Google isn’t a Generic Trademark, Ninth Circuit Court Rules

The Ninth Circuit has for the second time ruled [PDF] that “Google” isn’t a generic trademark. The US district court had already reached this conclusion in 2014. The court’s opinion delves deeply into definitions,  says plainly that “verb use does not automatically constitute generic use.” This eviscerates the plaintiff’s case because, as Judge Watford says …

Microsoft to set up data center in Africa

Microsoft software giant has announced it will deliver its cloud service to users in Africa from data-centers in Johannesburg and Cape Town beginning next year. We plan to deliver the Microsoft Cloud — including Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 — from data centers located in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with initial availability in …

5 tips to stop the next WannaCry

WannaCry the worst malware attack in recent memory spread like wildfire across tens of thousands of unpatched or out-of-date Windows PCs throughout the world, locking computers until and unless a ransom was paid. Indeed, there’s plenty of blame to go around — from Microsoft, for creating such insecure software to begin with, to the NSA, …

Google promises patch for PHP API client that has XSS vulnerability

Google’s PHP API client users have been warned to  watch out for phishing attacks while Google patches a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the code. The bug, discovered by DefenseCode’s Leon Juranic using the company’s ThunderScan source code scanner, has been acknowledged by the Chocolate Factory (as a “nice catch”), and a fix is promised. …

Over 75% of health organizations live below cybersecurity poverty line

George DeCesare, Kaiser Permanente Chief Technology Risk Officer, speaking at the Privacy & Security Forum in San Francisco on Thursday May 11, said “Seventy-five percent of the healthcare industry is below the cybersecurity poverty line,” DeCesare said at the HIMSS and Healthcare IT News Privacy & Security Forum. It’s going to become more important than …

How DNSSEC Works

With DNSSEC, a DNS response now contains not only an answer but also a digital signature over that data made by the private key of the zone where the data originates. Validating this signature requires the zone’s public key – which DNSSEC conveniently stores in the DNS – so obtaining the required key for validation is …

Trump Exec. Order Could Move Federal Cybersecurity to the Cloud

A new Presidential Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure has been signed. The order is targeting the federal government’s notorious vulnerability to cyber threats, mandating one set of standards and making the heads of each government agency responsible for security. “The United States invented the internet and we need …