Security | Internet Marketing Blog

My iPhone is the least valuable thing I carry. I like it that way

My iPhone is the least valuable thing I carry. But I didn’t realise that until my iPhone was stolen (pick-pocketed in Barcelona).

The thief didn’t get my keys, passport or wallet. If he had taken any of those items then I would have been unable to start my car, unable to leave Spain, or unable to pay my hotel bill.

Instead, he stole my iPhone4, which basically meant I couldn’t call, email or tweet. Within three days of the theft I was using a replacement iPhone5 (free upgrade from O2), and all my family photos & apps were restored from an iTunes back-up.

by William Lovegrove 15 April 2013 16:57pm 5 comments

Company taunts ICO: sue us over cookie law

The ICO's cookie law has been, for many companies, a major headache. After being given an extra year to find compliance solutions -- an acknowledgment that complying wouldn't necessarily be painless -- companies were finally forced to implement them.

Those that don't could find themselves facing steep fines, and in an effort to show that it's serious about enforcement, the ICO earlier this year indicated that it would be contacting 50 high-traffic UK websites about their compliance.

by Patricio Robles 06 September 2012 14:05pm 5 comments

Five things every online retailer can learn from Tesco's website security fail

UK retailer Tesco came under fire earlier this week for website security practices that may be leaving customer data vulnerable to hackers.

The incident started when software architect Troy Hunt noticed a tweet indicating that Tesco must be storing customer passwords in a manner that doesn't adhere to best practices because the retail giant emails customers their passwords in plain text.

by Patricio Robles 01 August 2012 11:03am 4 comments

Yahoo faces major security breach: reports

It's no surprise that companies on the consumer internet are collecting a lot of information about their users -- with and without the permission of those users. And that means there are plenty of databases that make an attractive target for hackers.

Unfortunately for users, many of those databases aren't secured properly, and as we've seen time and time again, best practices for how certain pieces of information, such as passwords, are stored go unfollowed.

by Patricio Robles 12 July 2012 19:11pm 3 comments

Apple finds itself playing defense in the App Store

Life is generally pretty easy for Apple. Consumers love its products, which they continue to snap up at a rapid pace, and the company's iOS ecosystem is arguably the most impressive around.

But the past week has been anything but easy for the Cupertino-based tech giant.

by Patricio Robles 06 July 2012 20:52pm 3 comments

LinkedIn faces major security breach: report

While Facebook's stock languishes, shares of the world's most popular social network for professionals, LinkedIn, have been treated far more kindly. With a forward price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 75, investors are betting that LinkedIn's future is bright.

But the company may be in for a rough patch as word broke today that some 6.5m passwords have been stolen from the social network.

by Patricio Robles 06 June 2012 17:26pm 3 comments

Knowledge, due diligence are the keys to using the cloud

From infrastructure-as-a-service (Iaas) all the way up to software-as-a-service (SaaS), more and more companies are heading into the cloud.

There are plenty of good reasons. Using a cloud offering can often reduce a company's technology capex, and pay-as-you-go pricing is an attractive proposition for companies burned in the past by large, expensive technology initiatives.

by Patricio Robles 20 April 2012 17:38pm 3 comments

Microsoft's cloud faces outage

Cloud computing may be significantly changing the way many companies do business on the internet, but it isn't perfect.

As we've seen time and time again, the cloud infrastructure can fail, leaving users which made poor architectural decisions in a bind. There are also security and financial concerns that the cloud raises, some of which companies fail to deal with intelligently.

by Patricio Robles 29 February 2012 16:03pm 1 comment

Square wants to outfit taxis with tablets

The battle between traditional payment processors and financial institutions and upstarts looking to dethrone them is on.

The upstarts, obviously, have their work cut out for them. Entrenched players like Verifone have significant marketshare, and are increasingly employing interesting strategies in an attempt to ensure they always have a seat at the dinner table.

That means one thing: the upstarts have to get clever and creative. And that's just what they're doing.

by Patricio Robles 22 February 2012 15:56pm 1 comment

Is Amazon's cloud a dangerous jungle?

Amazon is not just the kingpin of online retail. Increasingly, thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Seattle-based company is at the center of many companies' clouds.

The rise of AWS is impressive, and Amazon owes much of its success to the breadth and depth of its cloud platform, which is used by hundreds of thousands of customers, large and small.

by Patricio Robles 09 November 2011 15:03pm 1 comment