Privacy Experts Alarmed at Oracle’s Role in Proposed TikTok Deal

By Charles McDermid

The impact of the White House’s decision to ban TikTok and WeChat that began Sunday remained unclear, but global privacy experts were alarmed that Oracle Corp. could still become the “trusted technology partner” of the Chinese owner of the two widely popular apps.

They told Digital Privacy News that the possible deal marked the start of a global era of data localization, as nations scrambled to keep citizens’ personal data within their own borders. 

“It’s easier for a government to request data stored on its territory, provided that its laws authorize it,” said Emmanuel Pernot-Leplay, a researcher in data-protection law at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. “It’s much more difficult when it has to make a request for such data when they are stored abroad.

Schools See Rise in Cyberthreats With Online Learning

By Samantha Cleaver

This fall, back to school means back on defense.

Schools in Haywood County, N.C., started remote learning last month. They then closed abruptly because of a cyberattack.

Later in the month, Palm Springs Unified Schools in California, also virtual, reported having to clear a hacking attack. The district addressed it with teacher, student and parent training.

This is the landscape for schools for the 2020-21 year. With networks branching out into households, and hackers well aware of the value of education data, phishing and ransomware attacks are expected to be a common occurrence, experts told Digital Privacy News.

By Felix Okendo

A flaw discovered this spring within Apple Inc.’s “Sign in With Apple” feature by an India-based developer brought him $100,000 through the company’s Security Bounty Program, part of an industry genre known as “bug-bounty programs.”

“Bug-bounty programs are likely becoming an important best practice for a widening swath of industries,” Graham Dufault, senior director for public policy at ACT-The App Association in Washington, told Digital Privacy News.

Such programs offer rewards to researchers for discovering and reporting bugs in software and hardware. In most cases, the flaws are related to vulnerabilities and exploits in the products — and companies pay well for the discoveries.

By Nora Macaluso

Hacking-for-hire is becoming a bigger and more sophisticated tool in corporate espionage — and the market for such services is likely to continue, even as reports of high-profile, targeted attacks come to light, experts told Digital Privacy News.

Hacking-for-hire has become “more than just cracking a database and selling the information,” said Robert Siciliano, chief security architect at Protect Now in Boston. “Hacking today is a service, like hiring a lawyer or an accountant.”

Citizen Lab, a Toronto-based research laboratory focused on the intersection of digital technologies, human rights and global security, recently exposed a massive hacking operation targeting individuals and high-profile institutions worldwide.