Monthly Archives: August 2020

The non-profit that seeks out security breaches by apps:IDAC What is IDAC goal? To protect consumer data What recent discovery did it make? A fertility app on android phones was collecting a lot of personal data with no opt out for consumers Why was the IDAC alerted? the App masked personal health data in the […]

The Solarium Commission that delivered a list of policy recommendations earlier this year is working on supply chain policy recommendation next. Why this new action? COVID Are the recommendations being targeted at certain issues? Yes, ““We have to have a comprehensive information technology communications strategy to counter what could be perceived as Chinese aggression and […]

The pilot program is the brain child of: Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory The governments that have joined: Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Texas, along with Maricopa County, Ariz What is this pilot project? cybersecurity automation by identifying the threats that should be prioritized and triaged The goals […]

The parties: Comcast & Reading (PA) School Board The purpose of the contract: remote learning What had the School Board tried before this contract to expand access to broadband for students? Added outdoor Wi-Fi to 14 school district buildings What benefits will the district receive for its $700,000 expenditure? a couple months free broadband for […]

How did Chief Information Officers and those who work in data and data security get a bump in their profile because of COVID? Because the spread and data related to the coronavirus rose in importance, so did the import of those in charge of the data. Instead of data being thought of as a defense […]

The University of Chicago is pairing their cybersecurity experts with local election officials to assist with cyber security issues surrounding the November election. What is the Univeristy of Chicago’s program called? Election Cyber Surge & began with 50 volunteer experts who have been vetted MSNBC | Volunteer hacker army boosts U.S. election cybersecurity

Writing on the wall with the FCC calling for comment on security threats in the existing supply chain rulemaking. Why should this matter? Data security standards will fall into place in state and local government contracts too.

How e-commerce is fairing in 2020 for retailers overall: forecast to grow 18% to $709.8 billion this year anticipated to represent 14.5% of total retail sales this year For Home Depot specifically: e-commerce is more than 14% of the approximately $38.1 billion of net sales up from about 9% compared to 2019 Total sales growth […]

Examples of how the digital divide was closer to closed because of COVID: Seattle’s Digital Bridge pilot program connecting low-income residents with low-cost refurbished laptops Seattle partnered with Wave Broadband to offer low-income households free home Internet for 60 days Washington State created Wi-Fi hot spots across the state Chattanooga, TN & Hamilton County, TN […]

The legislation: National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 What would corporations be prohibited from doing? keeping or maintaining biometric, including facial recognition, information prohibiting profiting from biometric information permits corporations to collect & maintain the information with consent How would it be enforced? By state Attorneys General & individuals could bring suit Senator Merkley […]