Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Privacy

News Corp. hacked, reporters targeted; believed China-linked

Lexington Herald Leader: “News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said Friday that it had been hacked and had data stolen from journalists and other employees, and a cybersecurity firm investigating the intrusion said Chinese intelligence-gathering was believed behind the operation. The Journal, citing people briefed on the intrusion, reported that it appeared to… Continue Reading

Air Force taps Clearview AI to research face-identifying augmented reality glasses.

The New York Times: “The U.S. Air Force is looking into keeping its airfields safer with help from the facial recognition start-up Clearview AI. The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Clearview $49,847 to research augmented reality glasses that could scan faces to help with security on bases. Bryan Ripple, a spokesman for the lab, described… Continue Reading

Kaspersky: Many wearables and healthcare devices are open to attack due to vulnerable data transfer protocol

TechRepublic: “Kaspersky security researchers announced this week that a popular data transfer protocol used by healthcare devices is full of critical vulnerabilities. Researchers identified 33 weaknesses in 2021, which is an increase over problems found in 2020. Kaspersky reported that 90 vulnerabilities have been identified since 2014. That total includes critical vulnerabilities that are still… Continue Reading

New FCC Broadband ‘Nutrition Label’ Will More Clearly Inform You You’re Being Ripped Off

TechDirt: “For years we’ve noted how broadband providers impose all manner of bullshit fees on your bill to drive up the cost of service post sale. They’ve also historically had a hard time being transparent about what kind of broadband connection you’re buying. As was evident back when Comcast thought it would be a good… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 29, 2022

Via LLRX – Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, January 29, 2022 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly… Continue Reading

It’s Not Just the IRS—the US Government Wants Your Selfies

Wired: “…More than 20 federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration, use a digital identity system called Login.gov run by the General Services Administration. It’s built on services from LexisNexis and can use selfies for account verification. The GSA’s director of technology transformation services Dave Zvenyach says facial recognition is being tested for fairness and accessibility and… Continue Reading

Today is Data Privacy Day. Here’s what you need to do to secure your info

CNET: “There’s no shortage of made-up national holidays. Among the fabricated celebrations: Houseplant Appreciation Day, Irish Coffee Day and Bubble Wrap Day. However, there is one such holiday actually worth observing: Data Privacy Day, which happens to be today. It’s a good reminder to check up on the safety of your personal data. The holiday began… Continue Reading

FTC: US consumers lost $770 million in social media scams in 2021 up 18x from 2017

“Consumers in 2021 reported losing about $770 million to fraud initiated on social media—about one fourth of all reported fraud losses for the year and an 18-fold increase from 2017, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight. Of those who reported losing money to fraud in 2021, more than 95,000 indicated… Continue Reading

Personal identifying information for 1.5 billion users was stolen in 2021, but from where?

TechRepublic: “It was a big year for cybercriminals, who made off with somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion worth of users’ personal identifying information (PII) in 2021, according to a report from threat intelligence company Black Kite. Black Kite looked at 81 third-party breaches that accounted for over 200 public disclosures, and its top… Continue Reading

White House instructs government agencies to beef up cybersecurity, adopt ‘zero trust’ in new memo

The Verge: “The White House released a new cybersecurity strategy Wednesday aimed at reducing the risk of cyberattacks against government infrastructure. The strategy outlines the administration’s vision for moving government agencies towards a “zero trust” architecture — a cybersecurity model where users and devices are only given permissions to access network resources necessary for the… Continue Reading

Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2021 Annual Data Breach Report Sets New Record for Number of Compromises

“Today, the Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC), a nationally recognized nonprofit organization established to support victims of identity crime, will release its 16th Annual Data Breach Report, supported by Sontiq, a TransUnion company, at the Identity, Authentication, and the Road Ahead Policy Forum hosted by the Better Identity Coalition (BIC), FIDO Alliance and the ITRC. According… Continue Reading