Security, Spoken

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Technology
**Security, Spoken**

Get in-depth coverage of current and future trends in technology, and how they are shaping business, entertainment, communications, science, politics, and society.

Latest Episodes:

Bot Mafias Have Wreaked Havoc in World of Warcraft Classic Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

Blizzard has suspended or closed over 74,000 accounts in the last month, as bots have upended the game's economy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Body Cameras Haven't Stopped Police Brutality. Here's Why Jun 23, 2020

Show notes

Amid worldwide protests over racism and police violence, lawmakers are once again turning to the devices as a tool for reform.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Legion of Bugs Puts Hundreds of Millions of IoT Devices at Risk Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

The so-called Ripple20 vulnerabilities affect equipment found in data centers, power grids, and more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ex-Ebay Execs Allegedly Made Life Hell for Critics Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

Surveillance. Harassment. A live cockroach delivery. US Attorneys have charged six former Ebay workers in association with an outrageous cyberstalking campaign.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coder-Turned-Kingpin Paul Le Roux Gets His Comeuppance Jun 18, 2020

Show notes

The programmer who became a flagrant drug lord and weapons trafficker was sentenced in New York City to 25 years in prison.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How To Stop Instagram From Tracking Everything You Do Jun 17, 2020

Show notes

Though the Facebook-owned app doesn't give users complete control, there are ways to limit the data it collects and the types of ads you see.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spies Can Eavesdrop by Watching a Light Bulb's Vibrations Jun 16, 2020

Show notes

The so-called lamphone technique allows for real-time listening in on a room that's hundreds of feet away.Â

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Android 11 Will Help You Rein In Zombie App Permissions Jun 15, 2020

Show notes

The latest update to Google's operating system has a host of privacy and security improvements.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Georgia’s Failure Shows How Not to Run an Election in the Pandemic Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

Limiting in-person polling sites makes it both harder to vote and more dangerous.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IoT Security Is a Mess. Privacy 'Nutrition' Labels Could Help Jun 11, 2020

Show notes

Another key aspect of the security and privacy label project is that the information is also encoded to be machine readable. This way, even if different countries or industries develop their own assessment tools, there's still a way to compare and process all the data. The researchers point out that data from the labels could make it easier to search for products by their privacy and security features, creating the potential for these to be mainstream product considerations rather than niche points that are difficult for consumers to research. Ecommerce websites could even offer filters for privacy and security features like they already do for things like price, weight, or screen size. In this way, consumers could make intentional choices about the products they buy, with digital safety as one of the factors.
The researchers say that they've had a lot of private-sector and congressional interest in their label. But so far they've only been able to make example labels based on imaginary products or mock up labels for real products based on public data. The researchers are looking for a manufacturer to pilot the labels in a more serious way, with honest information about the products.
There is real momentum toward doing these types of tests. Finland, Singapore, and the United Kingdom are all working on national IoT label programs focused on security. And while some IoT security bills have floated around the US Congress, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration within the Department of Commerce is actively working on a similar type of project for software. The idea is to develop a software "bill of materials" that would help the industry keep track of all the different open source and third-party components that go into one single software program or platform.
"Standardization I think will help, just like the ingredients label on food educates people about how much sugar or sodium they're consuming," says Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer of the software auditing firm Veracode. "Standardizing a software bill of materials would make it more clear to a consumer what they’re getting."
The researchers are realistic that for their work to have a long-term impact there would either need to be widespread voluntary adoption of the label by manufacturers or a government mandate to do so. But they say that's why they've designed the label with room for manufacturers to explain their choices to consumers.
"There may be a really good reason that your thermostat has a microphone, but if the company doesn’t tell you, then you’re shocked," says Lorrie Cranor, director of Carnegie Mellon's usable privacy and security lab. "If they tell you about the microphone up front and explain why that is, then you might say 'Oh, OK, that makes sense.'"
Conventional wisdom says that consumers won't typically pay a premium for privacy and security features. The researchers had preliminary findings, though, that an easy-to-read label might help people better understand potential risks and make them more willing to pay more for strong guarantees. It will take more investigation to expand on that finding, and the easiest way to do extensive testing would be for companies to start adopting security and privacy labels on their IoT products. You likely won't be seeing IoT privacy labels on store shelves anytime soon. But the stakes are high enough that something certainly needs to change.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected