UPDATE–As the debate over potential government interference with encryption technologies rages in countries around the world, Congress is now going down a different path, asking technology companies whether it’s feasible and potentially effective for certificate authorities to restricting the way that government-owned CAs can issue certificates. Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce […]
Tag Archives: Privacy
Apple Pushing Developers Toward HTTPS Connections From Apps
Apple is encouraging developers who create apps for iOS to begin moving their apps to an HTTPS-only model as soon as possible in an effort to thwart eavesdropping on insecure, plaintext HTTP connections. The move is yet one more sign that major Internet and technology companies are becoming ever more resistant to large-scale, passive surveillance […]
Federal Agencies to Move to HTTPS-Only Connections
Following the lead of many major Web services, the White House on Monday announced that it would move all of the federal government’s public sites and services to HTTPS-only. Tony Scott, the federal CIO, has issued a memorandum to all federal agencies and departments instructing them to move all of their publicly accessible Web sites […]
Bug Bounties in Crosshairs of Proposed US Wassenaar Rules
Bug bounties and rewards programs provide researchers with a measure of income, and if the proposed Wassenaar rules are implemented in the U.S., that initiatives could be adversely impacted.
The dummies guide to hacking Whatsapp
WhatsApp – the super popular messaging app (800 million users), acquired by Facebook for $20 billion, has done it again… After a bug that exposed restricted profile pictures, data encryption that can be breached in 3 minutes, and the use of IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) as a cryptographic key (it’s like using your Social Security Number as a password), WhatsApp is yet again in the headlines for privacy concerns…
The latest story – hacking Whatsapp. As reported by The Hacker News, anyone can hack your WhatsApp account with just your number and 2 minutes alone with your phone…
This video, posted on YouTube, shows how a hacker answers an authenticating call, intercepts a secret PIN, and uses that to access a WhatsApp account he just created on another phone.
This is not tied to a bug or loophole – it is the way that WhatsApp was built.
Bottom line? Please be very careful whom you lend your phone to, and make sure you don’t leave it lying around. Even locked, a garden-variety hacker can access your WhatsApp account in 2 minutes.
The post The dummies guide to hacking Whatsapp appeared first on Avira Blog.
Threatpost News Wrap, June 5, 2015
Dennis Fisher and Mike Mimoso discuss Facebook’s moves toward encrypted notifications and SHA-2 usage, the audit of GitHub SSH keys and the awesome OpenSesame garage door hack from Samy Kamkar.
Rights Groups Call for More Change Two Years After Snowden Revelations Began
It’s been two years now since the first stories about NSA surveillance capabilities began to appear, and the environment has shifted dramatically in that time. Awareness of and resistance to mass surveillance has increased greatly, but the changes to policy and laws that many observers had hoped for haven’t necessarily emerged. A new report from Privacy […]
Google introduces new security and privacy features
In response to recent research from Pew, indicating that fewer than 10% of Americans feel in control of their data, Google announced new tools help users do just that.
The feature, called My Account, is an easy way for Google account holders to manage many of their security and privacy options from one dashboard.
New Features
MyAccount is not just a convenient dashboard though, as Google has introduced new features to play with such as Privacy Checkup and Security Checkup, which help the user choose what personal information they are happy to share and where they are happy to share it.
As Google explained in their blog:
Privacy and security are two sides of the same coin: if your information isn’t secure, it certainly can’t be private. My Account gives you quick access to the settings and tools that help you safeguard your data, protect your privacy, and decide what information is used to make Google services work better for you.
By offering greater control over how apps such as Maps, YouTube and Search collect data, Google is hoping to reassure users that they can in fact keep their data as private as they wish.
Greater transparency
Notably, Google has also introduced a new site privacy.google.com which allows user to examine what data Google itself is storing on them.
We listen to feedback from people around the world to better understand their concerns about privacy and security. In addition to My Account, we want to help people find answers to common questions on these topics, such as: “What data does Google collect? What does Google do with the data it collects? What tools do I have to control my Google experience?”
The new privacy.google.com promises to have all this information and more so if you are interested in learning about how Google uses and stores your data, you should check it out. I certainly will be.
Privacy Proponents Rally In Favor of Tracking Protection in Firefox
Privacy advocates are calling on Mozilla to better deploy Tracking Protection, a technology that offers more stringent privacy and speeds up page loads by blocking requests to tracking domains, in its Firefox browser.
Self-Driving Trucks Ahead Â
The Freightliner Inspiration Truck is the first licensed autonomous commercial truck to operate on an open public highway in the United States and made its debut by driving across the Hoover Dam earlier this month.
Video
Freightliner Inspiration
Of course, the mix of radars, sensors, lasers and technology that enable autonomous driving is applicable to many other forms of transportation. But the self-driving truck is a very natural and promising extension of the category.
With its truck, Daimler promises to unlock autonomous vehicle advancements that reduce accidents, improve fuel consumption, cut highway congestion, and safeguard the environment.
The Freightliner Inspiration is only a prototype of what is could be reality in ten years’ time and, for now, Daimler has made it clear that it is still relying on drivers.
“The driver is a key part of a collaborative vehicle system,” Richard Howard, Senior Vice President at Daimler said at the Freightliner Inspiration’s unveiling. “With the Freightliner Inspiration Truck, drivers can optimize their time on the road while also handling other important logistical tasks, from scheduling to routing. The autonomous vehicle technology not only contributes to improved safety and efficiency, but allows for improved communication through connectivity and integration.”
Autonomous trucks are already used by mining conglomerate Rio Tinto in Western Australia to haul millions of tons of material.
Automation for trucking and haulage is so significant as logistics are so important when it comes to shipments. Often, drivers are pushed to the limit to make deadlines. Combine human fatigue with mechanical failures, and the results can be deadly. A 9,000 gallon unleaded gasoline tanker fire in Detroit and a school bus tragedy in California, are just two of the most recent and tragic examples where automated driving could have made a difference.
The latest statistics from the US Department of Transportation (DoT) showed that 342,000 large trucks were involved in traffic incidents during 2013 with 3,964 people killed and 95,000 people injured. Those are some scary stats and ones that make automation, or semi-automation, an imperative.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking the drivers. These are hard-working men and women who are up against crazy schedules and are often away from their families for weeks at a time. Imagine driving full-time? It would be both physically and mentally exhausting.
The Walmart driver involved in the crash last June that seriously injured actor Tracy Morgan and killed his fellow passenger, the comedian James McNair, was reportedly nearing his drive-time limit when he rear-ended their car. (Just this week, Walmart announced it had reached an undisclosed settlement with Morgan, after earlier settling with McNair’s family.)
On another cautionary note: just as car hacks have become a problem with autonomous cars, security is even more paramount with trucks and their automation systems.
As we previously reported, the remote car hack scenarios and vulnerabilities being experienced caught some of the top car manufacturers by surprise. I hope that when it comes to autonomous trucking, that manufacturers have taken note and are thinking further down the road.
