An anonymous reader shares an article that’s part of the Future Agenda, a series from Slate in which experts suggest specific, forward-looking actions the new Biden administration should implement. Here’s an excerpt: Consumers in the U.S. face an infuriating lack of transparency when it comes to purchasing broadband services. Bills are convoluted, featuring complex pricing schemes. Roughly 7 in 10 U.S….
Tag: disclosure
Security Holes Opened Back Door To TCL Android Smart TVs
chicksdaddy shares a report from The Security Ledger: Millions of Android smart television sets from the Chinese vendor TCL Technology Group Corporation contained gaping software security holes that researchers say could have allowed remote attackers to take control of the devices, steal data or even control cameras and microphones to surveil the set’s owners. The security holes appear to have been…
CBP Refuses To Tell Congress How It’s Tracking Americans Without a Warrant
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: U.S. Customs and Border Protection is refusing to tell Congress what legal authority the agency is following to use commercially bought location data to track Americans without a warrant, according to the office of Senator Ron Wyden. The agency is buying location data from Americans all over the country, not just in border…
Billionaire CEO of Software Company Indicted For Alleged $2 Billion Tax Evasion Schemes
The billionaire chief executive of Ohio-based Reynolds and Reynolds Co, Robert Brockman, has been indicted on charges of tax evasion and wire fraud conducted over “decades.” ZDNet reports: The scheme, in which roughly $2 billion was hidden away in offshore accounts and through money laundering, took place between 1999 and 2019, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Thursday. According…
Cisco Ordered To Cough Up $2 Billion Plus Royalties After Ripping Off Biz’s Cybersecurity Patents
Cisco has been hit with a massive $1.9 billion patent-infringement bill for copying cybersecurity tech from Centripetal Networks and pushing the company out of lucrative government contracts. The Register reports: The network switch maker infringed four patents, a Virginia court decided on Monday, but since the infringement was “willful and egregious,” the judge multiplied the $756 million owed by 2.5 to…
CISA Orders Agencies To Set Up Vulnerability Disclosure Programs
Out of scores of federal civilian agencies, only a handful of them have official programs to work with outside security researchers to find and fix software bugs — a process that is commonplace in the private sector. From a report: Now, to put an end to the feet-dragging, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is giving agencies…
The Blurred Lines and Closed Loops of Google Search
Early this year, Google pushed out a seemingly tiny tweak to how it displays search ads for desktop computers. From a report: Previously, the search engine had marked paid results with the word “Ad” in a green box, tucked beneath the headline next to a matching green display URL. Now, all of a sudden, the “Ad” and the URL shifted above…