I continue to be quite surprised at the lack of understanding that people have about personal assistants such as Alexa and Echo. It seems logical to me that when you yell out “Alexa, turn on the lights!” Alexa is using voice recognition technology to recognize your voice for the command and is processing that command … Continue Reading
Holiday shopping is in full gear and everything seems to be an Internet of Things (IoT) device. It continues to amaze me how folks will buy IoT gadgets and plop them in their homes and have no idea that they include a speaker or camera, recording every move and word, or that they pose a … Continue Reading
Oregon became the latest state to require manufacturers of internet “connected devices” that make, sell or offer to sell the devices in the state to equip the device with “reasonable security features” according to Oregon House Bill 2395 amending ORS 646.607. According to the law, “[R]easonable security features” means methods to protect a connected device … Continue Reading
When you next lie down to sleep, the bed may not your secrets keep. So-called “smart” beds, mattress pads, sleep apps, and fitness trackers with sleep options are collecting data on those who use them and sending that personal information back to manufacturers. The data gathered can include biometric information (i.e., heart rate, respiration), sleep … Continue Reading
These days, pretty much everyone is aware of potential security incidents and the risks involved with Internet of Things (IoT) devices because security was not built into the device during the manufacturing process, but there is less awareness of the risks associated with the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Just like IoT devices, such as … Continue Reading
According to a recent survey of cybersecurity professionals by AT&T Cybersecurity entitled “Confidence: the perception and reality of cybersecurity threats,” phishing and cloud security threats are keeping them up at night. The survey polled 733 cybersecurity professionals attending the RSA conference and asked the respondents about what they perceive to be the biggest internal and … Continue Reading
I attended a meeting of cybersecurity professionals recently and overheard several of them talking about their new security cameras and how great it is to see everyone who comes up the driveway and to the front door, and monitors the family members and pets in the home. One mentioned how his wife doesn’t approve of … Continue Reading
So this week’s blog article takes a page from my very own “smart” home devices. Monday morning at about 3:42 a.m. our entire household woke up because every “smart” lightbulb in the house came on at the same time! It was a bit distressing and once we got up and shut off all the lights, … Continue Reading
This was a busy week for activity and discussions on the federal level regarding existing privacy laws – namely the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). But the real question is, could a federal privacy law actually happen in 2019? Cybersecurity issues and the possibility of a … Continue Reading
My fascination with Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues, and this week I found two new medical uses of AI that are pretty interesting. Digital Trends reported on two exciting developments: smart stethoscopes and smart toilet seats. In the first example, researchers at Johns Hopkins and the startup Sonavi Labs are developing an updated stethoscope, a piece … Continue Reading
On September 28, 2018, California passed Senate Bill No. 327, Chapter 886, which regulates the security of all internet of things (IoT) devices sold in California. Collectively, IoT broadly refers to all internet-enabled devices and includes everything from doorbells and lamps to cell phones and wearable devices. This bill, beginning on January 1, 2020, will … Continue Reading
For data security buffs like me, the recent McAfee® Labs Threats Report, December 2018 is, or should be, a top pick on the list. Well, maybe not for the holiday reading list, and we need to be careful not to bring up the results during holiday parties. I warn you that it is not an … Continue Reading
Sometimes I feel like I’m the Grinch at a party when I talk shop about the latest massive data breach or horrible hacker story that is in the news. We say things like, “It’s not if, but when” there will be another data breach. Well, this week was no different, as we saw news reports … Continue Reading
Some analysts have predicted that by 2020, there will be 20 billion Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices worldwide, which could grow to over 80 billion by 2025. Sales of IoT devices were $80 billion in 2017, and are predicted to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2021. With the exponential growth of IoT devices, experts … Continue Reading
What’s worse than standing in a huge line to get into the stadium to watch your favorite team? Standing in another huge line to get your favorite beer. CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC, now offers the option of entering the stadium and purchasing food and beverages using biometrics fingerprint scanning … Continue Reading
The Australian Institute of Marine Science is using an IoT drifter manufactured by Myriota to collect oceanographic data in almost real time. The drifters connect to low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, so they are not using traditional mobile telephone networks, and avoid connectivity issues. The drifters monitor ocean conditions, including water temperatures, currents and barometric … Continue Reading
People don’t think of their cars as IoT devices. Our cars are increasingly more connected by Wi-Fi, what does that mean for data collection about the driver? Our cars are collecting much more data than you think. [view related posts here and here]. Cars can collect information related to where you’ve been, what you’re listening … Continue Reading
California lawmakers have taken the lead in trying to address privacy and security issues with Internet of Things (IoT) devices (which we have been writing about for years), by passing the country’s first IoT security bill, which is now headed to Governor Brown’s desk for signature by September 30. One of the issues addressed by … Continue Reading
While meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump was given a soccer ball, symbolic of the 2018 World Cup played in Russia. Bloomberg has reported that the soccer ball contained a chip, known as near-field communication (NFC) tag, which can transmit information to nearby cellphones, presumably including Trump’s as well. The chips can send … Continue Reading
Security researchers at Check Point discovered software vulnerabilities in LG IoT devices which allowed them to potentially gain control over LG refrigerators, ovens, dishwashers and a live feed from a robot vacuum cleaner. A vulnerability in the mobil app and cloud app allowed them to remotely gain access to LG IoT devices with just an … Continue Reading
We continue to try to alert our clients about the changing threat landscape in cybersecurity. We keep saying how the threats are becoming more and more sophisticated and more and more frequent, and that companies must acknowledge and address the threat as a high priority. Cisco publishes cybersecurity reports that outline the threats to businesses … Continue Reading
Everything connected to the Internet is hackable and at risk. But there are some things connected to the Internet that you just don’t think of as risks to an organization. That is, until now. Darktrace has issued its report Darktrace Global Threat Report 2017 that discusses nine unusual cyber threat scenarios that show, among other things, … Continue Reading
Researchers at Stanford University have released a study concluding that wearable fitness trackers provide inaccurate measurements when it comes to providing information to users on how many calories have been burned. The researchers evaluated seven wearable fitness trackers and how they measured heart rate and calories burned. Most of them measured heart rate pretty accurately, … Continue Reading
We often talk about how anything that is connected to the Internet is hackable and unsafe, and to be careful about how you buy and connect devices, products, appliances, home security systems and other wireless “things.” These are called the Internet of Things, or “IoT.” Alexa is an IoT “thing.” Cybersecurity literature constantly warns us … Continue Reading
