Recently speaking at the Interop IT conference, PayPal's chief information security officer, Michael Barrett, stated that passwords and PINs were operating on borrowed time. Barrett hopes to replace online security keys with a setup that's a blend of software and hardware-based identification. He also serves as president of the Fast Identity Online Alliance (FIDO) -- the organization's focus is to combine an effective mix of software (passwords and plugins) and hardware (USB drives and fingerprint scanners) for user authentication.
PayPal's technology boss didn't allude to his company adopting these new types of security systems for its customers anytime soon. Instead he announced that FIDO-enabled devices will be hitting the market sometime this year. Progress, yes, but until this hardware becomes more widely available, it's likely that you'll be spending more time getting acquainted with two-step logins.
Filed under: Internet, Software
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Via: SlashGear
Source: Macworld
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Two months after appointing Todd Park as Chief Technology Officer, the White House has picked Nicole Wong for the newly created position of Chief Privacy Officer. Details about the job are still MIA, but she'll likely be working closely with Park. One thing's for sure, though: Wong brings some serious Silicon Valley cred to the table, having worked on product copyright and privacy issues at Google for eight years and, more recently, serving as Twitter's legal director. If you recall, the EFF gave that social network high marks when it released its annual report last week -- an auspicious sign if we've ever seen one.
Filed under: Internet
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Via: CNet
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Back in February, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said its recent purchase, Motorola, didn't "wow" on the smartphone front, but it looks like the two companies have long since smoothed over any hard feelings. Speaking to PC Mag, Motorola design chief Jim Wicks revealed plans for the first post-acquisition handsets, demonstrating a philosophy that seems perfectly in line with Mountain View. According to Wicks, his company is embracing stock Android with as little bloatware as possible, and hardware itself won't likely reach Galaxy Note II proportions; he says the new design philosophy is "better is better" rather than "bigger is better."
Motorola will also change its approach to carriers, with a move toward offering devices across several service providers rather than keeping certain handsets -- such as the Droid and Razr lines on Verizon -- as exclusives for one. For AT&T and Sprint customers who were tempted by the Razr M on Verizon, for example, this strategy could go a long way in bringing them into the Motorola fold. Wicks says the first batch of new smartphones will debut in the second half of 2013 -- and, at least according to Eric Schmidt, they should be quite impressive.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
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Source: PC Mag
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