An update on the “Facebook is evil” company.

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/10/23/ello-raises-5-5-m-for-social-network-promises-no-ads-or-selling-user-data/

Ello Raises $5.5 M for Social Network, Promises No Ads or Selling User Data

Ello Pbc., an ad-free social network that pledged to never sell user data, has made its philosophy binding and secured funding from investors who agree with its approach to make money other ways.

Ello filed to be a public benefit corporation, a designation that bakes specific operating principles and guidelines into the company’s legal charter. In the startup world–where companies often change core parts of their operations every month or so–the move to cement the promise is an unusual one, but not without precedent.

… Founded in March and launched in August, Ello captured significant attention and early buzz from people concerned about their privacy and the amount of advertising on Facebook, Tmblr and other social networks. Ello said it grew from having 90 users when it launched to a current pace of receiving between 20,000 to 45,000 requests per hour from people wanting to join the network.

For my Computer Security students.

http://www.winbeta.org/news/microsoft-40-americans-experience-regular-fraud-attacks-73-take-steps-protect-their-phones?google_editors_picks=true

Microsoft: 40% of Americans experience regular fraud attacks, 73% take steps to protect their phones

A Microsoft survey has revealed that 40% of Americans experience weekly or daily fraudulent attempts to access their personal computers and valuable data. Let that sink in.

Breaking that statistic further reveals that by device, 40% of Americans reporting online attacks on their PCs, 18% via their phone, 28% via landline telephones, and 22% via tablets. These attacks are weekly, or up to daily.

… If you want to read the full details of the survey, including the major types of scams, which ones most people are worried about, which type of scams are getting more popular, and how to start protecting yourself from identity theft, go here.

[The Powerpoint slides: new Microsoft survey

Eye catching, but not really surprising.

http://www.winbeta.org/news/there-are-now-more-phones-people-and-each-checked-1500week?google_editors_picks=true

There are now more phones than people, and each is checked 1,500/week

… GSMA intelligence reports that there are more mobile devices than there are people in the world -- and the world population is 7.125 billion as of 2013.

[Look at their home page: https://gsmaintelligence.com/

(Related)

http://www.tecmark.co.uk/smartphone-usage-data-uk-2014/

Tecmark Survey Finds Average User Picks up their Smartphone 221 Times a Day!

… We polled 2,000 smartphone users in the UK (55.2% female and 44.8% male). We asked them 22 different questions about their smartphone usage.

Download the raw data (which includes gender and regional breakdowns as well).

Amusing review of amusing Apps – prepare to be amused.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEem9gCAEBA

David Pogue for CTU Presents

But we want all the answers instantly! In that world, you often talk before you have all the facts.

German Spy Agency Contradicts U.S. Claim that Russia Gave Weapon System that Downed MH17

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency has concluded that pro-Russian separatists shot down Malaysia Airline flight 17 using a BUK air defense missile system that the rebels stole from a Ukraine military base (Der Spiegel reports). This conclusion, if correct, would contradict statements by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this year.

… Mr. Kerry stated in multiple television interviews that Russia was likely responsible [Perhaps the traditional weasel words used by politicians need to be upgraded? Bob]

“Stupid is as stupid does!” That applies to both sides of any argument. This sounds like politicians trying to protect their god given right to obfuscate, prevaricate, sometimes outright lie.

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/221565-five-things-to-know-about-truthy

Five things to know about 'Truthy'

Members of the House Science Committee are ramping up scrutiny of a university project that studies trends on Twitter.

Criticism of the government-funded “Truthy” project at Indiana University grew over the weekend, after Ajit Pai, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission, sounded the alarm.

"A government-funded initiative is going to 'assist in the preservation of open debate' by monitoring social media for 'subversive propaganda' and combating what it considers to be 'the diffusion of false and misleading ideas?' " he wrote in an op-ed. "The concept seems to have come straight out of a George Orwell novel."

House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Tuesday said his panel is investigating why the government's National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the project and accused the agency of using taxpayer money to limit free speech.

Is this be best model for inexpensive tech toys? It beats advertising, I guess.

http://www.geekwire.com/2014/pivotal-living/?google_editors_picks=true

This new wearable fitness tracker is free — with a $12 yearly subscription

Do a Google search for “wearable fitness trackers” and you’ll find an endless list of wristbands that largely accomplish the same task: record steps, count calories burned, monitor sleep activity, and track other health-related statistics.

A new Seattle startup called Pivotal Living this week unveiled its first health device, which is yet another wrist tracker. But unlike most of what other companies have released, this particular product is a little different — it’s free.

In an attempt to position itself in a crowded wearable fitness space, Pivotal Living is taking a unique angle by offering a yearly $12 subscription plan for full access to its mobile app. Included with every membership is a wristband that tracks calories burned, steps, distance, percentage of step goals, and also tells you the time.

