TRUSTED

software.
hardware.
platforms.
services.
data.
devices.
inclusion.
AI.
innovation.
commerce.
privacy.
security.
Security is built on trust.

TRUSTED

software.
hardware.
platforms.
services.
data.
devices.
inclusion.
AI.
innovation.
commerce.
privacy.
security.
Security is built on trust.

We need the ability to trust that the technologies and services we use are secure by design.  

Our digital ecosystem is under near constant threat from activities by malicious actors using techniques that are becoming increasingly more complex, sophisticated, and ubiquitous. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a 300% increase in cybercrime, cyber scams have gone up 400%, mobile malware is on the rise, and there has been a significant hike in the frequency and size of ransomware attacks. For example, malware targeting mobile banking apps nearly doubled in 2021, as cyber criminals seek to take advantage of the rising popularity of mobile banking apps, underscoring the linkage between greater functionality and increasing security risks on smartphones.

Criminal gangs, hackers with a business plan, and even nation states are working around the clock and across the globe to find and exploit vulnerabilities in technologies and services in what are often believed to be secure systems. They are developing sophisticated new “social engineering” strategies to trick users into clicking on malevolent links, infected attachments, or downloading mobile malware directly onto devices. Even a small mistake can be leveraged to put your most personal information at risk, put proprietary business information in jeopardy, expose national security secrets, or even lock down a pipeline, school or hospital for ransom.  We have to find the right path forward to reduce this risk.  

As a start, one of the best defenses is increasing awareness and adoption of basic cyber hygiene best practices, because according to one study, social engineering or other human error account for almost 90% of successful attempts to exploit a system. Simple steps, like adopting strong passwords, using multifactor authentication, only downloading from official app stores, and avoiding clicking on untrusted links, are among the best ways to protect people from ever-evolving and increasingly problematic cyber threats.    

Yet as information technology becomes more pervasive, devices more prolific, and the information we carry with us more sensitive, the attack surface that hackers can attempt to exploit has increased substantially, creating new kinds of potential harm.  It means that as technology becomes increasingly central to our lives, making it secure and reliable from the start becomes ever more critical.   

Just like a home must be built upon a strong foundation or it will eventually crumble, our new digital home must also be built upon a strong foundation of security – with security built into its very foundation by design.  To elevate our cybersecurity posture, we need to elevate our focus on agile solutions across the ecosystem that embrace best practice standards, enable continuous innovation in cyber-defenses, advance globally recognized frameworks, and that are underpinned by smart government policies to keep personal and business data secure and our economy moving forward.

IDEAS

The Global IT Crisis and Third Party Vulnerabilities

This week’s global IT crisis affecting businesses around the world should be a wake up call to us all.  DMA requirements for mandatory third party access to the operating system will make personal smartphones and tablets vulnerable to new and currently unimaginable emerging threats.

Taking spyware and other mobile threats seriously

Last March, in the forward to the White House Cybersecurity strategy, the President wrote, “[W]hen we pick up our smart phones to keep in touch with loved ones, log on to social media to share our ideas with one another, or connect to the Internet to run a business, we…

Adam Golodner: Global trust and technology networks: Beware the trifurcation

Recently, I attended the annual Munich Security Conference and came away with a deepening concern about what I’m calling the “trifurcation” of the global technology ecosystem. The trifurcation is a further balkanization of the technology ecosystem as the West and China pull away from each other’s products and services, which…

DMA Implementation Workshop on App Stores – Hard to Square the Circle

The European Commission is moving forward on its implementation of the recently passed Digital Markets Act (DMA). To this end, it is holding a series of public workshops to discuss difficult implementation issues. On Monday, March 6th the Commission is holding a workshop on the app store provisions of the DMA.…

DMA Interoperability Ambitions Need to be Tempered by Reality

As the European Union and member states move forward with implementing the ambitious Digital Markets Act (DMA), they face some big challenges in terms of how they will harmonize potentially conflicting goals and statutes. These challenges are especially acute around the big questions related to how they can protect user…

5 KEY STEPS: HOW TO STOP YOUR MOBILE ACTIVITY FROM BEING TRACKED

In recent months, Trusted Future has conducted extensive public opinion research which found consumers are very concerned about the ways their activity may be being tracked online. Consumers often want to know more about how their data is being tracked, and what they could do to control and prevent it.…

ISSUE BRIEF: Cyber Threats From Russia Highlight the Need for Trusted Cybersecurity Measures

At a time of increasing global tensions, our national security experts are warning that cybersecurity threats from authoritarian regimes are on the rise. We examine the heightened threat and highlight critical steps that businesses, tech users, and policymakers should take in this new environment.

POLLING MEMO: National Survey on Cybersecurity, Trust, and Tech Policy

Survey shows Americans trust U.S. companies - and device manufacturers in particular - most to close the technology trust gap and want government to support tech innovation and global competitiveness without additional mandates and regulation

ISSUE BRIEF: How the Bipartisan Innovation Bill Can Help Drive a More Trusted Future

Innovation is the key to economic growth, improved standards of living, opportunities for all Americans and even America’s strength on the world stage. At time when Washington is almost defined by hyper-partisanship, one of the few areas where there is real, meaningful bipartisan agreement is on the pending Bipartisan Innovation…

Our CISA Zero Trust Comment

We share the view that mobile devices “present unique opportunities and challenges in adopting comprehensive zero trust models” and applaud CISA’s efforts to advance ZT from a mobile device perspective – especially given the dynamically changing and critical mobile threat environment. As mobile devices become even more essential to the…