Category Archives: telecommunications

Drones Changed Disaster Recovery.

Hurricane Harvey marks the 1st wide scale commerical use of drones after a disaster.

In addition to news crews utilizing drone footage, drones have been deployed by :

  • Insurance Companies to document and determine damages
  • Telecommunications companies to assess damages to infrastucture

San Antonio Express News | Government Technology | How Fleets of Drones Are Helping Assess Damage from Hurricane Harvey

3 Ways Smart Cities = Data Security Nightmare

The uptick in hacks as connectivity increases:

Smart technology adoption is high, but:

  • innovations are deployed without robust testing
  • cybersecurity is often neglected
  • security protocols are not kept current

A hypothetical hack of power systems impacting 93 Million in North America would cost:

 anywhere from $21 billion to $71…

Emergency Radio Signals Hacked. Pivot for Cyber Security Legislation.

When considering legislation to protect state infrastructure and emergency management systems, it has beeen revealed that the hack that led to the triggering of the Dallas emergency alarms was not a computer hack, but a hack of the radio signals.

State Tech | Dallas Reveals Radio Signals, Not Network Hack, Triggered Emergency Sirens

3 Procurement Opportunities from the Dallas Emergency Siren Hack

Background on the emergency system hack:

  • all 156 of Dallas’ emergency sirens were hacked and triggered to sound last weekend
  • The hack of the system exposed that the system had to be shut down 

Procurement Opportunities for Emergency IT:

  • Mayor Rawlings called it “evidence of a need to upgrade and safeguard the city’s technology infrastructure”
  • The hack was tracked down because of the ability to coordinate with other security professionals
  • The sirens triggered a heavy load on the city’s 911…

TREND. Anatomy of A State Cyber Security Quick Reaction Force

Germany has created a mobile Quick Reaction Force to quickly address cyberthreats.

Which cyber threats will the Quick Reaction Force respond to? Cyber attacks on government agencies & critical infrastructure

Will there be cyber threat information sharing between business interests and the state? yes.

Why did they enact this Quick Reaction Force for cybersecurity? To protect Germany’s elections from Russian or Chinese hackers

DW.com | German cabinet approves cyber security…

TREND. New Rules on Data Privacy. +1 Federal Agency with cybersecurity rules. 4 Points to be Informed.

The agency with new data protection rules: The FCC

The new FCC rules will require broad band and wireless providers to:

  • offer 3 tiers of privacy protections: opt-in, opt-out, and inferred
  • opt-in will be the standard for this information held by providers:
    • sensitive personal data
    • financial data
    • location
    • social security numbers
    • health or medical information
    • internet browsing or app history
    • message content
    • data belonging to minors.
  • opt-out standard for non-sensitive data…

Agency wants enforcement over communications common carriers in data security

Federal Trade Commission wants enforcement powers over communications common carriers for data security and data breach issues.

Currently the FTC enforcement powers have an exemption for communications common carriers.

Inside Cybersecurity | FTC commissioners call for data-breach legislation, repeal of ‘common carrier’ exemption

INTERIM. More Data Security Warnings for Energy Infrastructure

Who is issuing the warning? The Obama Adminsitration

What entities are being warned about data security threats?

  • power companies
  • water suppliers
  • transportation networks

What’s sparked the warning? The attack n the Ukraine’s power grid 2 months ago. It was the first cyberattack that produced a wide spread blackout

What was the target of the cyber attack? industrial control systems that act as the intermediary between computers and the switches

What could hackers do with control…

INTERIM. Home of the Ducks is now Home of Data Security. 5 Bits of Informed Intel from a new Data Security State Law.

  • data breach defined in new Orgegon law as:
    • “an unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that materially compromises the security, confidentiality or integrity of personal information that a person maintains.”
  • personal information that triggers the notification statute
    • ​Social Security number;
    • Driver license number or state identification card number issued by the Department of Transportation;
    • Passport number or other United States issued identification number;…