How important is China? Probably not as important as the in-laws.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-23/zuckerberg-uses-chinese-to-tell-chinese-he-s-hiring.html

Zuckerberg Uses Chinese to Tell Chinese He’s Hiring

Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg told students at one of China’s top universities -- in Mandarin -- that the company is looking to employ the country’s best engineers.

[Judge for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5qXkPNk5cA

Raw data for my next Statistics or Data Science class.

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/overnights/221594-overnight-tech-fcc-releases-new-batch-of-net-neutrality-comments

OVERNIGHT TECH: FCC releases new batch of net neutrality comments

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday released a bulk file of more than 2.5 million public comments regarding its proposed net neutrality rules — its second and final batch.

The commission is encouraging outside analysts and journalists to build visualizations of the raw data to help "the FCC and the public" more fully understand the content of replies, it said. The Sunlight Foundation told The Hill it already plans on analyzing the new data, similar to a massive undertaking conducted after the first round of comments were released in August.

(Related) Smaller datasets, but more of them.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/knoema-world-data-atlas-reference-data.html#.VEkCXFcsFHA

Knoema World Data Atlas - Reference Data Visualizations and More

Knoema's World Data Atlas offers a huge collection of data sets, maps, and charts for almost every country in the world. There are dozens of data categories to pick from. Some of the data categories that you will find include GPD Per Capita, Government Debt, Migration, Housing, Energy Consumption, and Agricultural Production.

You can find a maps, charts, and data sets on Knoema's World Data Atlas by selecting a country then choosing a data sets. Alternatively, you can choose a data set then see a list of countries represented in your chosen data set.

Each data set, map, and chart can be exported, downloaded, or embedded into a blog post or webpage. Registered Knoema users can use the data sets to create their own data visualizations.

Interesting. May be a source of “what's new?”

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/how-to-search-twitter-for-educational.html#.VEkDFlcsFHA

How to Search Twitter for Educational Content

"Perform a Twitter search" is one of the suggestions that I often make to teachers who ask me how they can find more resources for the subjects that they teach. A Twitter search can often reveal resources and ideas that you might not find through your typical Google searches. You don't have to have a Twitter account in order to search on Twitter. In the video below I provide a short demonstration of how to search for educational content on Twitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sshbwZDFtbc

Sites mentioned in the video above:

Twitter Search

Cybrary Man's Education Hashtags

I have got to try this! My students will love it.

http://dailygadgetry.com/photomath-app-math-homework/4598

PhotoMath App Does your Math Homework For You

… PhotoMath allows users to take pictures of their math equations and then receive the working out and answer.

It is officially the worlds first, “camera calculator” stated the creators, MicroBlink who also founded the text recognition startup, PhotoPay.

… With PhotoMath, you can have a math teacher in your pocket,” stated the creators.

PhotoMath currently helps to solve basic arithmetic, fractions, decimals, linear equations, logarithms and more features are expected to be added with future updates.

PhotoMath is currently available for iOS only and is free from the App store.

China acts. The FBI makes speeches.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/221435-chinese-government-suspected-of-launching-apple-cyberattack

China suspected of cyberattack on Apple

The Chinese government could be behind a hack on Apple’s cloud storage service, just as the company launches its newest phone in China.

Over the weekend, many users in the country inadvertently began giving passwords and sensitive data to hackers that may be working for the Chinese government, security analysts said.

Analysts at GreatFire, a website that monitors blocked websites in China, reported that “Chinese authorities are now staging a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack on Apple’s iCloud,” referring to a type of cyberattack in which a hacker jumps in between a person and the website they are visiting, relaying messages back and forth but also picking up their data.

Responding to the attacks on Tuesday, Apple acknowledged the intrusions and unveiled a new guide for people to verify that they are securely connected to the iCloud storage service.

“How dare they study political misinformation! Why next they'll be calling us liars!”

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/221427-science-committee-chairman-nsf-shouldnt-study-twitter-political

Science Committee Chairman: NSF shouldn't study Twitter political discussion

House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Tuesday blasted a research project funded by the National Science Foundation to study political messages on Twitter.

According to reports, the project, which is led by researchers at Indiana University, has received about $1 million in federal dollars to analyze "subversive propaganda" that leads to misinformation.

Apparently I'm more naïve about strip clubs than I thought. This “business” license looks suspiciously like a “license to strip.” I don' think the state needs to know your weight and eye color to license you to run a hot dog stand... Or am I wrong?

Federal judge will hear strip club performers’ privacy plea

Melissa Santos reports:

A court hearing Thursday will pit Washington state’s Public Records Act against the free speech and privacy protections laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton could decide whether to allow Pierce County to release the business licenses of workers at a Parkland strip club — an action the employees say would violate their privacy and threaten their ability to continue working.

