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French Data Protection Authority Unveils 2010 Annual Activity Report : : Privacy and Information Security Law Blog

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On November 16, 2011, the French Data Protection Authority (the “CNIL”) published its Annual Activity Report for 2010 (the “Report”) highlighting its main 2010 accomplishments and outlining some of its priorities for the upcoming year. This year’s Report covers events that occurred since last year’s publication of the Annual Activity Report for 2009.

The Report discusses the upcoming revision of the EU data protection framework (Directive 95/46/EC) and presents the CNIL’s recommendations on key topics, such as introducing a right to be forgotten, increasing developer liability for data protection failures in new technologies, creating a binding international data protection regulation, and maintaining specific formalities to govern “risky” data processing (e.g., those including sensitive data or public security files).

Also, in January 2011, the CNIL was the first European data protection authority to create a Foresight and Innovation Department (the “Department”). Gathering lawyers, IT experts, sociologists, politicians and economists, the Department’s mission is to analyze new technological trends and developments and assess their impact on privacy and personal data protection. The Report notes that the Department plans to conduct two studies in 2011: one to address the smartphone boom, and the other, “Privacy 2020,” to forecast how the evolution of new technologies will affect legislation and the CNIL’s role.

via French Data Protection Authority Unveils 2010 Annual Activity Report : : Privacy and Information Security Law Blog.

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Intelligence agencies stymied by full disk encryption – FierceCIO:TechWatch

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

ExtremeTech ran a report on how full disk encryption (FDE) is stymieing the efforts of federal intelligence agencies to access data stored in them. ExtremeTech highlighted three main problems with FDE, according to a research paper titled “The growing impact of full disk encryption on digital forensics” published earlier this month. They range from switching off a computer containing encrypted data for the purpose of transportation, time wasted in analyzing data volumes that were ultimately unreadable and the triggering of a self-destruction mechanism from hardware-based encryption devices.

A computer protected with FDE is at its most vulnerable when in active use, so specialized hardware such as the WiebeTech HotPlug has been designed to “transfer” a running desktop onto a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for transportation without the need to power it down. Additional gadgets such as the Mouse Jiggler helps ensure that screensaver never kicks in due to inactivity.

via Intelligence agencies stymied by full disk encryption – FierceCIO:TechWatch.

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Bionic contact lens ‘to project emails before eyes’ | BBC News

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A new generation of contact lenses that project images in front of the eyes is a step closer after successful animal trials, say scientists.

The technology could allow wearers to read floating texts and emails or augment their sight with computer-generated images, Terminator-syle.

Seattle’s Washington University which is working on the device says early tests show it is safe and feasible.

But there are still wrinkles to iron out, like finding a good power source.

Currently, their crude prototype device can only work if it is within centimetres of the wireless battery.

And its microcircuitry is only enough for one light-emitting diode, reports the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

“Our next goal is to incorporate some predetermined text in the contact lens”

Lead researcher Professor Babak Parviz

But now that initial safety tests in rabbits have gone well, with no obvious adverse effects, the researchers have renewed faith about the device’s possibilities.

They envisage hundreds more pixels could be embedded in the flexible lens to produce complex holographic images.

via BBC News – Bionic contact lens ‘to project emails before eyes’.

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Separating You and Me? 4.74 Degrees – NYTimes.com

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The world is even smaller than you thought.

Adding a new chapter to the research that cemented the phrase “six degrees of separation” into the language, scientists at Facebook and the University of Milan reported on Monday that the average number of acquaintances separating any two people in the world was not six but 4.74.

The original “six degrees” finding, published in 1967 by the psychologist Stanley Milgram, was drawn from 296 volunteers who were asked to send a message by postcard, through friends and then friends of friends, to a specific person in a Boston suburb.

The new research used a slightly bigger cohort: 721 million Facebook users, more than one-tenth of the world’s population. The findings were posted on Facebook’s site Monday night.

The experiment took one month. The researchers used a set of algorithms developed at the University of Milan to calculate the average distance between any two people by computing a vast number of sample paths among Facebook users. They found that the average number of links from one arbitrarily selected person to another was 4.74. In the United States, where more than half of people over 13 are on Facebook, it was just 4.37.

via Separating You and Me? 4.74 Degrees – NYTimes.com.

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PODCAST: The Future of E-Discovery | Legal Talk Network

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What does the future hold when it comes to e-discovery? On Digital Detectives, co-hosts Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc. and John W. Simek, Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, welcome John Munro, the Vice President and Managing Director of Orange Legal Technologies, to discuss some upcoming trends in e-discovery.  John explores the future of predictive coding, shares his thoughts on amending the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, e-discovery in the cloud and the trend toward bringing e-discovery in-house.

PODCAST LINK

via The Future of E-Discovery | Legal Talk Network.

