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…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
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…
TalkTalk and “Glubz” (updated)
For reasons that are too contorted or convoluted to fully explain, I’ve been keeping an eye on a number of Twitter accounts that I suspect include those arrested for the TalkTalk breach. But Brian Krebs dug deeper, and gives a master class on identifying “Glubz” (@Fearful). [material deleted, Jan. 4, 2018] Update: As TalkTalk continues to…
UK: Dozens of criminals have gone to jail to keep passwords secret
Fiona Hamilton reports: Convictions of suspects who refuse to hand over their encrypted passwords have risen sixfold in four years, potentially blocking police from examining their electronic devices. The sharp increase has led to fears that criminals are opting to plead guilty to encryption offences rather than allow detectives to go through their computers and…