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…
Category: Commentaries and Analyses
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…
MPs launch ‘TalkTalk’ inquiry over security of personal data online
It looks like the UK’s legislators are following in the footsteps of the Beltway: huff and puff, ask questions, and probably do nothing. Alexander J. Martin reports: Executives at TalkTalk, including CEO Dido Harding herself, may face a grilling from Members of Parliament over the shoddy security practices which led to the theft of than…
UK: Crown Prosecution Service fined £200,000 for breach involving contractor
Back in September, I prefaced a breach post involving the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service with the comment, “This is one of those really terrible breaches that are the stuff of nightmares.” It appears the Information Commissioner’s Office concurred, as CPS has been fined £200,000 after laptops containing videos of police interviews were stolen from a private…