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Connected Medical Devices Are Sick with Vulnerabilities, According to New Research

This is not good especially as we look at those aspirations for more nanobots to connect us to the cloud plus Mr. Kurzweil’s desire to live forever.


Medical device manufacturers are struggling to safeguard their newly connected designs from current and emerging security threats.

Natick, MA (PRWEB) January 29, 2016.

The medical device sector will be among the fastest growing markets for embedded security software through the next five years, according to a new report by VDC Research (click here to learn more). The market for medical devices spans a variety of hardware profiles including high-performance imaging systems, mobile diagnostic equipment and pumps, and wearable or implantable devices. Until recently, the majority of medical device manufacturers and others within the ecosystem treated security as an optional value-add under the misconception that their devices/products did not produce valuable data or would be a target for a hacker. The Internet of Things has enlarged the crosshairs on medical devices as such systems become more accessible and integrated with enterprise hospital platforms.

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FDA Guidelines Target IoT Medical Device Security

Could the FDA crush IoT opportunities in Healthcare?


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week took a step toward addressing the threat the Internet of Things poses to patients and their data by releasing some proposed guidelines for managing cybersecurity in medical devices.

“A growing number of medical devices are designed to be networked to facilitate patient care. Networked medical devices, like other networked computer systems, incorporate software that may be vulnerable to cybersecurity threats,” the FDA says in its proposal.

“The exploitation of vulnerabilities may represent a risk to the safety and effectiveness of medical devices and typically requires continual maintenance throughout the product life cycle to assure an adequate degree of protection against such exploits,” the agency notes.

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Cyco.net Inc. Signs $20 Million Equity Line of Credit with Cornell Capital Partners

This is sad in a way; especially as you see the large gap that still remains in Cyber Security v. hackers. 2015 was not a stellar year for security against hackers. Quantum does offer hope for many in finally getting a handle on Cyber Security; however, that may be even 7 years away before main street is able to leverage an operational Quantum Internet and/ or platform.

However, tech companies & proven Cyber talent need to strategically come together under a broader cyber program (beyond just the US Government and special interest groups; or a couple of venture partnerships) to resolve Cyber Security once and for all. Granted there has been some attempts for companies and industry talent to cross collaborate & address the Cyber Threat challenges for a while now. And, myself and others from big tech have worked together on “special programs to address the Cyber Threat Challenges.” Unfortunately, it hasn’t been enough; we need something more on a larger scale.

https://lnkd.in/bRzqQNf


April 7, 2004–Cyco.net Inc. (OTC BB: CYKE) announced today it has signed a financing commitment with Cornell Capital Partner LP, a.

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USENIX Enigma 2016 — Why Is Usable Security Hard, and What Should We Do about it?

Adrienne Porter Felt, Staff Software Engineer, Google Chrome.

Everyone wants to build software that’s both usable and secure, yet the world is full of software that falters at this intersection. How does this happen? I experienced the disconnect firsthand, when the Chrome security team redid Chrome’s security UI to conform to best practices for usable security. In the process, we learned how hard it is to actually adhere to oft-cited wisdom about usable security when faced with real-world constraints and priorities. With a set of case studies, I’ll illustrate the limitations we encountered when trying to apply common wisdom to a browser with more than a billion users—and discuss what has actually worked for us in practice, which might work for other practitioners too.

Sign up to find out more about Enigma conferences:
https://www.usenix.org/conference/enigma2016#signup

Watch all Enigma 2016 videos at:
http://enigma.usenix.org/youtube

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USENIX Enigma 2016 — NSA TAO Chief on Disrupting Nation State Hackers

Rob Joyce, Chief, Tailored Access Operations, National Security Agency.

From his role as the Chief of NSA’s Tailored Access Operation, home of the hackers at NSA, Mr. Joyce will talk about the security practices and capabilities that most effectively frustrate people seeking to exploit networks.

