Security News for the Week Ending October 21, 2022

Few Election Offices Use .Gov Domain

Years ago, .gov domains cost $400. In a case of penny wise, pound foolish, something like three quarters of all election officers figured that saving $400 versus a non-spoofable domain name was a smart trade off. And we wonder why the hackers are winning. Credit: The Washington Post

LinkedIn Working Secretly to Eliminate Fake Profiles

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the large number of fake profiles on LinkedIn, masquerading as employees of companies big and small. Similar to other social media platforms. But just the other day, according to Jay Pinho, who tracks these counts, the number of profiles claiming to be Amazon employees went from 1.25 million to 838 thousand. For Apple, the number went from 576 thousand to 285 thousand. LinkedIn is being silent. Maybe LinkedIn is trying to cut down on fraud – if so, that would be good. Credit: Brian Krebs

Chip Makers Tell Auto Industry to Pay Up if They Want Chips

Car makers love Just In Time (JIT) supply chain processes. Until the pandemic, the chip industry bowed to that. Now that chips are scarce and they can sell everything they make, the chip makers have turned the tables and have told the car companies they are no longer special. Make long term commitments. Fund R&D if you want something special. Automakers are having to invest in their own chip operations. It means a change for the long term in how car companies deal with tech. Credit: Yahoo

Gen Z, Millennials Protect Their Data More Than Company Data

According to Ernst & Young, 83% of workers in the U.S. say they understand the company’s cybersecurity policies but 48% of Gen Z and 39% of millennials say they are more cautious with their own devices than with their work devices. They also admitted to disregarding IT updates and reusing passwords, among other bad security practices. Credit: Dark Reading

Customs Vendor Says They Leaked 11,000 License Plates, but Reality is 1.38 Million

Vendors continue to be problematic for companies. In this case, a vendor to both the US and Canadian customs organizations admitted to a breach of license plate photos, but said the number leaked was around 11,000. After an investigation, it was determined that the number was really 1.38 million. Either they were lying or they were clueless. Neither one is good. Companies need to enhance their Vendor Cyber Risk Management programs because this is not going to fix itself. Credit: CTV News Canada

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