Monday Morning News Kick Off: Facebook Launches Privacy Page; U.S. Endorses Cybersecurity Talks with Russia

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off post from the ITAC blog. As always, we like to kick off the week by highlighting a number of identity theft, data breach and cybersecurity stories. And of course, we have highlighted the latest news regarding online privacy and Facebook.

Quit Facebook Day was a Success Even as it Flopped
Quit Facebook Day may have flopped when it comes to creating a mass exodus of Facebook users, but those who care about privacy owe a debt of gratitude to the failed movement. If you’re still using Facebook after pledging to quit, you’re in good company. According to the organizers of Quit Facebook Day, only 31,000 angry Facebook users, out of an estimated 450 million, actually followed through with their pledge to delete their account on Monday (Quit Facebook Day). The day of protest was designed to send Facebook a message that its users were fed-up with surprise privacy changes. Read the full PC World article here.

Facebook Launches Privacy Page
Facebook, which is battling intense criticism over its handling of user privacy, has launched a page that provides updates on content, products and news stories related to online privacy. The new “Facebook and Privacy Page” is the site’s latest attempt to provide easier access to information on how users can restrict access to personal information. Facebook introduced the new page Thursday, one day after chief executive Mark Zuckerberg defended the site’s handling of privacy in an onstage interview at the D8 tech conference. Read the full InformationWeek article here.

Is Your Privacy Secure Online? There’s No Way to Tell
Long before Facebook got blamed for turning the concept of online privacy into a sick joke, I could tell that the Internet was going to make the control of one’s personal information a challenge. That moment arrived in the late 1990s, when I realized that my listed phone number, previously accessible only to those who knew enough about me to know where I lived and therefore which local phone book to check or which 411 operator to call, had become available to anyone capable of typing my name — and that’s all — into an online database. Read more of Michael Hiltzik’s LA Times column here.

U.S. Backs Talks on Cyber Warfare
The chief of the Pentagon’s new cyber-security command on Thursday endorsed talks with Russia over a proposal to limit military attacks in cyberspace, representing a significant shift in U.S. policy. The U.S. has for years objected to Russian proposals to establish a kind of arms-control treaty for cyber weapons, arguing that international cooperation should first focus on reducing cyber crime. Russia has been working to marshal support for a United Nations treaty to limit the use of cyber weapons, such as software code that could destroy an enemy’s computer systems. “What Russia’s put forward is, perhaps, the starting point for international debate,” Gen. Keith Alexander said Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. “It’s something that we should, and probably will, carefully consider.” Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Should Cybersecurity Reforms be Reformed?
Major cybersecurity reforms were included as part of the House Defense authorization bill passed last week. The provisions call for a permanent cyber office in the White House and a major overhaul of the 2002 Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). Jim Lewis is Director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was also the program manager of the Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency. He joins us with his take on the proposed reforms. Listen to the exclusive FedNewsRadio interview here.

Data Breach Puts Kidney Dialysis Patient Info at Risk
For those of us who tend to think that data breaches happen far away and to everyone else comes this reminder from the public radio station right here in IT Business Edge’s hometown of Louisville, Ky. WFPL News reports the University of Louisville has alerted roughly 700 patients in the university’s kidney dialysis program that personal information, including their names and Social Security numbers, was briefly accessible outside of the program. University spokesman Mark Hebert explained the information was not password protected and was leaked to “the public domain on the Internet.” The dialysis program’s website has since been shut down, and the university has offered to pay for a year of credit monitoring for the affected patients, the story says. Read the full IT Business Edge story here.