Sign up to find out more about Enigma conferences:
https://www.usenix.org/conference/enigma2016#signup

Watch all Enigma 2016 videos at:
http://enigma.usenix.org/youtube

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How To Improve Internet Security — 20th Century Radio Technology

Quantum Internet — this has been in development and testing for a while now at Los Alamos and I am looking forward to it been expanded to the commercial sector. It has seen some challenges; however, every month we’re seeing the challenges knocked out such as the Quantum Light Source technology.


Imagine communicating with your bank, the IRS or your doctor by way of an Internet that was actually secure, where if any bad actor were to try to eavesdrop you would know immediately. Such is the promise of secure quantum communication, and has been since it was ‘almost ready’ starting in the 1990s.

For quantum communication to become the standard, technical challenges still lie ahead. To make progress toward devices that can send and receive quantum data, researchers at Stanford University have created a novel quantum light source.

The physics of quantum communication is admittedly complex. Standard lasers are actually not useful for secure communication because they emit what is called “classical” light. Data eavesdroppers could extract any data being carried via classical light without detection. In contrast, a quantum Internet would be based on “quantum” light, in which a single unit of light — a single photon — cannot be measured without being destroyed. Therefore, an efficient source of quantum light would enable perfectly secure communication.

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Webcam search engine raises privacy concerns for connected devices

“But if you are familiar with the advanced search options these sites offer or read any number of books or blogs on ‘Google Dorks, ’ you’ll likely be more fearful of them than something with limited scope like Shodan”.

And it’s recently emerged that Shodan, a search engine for the Internet of Things, allows users to snoop on screenshots of anything filmed by a webcam from cash register cameras to babies sleeping in a cot. It’s pitched mainly as a security research tool and a way for businesses to monitor connected device usage, but it has also exposed controls to utilities, heating and cooling units, and traffic systems.

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Why you should be scared of robots

Another article highlighting the fears around Singularity. There are so many great things that will come from Singularity such as Cancer is wiped out, improved healthcare across the board and cheaper, etc. And, there are also downsides as Gates, Musk, etc. have warned folks especially around AI.

So, what are our options and obligations around Singularity? In reality, you will not be able to stop this evolution from happening. However, each person has a right to decide how much singularity is right for their own private use. As a business or a company, there are many things to consider such as Total Cost of Ownership v. ROI, tax codes or how government will view “humanoids” v. non-humanoids as it relates to CapEx and Taxes, etc. And, the company or business needs to ensure that there are appropriate safegaurds in place in order to protect their data, etc… Also, government has an obligation to the people in general in safegaurding our rights, security, and safety.

Another, question that will continue to be raised and will increase overtime is government and business obligations to the financial welfare of the people. And, this one will become more and more complex and interesting overtime. If AI was to truly displace millions of workers; how will the countries help feed, clothe, and house millions displaced people beyond what they have done in their own country’s past? Will the countries government place a special tax structure on companies and businesses to help fund the displaced workers and their families? Or, will it be a joint partnership with business and government? It does make one wonder.


Many experts believe the single greatest threat to our existence is the so-called “singularity” when computers are as smart as we are.

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A Basic Income for All!

There is enough wealth for all of us. What if we decided that every human being has a right to income security? How could a basic income change our lives? Could this relieve our society from the stress and anger that comes with the rising inequality?

Featuring: Guy Standing (economist, UK), Phillippe Van Parijs (philosopher, co-founder European Basic Income Network, BE) Enno Schmidt (Co-initiator of the Swiss Citizen’s Initiative on Basic Income, CH) Daniel Hani (Co-initiator of the Swiss Citizen’s Initiative on Basic Income, CH) Roland Duchatelet (entrepreneur, BE) Francine Mestrum (researcher on social development, BE) Dirk De Wachter (psychotherapist, BE) Sarah Van Lieferinge (Pirate Party, BE) Claudia & Dirk Haarman (Researchers Basic Income Grant project Namibia, NA) Bischop Kameeta (current Minister of poverty aleviation, NA) Ismael Daoud, Pierre & Axelle Catelin (calculated a possible basic income, BE) …

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