Blockchain, distributed ledgers and cryptocurrency are not interchangeable terms. Blockchain has to happen in sequence and partially helps provide data integrity.
Often, people misconstrue what blockchain is. The term “blockchain” has been co-opted. It is not cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency uses blockchain. There are a number of elements to blockchain, which is sometimes also confused with a distributed ledger. To start, let’s discuss how blockchain and distributed ledger work together for an effective security strategy.
As crazy as this sounds, blockchain is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a literal chain of blocks. This chain of blocks only fits together in one specific way, providing a security benefit.
Let’s back up a little. Everything in security deals with CIA: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability…
Setting protections around business operations is always a good idea. But those protections don’t mean anything if someone gets your credentials.
Business owners and executives often rely heavily on their IT leaders and InfoSec personnel to secure business information. While the majority of this does fall under the IT umbrella, it is important to remember that security practices are the responsibility of every single employee. The IT department can put protections in place all day long, but those protections only work when everyone practices good cyber-hygiene, including the use of strong passwords and 2FA.
In the past, we’ve talked about the importance of passwords and that using a password manager is generally a safe practice. We’ve also discussed the various ways…
PayPal announced plans to incorporate cryptocurrency into its online payment platform. Available later this year, the announcement makes PayPal one of the most significant companies in the financial technology sector to adopt support for virtual currencies.
PayPal is one of the most recognizable online payment platforms. It is widely used and accepted in the United States. While they began as a payment platform for businesses when founded in 1998, over 20 years later they now offer pre-paid debit cards, debit cards attached to your PayPal balance, credit cards and consumers can have their pay directly deposited. They have been a leader and frontrunner in the industry, especially after “marrying” eBay and acquiring Venmo. The company looks to break yet another barrier by incorporating cryptocurrency into its platform for online payments.
Amid the strain on businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, global cyber-attacks are on the rise. Making internal business changes holds the key to survival, businesses need to review security protocols now.
Over the last few months, we have seen a huge increase in the amount of cyber-attacks. Twitter. Garmin. Reddit. YouTube. The many healthcare systems. The recent npm packages. There are more, but those security issues made the biggest headlines. On top of cyber-attacks, we’ve seen multiple cloud services problems, Microsoft had a configuration issue impacting several areas of business, Bank of America had a typo in its code resulting in customers seeing a $0 balance online. If businesses want to avoid extra labor costs and everything else that comes with a service disruption, as well as do more to prevent…
Three JavaScript packages were removed from the npm portal last week for malicious code. Just another reason all open-source code should be reviewed prior to deployment.
We’ve been warned about this for years. Open-sourced code is a beautiful thing because it allows for coders, developers and engineers to build off of each other’s work. It makes those jobs easier by providing a codebase for common projects, and is a place where industry experts can look for a specific code to fix a problem in business-specific projects. But it’s also a place where bad actors can say they’ve got a fix for something, which they might, but they also throw in a malicious string of malware. …
Microsoft deployed an underwater datacenter to see if how it would compare to a datacenter on land. The results will change the way we look at technology for a long time.
Microsoft Corporation has been in the news quite a bit lately. They’ve had a couple of incidents with its Office, Teams and Azure services. They launched Azure Communication Services. They are collaborating to pioneer change in accessibility features. And now they’ve proven that an underwater datacenter isn’t only viable, but it’s better.
The concept for this project came about in 2014 at Microsoft’s Think Week, an event which brings employees together to come up with out-of-the-box ideas. The thought was that an underwater datacenter could provide super speedy cloud services to coastal people while saving energy. According to Microsoft’s website…
Interest in virtual reality spiked amid the COVID-19 pandemic as people looked for a safe escape from isolation. Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 started shipping on Tuesday, upping the VR gaming industry.
Around 18 months ago, Facebook released its first VR gaming system, the Oculus Quest. Yesterday, after months of anticipation, the Oculus Quest 2 started shipping. All initial reviews rave over the new headset and system upgrades:
Six years after Facebook acquired Oculus VR, the company has released a device that feels meaningfully complete. In short, the new Quest 2 headset is a fantastic piece of hardware that showcases what a rewarding ecosystem can be built when you throw enough money and engineering talent at a dream. -Lucas Matney of TechCrunch
Microsoft partners with several non-profits to enhance accessibility functions in technology. They hope to release updates by late 2021, and plan to share their data.
It’s no secret that technology has made some serious advancements over the last several years. The process is always ongoing with new innovations and changes happening every day. With the advancement of technology came the needs for accessibility functions for the differently abled. People with vision impairments can have their device dictate to them. People who struggle to type can utilize talk-to-text functions. There are magnifying glasses and other adaptable features on most devices today. Still, there’s always room for improvement and Microsoft is leading the way.
Currently, the way accessibility functions are designed is imperfect. Of course, nothing is…
A white hat hack found 55 bugs on Apple’s network, 11 of them critical. The cost to fix them is not small.
Recently, there has been an uptick in cyber-attacks worldwide, which is why we have discussed the importance of white hat testing and how to handle the results of those tests. Many of the recent attacks have been on the healthcare industry. Attackers know the system is strained and the likelihood of receiving a ransom payment is pretty high. Apple should be thankful that attacks have been focused elsewhere, as a recent white hat hack revealed 55 vulnerabilities, 11 of them critical.
Sam Curry, who specializes in website security, is the researcher who led the team that conducted the white hat…
Cyber attacks on the healthcare industry continue to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest attack may have slowed down coronavirus research worldwide.
Over the last few weeks, the healthcare industry has been in the limelight. Several medical facilities and healthcare groups have been hit by ransomware attacks. We have discussed how the healthcare industry is a soft target, that they need to dedicate more of their budgets to cyber security, and that these attacks can be crippling and even cause death in patients. This issue isn’t going anywhere, and the latest victim, eResearchTechnology, says their attack slowed down COVID-19 research. The impact is potentially worldwide.
eResearchTechnology is a Philadelphia-based medical software company. Their software, which provides tools for conducting clinical trials, is…
