Search Results for: gdpr

Stolen login details are highly prized by cybercriminals, whether they are used to penetrate corporate networks or to make extortion emails look more convincing.

But often breached companies are slow to let users know their credentials have been stolen. This has begun to change in Europe thanks to GDPR, but in the US there is, as yet, no federal law regulating what companies must do if their users' information is stolen or compromised.

Continue reading →

In recent years, APIs have encouraged the emergence of new services by facilitating collaboration between applications and databases of one or more companies. Beyond catalyzing innovation, APIs have also revolutionized the customer-company relationship, allowing it to provide an accurate and detailed picture of the consumer at a time when a quality customer experience now counts as much as the price or capabilities of the product.

Over the years, customer relationship channels have multiplied with consumers who can interact with their brands through stores, voice, email, mobile applications, the web or chatbots. The multiple points of interaction used by customers have made its journey more complex, forcing companies to consider data from these many channels to deliver the most seamless customer experience possible. To do this, they must synchronize data from one channel to another and cross-reference data related to its history with the brand. This is where APIs come into play. These interfaces allow data processing to refine customer knowledge and deliver a personalized experience.

Continue reading →

The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has penalized Facebook for the Cambridge Analytica data scandal by fining it the maximum amount permissible under law.

But the fine is unlikely to make Facebook break a sweat. At just £500,000 ($645,000) the sum represents a miniscule percentage of the social network's income. There will undoubtedly be arguments that this is little more than a rap on the knuckles for failing to protect the private data of at least a million Facebook users in the UK.

Continue reading →

Endpoints make the enterprise run, whether they are laptops or desktops running macOS, Windows or Linux; smartphones or tablets running iOS or Android; virtual machines or IoT devices. They’re found driving business on local networks, in remote offices and in the hands of traveling users.

However, endpoints also make the enterprise vulnerable. They are a favorite target of criminals who launch cyberattacks via ransomware, spyware, phishing and other malicious software. Over the past year alone, critical endpoint vulnerabilities have been discovered in popular OSs and applications and then exploited by WannaCry, Meltdown, Spectre, Petya, Fireball, Bad Rabbit and other harmful code. The challenge facing enterprises, then, is how to minimize the vulnerability of their endpoints and simultaneously maximize their value. While endpoint management is already a widely adopted IT practice, now is the time for IT teams to expand their efforts to include endpoint security. As we’ll see below, combining endpoint management and security can solve some of your most pressing issues.

Continue reading →

It's the butt of many jokes, but your search history -- as well as your browsing history -- can be hugely revealing about you. While it is possible to quickly clear the record of searches that your browser stores, it is not so easy to delete the records stored by Google. At least that used to be true.

Google has just announced a new option that enables you to view and delete your Google search history, making it possible to take control of some of the data stored on the company's servers. Contrary to what you might expect, the option is not being hidden away, but will instead be accessible from a Google search. What's more, the company says that similar options will be coming to Google Maps and other Google services next year.

Continue reading →

Speaking at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Brussels, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Europe's GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and said the US needs to fight back against the weaponization of personal data.

In a strongly-worded speech, Cook avoided explicitly naming the likes of Google and Facebook for trading in private information, but it was clear who he was referring to when he said data was being misused. He added: "We shouldn't sugar-coat the consequences. This is surveillance".

Continue reading →

In many organizations, time and productivity is lost by staff by working on repetitive tasks that would be better suited for outsourcing, rather than focusing on the knowledge-based work that they are employed to do.

This is a problem that shouldn't be underestimated, Harvard Business Review reckons that knowledge workers spend up to 41 percent of their time on tasks that could be competently carried out by others.

Continue reading →

All of the major technology companies suck up swathes of data about their users, and Apple is no different. While the iPhone-maker may not swallow up anywhere near as much personal information as the likes of Google and Facebook, you may well still be interested to know what the company does hold about you.

With the introduction of GDPR, Apple made it possible for people in Europe to download their data. As promised earlier in the year, the company has now expanded this feature to the US.

Continue reading →

Twitter is being investigated by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) over concerns about how much data it collects through its t.co link-shortening tool.

The Irish privacy regulator is concerned about the amount of data Twitter is able to collect through the service -- something that was only heightened by the company's refusal to hand over information about link tracking when it was requested.

Continue reading →

New research from IT procurement company Probrand shows that 68 percent of UK businesses have failed to wipe the data from IT equipment before disposal, leaving them open to fines under GDPR if data is exposed.

In addition 70 percent admit to not having an official process or protocol for disposing of obsolete IT equipment.

Continue reading →

A new report released ahead of the Infosecurity North America event to be held next month, shows that the majority of chief information security officers (CISOs) are receiving conflicting advice about new or changing regulation.

In addition, when asked what regulatory bodies should do to help promote a smooth rollout of privacy regulations, 35 percent of respondents say that regulators should provide clearer communication about compliance requirements.

Continue reading →

Thirty years ago, those of us who wanted to go on vacation or just visit friends and family for a weekend had to go through a travel agent to make arrangements. Then came the internet, and with it the launch of online travel agencies like Orbitz and Expedia, which enabled customers to research, find, and book their own vacations for the first time. Soon after that, the emergence of new "sharing economy" companies like AirBnB and VRBO transformed the travel industry by leading customers to consider new destinations and accommodations outside of a traditional hotel -- or B&B. Given how the pace of transformation has accelerated, the travel planning industry is ripe for another major transition to AI (Artificial Intelligence)-assisted travel planning.

The rise of the sharing economy, combined with increased household net worth and persistently low airfares led to record summer travel, with more than a quarter of a billion travels -- the most in TSA history. Given how the pace of transformation has accelerated, the travel planning industry is ripe for another major transition to AI-assisted travel planning.

Continue reading →

Protecting data in the cloud and ensuring compliance with rules and regulations is a complex task. The adoption off SaaS applications like Office 365 makes it even more so.

Symantec is launching an enhanced version of its Data Loss Prevention technology to protect data in Office 365 and allow users to safely share it internally as well as with partners and contractors.

Continue reading →

When it comes to upgrading an operating system, home users have plenty of flexibility. Whether running Windows, Mac, or a Linux-based OS, moving to the latest and greatest should be a fairly uneventful affair. For businesses, however, bleeding edge is hardly ideal. After all, companies use their computers to make money -- there is no room for downtime due to upgrade issues. In other words, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. This is why many in the corporate world still run Windows 7.

Of course, staying on an older operating system can be problematic as well. As long as the OS is supported, you are golden. To run an operating system that no longer gets security updates is pure madness, though. Luckily, if you need to run an unsupported operating system, some maintainers, such as Canonical and Microsoft, will still support you -- if you pay up. For example, next year, Ubuntu 14.04 will reach end of life, so today, Canonical announces its Extended Security Maintenance (ESM) plans.

Continue reading →

It’s fair to say CCleaner has lost a lot of fans since Avast took over Piriform last year. We’ve seen problems with malware, bundled software, and pop-up ads, and then most recently Avast made a number of unwelcome privacy changes to the popular system cleaner, and removed the ability to quit the software.

It eventually pulled the most recent problematic update, and released a replacement, CCleaner 5.46, without the privacy issues, but it turns out that this release has problems of its own.

Continue reading →