Read more on The News Tribune,

[From the article:

… Leighton granted a two-week temporary restraining order preventing the county from releasing the employees’ business licenses — which contain personal information such as their stage and legal names, birth dates, photos, weight and eye color — until after a court hearing Thursday.

For my Ethical Hackers (Who should have come up with this on their own!)

Fake Name

https://fakena.me/

– generates a random fake name, address, username, password, and (usable) email address for use with online message boards, social media, or whatever else. fakena.me lets you save the random profile generated for 30 days so you can bookmark it and return. After 30 days, the profile is deleted. The idea is that, to improve online privacy, you should change your username and email address frequently.

Does this have implications for the music and movie industries? (Or do they view their products as “low end?”) I keep referring back to Baen Publishing (baen.com) which found that every book they make available for free increases their sales. Perhaps all it takes for a site to remove itself from “low end” is to specialize (in this case, SciFi) After all, it's your customers who classify you as “low end.”

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/counterfeiting-as-a-form-of-free-advertising/

Counterfeiting as a Form of Free Advertising

In a study of a 1995 surge in counterfeiting in the Chinese shoe market, Yi Qian of the University of British Columbia found that the entry of fakes had the effect of increasing sales of high-end authentic shoes by 63%. The arrival of counterfeits on the market affirmed the value of the brands in consumers’ minds and in many cases introduced the brands to new customers. At the low end, however, counterfeits merely ate into the brands’ sales.

SOURCE: Counterfeiters: Foes or Friends? How Counterfeits Affect Sales by Product Quality Tier

This seems to be another “look how I'm protecting you” campaign when in reality it's Congress chasing their tails. Would they make it illegal for anyone to automatically encrypt communications? Then Apple (et al.) would make the software open source while building in a simple “encrypt your own messages” option. If encryption is banned, try working with “code” instead. Could you force me do decrypt, “This message is not encrypted!” (Which would actually mean, “Congress is a bunch of idiots!”)

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/221147-crypto-wars-return-to-congress

‘Crypto wars’ return to Congress

FBI Director James Comey has launched a new “crypto war” by asking Congress to update a two-decade-old law to make sure officials can access information from people’s cellphones and other communication devices.

The call is expected to trigger a major Capitol Hill fight about whether or not tech companies need to give the government access to their users' data.

… Comey claimed the FBI was not looking for a “backdoor” into people’s devices.

“We want to use the front door with clarity and transparency,” he said.

But for critics, that’s a distinction without a difference.

“The notion that it’s not a backdoor; it’s a front door — that’s just wordplay,” said Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. “It just makes no sense.”

(Related) Statements like this make me wonder if the FBI would rather hold a press conference than solve a crime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fbi-no-indication-jpmorgan-was-hacked-because-of-sanctions-against-russia/2014/10/20/66031f16-58af-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html

FBI: ‘No indication’ JPMorgan was hacked because of sanctions against Russia

FBI officials on Monday said there was no evidence that the hack of JPMorgan Chase and other U.S. banks’ networks was payback for western sanctions against Russia. [Aside from a letter from Putin, what would be evidence of motive? Bob]

… Officials also said that they still have not determined whether it was a foreign government — such as Russia — or criminals who were behind the network intrusions at JPMorgan and other banks. [Typical ass-covering Bob]

(Related) “We need a bigger budget!” (Does the FBI know of any time when someone has “robbed” multiple banks from their basement?)

Grim statistics: Officials warn 500 million financial records hacked within past 12 months

Erin Kelly reports:

Federal officials warned companies Monday that hackers have stolen more than 500 million financial records over the past 12 months, essentially breaking into banks without ever entering a building.

“We’re in a day when a person can commit about 15,000 bank robberies sitting in their basement,” said Robert Anderson, Jr., executive assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Cyber Response and Services Branch.

[...]

Nearly 439 million records were stolen in the last six months, said Supervisory Special Agent Jason Truppi of the FBI. Nearly 519 million records were stolen in the last 12 months, he said.

About 35 percent of the thefts were from website breaches, 22 percent were from cyber espionage, 14 percent occurred at the point of sale when someone bought something at a retail store, and 9 percent came when someone swiped a credit or debit card, the FBI said.

Read more on USA Today.

[From the article:

"You're going to be hacked," Joseph Demarest, assistant director of the FBI's cyberdivision, told the business leaders. "Have a plan." [Good message, no hype. Bob]

… Congress could help by passing cybersecurity legislation to update surveillance laws and give federal agents greater authority to go after cybercriminals, Pawlenty said. [The party line? Bob]

I wonder how common this has been. Do judges shop at TJMaxx or Target? Apparently not.

Three Atlanta federal judges recuse themselves from Home Depot data breach lawsuits

David Allison reports:

Some of the lawsuits hitting The Home Depot Inc. over its recent data breach are apparently hitting too close to home for some federal judges in Atlanta.

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is facing at least 21 lawsuits stemming from the data breach, which reportedly may affect 60 million customers.

