Perhaps
a corollary to “Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat
it?” Think, “Those who do not do an adequate legal review are
doomed to have an AG somewhere do it for them.” Or maybe, “Those
who do not ask, 'What could possibly go wrong?' are doom to find
out?”
Connecticut
AG office investigating Lenovo’s use of Superfish software
…
The investigation launched by Jepsen’s office will look into
Lenovo’s sales of laptops which are pre-loaded with Superfish
software.
Initiating
the probe, Jepsen’s office sent letters to Lenovo as well as
privately-held software maker Superfish last week, seeking
information about the partnership of the two companies. Lenovo and
Superfish have been asked to provide details like contracts and
emails which discuss their collaboration.
No
doubt my new book, “How to use new technology to steal even more!”
will be a best seller.
Nandita
Bose reports:
New technology about to be deployed by credit card companies will
require U.S. consumers to carry a new kind of card and retailers
across the nation to upgrade payment terminals. But despite a price
tag of $8.65 billion, the shift will address only a narrow range of
security issues.
Credit card companies have set an October deadline for the switch to
chip-enabled cards, which come with embedded computer chips that make
them far more difficult to clone.
Read
more on Reuters.
[From
the article:
… U.S. banks and card companies will not issue personal
identification numbers (PINs) with the new credit cards, an
additional security measure that would render stolen or lost cards
virtually useless when making in-person purchases at a retail outlet.
Instead, they will stick
with the present system of requiring signatures.
… Chip technology has been widely used in Europe for nearly two
decades, but banks there typically require PINs. Even so, the
technology leaves data unprotected at three key points, security
experts say: When it enters a payment terminal, when it is
transmitted through a processor, and when it is stored in a
retailer’s information systems. It also does
not protect online transactions.
"The simplest way to circumvent chip-and-PIN is to use a stolen
card number to make an online purchase," said Paul Kleinschnitz,
a senior vice-president for cyber security solutions at card
processor First Data Corp.
AVG
apparently sees facial recognition as another form of virus?
AVG
creates facial recognition blocking glasses
…
AVG's new concept invisibility glasses which were presented at in
Barcelona for the MWC 2015. Once you put them on, you're rendered
instantly invisible to facial recognition software.
…
AVG's glasses aren't available for purchase. They were designed
just to be a concept model and get everyone talking about the big
issue of online privacy. AVG is a security company that has been
protecting consumers and their privacy from malware
like last week's PowerOffHijack. These glasses are really a
project that is symbolic of society's ever-growing lack of privacy
and the extremes that we now have to take to protect it.
Let's
see. This means no one responsible for computer security at the
State Department noticed that there was no activity in the
“SecretaryOfState@gov.us”
account, no backups/history files were being created, and every email
came from “HillaryForPresident.org?”
Apparently the State Department does not work well at several
levels.
Hillary
Clinton's use of private email address while secretary of state draws
scrutiny
Former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a personal email account to
exclusively conduct official business during her time at the State
Department, a move that raises questions about access to the full
archive of her correspondence, as well as the possibility that she
violated federal law requiring official messages to be retained for
the record.
The
existence of the account was discovered by the House select committee
investigating the deadly 2012 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in
Benghazi, Libya, and was first reported by The
New York Times.
Clinton
did not even have a government email address during her
tenure as America's top diplomat, which lasted from 2009 to 2013, and
The Times reports that her aides took no action to preserve her
emails on department servers, as required by the Federal Records Act.
It's
complicated. (Even lawyers think so)
A
notification to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office
from McDermott Will &
Emery LLP provides a useful illustration of how some
organizations may be struggling to determine their notification
obligations to states as a result of the Anthem breach:
If
a law firm has trouble figuring out their obligations, can you
imagine what others are struggling with? Coincidentally,
perhaps, an attorney at McDermott Will & Emery recently wrote an
article on how states
may be moving to require encryption as a result of breaches such
as the Anthem breach.
Using
the “obvious” checklist,, are we?
Legislation
to Facilitate Cybersecurity Information Sharing: Economic Analysis
Legislation
to Facilitate Cybersecurity Information Sharing: Economic Analysis.
