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Authentication

Contactless Payments: The New Wave

Geetha Nandikotkur  •  January 22, 2019

As part of its ongoing push toward cashless payments, India is taking steps to ramp up the use of contactless payments, which are already becoming more common in Japan, South Korea, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. What can be done to balance security vs. convenience?

Data Breach

Life Under GDPR: Sizing Up the Long-Term Costs

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 22, 2019

GDPR has been in effect since May 2018, but organizations are still waiting to see what impact it will have on the costs organizations might face from breach cleanup, investigations, sanctions and class action lawsuits, says Ian Thornton-Trump of the financial services firm AMTrust International.

Data Loss

Report: Federal Trade Commission Weighs Facebook Fine

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 21, 2019

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is close to concluding its investigation into Facebook over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the Washington Post reports, noting that the social network may face a record-setting fine, exceeding the $22.5 million fine the FTC in 2012 slammed on Google.

Breach Preparedness

Ransomware: A Pervasive, Evolving Threat

Nick Holland  •  January 18, 2019

Leading the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report is an in-depth look at why ransomware remains a pervasive threat and how it's evolving. Also featured: updates on venture capital investments in cybersecurity and a study of vulnerabilities in industrial remotes.

Cybersecurity

Venture Capital Pours Into Cybersecurity

Nick Holland  •  January 18, 2019

Venture capitalists invested $5.3 billion in cybersecurity companies in 2018, about 20 percent more than in 2017 and twice as much as 2016, according to research from Strategic Cyber Ventures. What's ahead for 2019 and beyond?

Application Security

Airline Booking System Exposed Passenger Details

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 17, 2019

Airline booking system provider Amadeus - whose system is used by 500 airlines - is investigating a software vulnerability that exposed passenger name records, which is the bundle of personal and travel data that gets collected when booking a flight.

Cybersecurity

Your Garage Opener Is More Secure Than Industrial Remotes

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 16, 2019

Radio controllers used in the construction, mining and shipping industries are vulnerable to hackers, Trend Micro says in a new report. To address the issue, researchers say, manufacturers need to move away from proprietary communication protocols and embrace secure standards, such as Bluetooth Low Energy.

Cybersecurity

Quantum Computing: Sizing Up the Risks to Security

Suparna Goswami  •  January 16, 2019

Within the next five to 10 years, quantum computing will get so powerful that it could be used to break encryption on the fly, predicts Steve Marshall, CISO at U.K.-based Bytes Software Services.

Governance

Hard-Coded Credentials Found in ID, Access Control Software

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 15, 2019

Researchers from Tenable Security claim they have found what is essentially a skeleton key for an ID and access control system that could open the doors for anyone, plus other less severe but nonetheless zero-day vulnerabilities.

Cybercrime

UK Sentences Man for Mirai DDoS Attacks Against Liberia

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 14, 2019

A U.K. court has sentenced Daniel Kaye, 30, after he admitted launching DDoS attacks against Liberia's largest telecommunications company in 2015 and 2016. A rival internet services provider paid Kaye $100,000 to launch the attacks.

Breach Preparedness

Government Shutdown: Experts Fear Deep Cybersecurity Impact

Jeremy Kirk  •  January 11, 2019

The U.S. government shutdown is impacting agencies integral to the nation's cybersecurity readiness, and experts fear its long-term impact on the country's cyberattack response capabilities, as well as the risk that it will drive away desperately needed new cybersecurity talent from entering public service.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

'Right to Be Forgotten' Should Be EU-Only, Adviser Says

Mathew J. Schwartz  •  January 11, 2019

Europe's "right to be forgotten" should not apply worldwide, but only inside the EU, according to a nonbinding opinion issued to the European Court of Justice by one of its advocate generals regarding a case that arose from a dispute between France's data privacy watchdog and Google.