Consumer Reports decision to rate cybersecurity is a huge deal

Conventional wisdom has it that most consumers simply don’t pay much attention to computer security and privacy issues. Perhaps worse, they don’t think they can do much to protect themselves without foregoing many of the benefits of our digital, connected age. Consumer Reports is trying to change both of those things. Consumer Reports’ new cybersecurity standard The influential publication and public-interest organization announced on Monday that it has collaborated on a digital consumer-protection standard designed to define “how companies should build these products to really be good for consumers in terms of privacy and other issues,” said Maria Rerecich, who directs electronics testing at Consumer Reports, in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Consumer Reports decision to rate cybersecurity is a huge deal

Conventional wisdom has it that most consumers simply don’t pay much attention to computer security and privacy issues. Perhaps worse, they don’t think they can do much to protect themselves without foregoing many of the benefits of our digital, connected age. Consumer Reports is trying to change both of those things. Consumer Reports’ new cybersecurity standard The influential publication and public-interest organization announced on Monday that it has collaborated on a digital consumer-protection standard designed to define “how companies should build these products to really be good for consumers in terms of privacy and other issues,” said Maria Rerecich, who directs electronics testing at Consumer Reports, in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 cloud computing savings you may be missing out on

Hidden costs?Image by ThinkstockAs more organizations deploy applications in the cloud to meet demand spikes, cost is a major consideration. Often, businesses start comparing service charges and the cost of renting or buying nodes, making a list of all of the things that matter to each option: computing in the cloud, renting compute capacity for some amount of time, or adding servers to the permanent arsenal. While these contributing factors may seem obvious and the math relatively straightforward, those who have taken the leap into the cloud have often cited that crucial cost considerations are easily overlooked.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US senator probes into CloudPets smart toy hack

A U.S. senator is probing reports of a breach of data from smart toys from Spiral Toys, writing to the company’s CEO a letter with ten questions about the issue, including about the company’s security practices.Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, wrote in a letter Tuesday to CEO Mark Meyers that the breach raises serious questions concerning how well the company protects the information it collects, particularly from children.Nelson also said that the incident raises questions about the vendor's compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that requires covered companies to have reasonable procedures to protect the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information collected from children.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US senator probes into CloudPets smart toy hack

A U.S. senator is probing reports of a breach of data from smart toys from Spiral Toys, writing to the company’s CEO a letter with ten questions about the issue, including about the company’s security practices.Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, wrote in a letter Tuesday to CEO Mark Meyers that the breach raises serious questions concerning how well the company protects the information it collects, particularly from children.Nelson also said that the incident raises questions about the vendor's compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that requires covered companies to have reasonable procedures to protect the confidentiality, security and integrity of personal information collected from children.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US Senate resolution aims to roll back privacy rules for ISPs

A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to roll back privacy rules for broadband service providers that were approved by the Federal Communications Commission in October.The rules include the requirement that internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon should obtain "opt-in" consent from consumers to use and share sensitive personal information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.The rules have been opposed by internet service providers who argue that they are being treated differently from other Internet entities like search engines and social networking companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US Senate resolution aims to roll back privacy rules for ISPs

A resolution introduced in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday aims to roll back privacy rules for broadband service providers that were approved by the Federal Communications Commission in October.The rules include the requirement that internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon should obtain "opt-in" consent from consumers to use and share sensitive personal information such as geolocation and web browsing history, and also give customers the option to opt out from the sharing of non-sensitive information such as email addresses or service tier information.The rules have been opposed by internet service providers who argue that they are being treated differently from other Internet entities like search engines and social networking companies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

It pays to be a technology architect

You seriously might want to consider negotiating to get the word "architect" in your title if you're a technology professional. About a quarter of the titles on the latest Glassdoor report on the highest paying jobs in America are tech architect roles. Medical and legal professionals rank at the very top of the list, with physicians pulling down nearly $188K for a median base salary, based on information supplied by employees in the online job and recruiting marketplace's database. But tech jobs are well represented too, with Enterprise Architect, at #6, commanding a median base salary of $112,560 and more than 1,300 such jobs up for grabs in Glassdoor's listings (at least 100 salary reports needed to be shared for jobs to make this list).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Only lobbyist and politicians matter, not techies

The NSA/CIA will only buy an 0day if they can use it. They can't use it if they disclose the bug.

I point this out, yet again, because of this WaPo article [*] built on the premise that the NSA/CIA spend millions of dollars on 0day they don't use, while unilaterally disarming tiself. Since that premise is false, the entire article is false. It's the sort of article you get when all you interview are Washington D.C. lobbyists and Washington D.C. politicians -- and no outside experts.


It quotes former cyberczar (under Obama) Michael Daniel explaining that the "default assumption" is to disclose 0days that the NSA/CIA get. This is a Sean Spicer style lie. He's paid to say this, but it's not true. The NSA/CIA only buy 0day if they can use it. They won't buy 0day if the default assumption is that they will disclose it. QED: the default assumption of such 0day is they won't disclose them.

