The Weekly Cypher is specially curated to keep you up-to-date on the latest in cybersecurity, biometrics, and related news and innovations. Here are a few of the headlines you might have missed this week:
How Congress Should Respond to the Equifax Breach | Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Equifax breach was an apocalypse scenario when it comes to data breaches. Over 140 million Americans’ Social Security numbers, names, and addresses were released by hackers. This breach is enormous, but attacks like this one will become a recurring problem if governments don’t take the threat seriously. The Electronic Frontier Foundation presents a plan for how Congress should respond. [Read More]
IT Professionals Nervous About Tackling Targeted Cyberattacks | PYMNTS.com
IT workers are one of our best lines of defense against hackers, but it turns out even they aren’t confident in their abilities to ward off targeted attacks. Sixty-three percent of IT professionals surveyed by Kaspersky Labs stated that they were unsure of what to do in the event of a targeted breach. It’s a worrisome sentiment to hear, particularly since the number of targeted attacks on businesses went up by six percent last year. [Read More]
A Partnership for Protection | The Times of Israel
It’s tough getting teams to communicate within one country, let alone across borders. But sometimes, teaming up is the only way to combat criminals. The Hessian Israeli Partnership Accelerator for Cybersecurity is a coalition of 16 cybersecurity teams from Germany and Israel. The teams will participate in an entrepreneurship and security training session and spend two months collaborating with influencers and experts in the field. [Read More]
Tesco Enables Face ID | Planet Biometrics
More companies are dipping their toes into facial recognition, and Apple’s iPhone X seems to be spurring that trend onward. Tesco, a British retailer, recently announced that the company would be allowing users to access their Tesco Bank account through the iPhone X’s facial recognition feature. Banks have proven to be particularly interested in facial recognition options, meaning other financial institutions will most likely follow Tesco’s lead. [Read More]
Thailand, Biometrics, and SIM Cards | Telecompaper
SIM cards have been used for nefarious purposes in Thailand, and the government is fighting back. In December, Thailand will be rolling out biometric checks that will push smartphone users to register their SIM cards. This is to stop people from using prepaid SIM cards for fraudulent electronic transactions and the practice of using SIM cards to trigger bombs. [Read More]
