Is Apple the new Microsoft?

MacBook Air is hacked in two minutes in a security conference in Vancouver, BC this week. Microsoft has been criticized for its software development practices which do not pay sufficient attention to the security. Now, it appears that Apple has become the focus of the industry critics. There have been studies arguing that Apple is more security than the Microsoft. But, it seems that the network effect has been the reason why we did not see much security issues in Apple's products in the past. As they become more popular, they will get more attention from the hacker community. The more targets there are out there, the higher chance that a hacker finds a vulnerable device to exploit.

Compliance does not ensure security

It is once again documented that compliance does not necessarily mean security. It is recently reported that a company has been a victim of an exploit that captures the credit card information of the customers. According to NYtimes, Hannaford Bros. Co.'s supermarkets are across the Northeast and in Florida experienced a massive data breach compromised up to 4.2 million credit and debit cards, the company said Friday.

Although we have seen a similar incident before such as TJMax's data breach, this breach is the first one in which data is stolen during the transmission.

Beyond the usual take-aways, I think the most important take-away from this case is that compliance does not ensure security. Apparently, NYtimes reports that Hannaford Bros. Co. has been in compliance with security standards required by the Payment Card Industry, a coalition founded by credit card companies.

Access Rights

Three presidential candidates' passport files have been accessed by unauthorized people. The State Department has confirmed that Clinton's and McCain's files have been also accessed by unauthorized employees/contractors after it is discovered that Obama's file's security is breached. Another case of difficulty of managing access rights, especially in the light of complex relations with the contractors. Read more, click here. (Credit: The picture is from MSNBC)