Data privacy is back in Congressional lawmakers’ sights, as a new, legislative proposal focuses not on data collection, storage, and selling, but on the idea that Americans should be able to more easily pack up their user data and take it to a competing service—perhaps one that better respects their data privacy. The new bill would also require certain tech companies, including Facebook, … [Read more...]
A week in security (October 14 – 20)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we tried to unlock the future of the password (its vulnerabilities, current alternatives, and possible future disappearance), analyzed the lagging response by many businesses in adopting a patch for Pulse VPN vulnerability, looked at Instagram’s bulked-up security against phishing emails scams, and were reminded that ransomware remains a dominant threat facing … [Read more...]
A week in security (August 5 – 11)
Last week on Malwarebytes Labs, we explained how brain-machine interface (BMI) technology could usher in a world of Internet of Thoughts, why having backdoors is problematic, and how we can improve the security of our smart homes. To cap off Hacker Summer Camp week, the Labs team released a special ransomware edition of its quarterly cybercrime tactics and techniques report, which you can … [Read more...]
The top six takeaways for user privacy
Last week, Malwarebytes Labs began closing out our data privacy and cybersecurity law blog series, a two-month long exploration spanning five continents, 50 states, just as many data breach notification laws, three non-universal definitions of personal information and personal data, five pending US data protection laws, and one hypothetical startup’s efforts to just make sense of it all. We … [Read more...]
Facebook’s history betrays its privacy pivot
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg proposed a radical pivot for his company this month: it would start caring—really—about privacy, building out a new version of the platform that turns Facebook less into a public, open “town square” and more into a private, intimate “living room.” Zuckerberg promised end-to-end encryption across the company’s messaging platforms, interoperability, disappearing … [Read more...]
Max Schrems: lawyer, regulator, international man of privacy
Almost one decade ago, disparate efforts began in the European Union to change the way the world thinks about online privacy. One effort focused on legislation, pulling together lawmakers from 28 member-states to discuss, draft, and deploy a sweeping set of provisions that, today, has altered how almost every single international company handles users’ personal information. The finalized law of … [Read more...]