DHS: Protecting America since never!
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUKL1N2IU1VQ
Suspected Russian hackers breached U.S. Department of Homeland Security - sources
A team of sophisticated hackers believed to be working for the Russian government won access to internal communications at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to people familiar with the matter.
The breach was part of the campaign reported Sunday that penetrated the U.S. departments of Treasury and Commerce.
Something for my Computer Security students.
Top 10 in-demand cybersecurity skills for 2021
… Sanders puts “comfortable with change” as one of the most in-demand skills for 2021, alongside internal drive and the ability to be self-directed with work.
… A July 2020 report from the ISSA and the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) found that 70% of ISSA members believe the global cybersecurity skills shortage has impacted their organization, while the 2020 (ISC)2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study found that 64% of responding security professionals experienced skills shortages within their own organizations.
… Here are the 10 areas where skills are most in demand for the year ahead — and why:
Interesting that this does not come from a “security” website.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/security-failings-demonstrate-avoid-lenovo/
Why You Should Avoid Lenovo PCs: 7 Security Risks to Consider
It just keeps happening. Over the years, Chinese computer and smartphone manufacturer Lenovo has been caught pushing bad software on its users. It's not just bad: it's flawed. Whether drivers, workarounds, or bloatware, Lenovo has a terrible record for protecting its users.
Repeatedly, the point is underlined: if you value security and privacy, Lenovo PCs and laptops are not safe. Let's look at why the time has come to start looking elsewhere for affordable computers.
A most interesting essay… You really, really, really should read it.
Should There Be Limits on Persuasive Technologies?
Persuasion is as old as our species. Both democracy and the market economy depend on it. Politicians persuade citizens to vote for them, or to support different policy positions. Businesses persuade consumers to buy their products or services. We all persuade our friends to accept our choice of restaurant, movie, and so on. It’s essential to society; we couldn’t get large groups of people to work together without it. But as with many things, technology is fundamentally changing the nature of persuasion. And society needs to adapt its rules of persuasion or suffer the consequences.
… The Internet has enabled new technologies of persuasion to go even further.
“Give us everything, we’ll find something we don’t like.”
Scoop: FTC launches sweeping privacy study of top tech platforms
The Federal Trade Commission will announce Monday that it's launching a new inquiry into the privacy and data collection practices of major tech firms including Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as well as its subsidiary WhatsApp, Axios has learned.
The big picture: The move comes amid broader scrutiny for the industry and appears to be a wide-reaching inquiry into everything major tech companies know about their users and what they do with that data, as well as their broader business plans.
Details: The FTC is asking for a large trove of information and documents from the above platforms, plus Discord, Reddit and Snap.
The agency wants much of the usage and engagement data the platforms collect on their users, the metrics they use for measuring such things and short- and long-term business strategies, among many other areas of inquiry.
Background: In launching the study, the FTC is using its authority to do wide-ranging studies for no specific law enforcement purpose.
(Related) “They have the best technology, therefore they are evil.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/14/technology/how-google-dominates.html
Google Dominates Thanks to an Unrivaled View of the Web
As regulators seek ways to curb the company’s power, there is more focus on the vast index — hundreds of billions of web pages — behind its search engine.
Could be useful.
https://www.bespacific.com/research-guides-in-focus-guide-to-law-online-u-s-states-and-territories/
Research Guides in Focus – Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and Territories
In Custodia Legis: “This is a guest post by senior legal reference librarian Emily Carr. The Law Library of Congress is pleased to announce the launch of a redesigned Guide to Law Online: U.S. States and Territories at its new Library of Congress Research Guides location. This project originally started in 1999 as an outgrowth of the nation-specific guide portal, with the state pages created to provide quick links to primary and selected secondary free online resources. At the time, such links tended to point to secondary sources, as few primary source materials (laws, cases, regulations, et al.) were offered freely online. Over the years, we have considerably expanded the Guide to Law Online to include new available content, focusing on official government websites whenever possible. Our new platform is a welcome enhancement to the project, as it features collection details, from recommended bibliographic selections to highlights of the Library of Congress photo and map collections.
An area I like to keep an eye on…
https://www.bespacific.com/ci-takes-time/
CI Takes Time
Via LLRX – CI Takes Time – Research Attorney Caren Zentner Luckie discusses the many aspects of competitive intelligence and business development, importantly stating that it takes time to perform the work, and it takes even more time to learn which sources to use to find the information. She notes that CI also takes money to deliver comprehensive and accurate work product. Using a range of public and private sources, expert techniques, and a thorough understanding of the specific client requirements is critical to CI research.
Something designed for ‘no talent’ me? Cool.
Google’s Blob Opera experiment lets you create festive music — no talent required
This year has been drab but that doesn't mean we can't end it on a good note. In fact, Google's new machine learning experiment, called Blob Opera, aims to do just that. With the help of some adorable little blobs — reminiscent of Google's much-loved old emoji — you can create festive songs before sharing them with friends and family.
The machine learning-powered experiment by David Li, in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, gives you control over four blobs that take up different opera voices — from bass to soprano. Creating your own song is as simple as dragging the blobs up, down, and sideways. While moving up and down changes the pitch, horizontal pulls change the vowel sound.
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