How Secure are Your Devices?
Privacy and security are important in the digital and data world and especially after Snowdens’ revelations. Phil Zimmermann, the creator of PGP and Zfone and currently the Co-Founder of Silent Circle is the most suitable person to talk about the privacy and security issues we face. How enterprises and their employees can protect their data including an average user. Social media and various devices make it really easy for people to reveal important information about their lives, without them realising it. As we are now entering the IoT era, security and privacy will be even more important as more devices will generate even more sensitive data. Follow them on Twitter under @silentcircle. Interviewed by Sakis Triantafyllakis for Tech Talks Central.
2:21 “..if you are serious about doing strong encryption software and you think about what you see at the Snowden documents the best way to address it is to build your own platform”
4:12 “..cryptographers have lamented the insecurity of the platform for years; we have always recognised that the weak link is what the computers were running on…”
7:37 “…one of the big TV makers, makes a Smart TV that has a camera and a microphone on it …the problem is that the camera and the microphone is on all the time and it’s connected to a server so if you put one of these in your living room it’s like you’ve turned your living room to North Korea…”
10:50 “..lately I’ve been interested in trying to create a set of guidelines for Internet of Things to prescribe good behaviour; to try to encourage products to be made that have the user’s interest in mind instead of the companys’ interest…”
Phil Zimmermann
Co-Founder at Silent Circle
Phil Zimmermann is the creator of both PGP, the most widely used email encryption software in the world, and the Zfone/ZRTP secure VoIP standard, and is now co-founder of Silent Circle, a provider of secure communications services. Before founding PGP Inc, Zimmermann was a software engineer with more than 20 years of experience, specializing in cryptography and data security, data communications, and real-time embedded systems. His interest in the political side of cryptography grew out of his background in military policy issues. Zimmermann has received numerous technical and humanitarian awards for his pioneering work in cryptography. In 2015 he received the US Privacy Champion Award from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. In 2014 he was inducted into the Cyber Security Hall of Fame, and Foreign Policy Magazine named him one of the Leading Global Thinkers of 2014. In 2012 the Internet Society inducted him into theInternet Hall of Fame. In 2008 PC World named him one of the Top 50 Tech Visionaries of the last 50 years. In 2003 he was included on the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum Wall of Fame, and in 2001 he was inducted into the CRN Industry Hall of Fame. In 2000 InfoWorld named him one of the Top 10 Innovators in E-business. In 1999 he received the Louis Brandeis Award from Privacy International, in 1998 a Lifetime Achievement Award from Secure Computing Magazine, and in 1996 the Norbert Wiener Award from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility for promoting the responsible use of technology. He also received the 1995 Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, the 1995 Pioneer Award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the 1996 PC Week IT Excellence Award, and the 1996 Network Computing Well-Connected Award for "Best Security Product." In 1995 Newsweek named Zimmermann one of the "Net 50", the 50 most influential people on the Internet. In 2006 eWeek ranked PGP 9th in the 25 Most Influential and Innovative Products introduced since the invention of the PC in 1981.
Specialties: security, privacy
Tech Talks Central interviewed 37 ICT professionals at the Mobile World Congress 2015, the Health & Wellness by ECHAlliance and the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe, events that ran through March 1st to March 4th in Barcelona, Spain.