Stories by Evan Schuman

The threats posed by IoT devices are real and have to be addressed with structural changes.

There are many reasons not to pay ransom to regain access to your data. Let’s opt for the selfish one.

Cyberthieves prey on human nature for even more profit.

End-of-mankind predictions about artificial intelligence, which have issued from some of today's most impressive human intellects, including <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540">Stephen Hawking</a>, <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/03/ai_expert_nick_bostrom_talks_to_el_reg/">Elon Musk,</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/01/28/bill-gates-on-dangers-of-artificial-intelligence-dont-understand-why-some-people-are-not-concerned/">Bill Gates</a>, <a href="http://betanews.com/2015/03/26/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-warns-of-the-dangers-of-artificial-intelligence/">Steve Wozniak</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3165356/Artificial-Intelligence-dangerous-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS-AI-pioneer-warns-smart-computers-doom-mankind.html">other notables,</a> have generally sounded overly alarmist to me, exhibiting a bit more fear-of-the-unknown than I would have expected from such eminences, especially the scientists. But that was before I saw reports on the self-aware robot.

Sometimes, emotions make it difficult to see the most effective way of accomplishing an objective. And emotions can definitely arise when the subject is underage cyberthieves.

In a case of convenience for users trumping security, Starbucks has been storing the passwords for its mobile-payment app, along with geolocation data, in clear text.

The coffee chain was smart enough to push mobile by not initially pushing mobile. It's an approach that can work for your business too, internally and externally.

Companies have to fully confront the privacy issues they face and rethink their policies from the bottom up.

The way Target deployed triple DES encryption for debit card PINs makes its statement about the unlikelihood that they were in danger much more believable.

Issuing deceptive statements is no way to win back customers' trust. That's a lesson for anyone who might find itself in Target's position someday.