• SURVEILLANCEMore Governments Use Spyware to Monitor Their People, Compromising Privacy

    By Lisa Schlein

    The right to privacy is under siege as an increasing number of governments are using spyware to keep tabs on their people. Many governments are using modern digital networked technologies to monitor, control and oppress their populations.

  • SURVEILLANCEEFF’s “Cover Your Tracks” Will Detect Your Use of iOS 16’s Lockdown Mode

    By Bill Budington

    Apple’s new iOS 16 offers a powerful tool for its most vulnerable users. Lockdown Mode reduces the avenues attackers have to hack into users’ phones by disabling certain often-exploited features. But there is a catch.

  • DATA SECURITYOff-the-Shelf Crypto-Detectors Give a False Sense of Data Security

    By Joseph McClain

    A team of computer scientists outlines a leading reason behind insecure data and makes recommendations about how to fix the problem.

  • PRIVACYPrivacy-Preserving Camera Captures Only the Objects You Want

    As the sheer amount of image data being captured by digital cameras has grown, so have concerns about privacy protection. What if there was a way to take pictures that instantly capture only the objects of relevance in a frame while simultaneously blotting out unnecessary or potentially sensitive details, without the need for any editing, encryption or other digital post-processing work?

  • TECH & THE LAWBrain-Monitoring Tech Advances Could Change the Law

    There is an ankle-bracelet for offenders. What about a brain-bracelet? A new reportscrutinizes advances in neurotechnology and what it might mean for the law and the legal profession.

  • CYBERSECURITYNSF Grants to Protect Data, User privacy

    Researchers are working on two new cybersecurity projects, recently funded by the National Science Foundation, to ensure trustworthy cloud computing and increase computing privacy for marginalized and vulnerable populations.

  • SURVEILLANCEHow Daycare Apps Can Spy on Parents and Children

    Daycare apps are designed to make everyday life in daycare centers easier. Parents can use them, for example, to access reports on their children’s development and to communicate with teachers. However, some of these applications have serious security flaws.

  • HEALTHCARE & CYBERSECURITYNIST Updates Guidance for Health Care Cybersecurity

    In an effort to help health care organizations protect patients’ personal health information, NIST has updated its cybersecurity guidance for the health care industry. The revised draft publication aims to help organizations comply with HIPAA Security Rule.

  • CYBERSECURITYGoogle/Apple's Contact-Tracing Apps Susceptible to Digital Attacks

    Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists and health authorities have relied on contact-tracing technologies to help manage the spread of the virus. Yet there’s a major flaw in a framework that many of these mobile apps utilize – one that attackers could exploit to ramp up false positive notifications.

  • ENCRYPTIONNIST Announces First Four Quantum-Resistant Cryptographic Algorithms

    NIST has chosen the first group of encryption tools that are designed to withstand the assault of a future quantum computer, which could potentially crack the security used to protect privacy in the digital systems we rely on every day — such as online banking and email software.

  • AIConcerns About Google AI Being Sentient

    By Alena Kuzub.

    From virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, to robotic vacuums and self-driving cars, to automated investment portfolio managers and marketing bots, artificial intelligence has become a big part of our everyday lives. No one knows when humans will create an intelligent or sentient AI, but recent revelations about LaMDA, Google’s artificially intelligent chatbot generator, raised concerns.

  • AIThe Struggle Over AI Surveillance: From Digitalization to Dystopia?

    “From cameras that identify the faces of passersby to algorithms that keep tabs on public sentiment online, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools are opening new frontiers in state surveillance around the world,” states a new report. One experts says that just as with doctors’ medical practice, purveyors of new technologies should commit to a ‘do no harm’ code of ethics.

  • SURVEILLANCESpain Sacks Intelligence Chief in Wake of Pegasus Scandal

    Paz Esteban was replaced after a controversy over the use of the Pegasus spyware to hack top Spanish officials’ cellphones, as well as spying on Catalan separatists.

  • SURVEILLANCEThe Movement to Ban Government Use of Face Recognition

    By Nathan Sheard and Adam Schwartz

    Our faces are unique identifiers that can’t be left at home, or replaced like a stolen ID or compromised password. Facial recognition technology facilitates covert mass surveillance of the places we frequent, people we associate with, and, purportedly, our emotional state. Communities across the country are fighting back.

  • CYBERSECURITYCloud Server Leasing Can Leave Sensitive Data Up for Grabs

    Renting space and IP addresses on a public server has become standard business practice, but according to computer scientists, current industry practices can lead to “cloud squatting,” which can create a security risk, endangering sensitive customer and organization data intended to remain private. New research provides solutions for companies, cloud-service providers to help minimize security risks.