“Acres of trees died to produce a blizzard of barely comprehensible privacy notices.”

-FTC Chairman Timothy Muris

Privacy and security issues affect individual users, large organizations and even governments. How effective is the response from the private and public sectors to these challenges, and what are the right solutions? Debates over issues of privacy and security beg the input of experts – those who truly understand the ramifications of various technologies and policies. In the articles below, contributors to Hightechforum.org review and debate privacy and security issues, and the market and policy solutions that are emerging to address them.

New Airline Navigation System Easy Target for Terrorists

When it comes to cyber-security, the most common cause of failure is “security as an afterthought.”  When the security failure affects personal computers and corporate networks, the cost ranges from minor annoyance to [...]

The Big Debate on DNS Filtering and DNSSEC

Earlier this week, I participated on a panel debating the use of Domain Name System (DNS) filtering and the Protect Intellectual Property (IP) Act at the third Internet Governance Forum-USA.  Video [...]

Complexity of Updating Android Exacerbates Security Problems

I bought a new HTC Nexus One last week, which unfortunately came with a custom ROM (Android Kernel Version: 2.16.405.1 CL223106 release-keys).  Unfortunately, this particular firmware prohibits any “Over The Air” (OTA) [...]

DNS Filtering is Essential to the Internet

Executive Summary A group of Internet Engineers sent a letter to the US Senate opposing the DNS filtering aspect of the Protect IP Act on technical grounds.  They argued that [...]

99% of Google Android Devices Vulnerable

Google’s ClientLogin Application Programming Interface (API) has been found to be insecure by researchers from Germany’s University of Ulm.  This means that most Google Android phones leak temporary user authentication [...]

DARPA Enlists Hackers

It’s no secret that government initiatives around cybersecurity haven’t lived up to expectations. While they succeed in creating controversy – such as the recent hubbub over the so-called “Internet Kill [...]

Saving the Internet from its Friends

I’m going to Australia in April to give a keynote on the innovation potential of Next Generation Networks for the Australian Telecom Users Group. As you probably know, Australia has [...]

Guess Who’s Blocking Skype?

Add the Firefox browser to the list of Skype blockers that has included at various times the iTunes store, the cellular networks, and a number of entire countries from China [...]

Average Daily Malware at All Time High, Spam Lowest Since 2008

CircleID summarizes the latest McAfee report on spam and malware: McAfee, Inc. today unveiled its McAfee Threats Report: Third Quarter 2010, which uncovered that average daily malware growth has reached [...]

Security and the Cloud

Here’s another reason to read Unclouded Vision. IBM: Biggest threat to the cloud could be security issues | VentureBeat The number of exploitable options in computer programs grew by 36 [...]