Better encryption, but will anyone implement it?
Fitting
Forward Secrecy into Today's Security Architecture
Forward
Secrecy’s day has come – for most. The cryptographic technique
(sometimes called Perfect Forward Secrecy or PFS), adds an additional
layer of confidentiality to an encrypted session, ensuring that only
the two endpoints can decrypt the traffic. With forward secrecy,
even if a third party were
to record an encrypted session, and later gain access to the server
private key, they could not use that key to decrypt a session
protected by forward secrecy. Neat, huh?
Forward
secrecy thwarts large-scale passive surveillance (such as might be
conducted by a snooping nation state or other well-resourced threat
actor) so it is seen a tool that helps preserve freedom of speech,
privacy, and other
rights-of-the-citizenry.
It
is supported and preferred by every major browser, most mobile
browsers and applications, and nearly 90% of TLS hosts on the
Internet, according to a recent TLS Telemetry report (PDF).
The crypto community applauds forward secrecy’s broad acceptance
today.
Of
course there’s a snag, for some.
Something for my students to debate.
Facebook
and Free Speech
In the weeks since Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony
to Congress, Facebook has made two important policy announcements.
The company released a document explaining what posts and accounts it
removes on the basis of its internal rules, known as “community
standards,” and it engaged
outside consultants to review the social media platform’s
impact on various communities. The company also released its first
transparency
report on the enforcement of its community standards.
These are all welcome developments, but they lay
bare a fundamental question raised by Zuckerberg himself: What
obligations does the public want companies to fulfill when deciding
which speech deserves a place on the Internet and social media?
The Supreme Court recently
called the internet and social media platforms “the most
important places…for the exchange of views,” so the question is
not simply an academic exercise.
Is Facebook the only one doing this?
Facebook
users worldwide are being asked to review their privacy settings as
GDPR looms
Facebook
users will soon see a notice on their accounts asking them to review
their privacy settings, as the company prepares for the rollout of
new data protection rules in Europe.
The alert, which starts
appearing this week, asks users across the globe to
reassess their preferences for the types of personal data Facebook
can use for ad targeting and whether they'll submit to facial
recognition. They'll be given the chance to review the information
they share on their profiles, including political and religious
affiliations and relationship status.
Consumers will see how Facebook uses their
activity to send targeted ads and what the company does with its
facial recognition tools. Facebook will show them which features
they currently have turned on, allowing them to opt out if they
choose.
Though Facebook is facing a barrage of criticism
in the U.S. over data protection, following the Cambridge Analytica
scandal in March, this week's notice is in response to the General
Data Protection Regulation in Europe. The
alert has already appeared for European users, but this time it is
getting a worldwide rollout.
Lots of Facebook action today.
… Facebook is today making three important
announcements on false
news, to which WIRED got an early and exclusive look.
… The first new announcement is a
request for proposals from academics eager to study false news on the
platform. Researchers who are accepted will get data and money; the
public will get, ideally, elusive answers to how much false news
actually exists and how much it matters. The second
announcement is the launch of a public education campaign that will
utilize the top of Facebook’s homepage, perhaps the most valuable
real estate on the internet. Users will be taught what false news is
and how they can stop its spread. Facebook knows it is at war, and
it wants to teach the populace how to join its side of the fight.
The third announcement—and the one the company seems most
excited about—is the release of a nearly 12-minute video called
“Facing Facts,” a title that suggests both the topic and the
repentant tone.
Sufficient to deter Russian interference in
elections?
United
Kingdom Att’y General’s Speech on International Law and Cyber:
Key Highlights
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom’s Attorney
General, Jeremy Wright, QC MP, gave a speech at Chatham House on the
role of international law in cyberspace. It is the first official
statement of the UK’s overarching view on the topic, including on
some specific issues that are at the center of international policy
and debate (the speech can be found here.)
Here are eight key points:
First, it is
important for states to publicly articulate their understanding of
international law, especially in cyberspace. Wright acknowledged
that rapidly changing technology and developing norms made clear
rules difficult, but he warned against allowing cyberspace to become
a “grey area.”
Helping US voters find the Not-Fake News.
Twitter
adds candidate labels ahead of midterm elections
Twitter will start adding labels to the profiles
of candidates running in the 2018 midterm elections after May 30th.
… The
label, which will apply to all
candidates running for state governor, U.S. Senate or U.S. House of
Representatives, will contain the office the candidate is running
for, the state the office is located in, their district number (when
applicable), and other identifying information.
-
The label will be marked with a small icon of a government building, and will appear on the Twitter page of the candidate as well as alongside all tweets sent or retweeted by the account.
We keep getting smaller. Is subcutaneous next?
I’m not into watches or wristbands, but for the
last few weeks I’ve been wearing a fitness tracker on my finger.
It knows how long I sleep and detects when I walk or run, and all
I’ve gotta do is wear it like jewelry and forget about it.
The device is the Motiv
Ring. Its features and its iOS app are minimalist compared to
what a Fitbit or an Apple Watch can do, which is part of why I like
it.