More than a dozen of the lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, located in Atlanta. Others have been filed in federal courts across the country.

Three judges serving in the Atlanta court have recused themselves or otherwise declined hearing lawsuits related to the data breach.

Read more on Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Dimly lit restaurant, my old eyes, small print menu: “This looks like a job for Flashlight App!”

The Hidden Privacy Threat of … Flashlight Apps?

Robert McMillan reports:

When I downloaded the Flashlight app to my iPhone, I was in a jam. I was camping, I think. Or maybe a pen had rolled under my couch. I remember that smug sense of self-congratulation after I downloaded the software, which converted the iPhone’s LED flash into a steady and bright beam of light.

But I shouldn’t have been so pleased with myself. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was potentially handing over a boatload of data to advertisers as well. Even a flashlight app, it turns out, can ask for a shocking amount of user data when you download it, tapping everything from my calendar to my phone’s location engine to my camera. Yes, my camera. This is something you can keep in check, thanks to the privacy controls on today’s iPhone, but the truth is that most people don’t.

Read more on Wired.

Let me state this another way. If my neighbor's house is suddenly surrounded by vehicles with flashing red lights and 'crime scene' tape and everyone inside the perimeter is wearing biohazard suits, it's not going to be difficult to determine who was in contact with an Ebola patient.

More on PHI disclosures and public health emergencies

Via HIPAA Blog, here are two resources related to the issue of how much PHI covered entities can disclose without patient consent in situations like ebola concerns.

The first is from HHS:

Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit covered entities to disclose protected health information, without individuals’ authorization, to public officials responding to a bioterrorism threat or other public health emergency?

Answer:

Yes. The Rule recognizes that various agencies and public officials will need protected health information to deal effectively with a bioterrorism threat or emergency. To facilitate the communications that are essential to a quick and effective response to such events, the Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose needed information to public officials in a variety of ways.

Covered entities may disclose protected health information, without the individual’s authorization, to a public health authority acting as authorized by law in response to a bioterrorism threat or public health emergency.

[Many more examples Bob]

Note that the above does not necessarily mean that the covered entity can disclose the patient’s name to the media or public without the patient’s consent. But my understanding is that public officials can release such information as part of responding to a public health emergency, e.g., if they need to contact and isolate people who may have been in contact with infected patients. If I’m wrong on that, hopefully some lawyer will let me know.

The second resource, also from HHS, is a decision tool to help covered entities with emergency preparedness disclosures.

Update: Later in the day, I was asked who actually disclosed the first Texas patient’s name. Digging into it, I found that the patient was first identified/named by the Liberian government, and it was reported in the New York Times. In terms of the two Texas nurses later affected, their identities were revealed by their families. The hospital was not the source of their names.

This focuses on employees. I checked to be certain. Why wouldn't policies that protect customers also protect employees? Yes the data may be different, but the ethics should be the same.

US Must Adopt Balancing Test to Protect Employee Data

William Hamilton reports:

Jason R. Baron used his keynote address at the LawTech Euro Conference 2014 in Prague today to call for greater data use transparency from U.S. businesses. Addressing 500+ attendees, Baron asserted that the compelling business need to deploy powerful predictive analytics to effectively accomplish information governance requires a corresponding informed consent from employees.

Baron, of counsel to Drinker Biddle and co-chair of the Information Governance Initiative, argued that European countries are ahead of the U.S. in protecting personally identifying information, but now the inflection point reached with Big Data requires U.S.-based companies to address ethical issues associated with their increasing use of data about employees.

Read more on Law Technology News.

I may not know how to explain copyright, but I know when an article becomes “a teaching moment.” Would that I could have explained that to these “victims.”

Jennifer Lawrence's Hacked Nude Pictures Not Coming Down From The Web Yet Because Of One Legal Loophole

… Even though the pics were stolen from her, she might not be able to get the pics removed because she might not actually have ownership of them!

When her attorney sent off a letter demanding a porn site take down the pics because she owns the copyright, the site fired back that since some of the pics are not selfies, the person who actually took them would most likely own the copyright.

So now, the site has demanded that they're provided with proof that J.Law owns the copyright or be given the name of the person who took the pics.

In case this legal loophole sounds familiar, you might remember that the famous Oscars selfie was put together by Ellen DeGeneres and posted on her Twitter, but it ended up being Bradley Cooper who owned the pic as he snapped it.

Interesting. Reads like they want the government to take on most of the work and give them maximum flexibility. I'll probably have my Computer Security students build a wiki with links to guidelines like this. (as well as laws, regulations, “Best Practices,” etc.)

http://www.securityweek.com/financial-industry-group-publishes-recommendations-guide-development-cybersecurity-regulations

Financial Industry Group Publishes Recommendations to Guide Development of Cybersecurity Regulations

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association [SIFMA] is proposing the formation of a working group of government agenies to review cybersecurity guidance and regulations related to the financial industry.

