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
Amazon
Amazon Offers a “Quickstart Package” for Compliance with DOD’s CMMC
Amazon has announced that it has developed and is offering a “CMMC Quickstart Package” to help contractors comply with the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) required for contractors to enter into contracts with DOD.
According to an Amazon spokesman, Amazon Web Services (AWS) will be releasing a responsibility guide that “lists…
Working from Home During the Pandemic? Turn Alexa and Siri Off!
The transition from work-from-the-office to work-from-home has been rapid during the pandemic. All of a sudden, millions of workers are working from home, while data security personnel were not able to plan and operationalize the transition in an optimal way. Many security measures are being put in place now as everyone settles into the new…
Crime-as-a-Service Targets Popular Platforms
It’s getting difficult to keep up with the jargon of all of the new digital scams. The SaaSes in the beginning became regular business terms, such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Business Processes-as-a-Service (BPaaS). But then the criminal enterprises came up with Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS), Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and now Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS).
A new Crime-as-a-Service offering is targeting…
Amazon Prime Air’s Drone Design
Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced Amazon Prime Air, a delivery-by-drone initiative more than five years ago, and last week, Amazon revealed more information about its delivery system–the design. The Amazon delivery drone will use vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology that is aerodynamic and “fully shrouded for safety.” Additionally, the drone features artificial intelligence to…
Spyware Company Hacked
It has been reported that a hacker was able to break into the servers of TheTruthSpy, a company that is described as “one of the most notorious stalkerware companies out there” (Motherboard, August 2018) and was able to steal logins, audio recordings, text messages, and pictures of victims.
Motherboard has issued a…
Pentagon Web Monitoring Data Exposed
Security researcher Chris Vickery has confirmed that web-monitoring data from the Department of Defense (DOD) was exposed through Amazon Web Services by the way the DOD configured access by authorized users. According to Vickery, anyone with a free AWS account had access to the DOD information, which included 1.8 billion internet posts that had been…
Amazon’s Scanning Technology for Package Delivery
If you haven’t yet heard about it, Amazon is on the forefront of package delivery. And if you think that is old news (which it is!), have you heard about Amazon’s scanning technology capable of scanning the homes down below its delivery drone so that it can properly deliver that awesome new gadget you just…
Advanced Weather Data: Vital for the Future of Commercial Drone Operations
Back in December 2016, Amazon executed its first customer delivery by drone in the United Kingdom. Now, as Amazon, and other large retailers, aim for widespread deployment of drones for the delivery of goods to consumers, it is increasingly clear that advanced weather data is vital for ensuring that these delivery drones can fly weather-sensitive…
Privacy Tip #96 – Consider “Who Has Your Back” as Your Next Summer Read
As you head to the beach or hammock for a bit of R+R this summer, here is one that you might want on the reading list.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been publishing a report entitled “Who Has Your Back” since 2010. The point of the report is to assess major digital companies’ attitude…