‘We the People’ 2.0 to include APIs, Feds Want Secure Mobile with Back Door; Silent Circle Says No and more

By RyanKamauff

Here are the top cyber news and stories of the day.

• ‘We the People’ 2.0 to include APIs – “White House Deputy Director of Online Platform Peter Welsch wrote on the White House blog that Petitions 1.0, the code “We the People” runs on is complete, opening the door for the second version.” The code for the “We The People” 2.0 will feature APIs and allow users to retrieve data at all. Via FedScoop, more here.
• Navigating the Security Maze for Cloud Computing – Ryan Kean of Kroger Company wrote on Wired about some ways to exploit cloud computing. The steps he suggests are to understand the benefits and risks, scrutinize the SLA, and reach out for resources. These steps can help improve the value-add of cloud computing, and help prepare the foundation for a move to that type of infrastructure. Via Wired, more here.
• Feds Want Secure Mobile with Back Door; Silent Circle Says No – “The Federal Trade Commission earlier this week issued a report on mobile security, saying that people have an expectation of privacy for their personal information on smart phones. Only, certain elements of the government – let’s say the FBI – don’t want that information so secure that they can’t tap it themselves.” There is an unending struggle surrounding security in our government, as security can protect our citizens, it can also make life harder on law enforcement. Finding the happy medium between the two will be one of the larger struggles of our digital era. Via SV411, more here.
• Juniper OS flaw crashes routers – “A serious flaw in the operating system running Juniper routers can make them crash and reboot, the network equipment vendor has advised.” A special TCP packet makes the kernel crash, and reboot. Juniper routers are used extensively in the network world, which makes this a potentially incredibly damaging capability. Via SC Magazine, more here.
  
• Wireless Carriers Leave Millions of Android Phones Vulnerable to Hackers – Android phones are being left out of key security updates by carriers, which is creating a terrible security paradigm for users. This is different than what happens to iOS devices, and the OEMs/Carriers need to make these updates happen more regularly, if just for the security of the user. Via Wired, more here.

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