David Fagan, Ashden Fein and David Bender write: As we reported on October 27, the U.S. Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (“CISA,” S. 754). If enacted into law, CISA would, among other things, establish a voluntary framework for the sharing of cybersecurity threat information between and among the federal government and private entities. CISA must…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
We’ve Never Seen a Stolen Credit Card Market as Slick as This
Joseph Cox reports: Buying stolen credit cards can be a fairly drab affair. Apart from the obnoxious flashing banner ads strewn across the top of many fraud and criminal websites, often there’s not much going for them when it comes to presentation. But one site changes all of that completely. Called “Central Shop,” the site…
If the ransomware doesn’t get you, the DDoS might (UPDATE4)
Extortionists are busier than ever. This past week saw more reports on ransomware that corrupts files even if you pay the ransom, and DDoS attacks so powerful that usual defenses may be inadequate. Brian Krebs reports: One of the more common and destructive computer crimes to emerge over the past few years involves ransomware — malicious code that…
Challenging FTC Regulation of Cyber-security After FTC v. Wyndham
Gerald J. Ferguson and of Alan L. Friel of Baker & Hostetler write: The Third Circuit interlocutory decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation was widely reported as a big win for the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). But on closer examination, it was a split decision in which Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (“Wyndham”) can claim an…
Who Knows What About Me? A Survey of Behind the Scenes Personal Data Sharing to Third Parties by Mobile Apps
A survey by Jinyan Zang, Krysta Dummit, James Graves, Paul Lisker, and Latanya Sweeney will be of interest to some readers. Here’s the Abstract: What types of user data are mobile apps sending to third parties? We chose 110 of the most popular free mobile apps as of June-July 2014 from the Google Play Store and…
UT: Sensitive student information improperly released in 5,500 transactions, report says
Morgan Jacobsen reports: State auditors recently found reasons to praise education administrators for the transparency, accuracy and reliability of financial reporting in public schools. But in the process of looking through school transparency data reported on Utah’s public finance website, auditors “stumbled across” a trend that concerned them, according to performance audit supervisor Chris Otto. Since…