New platform helps enterprises comply with privacy regulations
Privacy regulations like the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mean that enterprises can face substantial fines for non-compliance.
As 2016 saw a record number of personal record data breaches this is something all businesses need to take seriously.
New authentication platform seeks to tackle fake news and profiles
Fake news is big news at the moment, making it increasingly difficult to assess the reliability of material, particularly when it appears online.
A new company launching today at the 2017 RSA conference is seeking to create a secure online community to identify individuals and provide a more "authentic" online experience.
Planning to visit the US soon? You might be asked to hand over your internet passwords
Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban might have been overturned for now, but the new administration intends to do what it can to tighten entry into the United States.
One of the plans being considered as part of Trump’s "extreme vetting" policy is to ask visitors what websites they visit, and request their passwords. Should anyone refuse to hand over this information they will be prevented from entering the US.
ZTE leads the way in unwanted call protection
Phone spam from robot calling systems is a major issue in the US and around the world, prompting regulators to look at controlling the problem.
Smartphone maker ZTE is taking a proactive approach and teaming up with caller profile service Hiya to integrate caller identification, spam detection and call blocking into its latest Axon 7 handset.
House of Representatives approves Email Privacy Act requiring warrants to search email and data
The Email Privacy Act (HR 387) has passed through the House of Representatives for the second time. It's an attempt to update the now-ancient Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) from 1986 which gave cause for concern as it grants the government the ability to access emails and data older than 180 days which is stored on third-party servers without the need for a warrant.
The Email Privacy Act changes that. Privacy advocates are currently celebrating the fact that the updated Act has been approved by the House, but it now needs to pass through the Senate -- where it already faltered last year. Google is among those to welcome the Act's progress.
US judge says Google must hand over foreign emails to FBI, even though Microsoft need not
A US judge has ordered Google to comply with FBI search warrants which ask for customer emails that are stored outside of the US. This is in stark contrast to a recent case in which a federal appeal court ruling concluded that Microsoft did not need to comply with such orders.
The FBI issued a warrant in relation to a fraud case, and Google argued that because the emails in question were stored on foreign servers, the authorities should not be able to seize the data. However, Google has been told that transferring the emails to another server for investigation by the FBI does not constitute seizure, but conceded it was a potential invasion of privacy.
Facebook rolls out creepy Discover People feature on mobile, suggesting you make friends with strangers
If you're using the Facebook app on your phone, you might notice the appearance of a new Discover People section. As you would probably guess this is a feature designed to connect you with people on the social network, but there's something of a creepy twist.
Unlike the current "People you may know" section which suggests that you might like to become friends with people because you have a common acquaintance, the experimental Discover People adopts a different approach. It suggests that you become friends with complete strangers.
New platform offers holistic risk assessment for enterprises
The proliferation of cloud services and diverse platforms in modern enterprises makes guarding against risk and protecting data a major challenge.
Cyber risk assurance company TechDemocracy is addressing this problem with the launch of a new platform to analyze the effectiveness of existing cyber risk and compliance solutions and offers a consolidated view of enterprise risk posture.
WhatsApp update will allow users to track a contact's location in real time
Facebook-owned WhatsApp was in the headlines recently because of concerns over the way it implemented end-to-end-encryption. Analysis of a beta version of the chat app showed that there seem to be plans to introduce message editing and deletion options, and new reports suggest that real-time location tracking could also be on the cards.
As reported by the Independent, version 2.16.399 of WhatsApp for Android and version 2.17.3.28 for iOS include a feature called Live Location Tracking. It's an option designed to make it easier to meet up in the flesh, but it's also something that will be of concern for privacy advocates.
Twitter reveals the worrying content of two secret National Security Letters
All the big players in the world of tech release transparency reports these days, and Twitter is no different. Like other companies, Twitter has been unable to report details of any National Security Letters (NSLs) it receives from the FBI asking for access to user account information.
These data requests are accompanied by gagging orders that prevent the recipients from informing either the public or the subject of the letter about the request. The gag has now been lifted and Twitter has shared the contents of two letters which ask for a "large amount of data."
Here, FIDO! Facebook adds security key protection
Hackers are always keen to get their hands on people's social media accounts, so adding two-factor security is a good way of keeping your login details secure if someone tries to access your account on another device.
Facebook has offered verification by SMS message or mobile app for a while but it's now going a step further by making the FIDO U2F (universal 2nd factor authentication) security key available as part of its login process.
Facebook makes its privacy settings much clearer
Facebook has made lots of changes to its privacy settings over the years, usually in a bid to make them simpler to understand and use, yet many people just stick with the defaults.
Facebook’s new Privacy Basics aims to make it much easier for people to find the tools they need to control their information on the social network.
Worried about your online privacy? Download Linux distro Tails 2.10
Donald Trump is US president now, and maybe you are happy about that. More power to you. Some folks, however, are terrified of the man. True, he only just started the job, but he has already declared war on the truth by lying about both inaugural crowd size and voter fraud. He has even publicly attacked the press for doing its job. Heck, Trump's FCC appointee, Ajit Pai, is a known opponent of net neutrality. With all of that said, it can be hard to feel that your privacy will be safe with such a curious administration.
If you are fearful that your online privacy could soon be under attack, you are not helpless. With the help of Linux, you can take steps to safeguard yourself. Edward Snowden famously used the Tails operating system to protect himself, and that could be a very good option for honest citizens looking to protect themselves from "Big Brother." Thankfully, a new version of the Linux distribution, 2.10, is now available for download.
China blocks VPNs, making Great Firewall circumvention harder
The Great Firewall of China is a famously totalitarian measure taken by the Chinese government to control what its citizens are able to see and do online. As with any such blockade, where there's a will there's a way, and people have long turned to VPNs to get around the firewall. But with a new 14-month crackdown on the use of such tools, the situation just got a little trickier.
While on the face of it the announcement from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China seems like a new one, it is really just a drive to more strictly enforce existing legislation. The Chinese government is clamping down on the unauthorized use of VPNs in a move that will be seen by the outside world as a prime example of the country's dictatorial control and censorship of the Internet.
Anonymous search engine DuckDuckGo celebrates over 10 billion searches
A lot of people are more privacy aware than they have been in the past, and are wary of entrusting everything they search for to Google.
That’s where privacy-focused sites like DuckDuckGo come in. Its growth since it launched 8 years ago has been nothing short of staggering, with the number of searches skyrocketing since 2013, when Edward Snowden first revealed how the US government was spying on its people.
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