How The 'Internet of Things' Impacts Security

The range and number of “things” connected to the internet is truly astounding, including security cameras, ovens, alarm systems, baby monitors and cars. They’re are all going online, so they can be remotely monitored and controlled over the internet. But many have security or privacy holes. Here’s what to look for to keep yourself safe online.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices typically incorporate sensors, switches and logging capabilities that collect and transmit data across the internet.

As BYOD becomes common, the importance of Internet Security

Today's workforce is reliant on computers, laptops and smartphones as the infrastructural extensions of an organization. These devices, endowed with the power of the internet, carry important documents and passwords that form a virtual identity for organizations, especially with BYOD policies becoming a trend. Therefore, it is essential organizations ensure that they have the best of internet security to guarantee that their identity is not compromised or important data lost.

The advent of the internet opened up yet another platform for fraudsters, who not only hack computers, steal private passwords, documents and files, but are also identity thieves. Despite this, some SMEs and big enterprises are still very complacent in terms of internet security and seem to believe that their computers are invisible. They have still not realized that the moment their job requires them to log on to the internet, they can easily fall prey to such online thugs.

In order to ensure this security, not only the CIOs, but the employees of a company should understand a few simple things about being on the internet and act accordingly. The foremost thing to know is where online data is stored, along with understanding the encryption of that data. With the growing popularity of big data and intellectual property amongst the corporates, these elements are constantly under the risk of loss, theft or exposure to unwanted entities. Similarly, personal data such as credit card information and corporate confidential data and information are under the same threat. There are many laws and regulations mandating data loss prevention with the objective of privacy protection and cross border data transfer. Today with BYOD policies, it is very difficult to control the flow and storage of the data, especially with the plethora of social media and other file sharing applications.

Read More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/security-tech/security/as-byod-becomes-common-the-importance-of-internet-security/articleshow/50167658.cms

Britain has declared war on Internet security

For the past two and a half years, many have hoped that the mass surveillance programs revealed by U.S. National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden would inspire serious reform of Western intelligence agencies, nudging the post-9/11 national security pendulum back in the direction of privacy and civil liberties. Unfortunately, the opposite is occurring.

With few exceptions, the past year has seen governments around the world double down on intrusive mass surveillance. Unprecedented and draconian new laws crafted in the name of fighting crime and terrorism have emerged in France, Australia and many other countries. Last month the U.S. Senate passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, a deceptively named bill that has nothing to do with security and everything to do with having companies give more of their customers’ data to U.S. government agencies. And last week, U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May presented a long-awaited draft of the new Investigatory Powers Bill, a collection of sweeping reforms that would give more powers to British police and spy agencies, including the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the NSA’s close ally and longtime collaborator.

The U.K. draft law is a nightmarish cocktail of bad ideas from both sides of the pond — an authoritarian wish list that goes beyond even the NSA’s powers. Rather than roll back its most indefensible abuses, the text makes clear that the British government intends to retroactively legitimize the most invasive and legally dubious surveillance activities that Snowden exposed. As Snowden put it, the bill is an attempt “to fit the law around the spying, rather than making spying fit the law.” If successful, it will have dire consequences in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

Read More: http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/11/britain-has-declared-war-on-internet-security.html