News

• Mobility, cloud and security top IT executive concerns: report

  Advancements in mobility, cloud computing and security are moving so fast that IT departments are struggling to keep up, according to a new IBM report.

• Countries question Google on Glass privacy

  Privacy officials from six countries and the European Commission are pushing Google to answer questions about privacy issues surrounding its digital eyewear called Glass.

• NSA defends spying as backlash rages

  Mounting backlash against National Security Agency spying practices is now coming from sources as varied as security expert Bruce Schneier, former Reagan-era budget director David Stockman and high-level representatives of European countries.

• Many companies are negligent about SAP security, researchers say

  SAP has significantly improved the security of its products over the past few years but many of its customers are negligent with their deployments, which exposes them to potential attacks that could cripple their businesses, according to security researchers.

• FBI director defends phone surveillance program

  A telephone records surveillance program run by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency raises serious privacy concerns and should be reined in, some U.S. senators said Wednesday.

• Microsoft launches security bounty programs for Windows 8.1 and IE 11 Preview

  Microsoft will pay security researchers for finding and reporting vulnerabilities in the preview version of its Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) browser, for finding novel techniques to bypass exploit mitigations present in Windows 8.1 or later versions and for coming up with new ideas to defend against exploits.

• Java 7 Update 25 fixes 40 security issues, turns on certificate revocation checking

  Oracle addressed 40 security issues in Java and enabled online certificate revocation checking by default in its scheduled critical patch update for Java on Tuesday.

• Apple pours OS X Snow Leopard another Java fix

  Apple on Tuesday patched Java 6 for OS X Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion, fixing 34 flaws that Oracle addressed the same day for Windows.

• With faster 5G Wi-Fi coming, Wi-Fi Alliance kicks off certification program

  The Wi-Fi Alliance unveiled a certification program for 802.11ac Wi-Fi (also known as 5G Wi-Fi) designed to make sure devices using the wireless technology interoperate with older hardware.

• Google asks to make surveillance orders public, citing First Amendment

  Google has asked the court overseeing terrorism-related surveillance programs at the U.S. National Security Agency to allow the company to publish information on the number of surveillance requests it receives.

• Expanded '2-person rule' could help plug NSA leaks

  The National Security Agency is creating new processes aimed at making it harder for systems administrators to misuse privileged access to agency systems, NSA officials told the U.S. House Intelligence Committee Tuesday.

• US officials: Surveillance programs helped stop 50 terrorist plots

  U.S. law enforcement agencies have disrupted more than 50 terrorist plots in the U.S. and other countries with the help of controversial surveillance efforts at the U.S. National Security Agency, government officials said Tuesday.

• Source code for Carberp financial malware is up for sale at a very low price, researchers say

  The source code for the Carberp banking Trojan program is being offered for sale on the underground market at a very affordable price, which could result in additional Carberp-based financial malware being developed in the future, according to researchers from Russian cybercrime investigations firm Group-IB.

• Good Technology creates A/NZ vice president role

  Mobile device management vendor Good Technology has appointed Gavin Jones to the newly created role of Australia and New Zealand vice president/general manager.

• Google Glass privacy concerns raised by international data protection authorities

  The Australian privacy commissioner and 36 other data protection authorities on Tuesday raised privacy concerns about Google Glass in an open letter to CEO Larry Page.