISP) from watching your on-line activity. The FBI and the British Government complain about bad guys going dark, but now the rest of us have to do so too, if we want any shred of privacy.

The generic, knee-jerk reaction is to use either a VPN or Tor. Both offer encryption that stealths you to your ISP. I wrote about them back in September (A Defensive Computing term paper on privacy: VPNs, Tor and VPN routers) but here I’m taking things a bit further.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 31, 2017 admin

Top 5 VPN services for personal privacy and security

Credit to Author: Paul Mah| Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 09:28:00 -0700

Virtual private networks (VPNs) encrypt internet connections between two points, to secure them from casual snoopers and hackers. These VPN services are particularly useful when accessing the internet from an untrusted location, such as a hotel, café or coworking space.

A plethora of modern VPN services, with dedicated connectivity apps, have put an end to the maddening manual configuration VPNs once required. No two VPN offerings are alike, however, and it can be a challenge to find the right VPN. Here’s a look at some of the top VPNs for privacy and security.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 30, 2017 admin

Three privacy tools that block your Internet provider from tracking you

Credit to Author: Ian Paul| Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:04:00 -0700

It’s official: Congress has sold you out to Internet service providers, passing a bill that dismantles Internet privacy rules and allows ISPs to sell your web history and other personal information without your permission. Assuming President Trump signs the bill into law, it means anyone concerned about privacy will have to protect themselves against over zealous data collection from their ISP.

Some privacy-conscious folks are already doing that—but many aren’t. If you want to keep your ISP from looking over your shoulder for data to sell to advertisers, here are three relatively simple actions you can take to get started.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 29, 2017 admin

Privacy advocates plan to fight Congress' repeal of ISP privacy rules

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:19:00 -0700

Privacy advocates haven’t given up the fight after Congress voted to allow ISPs to sell customers’ browsing histories and other personal information without their permission.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted 215 to 205 to strike down ISP privacy regulations approved by the Federal Communications Commission only months ago. The House’s passage of a resolution of disapproval followed a Senate vote to pass the same resolution days earlier.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign the Republican-pushed bill. But Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he will introduce new legislation to require the FCC to pass new ISP privacy rules.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 28, 2017 admin

House votes to undo broadband privacy rules

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2017 16:09:00 -0700

The U.S. House of Representatives has followed the Senate in voting to repeal privacy rules that can prevent broadband providers from selling customers’ internet-browsing histories and other data without their permission.

On Tuesday, the House voted 215-205 to do away with the privacy rules that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission passed last year. The rules had yet to come into effect.

They require broadband carriers to first obtain opt-in approval from customers before using and sharing their sensitive personal information, such as web browsing history, geo-location data and what applications they’ve used.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 27, 2017 admin

IDG Contributor Network: Saks self-leaked customer data unencrypted, violating multiple rules

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 04:00:00 -0700

With so many retailers being impacted by cyber attacks, it’s easy to conclude that thieves are necessary for data breaches. Not necessarily. Saks last week made clear that it can breach itself quite efficiently.

That revelation comes courtesy of Buzzfeed News, which visited the site and noticed private data about quite a few fellow site visitors and shoppers.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 27, 2017 admin

UK official wants police access to WhatsApp messages

Credit to Author: John Ribeiro| Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 03:26:00 -0700

A senior U.K. official is asking that law enforcement be given access to encrypted messages on WhatsApp and similar services, a demand that is likely to fuel an ongoing debate over whether companies should create backdoors into their encryption technologies for investigators.

Khalid Masood, the terrorist who killed four people outside Parliament on Wednesday, had sent a message on WhatsApp shortly before the attack, according to reports.

“We need to make sure that organizations like WhatsApp, and there are plenty of others like that, don’t provide a secret place for terrorists to communicate with each other,” Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

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ComputerWorld Independent

March 23, 2017 admin

Senate votes to kill FCC's broadband privacy rules

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:13:00 -0700

The U.S. Senate has voted to kill broadband provider privacy regulations prohibiting them from selling customers’ web-browsing histories and other data without their permission.

The Senate’s 50-48 vote Thursday on a resolution of disapproval would roll back Federal Communications Commission rules requiring broadband providers to receive opt-in customer permission to share sensitive personal information, including web-browsing history, geolocation, and financial details with third parties. The FCC approved the regulations just five months ago.

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