The proposal was mentioned in a new document entitled 'Principles for Effective Cybersecurity Regulatory Guidance' published today by SIFMA. In the paper, SIFMA lays out ten foundational principles to serve as a framework for regulators to develop plans to review, update and "harmonize" cybersecurity policies, regulations and guidance.

The paper can be read here.

(Related)

http://www.bespacific.com/eff-launches-updated-know-rights-guide/

EFF Launches Updated Know Your Rights Guide

“If the police come knocking at your door, the constitution offers you some protection. But the constitution is just a piece of paper—if you don’t know how to assert your rights. And even if you do assert your rights…what happens next? That answer may seem complicated, but protecting yourself is simple if you know your rights. That’s why EFF has launched an updated Know Your Rights Guide that explains your legal rights when law enforcement try to search the data stored on your computer, cell phone or other electronic device. The guide clarifies when the police can search devices, describes what to do if police do (or don’t) have a warrant, and explains what happens if the police can’t get into a device because of encryption or other security measures.”

(Related)

http://www.bespacific.com/cybercrime-overview-federal-computer-fraud-abuse-statute-related-federal-criminal-laws/

Cybercrime: An Overview of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute and Related Federal Criminal Laws

CRS – Cybercrime: An Overview of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Statute and Related Federal Criminal Laws. Charles Doyle, Senior Specialist in American Public Law. October 15, 2014.

“The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 U.S.C. 1030, outlaws conduct that victimizes computer systems. It is a cyber security law. It protects federal computers, bank computers, and computers connected to the Internet. It shields them from trespassing, threats, damage, espionage, and from being corruptly used as instruments of fraud. It is not a comprehensive provision, but instead it fills cracks and gaps in the protection afforded by other federal criminal laws. This is a brief sketch of CFAA and some of its federal statutory companions, including the amendments found in the Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act, P.L. 110-326, 122 Stat. 3560 (2008).”

Some data for my Statistics students to play with.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/explore-undp-development-data-with-this.html#.VEZt5VfivFo

Explore UNDP Development Data With This Interactive Map

The UN Stat Planet Map allows you to create useful mapped displays of UN development indicators data. There are ten data categories from which you can choose. Within each category there are further refinements possible. You can customize the map to present sharper contrasts between the data indicators, change the indicator symbols, and alter the map legend. To visual the change in data over time, use the time slider at the bottom of the map. Your maps and the data that they represent can be downloaded as PNG and JPEG files for printing.

Simply looking at data spreadsheets or graphs reveal some good development data to students. But for better visual comparisons tied to locations, the UN Stat Planet Map is useful.

For my niece, the guitar plucker.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/free-ebook-music-theory-for-musicians.html#.VEZtwlfivFo

Free Ebook - Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People

Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People is a free ebook created by Toby Rush at the University of Dayton. The ebook covers everything from the basics of reading key signatures to advanced topics in composition.

Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People can be downloaded in parts or in whole. It is released under a Creative Commons license that allows you to use it for instruction.

Steal my phone, steal my phortune? Convergence. Apple just added “credit card processing” to its resume.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/apple-pay-rolls-out-with-holes-in-system-1413762943

Apple Pay Rolls Out, With Holes in System

Starting Monday, Apple Inc. will begin its bold undertaking to add a wallet to its iPhones.

The iPhone already has pushed aside many once-independent devices, including music players, cameras and GPS navigation systems.

… Many retailers—including the nation’s largest, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. —aren’t part of Apple’s network. Only a minority have machines capable of reading the near-field communication radio signal that makes Apple Pay work. And only Apple’s newest phones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, include the technology.

Apple has signed up the six biggest card issuers, accounting for roughly 83% of credit-card transactions, with 500 financial institutions coming by early next year. It also has the three major credit-card networks: Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co.

… Still, corporate credit cards or prepaid cards aren’t accepted yet. Neither are retailers’ proprietary credit cards, so shoppers can’t use their Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s cards. That means customers might miss out on discounts tied to the store cards, while merchants relinquish revenue they receive from issuing banks.

Macy’s spokesman Jim Sluzewski said he expects the Macy’s branded card to be added eventually. He said roughly half of Macy’s sales come from its proprietary card, which is also linked to its loyalty program.

… An important selling point for Apple Pay will be security, after high-profile data breaches at retailers including Target and Home Depot. Apple Pay encrypts each transaction with a distinctive code that can only be used once, a security feature that protects consumers’ personal information from being stolen as it is transmitted through a retailer’s network, or from the retailer’s central database.

Banks pay Apple a small percentage from each transaction, but there are no additional costs to users and merchants for using Apple Pay.

