Some of the biggest names in cryptography and computer sciences condemned the US government’s surveillance practices in an open letter. “Media reports since last June have revealed that the US government conducts domestic and international surveillance on a massive scale, that it engages in deliberate and covert weakening of Internet security standards, and that it…
DetailsMicrosoft will allow international customers to store their data on servers located outside US borders, Microsoft’s general counsel said Wednesday. The fallout from documents leaked by ex-Booz Hamilton contractor Edward Snowden made this decision necessary, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos,…
DetailsIn a live chat hosted by The Courage Foundation Edward Snowden called on the US to stop the mass collection of telephone records by the NSA, authorized under section 215 of the Patriot Act. The Courage Foundation is a trust, audited by accountants Derek Rothera & Company in the UK, for the purpose of providing legal defence and…
DetailsIt’s a toss-up as to whether retailer card breaches or NSA activity is the hotter news story of the day. So far, 2014 has seen its fair share of security news and if the security industry wasn’t mentioned by an everyday-Joe in the past, it is now. The everyday-Joe reference is people who are not…
DetailsThe reactions to the depth and scope of the NSA’s surveillance apparatus has varied from ho-hum, “that’s their job,” to OMG “it’s the end of the world as we know it!” Somewhere in the middle is the slow-boil rage that is going to transform the IT industry. If you are of the ho-hum mindset that…
DetailsVMware, Inc. today announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire mobile management and security solutions provider AirWatch for $1.54 billion. VMware said it would pay approximately $1.175 billion in cash and $365 million in installed payments and assumed unvested equity for the Atlanta-based startup. The acquisition will be funded in part…
DetailsRomanian law enforcement authorities have arrested a man they believe is “Guccifer,” the hacker who broke into email accounts of high-profile individuals, such as George W. Bush. Guccifer leaked several of the former president’s self-portraits last year. Marcel Lazar Lehel, a 40-year old Romanian male living in the city of Arad, was arrested after authorities searched his home,…
DetailsShape Security disclosed today that after two years of research and development, the company has built a network security appliance called a botwall, which it said protects websites against a wide range of cyber attacks – scripts, bots and malware. Shape said its network security appliance is the first commercial use of real-time polymorphism as…
DetailsBob Ackerman, a VC at Allegis Capital wrote what could be considered a self-serving piece on the security tech bubble published on VentureBeat. Of course an investor in security companies is going to stoke the flames of exuberance, especially in light of the ridiculous valuation of FireEye at IPO of $6 billion ($FEYE has a market…
DetailsHere is how it is going to play out. Starting with the lackluster reforms that President Obama introduced today, reducing meta data based surveillance to two instead of three links, beefing up requirements for looking at that data, with more FISA court review, clarifying NSA spying on foreign heads of state, and making national Security…
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