Sean Michael Kerner

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was updated to version 3.1 on April 15, providing an incremental set of enhancements to the PCI DSS 3.0 standard that debuted in November 2013. Among the changes in the PCI DSS 3.1 update is a shift away from Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which has been […]

File security vendor FinalCode launched its namesake technology in the United States on April 14, providing another option for enterprises to securely manage and control data. “We are attacking and solving the data leakage dilemma,” Gord Boyce, CEO of FinalCode, told eWEEK. Boyce said that persistence across multiple platforms is a key capability of FinalCode. […]

A report published on April 14 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) details alleged risks in air traffic control and aircraft avionics systems that could enable a hacker attack. “Modern aircraft are increasingly connected to the Internet,” the GAO stated. “This interconnectedness can potentially provide unauthorized remote access to aircraft avionics systems.” The report […]

Security vendor Skyport Systems announced on April 15 that it has raised $30 million in a Series B round of financing, bringing the company’s total funding to $37 million. The new funding round was led by Index Ventures and included the participation of Intel Capital and Sutter Hill Ventures. “The goal of the company is […]

Officially exiting from stealth mode, Ionic Security is now publicly discussing its data protection platform—which has been in various stages of development for nearly four years. Ionic has raised $78.1 million in funding, with its most recent Series C round bringing in $40.1 million in January 2015. The basic idea behind Ionic’s platform is to […]

The 2015 Dell Security Annual Threat Report was officially released on April 13, and one of the surprising findings in the report was an increase in encrypted Web traffic and what that might mean for security overall. “Though the industry pundits have been predicting a healthy increase in HTTPS traffic in general, the 109 percent […]

Verizon’s 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), released today, finds that little has changed in the threat landscape since the 2014 report came out. Overall, the 2015 DBIR received data from 79,790 security events, of which 2,122 were confirmed data breaches. In contrast, the 2014 report was based on data upon 63,437 security incidents, of […]

Docker Inc., the lead commercial sponsor behind the open-source Docker container application virtualization technology, today announced that it has raised $95 million in a Series D round of funding, bringing total funding for the company to $150 million. The new round of funding, led by Insight Venture Partners and including the participation of Coatue, Goldman […]

Security vendor Cylance today is warning of a potential vulnerability that enables an attacker to use the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol to exploit Windows users and applications. Microsoft, however, is downplaying the risk and doesn’t entirely agree with Cylance’s assessment of the issue. Cylance worked with CERT to properly disclose and report the flaw […]

Linux creator Linus Torvalds officially released the Linux 4.0 kernel on April 12, marking the first major number change for Linux since Linux 3.0 debuted in 2011. Although a change in numbers can often signify a major software change, in Linux development the major version numbers are more of an arbitrary decision. Linux 4.0 does, […]

A new report from security firm FireEye uncovers an Chinese government hacking group that allegedly has been active since 2005, targeting governments and journalists across Southeast Asia and India. In its report, titled “APT 30 and the Mechanics of a Long-Running Cyber-espionage Operation,” FireEye is labeling the group as APT30, and has identified the tools […]

Security analytics vendor Niara has raised $20 million in a Series B round of financing, bringing its total funding to date up to $29.4 million. The new funding round, led by Venrock and including the participation of New Enterprise Associates and Index Ventures, will help Niara develop its big data security analytics technology. Niara aims […]