I make it 16 briefs and three letters in support
of Apple. Plenty of fodder for my students to chew as they write
their papers on cryptography this week.
Google, Amazon,
Facebook, Microsoft and a parade of other technology companies filed
a
barrage of court briefs on Thursday, aiming to
puncture the United States government’s legal
arguments against Apple
in a case that will test the limits of the authorities’ access to
personal data.
(Related) On the FBI side, wild speculation? No
evidence of this, so why suggest it?
San
Bernardino DA says seized iPhone may hold “dormant cyber pathogen”
The San Bernardino District Attorney told a
federal judge late Thursday that Apple must assist the authorities in
unlocking the iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the two San
Bernardino shooters that killed 14 people in a killing rampage in
December. The phone, which was a county work phone issued to Farook
as part of his Health Department duties, may have been the trigger to
unleash a "cyber pathogen," county prosecutors said in a
brief court filing.
"The iPhone is a county owned telephone that
may have [Surely
it was connected at some time? Bob] connected to the San
Bernardino County computer network. The seized iPhone may contain
evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used
as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that
endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure," according to a court
filing
(PDF) by Michael Ramos, the San Bernardino County District Attorney.
The development represents the first time any law
enforcement official connected to the investigation provided any
indication of what the authorities might discover on the phone.
(Related) A government divided. (Nothing new
there)
Pentagon
Chief Wary of Tech 'Back Doors'
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has said he
opposes high-tech "back doors" that would allow the
government access to encrypted data on people's phones and other
devices.
Apparently not everyone is convinced encryption is
the way to go. Let's hope they find out why Amazon did it.
Amazon
Quietly Removes Device Encryption in Fire Devices
Fire
OS 5 is based on the Android 5.0 Lollipop release, which was revealed
in October 2014 with multiple security enhancements built in,
including full device encryption enabled by default on first boot.
To
further boost the security of devices, Google announced in October
2015 that full-disk
encryption was mandatory in devices running Android 6.0
Marshmallow. Thus, the company required that all manufacturers
enabled the feature out-of-the-box for new devices that support a
secure lockscreen and which have high memory resources.
Amazon’s
Fire devices had encryption enabled, and users still running
iterations of Fire OS 4 can take full advantage of the security
feature. However, those who decided to upgrade to the newer Fire OS
5 platform release could no longer enjoy the same capabilities it
seems.
Although
it did not make an official announcement on the matter, Amazon did
inform users on the change, and even suggested they refrain from
upgrading to the newer OS version to continue taking advantage of
encryption. Basically
users need to choose from two equally bad options: update and leave
their data unprotected, or continue running outdated software on
their devices.
… SecurityWeek
has contacted Amazon requesting comment and we will update the story
as soon as we receive a response.
Never
engage in a battle of wits when you are only half armed.
GOP
lawmaker: Ban government from buying Apple products
Rep.
David Jolly (R-Fla.) is proposing a way to punish Apple for refusing
to abide by a court order directing the company to unlock an iPhone
used by one of the San Bernardino shooters: Stop buying its products
for government use.
“Deliver
what you promise, promise only what you can deliver.” What make
that so hard to understand? Looking at the dates, the Feds need to
move faster!
Feds
go after online payment firm for deceptive cybersecurity
Federal
regulators on Thursday sent a major signal to financial technology
companies, settling charges against an online payment firm for
deceiving customers about data security.
The company, Dwolla, has agreed to pay $100,000 to
settle the allegations.
The
move is a new step for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB), and represents one of the first enforcement actions taken
against a financial technology company for allegedly misrepresenting
security practices.
… The CFPB claims that from late 2010 until
2014, Dwolla falsely assured customers that its data security
practices exceeded industry standards and guarded customer data with
“safe” and “secure” transactions. The agency also said the
company misled users about how much personal information was
encrypted.
… In a statement, the firm also stressed there
was no indication of a data breach in the company’s five years of
existence. [Significant.
That is usually how the government gets involved. Bob]
… With Thursday’s enforcement action, the
CFPB has positioned itself next to other federal agencies — such as
the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission —
as a de facto data security
regulator.
This
will not be the last “cross technology” issue. Cable companies
offer Internet but claim TV delivered to computers (rather than to
your TV) is not an Internet service.
Consumer
group calls for action against Comcast streaming video
Consumer advocates are urging regulators to take
action against Comcast's new video service, Stream TV.
The service, which was launched last year, allows
people to purchase and watch TV on their computers and phones without
it counting against their Internet data caps.
Advocacy group Public Knowledge filed a 30-page
complaint against Comcast Wednesday night, charging that the
streaming service violates conditions from its 2011 merger with
NBC-Universal.
… According to the 2011 merger conditions,
Comcast agreed that if it imposed Internet data caps, it would not
treat its own video services differently than others. Because
Comcast's own Stream TV is exempt from data caps in a process known
as "zero rating," Public Knowledge argues it is giving
itself favorable treatment.
For my next Disaster Recovery class. No matter
how extensively you plan, there seems to be something you overlooked
– and it will happen. Who knew there were birds in the area!
Bird
droppings apparently caused NY nuclear reactor outage
… In a report to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission last month, the New Orleans-based company said the
automatic reactor shutdown was apparently from bird feces that caused
an electric arc between wires on a feeder line at a transmission
tower.
"If it has nowhere to send its electricity,
the generator senses that and automatically shuts down," Entergy
spokesman Jerry Nappi said.
Plant managers told the NRC
they were revising preventive maintenance for additional
inspection and cleaning and installing bird guards on transmission
towers.
Without video or audio to accompany these slides,
it becomes a list you have to research yourself. Still, it is
probably worth looking at the ones I don't know about.
Best of the
Web - Spring 2016
This afternoon at the NCTIES
2016 conference I had the privilege to once again give my Best
of the Web presentation to a packed room (conservative guess of
350 people). The presentation features short overviews of my
favorite new and or updated ed tech resources of the last year.
Almost all of today's
presentation featured things that I haven't included in past Best
of the Web presentations. The slides from the
presentation are embedded below.
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