How to Live by the Code of Good Bots

Although my company fights problems caused by malicious bots on the Internet, many bots are doing good things. These beneficial bots may help a site get better exposure, provide better product recommendations, or monitor critical online services. The most famous good bot is the Googlebot, which crawls links to build the search engine many of…

Equifax CEO Steps Down After Massive Data Breach

Equifax chairman and CEO Richard Smith stepped down Tuesday, just weeks after the company disclosed a massive data breach that exposed more than 143 million U.S. individuals. Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., who most recently served as President, Asia Pacific, and is a seven-year veteran of the company, has been appointed as interim Chief Executive Officer. The…

Digital future: Are we ready for what’s next?

The Internet Society (ISOC), a global non-profit dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet, released “Paths to our Digital Future”, a report aimed at exploring the future of the Internet. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things hold huge potential to simplify and enhance people’s lives – but only if…

Chrome will tag FTP sites as “Not secure”

Google Chrome 63, expected to be released sometime around December, will label resources delivered over the FTP protocol as “Not secure”, a member of the Chrome security team has shared. This change is part of Google’s continuous effort to “accurately communicate the transport security status of a given page.” “We didn’t include FTP in our…

DHS Orders Government Agencies to Stop Using Kaspersky Products

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a binding operational directive on Wednesday ordering government departments and agencies to stop using products from Kaspersky Lab due to concerns regarding the company’s ties to Russian intelligence. The DHS told agencies that they have 30 days to identify the use or presence of products supplied directly…

Why end-to-end encryption is about more than just privacy

The question of whether regular people need end-to-end encryption will surely be debated for quite some time. But for Alan Duric, CEO and co-founder of Wire, the question can only have a positive answer. As he told the audience at the FSec security symposium in Varazdin, Croatia, end-to-end encryption is about more than just privacy…

143 Million Affected in Hack of U.S. Credit Agency

A major American credit reporting agency entrusted to safeguard personal financial information said Thursday hackers looted its system in a colossal breach that could affect nearly half the US population as well as people in Britain and Canada. Equifax said that a hack it learned about on July 29 had the potential to affect 143…

Seven Steps to Improve Your Security Operations and Response

It’s hard to escape the reality that every day, cyberthreats morph and expand, escalating the need to improve and tighten security operations and response practices. While it may feel overwhelming, there are ways to help level the playing field. Cognitive computing and machine learning are new technologies that can empower security practitioners to focus on…