N. Eric Weiss, Specialist in Financial Economics. February 23, 2015.
“Data
breaches, such as those at Target, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus,
JPMorgan Chase, and Anthem, have affected financial records of tens
of millions of households and seem to occur regularly. Companies
typically respond by trying to increase their cybersecurity, hiring
consultants, and purchasing new hardware and software. Policy
analysts have suggested that sharing information about these breaches
could be an effective and inexpensive part of improving
cybersecurity. Firms share information directly on an ad hoc basis
and through private-sector, nonprofit organizations such as
Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) that can analyze and
disseminate information. Firms
sometimes do not share information because of perceived
legal risks, such as violating privacy or antitrust laws, and
economic incentives, such as giving information that will benefit
their competitors. A firm that has been attacked might
prefer to keep such information private out of a worry that its sales
or stock price will fall. Further, there
are no existing mechanisms to reward firms for sharing information.
Their competitors can take
advantage of the information, but not contribute in turn.
This lack of reciprocity, called “free riding” by economists, may
discourage firms from sharing. Information that is shared may not be
applicable to those receiving it, or it might be difficult to apply.”
For
my students, even if they don't know it.
Matthew
Johnson of Cooley LLP writes:
In January 2015, the US Department of Education has issued an
advisory to all elementary and secondary schools on data privacy and
security issues to be considered in negotiating agreements with
online service providers or mobile applications. The Department also
released “Model
Terms of Service” that provides specific recommended provisions
for such agreements, along with a short video
dramatizing its recommendations.
Is the Department of Education Changing the Law Regarding
Student Data Privacy?
No. This guidance document does not change the statutory or
regulatory requirements related to data privacy and security in the
educational field. In fact, the Department is quite explicit that
the guidance embodied in the “Model Terms of Service” goes beyond
what is required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(“FERPA”) and other federal laws.
Read
more on Lexology.
...and
we thought Texting while driving was a bad idea! (There must be a
pun somewhere about this new way to get gas) Probably not just food.
Visa
Partnerships Bring In-Car Purchase Experience
At
the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on March 2, Visa, Accenture
and Pizza Hut announced
a new proof-of-concept connected car program that will enable drivers
to order and pay for pizza using car dashboard software. The
partnership will combine Visa Checkout’s payments features,
Accenture’s technical foundation to integrate the diverse
technologies within the prototype and Pizza Hut’s mobile app
ordering procedures as part of a trial network that will come to
Northern California sometime this spring.
…
Outside of the Pizza Hut partnership, having the ability to leverage
Accenture’s technology could bring the innovative mobile food
ordering experience to other merchants.
Not
much there yet, but has potential for my programming students.
The
Open Source Squad at the GSA
A
team of open source evangelists is working within the General
Services Administration as part of a federal initiative for more
transparent government use of technology.
…
The hub of this push for open source consolidation for government
agencies is 18F's
GitHub account.
…
18F developed a dashboard
that lists all of its projects with a brief description. The
progress of each is labeled with a tag indicating one of four
development stages.
…
The 18F GitHub site is at least one of two separate attempts by
unconnected federal entities to spread the word about open source for
government use. Govcode.org
is another such effort.
No
system-wide set of standards exists for software selection.
(Related)
This could also be a tool for my Big Data students.
Government
Agencies Turn to IFTTT to Make APIs Accessible
The
release of a government-focused
terms of use (TOU) aims to enable government agencies to make
APIs available as "channels" on the IFTTT platform.
IFTTT
(which is rebranding its main service as IF) is an API
aggregation service that lets users create simple workflows
triggered by specific events.
…
New terms of use means that U.S. government agencies can create
their own channels that demonstrate to end users and developers what
can be achieved by using government APIs and open data. The process
is interesting for any API or SaaS provider that hopes to work with
any level of government in future.
…
With the TOU in place, agencies are now seeking the help of
developers in understanding what APIs and workflows would be best set
up as IFTTT channels.
