According to a new report by PreciseSecurity.com, interest in data privacy within the United States has reached its highest level in history. The report revealed that the search term “Data Privacy” reached an interest level of 100, in comparison to 68 in July this year – an increase of over 47%. In June 2004, the […]
Privacy
#Privacy: Portland, Oregon considering banning facial recognition
Portland, Oregon is considering banning facial recognition, with city officials planning on meeting to discuss banning “Smart City” technology, a news report reveals. Technology falling within the ban would include traffic monitoring and identification tools used by city employees and the police department. Recently, the technology has come under fire for allegedly misidentifying individuals. In May, San Francisco, Calif. became […]
#Privacy: Wizards of the Coast data leak exposes gamers
A US gaming company has confirmed that a security incident resulted in the personal data on hundreds of thousands of gamers being exposed. The game developer of “Magic: The Gathering”, Wizards of the Coast, left a backup file in a public Amazon Web Services (AWS) storage bucket with no password protection- thus allowing anyone to […]
#Privacy: NYPD deletes illegal database of juvenile fingerprints
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) have finally deleted an unlawful database of juvenile’s fingerprints, earlier this week. Despite New York law, mandating authorities to destroy the data, the NYPD unlawfully maintained a database of thousands of juvenile fingerprints – many of whom were never found guilty of a crime. Since 2015, attorneys with […]
#Privacy: Average ransom payout increases to $41,000
Research by Coveware has identified that the average ransom paid out by victims has increased 13% in the last three month. In its Q3 Ransomware Marketplace report, the average ransom paid was $41,198, an increase of 13% as compared to Q2 of 2019, $36,295. However, the researchers noted that the rate of increase has “plateaued” […]
#Privacy: Internal passwords belonging to Orvis leaked twice
A report has revealed that Orvis.com, an American retailer, leaked hundreds of internal passwords on Pastebin.com. According to Krebs On Security, the leaked credentials related to backend management, firewall administration, router settings and database servers. Krebs received a tip from Hold Security in late October about the data breach, stating that there was a large […]
#PrivSecNY: Cyber-security meets data privacy in fascinating opening day at PrivSec New York
A global audience of privacy and security professionals met at PrivSec New York at Columbia University for an insightful two days of keynote talks and panel debates. Thanks to the engaging presentations on a range of topics delivered in two separate theatres, attendees found themselves at the forefront of the global debate on data protection […]
#Privacy: Hosting provider SmarterASP.NET struck by ransomware attack
SmarterASP.NET, a US hosting provider has been hit by a ransomware attack, impacting its 440,000+ customers. Over the weekend, hackers had breached the SmarterASP.NET network and encrypted data on customer servers. Additionally, the attack also impacted the company’s website which went offline on Saturday. The files seem to have been encrypted by a ransomware that […]
#Privacy: Proceed with caution – the ICO opinion of facial recognition technology
By Michael Drury & Julian Hayes, partners at BCL Solicitors LLP Ahead of an upcoming appeal against the High Court ruling permitting police use of facial recognition technology (FRT), the Information Commissioner on 31 October published her first ever official opinion under the Data Protection Act. Coming from the UK’s respected data supervisor, the document, tackling […]
#Privacy: Regulator “advocating a more cautious approach” to facial recognition technology
The UK data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office is “not seeking to curtail its use completely,” Julian Hayes says, following the ICO’s official opinion on the Bridges case regarding the use of facial recognition technology (FRT). “A gradualist path is likely to achieve longer term “buy-in” from legislators and the wider public, ensuring the crime-fighting […]