Two Interesting Cyber Developments

I’ve been quiet of late — mostly because our Lawfare readership is so self-evidently (and, I might add, appropriately) engaged in questions of greater immediacy relating to the coming debate over Syrian intervention.  I would be remiss, however, if I did not pop up my head briefly to highlight two rather notable events in the cyber world from last week:

First, there was this story in the New York Times about an FTC enforcement action against TRENDnet.  TRENDnet manufactures an internet-based Web-enabled security camera.  The camera can be used for everything from baby-monitoring to personal home security.  Unfortunately, the TRENDnet product had a security flaw, allowing hackers to circumvent limitations and, in effect, turn the cameras into spyware within a home.  The FTC brought this enforcement action — the first, we are told, of its kind to ever address Web-enabled vulnerabilities — and TRENDnet agreed to settle the suit and to a consent order, including a 20-year security compliance program.

SOURCE: lawfareblog.com