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Law Firms Limit Use of Cloud Computing Due To Security Concerns | JD Journal

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Security is important no matter what field you are in. When it comes to law firms this is especially important. Law firms use several types of technology to handle their documents and other processes. While technology managers in law firms were previously interested in cloud computing they are reducing their drive towards it citing security concerns. They are focusing on the security of their information more according to the studies done by The American Lawyer. One of the driving forces behind this is clients asking the firms to detail their policies in security whenever they are working with the firm.

When a survey was done of the ones using the cloud computing, the main functions used are items that are non-core . For example e-discovery and human resources are the bulk of the applications used. Of those surveyed only 8% say they are using the cloud for document management. The biggest drawback sited was their concerns for security. Among the findings that the survey produced the budgets for technology are averaging around $4.7 million for the firms. This is an increase of 7% from last year.

A problem that seems to be complicating security is the increased use of personal devices in the workplace. The CIOS are managing this successfully they report by using the new generation of management software for the mobile devices. One example of that is Good Technology INC’s Good For Enterprise and MobileIron’s Virtual Smartphone Management Platform. These help to deal with the issues that arise in the office because of more occurrences of using mobile data in the offices. This is likely to increase as well each year as more and more new mobile devices come out.

While all the firms that were surveyed still use the BlackBerry phones, there are 96% of those surveyed that have users on iOS systems. Those numbers are up from 2010 with those numbers were only 77%. Android devices have also gone up from 43% to 67% this year. This shows that more and more law firms are increasing their use of the iPhone and iPad as well as other options in the mobile industry.

via Law Firms Limit Use of Cloud Computing Due To Security Concerns | JD Journal.

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AFP: US, EU sign airline passenger data sharing deal

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The United States and the European Union have signed a draft pact on sharing passenger data for flights between the two continents, which both sides have welcomed as a significant step forward.

The agreement, which must be adopted by the European Council and parliament, aims to combat transnational crime and terrorism while improving data protection, according to a European Union statement.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU commissioner for home affairs, said Monday that the deal “contains robust safeguards for European citizens’ privacy, without undermining the effectiveness of the agreement in terms of EU and US security.”

via AFP: US, EU sign airline passenger data sharing deal.

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Anonymous exposes cybercrime investigator’s Gmail, voicemail

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On Friday, a group of hackers operating under the banner of Anonymous’ Operation AntiSec published the private e-mails of a California Department of Justice investigator. The hackers posted the entirety of the 38,000 e-mails in a Gmail account that appears to belong to Alfredo “Fred” Baclagan, a California Department of Justice special agent supervisor in charge of computer crime investigations, to a hidden site on Tor, as well as to a torrent listed on The Pirate Bay. They also posted what they claim is Baclagan’s personal address and phone number.

The effort is part of an ongoing attack on law enforcement as part of a response to law enforcement’s activities surrounding the Occupy Wall Street protests. Operation AntiSec began as a “joint” effort between Anonymous and LulzSec in June as a protest against government monitoring and censorship of the Internet. The targeting of the FBI and other law enforcement increased after the July arrest of alleged LulzSec members for denial of service attacks on Visa over cutting off payment processing for Wikileaks.

Update: In a Twitter message to Ars Technica, Anonymous member @AnonyOps said that the attacks on law enforcement members “also has to do w/ FBI’s targeting of anons, re: imprisoned during opPayback and others.” Operation Payback included the distributed denial of service attack on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal after the companies bowed to political pressure and cut off contribution processing to Wikileaks.

The e-mails included a substantial number of posts from the archives of the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists’ private discussion list, where investigators discussed computer forensic methods. A series of e-mails posted by Anonymous include the reaction of IACIS members to a teaser post of threads from the list to the Twitter account of Sabu, a well-known Anonymous hacker, and an e-mail from Baclagan’s hacked Google account rickrolling the list. The IACIS site is currently down for maintenance, apparently as a result of the disclosures.

via Anonymous exposes cybercrime investigator’s Gmail, voicemail.

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Spirit Airlines hit with $50K fine over deceptive Tweets – chicagotribune.com

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Monday that it fined Spirit Airlines Inc. $50,000 for violating federal rules prohibiting deceptive price advertising.

In June, the Florida-based airline sent Twitter feeds announcing $9 each-way fares from Los Angeles that didn’t disclose there were would be additional taxes and fees or that a round-trip purchase was mandatory, the agency said.

via Spirit Airlines hit with $50K fine over deceptive Tweets – chicagotribune.com.

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AT&T discloses “organized” hacking attempt – BusinessWeek

November 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

AT&T Inc. says there appears to have been an “organized attempt” to break into mobile customers’ online accounts, but no accounts were breached.

The Dallas company says hackers used automated programs to try to link mobile numbers and account log-in credentials, which they then hoped to use to access customer accounts on AT&T’s website.

via AT&T discloses “organized” hacking attempt – BusinessWeek.

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