… The ring doesn’t have a screen, just a
tiny light that changes color when it charges or when it’s syncing
with your phone. (You can force it to sync by spinning the ring
around your finger, or ask it to ring your phone by spinning one way
and then the other.) The ring doesn’t need to sync constantly, so
you don’t need to worry if your phone dies or if you’d rather go
to the gym without your phone. It can hang onto a few days’ data
if needed.
Tracks with my student opinions.
AAA:
American Trust in Autonomous Vehicles Slips
Following high-profile incidents involving
autonomous vehicle technologies, a new report from AAA’s multi-year
tracking study indicates that consumer trust in these vehicles has
quickly eroded. Today, three-quarters (73 percent) of American
drivers report they would be too afraid to ride in a fully
self-driving vehicle, up significantly from 63 percent in late 2017.
Additionally, two-thirds (63 percent) of U.S. adults report they
would actually feel less safe sharing the road with a
self-driving vehicle while walking or riding a bicycle.
Perspective. Maybe the next Indian billionaire is
in my classroom.
Why
Walmart’s Flipkart Deal Will Spur Entrepreneurship in India
Walmart’s
agreement on June 9 to purchase
77% of Flipkart for $16 billion mints two engineer billionaires
in India. Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart
and who are not related, each reportedly own about 5% of the Indian
online retailer. They will have a net worth about $1 billion when
the transaction with Walmart is completed later this year. It will
mark a major business success for professionals in India, outside the
information technology businesses. The example of the founders,
including their initial failures, will inspire more professionals in
India to risk starting an enterprise.
Flipkart is
India’s largest online retailer with an estimated 40% market share.
Amazon, its main and tough competitor, has about a third of the
market.
Perspective. Too trusting or setting the
President up for further legal action?
A federal district court judge on Wednesday ruled
that President Trump
can't block people from viewing his Twitter feed over their political
views.
Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, of the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York, said President Trump’s
Twitter account is a public forum and blocking people who reply to
his tweets with differing opinions constitutes viewpoint
discrimination, which violates the First Amendment.
… Buchwald, who was appointed by former
President Clinton, rejected Trump’s argument that the First
Amendment does not apply in this case and that the president’s
personal First Amendment interests supersede those of the plaintiffs.
She suggested in her
75-page opinion that Trump could have ignored his opponents’ reply
tweets.
… But Buchwald
did not order Trump or Scavino to unblock the individual plaintiffs
in the case or prohibit them from blocking others from the account
based on their views as the plaintiffs’ had asked.
She said a declaratory
judgment should be sufficient.
“Because no government official is above the law
and because all government officials are presumed to follow the law
once the judiciary has said what the law is, we
must assume that the President and Scavino will remedy the blocking
we have held to be unconstitutional,” Buchwald wrote.
Perhaps this is part of the cost to acquire a new
CEO?
Chipotle
Mexican Grill to close Denver headquarters, relocate staff to
California and Ohio
The company said
in a news release the headquarters will move to Newport Beach, Calif.
and other functions within the Denver office will move to the
company’s existing office in Columbus, Ohio.
… The news comes as a surprise to some in
Denver, as the company announced
in December it was moving its headquarters to a new office tower
downtown that was still under construction.
"We wish @ChipotleTweets all the best. We
want their existing employees to know we have services that can help
them find new jobs," Gov. John Hickenlooper tweeted
Wednesday afternoon. His wife, Robin, has sat on Chipotle's board of
directors since December 2016.
It signed a 15-year lease for five floors of a
40-story skyscraper located on 15th Street between Arapahoe and
Lawrence streets. The status of the lease is currently unclear,
though the building held its grand opening in recent months.
The CEO at the time, Steve Ells, said: “Our
roots are here, and this contemporary, collaborative and modern space
will position us to look ahead to the next 25 years.”
… Paul Seaborn, an assistant professor of
management at the University of Denver, has watched Chipotle's
performance closely and co-wrote a case study last year for an
international competition that focused on the key challenges facing
the company. He said Chipotle's new CEO is cooking up a culture
shock with this latest move.
… Seaborn also said he believes there are no
real benefits to moving the headquarters to Newport Beach other than
the new CEO's own connections to California. As the former CEO of
Taco Bell its headquarters are in nearby Irvine, California.
"This seems much more of a personal
management decision," said Seaborn. "This particular move
is going to create a big question around retention and who are the
key employees that they feel are really pushing the company forward
and can they get them to move to California."
Stupid is as stupid does. F. Gump
Cake shop
hilariously censors Latin phrase on US graduate's cake
Cara Koscinski ordered a graduation cake for her
18-year-old son Jacob, who graduated with an impressive 4.89 grade
point average, The Washington Post reports.
Ms Koscinski had ordered the cake online from cake
shop Publix.
She wanted it to say: "Congrats Jacob! Summa
Cum Laude, Class of 2018." The Latin phrase translates in
English to "with the highest distinction".
However Publix's online system auto-corrected the
middle Latin word, picking it up as bad language.
I might want to try this.
How to
Embed Your Slideshows Into Your Blog
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