Security updates for Adobe’s Flash Player were released Thursday after “multiple vulnerabilities” allowing a remote hacker to “take control of an affected system” were discovered, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team said Thursday in a news release. Users and administrators are asked to review the Adobe Security Bulletin and update Flash Player to the latest version, as the update for Windows, Macintosh and Linux isn't automatic, Adobe said.
“Widespread use" of computers and cellphones "created a market for malicious software that allows perpetrators to surreptitiously intercept their victims’ communications,” Leslie Caldwell, U.S. assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Criminal Division, said in a blog post Friday. “For a small fee, people can purchase this software and download it onto a victim's device.” The Obama administration has a proposal that would “expand the statute that already provides for the forfeiture of surreptitious interception devices themselves to include forfeiture of proceeds from the sale of spyware and property used to facilitate the crime,” Caldwell said. “Violators of the surreptitious interception device statute often engage in money laundering by transferring funds through multiple overseas accounts to conceal the profits of their criminal enterprise,” she said. “Because the spyware statute is not listed as a predicate offense in the money laundering statute, however, prosecutors are unable to charge defendants for money laundering activities related to the sale of spyware unless they can link it to some other crime, which will often be difficult or impossible," she said: The proposal "adds violations of the spyware statue to the list of money laundering predicate offenses."
Streaming audio increased 41 percent in January from the year-ago month in average active sessions (AAS), said Triton Digital in listing top-performing digital audio stations and networks measured by the Webcast Metrics platform, in a news release Thursday. Thirty-six percent of all audio streaming listening happened on iOS, 30 percent on Android, 9 percent on Flash Player and 8 percent on Google Chrome, Triton said. Android and iOS remain the favored platforms for streaming audio, it said. In the top 20 markets, Denver experienced the largest listening gain compared with December, with a 33 percent increase in AAS, it said. The next markets with listening gains were Tampa with 26 percent, Chicago with 21 percent, New York with 21 percent and San Francisco with 20 percent, the industry researcher said.
EarthLink selected Level 3 to provide secure, global connectivity to support enterprise customers from EarthLink’s Middle East location, a Level 3 news release Wednesday. It said the selection was made in the face of demand for enhanced online security and connectivity to worldwide markets from customers in sectors such as the financial services and oil industries.
The White House is “taking steps to improve” privacy and is now using encryption by default HTTPS on its website WhiteHouse.gov, the site’s Twitter account tweeted Wednesday morning. Last week the FTC became the first government agency to use encryption by default on its site (see 1503060055).
The market for streaming video devices priced at $99 and below is becoming increasingly crowded and competitive, with Apple, Amazon, Google and Roku competing for the top spot. Last year, Google shipped 8.7 million Chromecast sticks, beating out Apple TV’s 8.3 million units, analyst Paul Erickson of IHS Technology forecasts in a new report. Shipments of Chromecast sticks are expected to continue exceeding those of Apple TV by a close margin for the near future; though Apple TV has dropped to $69 neither its fundamental capabilities nor its iOS-centric market focus has changed, Erickson said. To beat Google, Erickson said, Apple needs to continue expanding overall capabilities and the selection of marquee content partners as well as release updated hardware.
Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., Wednesday is hosting a roundtable at Inrix, 10210 NE Points Dr., Suite 400, Kirkland, about the Internet of Things with Puget Sound and University of Washington, a DelBene news release said. The roundtable will focus on what businesses and government can do to help protect consumer privacy, it said. Guests will include Inrix's Bryan Mistele, Microsoft's Heidi Holman and Snupi Technologies' Jeremy Jaech. The congresswoman started a congressional IoT Caucus with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to educate lawmakers and the public on the development of Internet-connected devices and the privacy concerns that arise with technological advances. The roundtable will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Charter Communications improved its prime time Netflix performance by two spots to No. 6 among U.S. ISPs in February to an average speed of 3.29 Mbps, said the Netflix February ISP speed index released Monday. That was up from 3.14 Mbps for Charter the previous month. Also in the U.S., Verizon FiOS had the fastest speed at 3.53 Mbps and Clearwire the slowest at 1.10 Mbps. The average was 3.07 Mbps. Those speeds compared with the U.K., which saw the fastest streaming speeds at 3.62 Mbps and the slowest at 2.99 Mbps, with the average at 3.33 Mbps.
Limelight said 46 percent of respondents to a recent survey were most concerned about how distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks would affect their delivery of digital content. The survey was of more than 100 content delivery network customers. The second-most-cited concern, noted by 27 percent of respondents, was unauthorized access to content, Limelight said. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they believe their CDN provider is best equipped to help them detect and mitigate DDoS attacks. Thirty-three percent of respondents said a cyberattack would affect their brand’s image, Limelight said. “This survey highlights the immense pressure on enterprises to ensure content availability and protect brand reputation as cyberattacks increase and metastasize,” Chief Marketing Officer Kirby Wadsworth said in a news release.
Quickplay bought Roundbox, which will enable it to monetize viewing experiences on any device or network by using multicast or unicast technologies that leverage 4G LTE Broadcast, said the acquirer in a news release Wednesday. It said Roundbox’s cloud-enabled software makes it possible for Quickplay to deliver a range of new capabilities and mobile media experiences, as well as optimized video and data delivery and spectrum utilization.