(Related) Apple already knew customers were using their phones for more that making calls.

http://www.bespacific.com/digital-nation-report-shows-rapid-adoption-mobile-internet-use/

Digital Nation Report Shows Rapid Adoption of Mobile Internet Use

“A report released by the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) found that Americans are rapidly embracing mobile Internet devices such as smart phones and tablet computers for a wide range of activities beyond just voice communications, such as checking email and using social networks. NTIA’s Exploring the Digital Nation: Embracing the Mobile Internet, which is based on a U.S. Census Bureau survey in October 2012 of more than 53,000 households, found that Americans were increasingly using their mobile devices to engage in applications that they might have previously done on a desktop or laptop computer or not at all. Between July 2011 and October 2012, the report found big increases in mobile phone users 25 and older who used their devices to download mobile applications (22 percent to 32 percent), browse the Web (33 percent to 42 percent), check their email (33 percent to 43 percent), and use social networks (22 percent to 30 percent).”

(Related) This is for my Computer Security students. Is the risk being accepted at the proper level of the organization? (Does the CEO or CFO know what the CIO is exposing them to?)

http://www.bespacific.com/security-new-mobile-ecosystem-report/

Security in the New Mobile Ecosystem – Report

“Ponemon Institute and Raytheon are pleased to present the findings of Security in the New Mobile Ecosystem (reg. req’d). The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of mobile devices, mobile apps and the mobile workforce (a.k.a. mobile ecosystem) on the overall security posture of organizations in the United States. Security is sacrificed for productivity. The majority of respondents (52 percent) say security practices on mobile devices have been sacrificed in order to improve employee productivity. For a complete copy of the study, please visit the Raytheon website.”

“We're the DEA! We don't need no stinking rules!” A sting is a sting – even online?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jail-trolls-microsoft-smartwatch-tech-news-digest/

Facebook Goes To War With The DEA

Facebook has officially censured the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over claims the latter created and operated a fake profile on the social network. Facebook sent a letter to the DEA making its position on this clear, calling it a “knowing and serious breach of Facebook’s terms and policies.”

It was recently revealed that a DEA agent pretended to be a woman named Sondra Arquiett in order to communicate with people suspected of criminal activity. Creating a fake Facebook account is against the company’s terms and conditions, and in the letter Facebook insists it has “long made clear that law enforcement authorities are subject to these policies.” That’s fighting talk.

A downside of Data Mining? What happens if your insurance company also has this “Big Bad Data?” [Perhaps I should Copyright that phrase!] This makes me think that detecting errors and forcing corrections could become a rather large issue.

A puzzling email makes me think more about data miners

Like most people, I get a lot of emails from firms I’ve ordered from online. And I nearly just deleted one email I received this week from a vitamin and supplements store that recommended I might want to re-order three items that I had supposedly previously ordered from them. But then I took a closer look at the email, which was addressed to the tagged email address I used with them, and thought about the fact that they were recommending I reorder three items I had never ordered from them or ever purchased from one of their brick-and-mortar locations.

A simple error in their records? Maybe. But do I want a store’s records reflecting that I bought supplements to treat health problems I don’t have?

So I emailed Customer Care and told them that their records of my purchasing history were incorrect. And because of data mining, I told them, I wanted them to delete those records from my history.

What followed was some interesting correspondence that included them asking me whether I wanted a password reset (which is fine, but irrelevant if the error was made by a clerk in a brick-and-mortar location).

So now I’m waiting to see if they’ll delete the incorrect records, as I requested, or – as I let them know I would do – I delete my account with them altogether (which would not be to their advantage and wouldn’t get incorrect records disassociated from my name).

This incident made me realize how often I might not think to seriously look at what I’m being sent, even though it might alert me that a store’s records might include purchases I didn’t make, and how those records might come back to bite me if the purchases suggest health problems or other issues I don’t have.

I know this might seem like a very small deal and not even worth blogging about, but because I do not know with what other firms or data brokers those records might be shared, yeah, I responded to this instead of just letting it all go.

Both articles are worth reading. Perhaps we could use Skype at the Privacy Foundation.

Talking Privacy With The ACLU’s Jay Stanley

Evan Selinger writes:

In a previous post, I mentioned that exciting speakers are making guest appearances in my current “Technology, Privacy, and the Law” course. Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, just dropped by via Skype. The conversation was so interesting that I wanted to share some of the highlights with you here.

Read more on Forbes.

“The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft agley” Robert Burns I doubt this will hold up when consumers shift into “power shopper” mode the week before Christmas.

http://www.retaildive.com/news/past-data-breaches-could-hurt-hacked-retailers-at-the-holidays/323000/

Past data breaches could hurt hacked retailers at the holidays

• Data breaches are discouraging consumers from returning to retailers that have been hacked, according to a survey conducted this month by CreditCards.com. 45% of consumers with credit or debit cards say they’ll “definitely” or “probably” refrain from holiday shopping at a retailer previously hit by a data breach, the survey found.