A
question for Class Action lawyers: Any money in age discrimination
lawsuits? (Article 1)
Tinder
Plus Costs More for Older Users
Dating
app Tinder has launched its long-awaited premium service called
Tinder Plus. But, rather controversially, it’s charging older
users looking for love more money than it’s charging younger users
looking for love.
In
the U.S., users under the age of 30 will be charged $9.99-per-month
for the upgrade, while users over the age of 30 will be charged
$19.99-per-month. In the U.K. it’s even worse, with users under
the age of 28 charged just £3.99 ($6), with users over the age of 28
charged £14.99 ($23).
…
Tinder has defended
the Tinder Plus business model, suggesting that, “during
our testing we’ve learned, not surprisingly, that younger users are
just as excited about Tinder Plus, but are more budget constrained
and need a lower price to pull the trigger.” Which is an
explanation, but not really a legitimate excuse.
Thankfully,
there is an easy way to
cheat the system, as Tinder pulls its information
directly from Facebook when you sign up to use the service. So,
if you were to, let’s say, change your year of birth on Facebook to
qualify for the lower price, there isn’t much Tinder could do to
stop you. Not that we’re suggesting you do anything so
underhanded, obviously.
Definitely
something for my gamer/geeks. (Article 3)
Epic
Releases Unreal Engine 4 Free
Epic
has announced that Unreal Engine 4, its cross-platform game engine,
is now
available for free to anyone who wants to use it. This is the
full C++ source code which supports Windows, Mac, iOS, Android,
Linux, and more besides.
Epic
launched Unreal Engine 4 in March 2014, charging budding game
designers $19-per-month plus five percent of the gross revenues made
on any game released commercially. Now, the $19 fee is gone, and
Epic wants five percent of any revenues over $3,000-per-quarter.
Larger development studios can still negotiate
their own deals.
For
my students?
Princeton-Founded
'Friendsy' App Looking to Recapture Facebook's Early Magic
…
The app is the brainchild of Princeton seniors Michael Pinsky and
Vaidhy Murti, and is only
available to verified college students with email addresses ending in
‘.edu.’ Pinsky and Vaidhy Murti created the company
in 2013 because they felt as if competitors like Facebook, Tinder and
Yik Tak failed to help students branch out of their social circles,
according to the company.
“We’re
trying to do to Tinder what Facebook did to Myspace,” Murti said in
a statement. [I admit I have no idea what that means Bob]
For
my researching students. Very cool! Enter the topic you are most
interested in researching.
View
Webs of Related Search Terms on WikiMindMap
Earlier
today on the FreeTech4Teachers
Facebook page someone asked if there is a way to create
a mind map of Wikipedia entries. WikiMindMap.org
does exactly that. On the site you can enter
a search term and almost instantly see a web of related topics.
In the video embedded below I provide a short overview of
WikiMindMap.org
WikiMindMap.org
can be a great tool for students who need a little bit of help
altering their search terms. WikiMindMap.org can also be helpful to
students who need to narrow the focus of their research from a broad
topic to narrower subtopic.
Also
for my students.
5
Effective Tools to Encrypt Your Secret Files
…
We have seen how encryption
tools like Bitlocker and secure
zipping tools such as 7-Zip work. So here are 5 we have not
already covered.
Something
my students can use to coordinate team projects?
How
to Use Strikeapp.com to Manage Tasks
A
couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about a couple of sites that
students can use to keep track of tasks. One of those sites was
StrikeApp.com.
There have been a few questions asked about it on the
FreeTech4Teachers
Facebook page so to answer those questions I recorded the short
video that you see embedded below.
…
One of the things that I like about StrikeApp.com is that students
don't have to register on the site in order to use it.
They simply start creating lists and each list is assigned a URL that
they can share with you, their parents, or their classmates.
For
me.
A
bibliometric mapping of open educational resources
A
bibliometric mapping of open educational resources, Airton
Zancanaro, José Leomar Todesco, Fernando Ramos, The International
Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) Vol. 16,
No. 1 (2015)
Dilbert
has brilliantly summarized everything you need to know about
performance reviews.
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