Data Security and Privacy with the Privacy Professor

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DNA Forensics Can Solve Crimes. Are There Also Privacy Risks? Jun 05, 2018

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Those DNA ancestry kits are very popular. But how accurate are they? Can they really pinpoint the country where your ancestors came from? And with whom do ancestry businesses share that data? Was that data given to police which led to the Golden State Killer arrest, or did it come from other sources? How valuable is DNA in making criminal convictions, as well as exonerating the innocent? What parts of the human body provide the best types of DNA for analysis? How has DNA forensics analysis changed over the years? Is a human DNA sample ever too old to analyze? In what ways do you leave behind your DNA throughout the day? Can DNA analysis really be accomplished with a single strand of hair? Can your relatives provide DNA about you? How close in match is the DNA of identical twins? What are privacy considerations for DNA sharing? Listen in to this episode to hear how DNA was used in criminal cases, and to learn more from a DNA forensics expert who has analyzed over 900 cases!

Swatting Dangers and Defenses May 29, 2018

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A Kansas man was killed in a swatting incident in December, 2017. A central Iowa woman was a swatting victim in May, 2018. In April, 2018: A swatting incident occurred in Arlington, TX; there were 3 swatting incidents in the Chicago area; and at least 6 in the New York City area. Many more swatting incidents could probably be found if more than 30 seconds was spent looking. What is swatting? And when and how did it get started? Is the problem getting worse? Who are the targets for swatting? What should you do if someone wearing a police uniform is banging on your door, but you see no police car, or see a car that isn't a police car? How can Smart911 help in swatting situations? What are the security & privacy issues? Related to this, what types of home safety/security systems can be used to protect homes from intruders? What can everyone do to reduce the probability of being a swatting, or home invasion, victim? Listen in to this episode to learn more from an expert on this topic!

Why Do Women Leave IT Careers? May 22, 2018

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In this episode we discuss how to encourage women into STEM careers, IT in particular, and motivate them to stay. This most definitely is NOT a man versus women issue! Some of the greatest supporters of women in STEM are men and some of the greatest in opposition are women. There are many opinions and ideas for how to get more women involved in IT and keep them in the industry but there is no simple answer. Many actions must take place, throughout entire lifetimes and generations, and many attitudes which must change. Challenges attracting and keeping women in IT is due to many factors, from the atmosphere in which children are raised, to the people who are influencers in their lives, and too many practices within the IT, info sec and privacy industries that often result in forcing, or encouraging, women to leave their careers. Hear ideas and results from research for how to attract and keep women in STEM careers from an expert who spoke on this topic at the April 2018 RSA Conference.

Who's Eavesdropping on You? Government Surveillance and Laws May 15, 2018

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The US government recently released its annual report of surveillance activities, including the numbers of individuals about whom data was collected. It reveals that NSA tripled metadata collection from 2016 to taking over 534 million call records in 2017. Warrantless FISA Section 702 content queries involving U.S. persons increased from 5,288 to 7,512. Many other types of surveillance activities are also performed by the US government, along with state and law enforcement agencies, as well as other countries' governments. How many agencies have surveillance programs? What surveillance tools are used & what data is collected? What laws allow, or restrict, such surveillance activities? What can people do to protect their communications from surveillance? What types of data will always be able to be collected for online communications? Can anyone truly be anonymous online? Join this interesting episode to hear an expert for government surveillance answer these & more questions!

Honey Sticks and Honey Points: Not-So-Sweet Cyber Crook Tools May 08, 2018

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Most think of cybercrooks coming from far-away places through the internet. But what many don’t consider is HOW they got a pathway into our computing devices & networks. Often those pathways were established through direct contact with their victims, and their cyber victims often didn’t even know it at the time. So how can such an obvious and out-in-the-open type of hack be accomplished? Well, if you find a USB thumb drive in a library, in your hotel room, or at a restaurant on the table you were just seated at, what would you do with it? Research studies show that most people will plug them into their computers. My guest for this episode created the types of studies that Google, and other large tech company researchers, have replicated in recent years for honey sticks and honey pots to replicate cybercrook tactics. Hear the results of these intriguing research studies that look at the methods cybercrooks commonly use to siphon the data from, and control, victim’s computing devices.

Why Nation States and Cybercrooks Love Wi-Fi May 01, 2018

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In April it was widely reported, throughout worldwide news outlets, that Russian hackers were working to infiltrate as many wi-fi networks throughout the world as possible; for the general public as well as businesses, organizations and government networks. News outlets in the UK indicated that over 100,000 wi-fi routers were compromised. Worldwide government security researchers warned that millions of wi-fi routers had been compromised by Russian nation-state intelligence officers; those in addition to the already large amount of attempts being made daily by cyber criminals. Why are Russian, and other countries', nation state hackers looking to get into the home wi-fi network of folks throughout the world, as well as every type of business and organization wi-fi network that is vulnerable? And what types of code and data do they want to load onto those networks? What harms can they do? In this episode I discuss these topics with my guest, Tom Eston, who is a wi-fi security expert!

Encore: EU GDPR Sanity: Practical Advice for Effective Compliance Apr 27, 2018

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On May 25, 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect, bringing with it some significant changes to how organizations were protecting personal information under the EU Data Protection Directive. In this episode we discuss this with a couple of GDPR experts who have been deep into the weeds in helping organizations to implement the changes necessary to comply with the GDRP. And this certainly is a hot topic! I did an online news search on Feb 7, and there were 114,000 distinct news articles on this topic, with an unlimited number of opinions, warnings, and sky-is-falling predictions. Join our lively discussion with these two GDPR experts, who are based and work in the EU, to sort out some of the GDPR fictions from the facts, along with giving us some great advice.

The Path of This Privacy Expert Led to Many World Icons Apr 20, 2018

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What do Harry S. Truman, Gloria Steinem, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Hoffa, and Antonin Scalia have in common? Tune in to hear Robert Ellis Smith explain the answer! He will also discuss many other famous icons he’s met, been friends with, and interviewed during his long, storied career in privacy. Hear also Robert’s explanations of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United privacy decision of 2010 versus their AT&T FOIA decision of 2011, and his opinion of those decisions. Also, learn about his latest book, “Faces I Have Known.” Robert has some incredible stories he shares; in this episode in addition to in his book!

IT and Privacy Career Trends and Tips for Success Apr 13, 2018

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I’ve had many listeners, from high school up through those who were past their 70s, contact me, saying they were inspired to follow their interests into a tech, information security and/or privacy career after hearing some of my other radio shows. I also had many listeners asking me to provide more career advice; about getting into the tech, information security and privacy fields. Asking how to be as successful as possible. Asking for tips to get hired. Asking what fields are the ones that are hot right now, and which will be hot in the near future. I am happy to have the perfect person to answer those questions, and more, as my guest in this episode! Tune in to find out how to focus and propel your career in information security, privacy and IT from an expert whose business helps provide such opportunities.

Association Memberships Build Data Security and Privacy Careers Apr 06, 2018

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In this episode we discuss information security and privacy careers and ways to support professional growth. In particular we discuss the benefits for building professional capabilities, of networking, learning from peers, and participating in projects as a result of belonging to and participating in professional associations. We also discuss the various types of activities that professional membership associations, such as ISACA, IAPP, ISSA, ISC^2, ACM, IEEE and others, have available for members. Tune in to hear some great professional guidance from long-time information security and privacy experts, and to hear about some upcoming events!

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