Tuesday, June 10, 2014

For my Computer Security students.
Free Python Script Detects MitM Vulnerability in OpenSSL
Tripwire has released a free Python script that’s designed to help organizations determine if their servers are affected by the recently patched Man-in-the Middle (MitM) vulnerability in OpenSSL.
The OpenSSL CCS Inject Test Script is available for download on Tripwire’s website.


For anyone living under a rock.
For Sale: Practically All the Details of Your Personal Life
… The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently published the report Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability. It’s an eye opener for anyone who thinks they lead a private life. Companies known as data brokers collect and sell just about every kind of data point about your life, and it goes far beyond what the NSA is doing with phone calls and emails.


Here's the report I blogged about yesterday.
Net Losses: Estimating the Global Cost of Cybercrime


At least someone is thinking about the future.
Preparing for the Internet of Things
What are you doing to prepare for the Internet of Things in your company? How are you going to handle connectivity of the new internet-enabled "things"? How will you handle the new bandwidth requirements from network-hungry devices? Are you prepared for the amount of storage required to maintain those devices? What about security concerns for new devices? And, how will you handle the significant amount of device and user management that's coming your way?
You might not know the answers to any of these questions, but fortunately, you have colleagues who at least have taken their best guesses at it. In a recent survey of 440 IT professionals in North America and EMEA, Spiceworks has compiled some surprising results.

1. Most IT pros agree that IoT will impact consumers in addition to the workplace. In fact, the vast majority believes the trend will pose significant security and privacy issues.
2. Even so, more than half say they aren’t doing anything specific to brace their infrastructure for the coming impact of IoT.
3. Despite the divide between belief and targeted action, it turns out the future is now. Our survey found that many IT pros are already doing things that’ll help support IoT – even if they aren’t thinking of them in that context. But chances are…they should be doing more.

(Related) Your car is several “Things.”
An editorial in the L. A. Times includes:
It’s easy to say that no one has a reasonable expectation of privacy when driving on the streets or parking in a public place. But changing technology — especially the digitizing of license plate photographs and an almost endless storage capacity — has dramatically widened the window through which police can track an individual’s comings and goings.
Like GPS technology, which allows police to track the movements of suspects through their cars and telephones, the proliferation of license plate scanners demonstrates the need to adapt traditional notions of privacy to new and invasive technologies. The American Civil Liberties Union has proposed several recommendations to protect privacy: Police must have reasonable suspicion that a crime has occurred before examining collected license plate data; citizens should be able to find out if data about their license plate are contained in a database; license plate data should be deleted after a short period to avoid fishing expeditions; and law enforcement shouldn’t share such data with third parties that don’t adhere to these protections.
Read more on L.A. Times.


Long article.
10 Powerful Facts About Big Data
Most companies estimate they're analyzing a mere 12% of the data they have, according to a recent study by Forrester Research.


For my students and not just the Trekies...
George Takei Explains Technology & The Internet In Takei’s Take [Stuff to Watch]
There are many reasons to admire George Takei: his much-loved role as Mr Sulu in Star Trek, his dedicated work as a gay rights activist and his efforts to improve Japanese-American relations. But now we have another reason: Takei’s Take on YouTube.
Produced in part by the AARP, George separates fact from fiction and explains some of the latest trends, buzz-words and technologies in short, easily consumable videos.
… Last week’s Stuff to Watch was all about 2014′s Webby winners – and George was one of them, for this very show.

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