Security

ComputerWorldIndependent

Top secret

Credit to Author: Sharky| Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 03:00:00 -0800

It’s back when 5-inch floppy disks roamed the Earth, and a customer service tech sends a software update to a customer known to be a bit more than a little computer-challenged, says a pilot fish in the know. This involves physically mailing a stack of disks to the customer, along with a note saying to call the tech when she’s ready to install the update.

When the call comes, the tech is prepared to walk her through the installation step by step. After getting the computer booted up and verifying that the user has located disk No. 1, the tech says, “Insert the floppy disk into the disk drive, with the label facing up.”

Customer: “Done.”

Tech: “Type ‘A,’ and press the Enter key.”

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Why every user needs a smart speaker security policy

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 06:06:00 -0800

Does your voice assistant wake up randomly when you are engaged in normal conversation, listening to radio, or watching TV? You’re not alone, and this may have serious implications in enterprise security policy.

All things being equal (they’re not)

“Anyone who has used voice assistants knows that they accidentally wake up and record when the ‘wake word’ isn’t spoken – for example, ‘seriously’ sounds like the wake word ‘Siri’ and often causes Apple’s Siri-enabled devices to start listening,” the Smart Speakers research study says.

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ComputerWorldIndependent

Apple joins industry effort to eliminate passwords

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Fri, 21 Feb 2020 03:00:00 -0800

In a somewhat unusual move for Apple, the company has joined the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance, an authentication standards group dedicated to replacing passwords with another, faster and more secure method for logging into online services and apps.

Apple is among the last tech bigwigs to join FIDO, whose members now include Amazon, Facebook, Google, Intel, Microsoft, RSA, Samsung, Qualcomm and VMware. The group also boasts more than a dozen financial service firms such as American Express, ING, Mastercard, PayPal, Visa and Wells Fargo.

“Apple is not usually up front in joining new organizations and often waits to see if they gain enough traction before joining in. This is fairly atypical for them,” said Jack Gold, president and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates. “Apple is often trying to present [its] own proposed industry standards for wide adoption, but is generally not an early adopter of true multi-vendor industry standards.

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