Tag Archive for: house

Michael Dell buying a house in Boston, thankfully

/in

Dell CEO and Chairman Michael Dell is a few pen strokes away from buying a house in the city of Boston, Fortune reports, which may help assuage concerns here in Massachusetts that his company’s recent $ 67 billion purchase of EMC will result in the storage powerhouse and its some 9,500 local employees moving to Texas.

Dell from the moment the deal was announced has said he plans to keep EMC right where it is, but nothing says “We’re sticking around” quite like ponying up for a local abode (Dell has other homes in Texas and Hawaii).  

And, local jobs aside, I have an even more parochial concern about Dell’s intentions: I live and pay taxes in the town of Hopkinton, which is the longtime home of EMC. There must be a second-largest employer/taxpayer, but I couldn’t tell you who that might be.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Paul McNamara

Misguided House bill could make cars less safe

/in

Car owners could face more danger from hackers if a draft bill (pdf) by the House Energy and Commerce Committee (HECC) becomes law. The law would make independent oversight of the electronic safety of motor vehicles a crime subjecting well intentioned security researchers to a $ 100,000 fine per instance. Today’s cars have 200 – 400 microcontrollers and microprocessors in them making the access of each an individual offense subject to fines that could add up to millions.

The security flaws of the Jeep Grand Cherokee were exposed this summer by security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek who were able to shut down the vehicle during operation by cracking the Wi-Fi password. The risks of huge fines would stop researchers from exposing critical motor vehicle vulnerabilities but it would not stop hackers with malicious intentions from invading vehicle control systems.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Security

White House considered bypassing encryption with malware disguised as updates – The Verge

/in

White House considered bypassing encryption with malware disguised as updates
The Verge
How do you serve a warrant on an encryption algorithm? For 20 years, governments have been struggling with that question, putting pressure on tech companies to build backdoors into security systems as the companies increasingly tell them it simply can …

and more »

flame malware – read more

White House won’t say if it’s hoping for a cybersecurity deal with China

/in

With the visit of Chinese premier Xi Jinping just a week away, the White House won’t say whether one of its goals is to reach an agreement with China over cybersecurity.

Hacking has been one of the issues at the forefront of U.S.-China relations over the last couple of years, particularly after the U.S. accused China of hacking into sensitive federal government systems, something that China denies.

“We’ve been pretty blunt in describing the concerns that we have with China’s behavior in cyberspace,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on board Air Force One on Monday, according to a pool report.

But Earnest wouldn’t comment on any measures that might be taken ahead of the visit.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Network World Security