Data Privacy

ComputerWorldIndependent

Google shifts on email encryption tool, leaving its fate unclear

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 13:34:00 -0800

Google is asking developers to take over its effort to make end-to-end email encryption more user-friendly, raising questions over whether it’ll ever become an official feature in the company’s browser.

On Friday, the search giant said its email encryption tool, originally announced in 2014, was no longer a Google product. Instead, it’s become a “full community-driven open source project,” the company said in a blog post.

The tool is designed to work as an extension to Google’s Chrome browser that uses the OpenPGP standard to encrypt emails, ensuring that only the recipient can read them, and not the email provider or a government.  

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SecurityTrendMicro

SHA-1: 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 Reasons Not To Worry

Credit to Author: Mark Nunnikhoven (Vice President, Cloud Research)| Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 20:52:12 +0000

The SHA-1 hash function is broken. This isn’t news. What is news is that a practical attack has been demonstrated  Keep in mind that “practical” is used in cryptographers terms and those terms don’t necessarily have an impact on your daily IT use. The news has been making the rounds as IT teams, journalists, and…

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ComputerWorldIndependent

FCC puts the brakes on ISP privacy rules it passed in October

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 10:43:00 -0800

The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will seek a stay on privacy rules for broadband providers that the agency just passed in October.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will ask for either a full commission vote on the stay before parts of the rules take effect next Thursday or he will instruct FCC staff to delay part of the rules pending a commission vote, a spokesman said Friday.

The rules, passed when the FCC had a Democratic majority, require broadband providers to receive opt-in customer permission to share sensitive personal information, including web-browsing history, geolocation, and financial details, with third parties. Without the stay, the opt-in requirements were scheduled to take effect next week.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

What to expect from the Trump administration on cybersecurity

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 11:39:00 -0800

Look for President Donald Trump’s administration to push for increased cybersecurity spending in government, but also for increased digital surveillance and encryption workarounds.

That’s the view of some cybersecurity policy experts, who said they expect Trump to focus on improving cybersecurity at federal agencies while shying away from new cybersecurity regulations for businesses. 

Trump is likely to look for ways for the National Security Agency and other agencies to assist the government and companies in defending against cyberattacks, said Jeffrey Eisenach, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a tech adviser during Trump’s presidential transition.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

LinkedIn will help people in India train for semi-skilled jobs

Credit to Author: John Ribeiro| Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 04:18:00 -0800

Microsoft has launched Project Sangam, a cloud service integrated with LinkedIn that will help train and generate employment for middle and low-skilled workers.

The professional network that was acquired by Microsoft in December has been generally associated with educated urban professionals, but the company is now planning to extend its reach to semi-skilled people in India.

Having connected white-collared professionals around the world with the right job opportunities and training through LinkedIn Learning, the platform is now developing a new set of products that extends this service to low- and semi-skilled workers, said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at an event on digital transformation in Mumbai on Wednesday.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Verizon knocks $350M from Yahoo deal after breaches

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 07:23:00 -0800

Verizon Communications will pay $350 million less for Yahoo after two major data breaches reported by the struggling internet pioneer.

Verizon will pay about $4.48 billion for Yahoo’s operating business, and the two companies will share any potential legal and regulatory liabilities arising from two major data breaches announced in late 2016. The companies announced the amended terms of the deal Tuesday.

In October, one news report had Verizon seeking a $1 billion discount after the first breach was announced.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

True privacy online is not viable

Credit to Author: Evan Schuman| Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 03:00:00 -0800

Privacy-concerned consumers desperately want a magic bullet, some simple thing they can use that will protect their identities and their web activity. And although there are a plethora of offerings today that make such a claim — VPNs, privacy-focused browsers such as Tor, privacy search engines such as DuckDuckGo, quite a few services that claim to anonymize anyone’s activity — the practical realities of human behavior make such privacy claims bogus.

Let me stress that almost all of these services do indeed help a person remain anonymous from the casual, untrained observer (the typical roommate, spouse, co-worker, boss, etc.). But any consumer who thinks that these tools will thwart a law enforcement agent, motivated cyberthief or identity thief, or anyone who is willing to spend the time to track you down is in for unhappiness.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Tech groups gear up for a big FISA surveillance fight

Credit to Author: Grant Gross| Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 07:36:00 -0800

A controversial provision in U.S. law that gives the National Security Agency broad authority to spy on people overseas expires at the end of the year, and six major tech trade groups are gearing up for a fight over an extension.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on Dec. 31, and Congress almost certain to extend it in some form. 

The tech trade groups, including BSA, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, are asking lawmakers to build in new privacy protections for internet users. 

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