SENSE4US

Google Submariner surfaces untrusted certificate authorities

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Category: Blog

Created on Monday, 28 March 2016 10:58

Google calls out certificate authorities that can no longer be trusted and helps you steer clear of potentially fraudulent credentials.

It isn't always easy to tell with the SSL system when a certificate authority should be trusted, but Google's Submariner attempts to bring webmasters and users the level of details that can answer the question.

On the Web, behind the scenes, certificate authorities issue credentials for domains and other Internet resources. There are rules in place to make sure the entity requesting the certificate is the legitimate owner, but cyber criminals have successfully obtained fraudulent certificates in the past. This complicates the mission for Google’s Certificate Transparency project, which lets webmasters and users look at all certificates issued by a certificate authority - but can't include certificates that are no longer trusted.

Read more at InfoWorld

Electric cars in Germany – a gap between vision and reality

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Category: Blog

Created on Thursday, 24 March 2016 09:47

An interesting article on electic cars that will appear in Germany's road by 2020 and the issue of e-Mobility has been written by SENSE4US partner, Ulf Roßegger, and published on European Energy Justice Network.

The article mentions that "Roughly seven years ago, in August 2009, Germany has put forward the aim of bringing one million electric vehicles on its roads by 2020 and to evolve Germany to the lead market in E-mobility. Currently, it can be noted that the stated objectives represented in the “National Development Plan Electromobility” (NEP) are unrealistic.

By January 2016, only 25.502 e-cars have been registered in Germany (Federal Motor Transport Authority – KBA, 2016); an increase of 34.6 percent compared to 2015. The stock of hybrid cars increased to 130.365 units. The total number of electric vehicles in Germany is about 53.000 vehicles (NPE, 2016), if one applies the legal framework for determining when a car is considered as e-car (incl. 27.500 plug-in hybrid cars). Since June 2015 the Electric Mobility Act is in force. According to the act battery electric vehicles, externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (plug-in hybrid) or fuel cell vehicles are defined as electric vehicles. In 2015, ca. 0.7 percent of new registered vehicles in Germany had a plug (Federal Motor Transport Authority – KBA, 2016)."

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First Release of the CEF Digital Single Web Portal, 31st March 2016

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Category: Blog

Created on Monday, 28 March 2016 10:55

On 31st March 2016, the European Commission Directorate General for Informatics (DIGIT) will release the CEF Digital Single Web Portal.

The Single Web Portal will be more than just a website. The Portal will be the central online hub for information and tools related to the CEF building blocks and provide information on the Sector Specific Digital Service Infrastructures (DSI). CEF building blocks offer basic capabilities that can be used in any European project to facilitate the delivery of digital public services across borders, while the Sector Specific DSI are projects that are supported by the CEF building blocks across policy domains. These are known collectively as CEF Digital.

The first release of the Portal will enable users to discover the catalogue of building blocks, understand how they work and will provide the software and services to successfully (re)use them.

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"Internet of Things: The Security Challenge" in ZDNet Special Feature

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Category: Blog

Created on Wednesday, 23 March 2016 16:42

Written by Steve Ranger, the article highlights that the Internet of Things will bring many benefits, but it's also creating a security nightmare for which few are prepared.

Read the full article