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News release: “If you’re thinking “Heartbleed” sounds serious, you’re right. But it’s not a health condition. It’s a critical flaw in OpenSSL, a popular software program that’s used to secure websites and other services (like VPN and email). If your company relies on OpenSSL to encrypt data, take steps to fix the problem and limit …
ComputerWorld: “The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) acknowledged this week that it missed the April 8 cut-off for Windows XP support, and will be paying Microsoft millions for an extra year of security patches. Microsoft terminated Windows XP support on Tuesday when it shipped the final public patches for the nearly-13-year-old operating system. Without patches for vulnerabilities …
“The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice today issued a policy statement on the sharing of cyber-security information that makes clear that properly designed cyber threat information sharing is not likely to raise antitrust concerns and can help secure the nation’s networks of information and resources. The policy statement provides the agencies’ analytical framework for …
“EFF has long advocated for websites to support HTTPS instead of plain HTTP to encrypt and authenticate data transmitted on the Internet. However, we learned yesterday of a catastrophic bug, nicknamed “Heartbleed,” that has critically threatened the security of some HTTPS sites since 2011. By some estimates, Heartbleed affects 2 out of 3 web servers on the Internet. Heartbleed isn’t a …
2014 ANNUAL REPORT: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-14-343SP: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. AVIATION SAFETY: FAA Should Improve Usability of its Online Application System and Clarity of the Pilot’s Medical Form, GAO-14-330: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS: Opportunities to Reduce …
Symanted – “The Internet Security Threat Report provides an overview and analysis of the year in global threat activity. The report is based on data from the Symantec Global Intelligence Network, which Symantec’s analysts use to identify, analyze, and provide commentary on emerging trends in the dynamic threat landscape.”
EFF: “You would think that by now the Internet would have grown up enough that things like online banking, email, or government websites would rely on thoroughly engineered security to make sure your data isn’t intercepted by attackers. Unfortunately when it comes to the vast majority of websites on the Internet, that assumption would be …
Solow-Niederman, Alicia and Plunkett, Leah and Gasser, Urs, Student Privacy and Cloud Computing at the District Level: Next Steps and Key Issues (January 15, 2014). Berkman Center Research Publication No. 2014-1. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2378568 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2378568 “This report offers recommended next steps and prioritizes open issues in the K-12 edtech space, with a special …
Via American Banker Technology News, by Penny Crosman: “Online and mobile banking have forever transformed the way people bank, but the digital evolution has a dark side: it is increasingly creating new opportunities for fraudsters to hack into accounts. Text messaging and email are increasingly becoming vehicles for phishing scams in which fraudsters send phony messages …
By Alex Stamos, Chief Information Security Officer: “When I joined Yahoo four weeks ago, we were in the middle of a massive project to protect our users and their data through the deployment of encryption technologies as we discussed in our November 2013 Tumblr. So today, we’re updating you on our progress: Traffic moving between Yahoo data …
INFORMATION SECURITY: Federal Agencies Need to Enhance Responses to Data Breaches, GAO-14-487T: Published: Apr 2, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 2, 2014. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: IRS Needs to Improve the Reliability and Transparency of Reported Investment Information, GAO-14-298: Published: Apr 2, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 2, 2014. MISSILE DEFENSE: Mixed Progress in Achieving Acquisition Goals and Improving Accountability, GAO-14-481T: Published: Apr 2, 2014. Publicly Released: …
National Journal – How the NSA Used a ‘Loophole’ to Spy on Americans: “Technology Correspondent Brendan Sasso reports that Obama’s intel czar confirmed that they’re targeting U.S. communications: Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act gives the NSA broad power to listen in on phone calls and access emails. But the law covers only non-Americans located outside of …
