Has The U.S. Become The Land of No Privacy?

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On Wednesday March 9th, James Comey, the Director of the FBI , stated that absolute privacy is something we no longer have in the United States. He went on to say that some day the government could request details of private conversations with spouses, attorneys, or even clergy members, and that no place in America is out of judicial reach. This statement coming from the Director of the FBI is a very alarming one. As Americans, privacy is something that is of the upmost importance, and for Comey to make a statement like this tells me that no matter who you are, nothing you do is private anymore.

Source Article: usnews.com

Suspects Charged in The Yahoo Hacking Case

Four suspects have been charged by the United States in the Yahoo hacking case. Of the four suspects, two of them are members of the Russian Federal Security Service, and the other two are criminal hackers. One of the hackers, Karim Baratov, has been arrested in Canada, but the other three, Dmitry Dokuchaev, Igor Sushchin, and Alexsey Belan remain at large. The claim is that Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, of the RFSS, hired and directed criminal hackers to obtain sensitive information in the United States and other places. Although these indictments have come down, all suspects are said to be innocent until proven guilty.

Source Article: U.S.News.com

Symantec Aims to Help Cybersecurity Startups

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Symantec announced the creation of a new venture arm that will assist cybersecurity startup companies. This venture will not just contribute funds to these startups, but also help to reduce expenses that will allow them to speed up their time to market. Symantec has also promised to grant access to their integrated cyber defense and digital safety technology to get them started. This venture is huge for many startup companies, as they help with the fight against cyberterrorism. This will give them opportunities to create their products more efficiently and get them to market faster. This move by Symantec shows their dedication to cybersecurity and  how much they are willing to invest to fight this ever growing problem.

Source Article: ZDNet

New York State Adopts New Cybersecurity Regulations

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The state of New York has put in place new regulations for financial companies that will require them to create and maintain cybersecurity programs set to specific standards. These regulations will go into effect on March 1st for insurance companies, banks, and other financial service institutions. Some of the requirements of these new regulations will be for these companies to inspect the security of third party vendors and maintain a program that is well funded and staffed, supervised by qualified management, and reported on periodically to upper management. Other stipulations include implementing an incident response plan, setting minimum standards for technology systems, access controls, encryption, and the perversion of data. These new regulations are a huge step in the right direction for addressing the risk of cyberattacks and putting measures in place for preventing them. Other states around the country should adopt new regulations, just like New York, to update any cybersecurity regulations they may have in place to keep up with the growing threat of cyberattacks.

Source Article: eSecurity Planet

The Warnings Keep Coming

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Last week, Yahoo continued to notify its users that their accounts may have been compromised ranging from 2015 - 2016. After investigation, Yahoo has linked the attacks to what they call "forged cookies" which allows the attackers to access user accounts without re-entering any passwords. Because of the data breach, Verizon will look to purchase Yahoo's websites, email , and mobile services at a discount to give themselves financial wiggle room in case any lawsuits come down because of the hack. I haven't used my Yahoo email in years, but I did receive an email because of the hack. With so many other services from Google, Microsoft, and Apple I feel that Yahoo is past its prime. Because of this, I wonder why Verizon would still want to purchase Yahoo. What is their motivation even after this catastrophic breach? 

Source Article: CNBC

Giving up a Password for Security

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For many of us, giving up a password is a no-no. But what if the government told you to do so. For people who want to visit the United States, they may be asked to give up their social media password. Now I'm all for security, and making sure that anyone who comes into the country has no intentions to do harm. But I wonder how far should the government go to keep us safe. As Americans we have privacy laws to protect us, but for those outside the states, these laws don't apply. I'm torn on this issue. What do you think? Should the government be asking for peoples social media passwords as requirement to visit the US?

Source Article: CNBC

Your Personal Data May Not be Your Own

                                            Image Credit: macobserver.com

Most people understand that once you connect to the internet, your at risk for your personal data being tracked or even hacked. But how many of us are thinking about this while were working out, driving our car, or watching TV. It's easy to forget about our data when were not using a device to shop, or pay bills but our personal data is still being stored on these other devices. This fact leaves us vulnerable  to data breaches because we let our guard down and feel like the data from our fitness tracker, car, or refrigerator isn't important. All personal data should be important to us, but the scary part is none of it may belong to us.

Source Article: cnet