• 29% said they “probably” wouldn't shop at a compromised retailer, while 16% said they definitely wouldn’t. Some 48% say they’ll be using cash instead of cards to shop this season.

“Search Neutrality?” Search become less objective (if you can pay)

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29689949

Google changes 'to fight piracy' by highlighting legal sites

… The new measures, mostly welcomed by music trade group the BPI, will instead point users towards legal alternatives such as Spotify and Google Play.

Google will now list these legal services in a box at the top of the search results, as well as in a box on the right-hand side of the page.

Crucially, however, these will be adverts - meaning if legal sites want to appear there, they will need to pay Google for the placement.

The BPI said that while it was "broadly" pleased with Google's changes, it did not think sites should have to pay.

• The BPI made 43.3 million requests for Google to remove search results in 2013 (the US equivalent group, the RIAA, made 31.6 million)
• Google removed 222 million results from search because of copyright infringement
• Google's Content ID system, which detects copyrighted material, scans 400 years-worth of video every day
• 300 million videos have been "claimed" by rights holders, meaning they can place advertising on them

Source: Google report into piracy

… Google has also added extra measures to doctor its search results so that links pointing to illegal content fall lower in results, with legal sites floating to the top.

“You've got to know when to hold 'em

Know when to fold 'em

Know when to walk away

Know when to run ” Kenny Rogers Another indication that businesses (if not governments) know when to cut their losses.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/globalfoundries-to-take-over-ibm-chip-unit-1413763188?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12483389912594473586204580225060243058260.html

Globalfoundries to Take Over IBM Chip Unit

Globalfoundries Inc. has agreed to takeover the semiconductor operations of International Business Machines Corp., which is effectively acknowledging the rising cost of chip making is too burdensome.

The two companies did not state the financial details of the transaction, but IBM will pay Globalfoundries $1.5 billion to take the chip operations off its hands, according to a person familiar with the situation.

… IBM initially hoped to sell the operations for more than $2 billion, the people said, but bidders were coming in closer to $1 billion. Talks with Globalfoundries at times were marked by disagreements over financial terms, one person familiar with the talks said.

Though IBM has been a pioneer in advancing semiconductor technology, the company’s manufacturing capability fell behind others that produced chips in large volume. IBM for years produced chips used in videogame consoles but lost that business for the latest generations of hardware from Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

… Globalfoundries, which manufactures chips to order for other companies, emerged as the most likely candidate in part because of geography. Most of the relevant IBM operations are in New York state.

Globalfoundries, which is owned by entities associated with the government of Abu Dhabi, has built a large factory near Albany.

For my students taking Accounting and those with an entrepreneurial urge: You rally need to understand this!

http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/at-amazon-its-all-about-cash-flow/

At Amazon, It’s All About Cash Flow

… That operating cash flow is much higher than net income at a company that has been investing huge amounts of money as it strives for global retail domination isn’t a big surprise, although the sheer size of the difference, and the sharp upward trajectory of the cash flow line, is still staggering.

Free cash flow does count all of Amazon’s investments — although it counts them when the money is spent instead of depreciating and amortizing them over subsequent years. That it has remained consistently higher (usually more than $1 billion higher) than net income is a remarkable and very important thing. And the difference between free cash flow and net income is all about timing.

Net income is a noble if flawed attempt to match expenses and revenue in time.

… With free cash flow, on the other hand, what counts is when the money actually changes hands. So if you have a business where your customers pay you quickly, you manage your inventory well, and you’re able to take your time in paying your suppliers, your free cash flow can be consistently positive even when your net income is not. Which is exactly the kind of business that Jeff Bezos and his colleagues have constructed at Amazon over the past decade.

… In Amazon’s case, all this cash is being used to finance the company’s continued explosive growth. The company doesn’t need to borrow, it doesn’t need to issue stock. It can just keep spending its own cash to attack new sectors and upgrade its offerings.

… This is one of the reasons why Bezos just landed atop HBR’s list of the best-performing CEOs on the planet.

For my geeks. (I can't imagine why normal people would want this.)

VirtualXP

http://www.farstone.com/software/VirtualXP.php

– since there are no more security updates from Windows, Windows XP is now under threat of harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. To allow users to keep running applications and accessing data on XP, FarStone has developed VirtualXP to convert an XP system to a Microsoft virtual disk.

This is one my website students will use. (I send them out to find website designs and features they would like to incorporate in their sites.)

What WordPress Theme Is That?

http://whatwpthemeisthat.com/

– is a free online tool allows you to easily detect what WordPress theme a site uses (including parent and child themes). Additionally, it will also detect what WordPress plugins are being used.