The story quotes Ben Wizner of the ACLU saying that we should patch 0days instead of using them. Patching isn't an option. If we aren't using them, then we aren't buying them, and hence, there are Continue reading

Microsoft’s Visual Studio 2017 hits general availability

Microsoft’s tools for developers hit another milestone Tuesday, when the company made Visual Studio 2017 generally available. As the name implies, this is the next major release of Microsoft’s integrated development environment. It’s aimed at providing tools for developers to create modern apps for the cloud, mobile platforms and more. The software gained a Xamarin Forms previewer that lets users view a mobile user interface for iOS and Android apps as they’re writing XAML, an XML-based markup language developed by Microsoft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Extreme Networks buying Avaya networking good for customers of both companies

The fate of Avaya’s networking business has been the subject of speculation for well over a year now. In December, I wrote about the most likely suitors for the business. Ideally, I would have liked to have seen Avaya remain a “full stack” solution provider and keep the group, but it appears that wasn’t in the bankruptcy cards. This brings us to the current news where the winner of the Avaya Networking sweepstakes is (drum roll… although its in the title) Extreme Networks. That’s correct: Purple Extreme Networks is purchasing the networking assets from Avaya (Red) that came to it from Nortel (blue), so from a color perspective, it all makes sense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Extreme Networks buying Avaya networking good for customers of both companies

The fate of Avaya’s networking business has been the subject of speculation for well over a year now. In December, I wrote about the most likely suitors for the business. Ideally, I would have liked to have seen Avaya remain a “full stack” solution provider and keep the group, but it appears that wasn’t in the bankruptcy cards. This brings us to the current news where the winner of the Avaya Networking sweepstakes is (drum roll… although its in the title) Extreme Networks. That’s correct: Purple Extreme Networks is purchasing the networking assets from Avaya (Red) that came to it from Nortel (blue), so from a color perspective, it all makes sense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Extreme Networks buying Avaya networking good for customers of both companies

The fate of Avaya’s networking business has been the subject of speculation for well over a year now. In December, I wrote about the most likely suitors for the business. Ideally, I would have liked to have seen Avaya remain a “full stack” solution provider and keep the group, but it appears that wasn’t in the bankruptcy cards. This brings us to the current news where the winner of the Avaya Networking sweepstakes is (drum roll… although its in the title) Extreme Networks. That’s correct: Purple Extreme Networks is purchasing the networking assets from Avaya (Red) that came to it from Nortel (blue), so from a color perspective, it all makes sense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CIA-made malware? Now antivirus vendors can find out

Thanks to WikiLeaks, antivirus vendors will soon be able to figure out if you have been hacked by the CIA. On Tuesday, WikiLeaks dumped a trove of 8,700 documents that allegedly detail the CIA’s secret hacking operations, including spying tools designed for mobile phones, PCs and smart TVs. WikiLeaks has redacted the actual source code from the files to prevent the distribution of cyber weapons, it said. Nevertheless, the document dump -- if real -- still exposes some of the techniques that the CIA has allegedly been using.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

CIA-made malware? Now antivirus vendors can find out

Thanks to WikiLeaks, antivirus vendors will soon be able to figure out if you have been hacked by the CIA. On Tuesday, WikiLeaks dumped a trove of 8,700 documents that allegedly detail the CIA’s secret hacking operations, including spying tools designed for mobile phones, PCs and smart TVs. WikiLeaks has redacted the actual source code from the files to prevent the distribution of cyber weapons, it said. Nevertheless, the document dump -- if real -- still exposes some of the techniques that the CIA has allegedly been using.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cloudflare at Google NEXT 2017

The Cloudflare team is headed to Google NEXT 2017 from March 8th - 10th at Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. We’re excited to meet with customers, partners, and new friends.

Come learn about Cloudflare’s recent partnership with Google Cloud Platform (CGP) through their CDN Interconnect Program. Cloudflare offers performance and security to over 25,000 Google Cloud Platform customers. The CDN Interconnect program allows Cloudflare’s servers to establish high-speed interconnections with Google Cloud Platform at various locations around the world, accelerating dynamic content while reducing bandwidth and egress billing costs.

We’ll be at booth C7 discussing the benefits of Cloudflare, our partnership with Google Cloud Platform, and handing out Cloudflare SWAG. In addition, our Co-Founder, Michelle Zatlyn, will be presenting “What is Google Cloud Platform’s CDN Interconnect Program?

Google Cloud Platform’s CDN Interconnect program allows select CDN providers to establish direct interconnect links with Google’s edge network at various locations. Customers egressing network traffic from Google Cloud Platform through one of these links will benefit from the direct connectivity to the CDN providers and will Continue reading

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