For my Ethical Hackers and Computer Security students. Would you do the same for your organization? If so, consider sending an immediate email rather than waiting for the user to return to your site. Apparently Facebook still thinks everyone uses their site first.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/protect-the-graph/keeping-passwords-secure/1519937431579736

Keeping Passwords Secure

The Facebook Security team has always kept a close eye on data breach announcements from other organizations. Theft of personal data like email addresses and passwords can have larger consequences because people often use the same password on multiple websites. Unfortunately, it's common for attackers to publicly post the email addresses and passwords they steal on public 'paste' sites.

… we built a system dedicated to further securing people's Facebook accounts by actively looking for these public postings, analyzing them, and then notifying people when we discover that their credentials have shown up elsewhere on the Internet.

… If we find a match, we'll notify you the next time you log in and guide you through a process to change your password.

Fortunately, I'm not flying to New Zealand any time soon.

NZ: Auckland Transport about to launch Mass Surveillance and other frog boiling stories

Ian Apperley writes:

…Auckland Transport announcing this week a deal with Hewlett Packard to roll out facial recognition technology, along with what looks like car plate recognition and sifting of social media networks. Now, they aren’t turning the facial recognition on right away, but you can be sure they want to, as they are in discussion with the Privacy Commissioner. Worse, all that data will be pushed to the U.S. into a Cloud environment, which gives the Five Eyes network instant access to everything, given it traverses into the U.S. Of course local police will have access to it as well.

This is quite simply, Mass Surveillance.

Read more on NBR.

Perhaps some elements could serve for more generalized “Things on the Internet of Things” security guidelines.

FDA Releases Final Guidance on Cybersecurity in Medical Devices, Public Workshop to Follow on October 21-22, 2014

Morgan Kennedy writes:

On October 2, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a final guidance document titled “Content of Premarket Submissions for Management of Cybersecurity in Medical Devices”. The FDA said that the “need for effective cybersecurity to assure medical device functionality and safety has become more important with the increasing use of wireless, Internet- and network- connected devices, and the frequent electronic exchange of medical device-related health information.”

Read more on Covington & Burling Inside Privacy.

For my Computer Security students. Very “friendly” interview of Kim Dotcom, but they do summarize the case. (I haven't listened to the Snowden interview yet)

http://upstart.bizjournals.com/multimedia/videos/2014/10/edward-snowden-kim-dotcom-new-yorker.html

A match made in exile: Edward Snowden and Kim Dotcom open up to the New Yorker

… On Saturday, Jane Mayer remotely interviewed Snowden, who leaked information about the federal government's spying strategy, as part of the New Yorker Festival, which ended yesterday.

… Then, the following day, New Yorker features director Daniel Zalewski interviewed Dotcom, the founder of the now shuttered file-sharing site Megaupload, which the FBI accused of costing intellectual property owners $500 million in lost revenue.

Edward Snowden: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fidq3jow8bc

Kim Dotcom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3c4LqN5ca4#t=353

(Related)

Dotcom’s team claims government charges are ‘imaginary’

Kim Dotcom has been run through the legal mill several times over the past few years, with his company shut down, his assets seized and his home raided in a short period of time. The only real development though in the ongoing and oft-delayed extradition trial, is that recently the Department of Justice in the US launched a civil suit against the German entrepreneur, asking the court to hand over all of his assets, current and past since they were only gained through – in its words – illegal means. Now Dotcom’s team has officially responded, claiming that the crimes he is said to have committed are entirely made up.

While that might sound like the argument you came up with when your sister told your parents you pinched her, it does have some merit here, since Kim Dotcom stands accused of secondary criminal copyright infringement, which implies he wasn’t directly responsible for copyright infringement but was heavily involved. That’s not a crime that currently exists on anyone’s legal books.

“The crimes for which the Government seeks to punish the Megaupload defendants do not exist. Although there is no such crime as secondary criminal copyright infringement, that is the crime on which the Government’s Superseding Indictment and instant Complaint are predicated,” Megaupload’s lawyers write.

They then highlighted how because of this made up law and charge, not only was Dotcom stripped of his rights and property, but millions of Megaupload users were also (and still are) denied access to their digital property.

“Tellingly, the Complaint and the Superseding Indictment together fail to identify a single instance in which an act of infringement — particularly an unauthorized upload or download — occurred entirely within the United States,” they continued, highlighting that the DOJ’s jurisdiction ends at the US border.

(Related)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f60m2QH-z2s

Cambell Live - 20/07/12 - Steve Wozniak Interview, re: Kim DotCom

(Completely unrelated) But it caught my eye.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-the-trans-pacific-partnership-and-how-does-it-threaten-internet-freedom/

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Threatens Internet Freedom, Here’s How

ACTA and SOPA might be dead and buried, but the specter of draconian copyright law still lingers, as the leak of the latest draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty shows us.

The treaty – currently being written and developed by twelve countries – could soon see ISPs liable for the activities of their users, extended copyright terms, and the act of circumventing Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology criminalized.

Why we have self-driving cars.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Monitor-Political-Cartoons#860348