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Some secrets are so secret that no one knows about them. Until recently that described the secrets locked within our DNA. But a key to consumer confidence in the burgeoning genetic testing marketplace is the extent to which people can depend on a companys promise that Your secrets safe with us. In its first case focused on the privacy and security of genetic information, the FTC alleges that San Francisco-based Vitagene, Inc. now known as 1Health.io failed to live up to its promises and unfairly changed material privacy terms without customers consent. The proposed settlement and other recent actions send a loud-and-clear message that the FTC is fully committed to the protection of consumers health information.

After consumers paid between $29 and $259, sent a saliva sample to Vitagene, and answered an online questionnaire about their health history, family history, and lifestyle, the company provided them with a personalized Health Report. The Report included the customers full name and an assessment of their risks for developing a host of health problems.

Using images of locks, keys, and secure clouds, the companys website was replete with claims about the care with which it promised to handle consumers genetic information. Here are just a few of the companys pledges.

Nice privacy and security talk, but according to the FTC, Vitagene was more talk than action. Youll want to read the complaint for details, but part of the story started in the cloud. As a component of its IT infrastructure, Vitagene used a well-known cloud service provider for storing confidential information, including consumers Health Reports and DNA data. Vitagene allegedly didnt use built-in measures to secure the information and instead stored it in buckets that made it possible for anyone with internet access to see the detailed Reports of nearly 2,400 Vitagene customers. Also accessible: raw genetic data of at least 227 other customers, sometimes identified by first name. While Vitagene promised to exceed industry-standard security practices, the FTC says the company didnt encrypt that data, didnt restrict access to it, didnt monitor access, and didnt inventory it to help ensure its security. The complaint also charges that Vitagene didnt take steps to ensure that a lab that analyzed many of the DNA samples had a policy in place to destroy them.

Whats more, the complaint alleges that over a two-year period, Vitagene received three separate warnings that it was storing customers health and genetic information in a way that made it publicly accessible. Warning #1: a July 2017 message from the cloud service provider that Vitagene had configured its data to allow read access from anyone on the Internet. The email included links to an account console and information about how to restrict access. The response from Vitagene: Crickets.

Warning #2 came from a security company that conducted a web app penetration test in November 2018 and found that uploaded DNA data was being stored . . . without any access controls. The complaint alleges that Vitagene again failed to rectify the situation.

Warning #3 was a June 2019 email from a security researcher sent to Vitagenes support inbox. After the researcher contacted the media, the FTC says the company finally investigated its public exposure of customers health information. However, because Vitagene hadnt monitored who had accessed or downloaded the data, it couldnt determine who else might have seen the information.

Vitagenes alleged missteps didnt end there. In 2020, the company changed its privacy policy by retroactively expanding the types of third parties with which it may share consumers data to include grocery chains, dietary supplement manufacturers, and the like. And it did that without notifying customers who provided their data under the former, more restrictive privacy policy and getting their consent.

The complaint charges that the companys promises that it exceeded industry security standards, stored DNA results without identifying information, deleted data at consumers request, and saw to it that physical DNA samples were destroyed were false or misleading. Whats more, the FTC alleges that the companys after-the-fact privacy policy changes about sharing sensitive personal information with third parties was an unfair practice, in violation of the FTC Act.While Vitagenes original privacy policy stated that a customers access or use of the companys services after the company posted a revised privacy policy meant that the consumer had accepted the revised terms, that language didntexcuse Vitagene from its obligation to give notice and get consumers consent before making material retroactive changes to its privacy practices. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Vitagenes conduct was unfair even though the company has not yet implemented the broader information sharing practices set forth in its revised privacy policies.

To settle the case, 1health.io has agreed to implement a comprehensive information security program, including every-other-year third-party assessments. In addition, a senior executive must certify annually that the company is complying with the terms of the settlement. The proposed settlement also includes a $75,000 financial remedy. Once the settlement appears in the Federal Register, youll have 30 days to file a public comment.

What can other companies take from the FTCs action?

Sensitive health information including genetic data requires intensive care. If your company collects or maintains consumer health information, youve raised the bar on the privacy and security standards you must implement. Take particular care to substantiate the promises you make about your data practices. (By the way, if you havent read the FTCs May 2023 Policy Statement on Biometric Information, set aside time now.)

Just because data is in your possession doesnt mean its yours. Collecting consumers data doesnt mean youre free to do with it as you please. Consumers have a right to know in advance how you intend to use their information and you have the legal obligation to live up to your representations. That means if you want to change your practices down the road, a bait-and-switch modification to your privacy policy wont suffice. Youll need consumers affirmative express consent for any new uses of their data.

When it comes to security, keeping your data in the cloud doesnt mean you can keep your head in the clouds. The FTC has long said that storing data in the cloud doesnt give a company a free pass on security. Its still your responsibility to take reasonable steps to secure your data for example, by properly configuring cloud security settings and by inventorying and auditing your cloud storage. As the FTCs Request for Information about cloud computing makes clear, sellers of cloud technology and the companies that use their services share the responsibility to secure consumers personal information.

Respond to credible warnings about potential security lapses. The complaint against Vitagene alleges multiple instances in which the company failed to heed alarms others including the provider of its cloud storage had sounded about the security of its cloud-based information. Do you have systems in place to make sure those alerts get to the right people and get the immediate attention they deserve?

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Privacy and security of genetic information: Putting DNA companies ... - Federal Trade Commission News

Datadobi used to concentrate on one-off projects like finding files for migration and moving them to a different filer. Finding files has evolved into regular scanning and migration targets include cloud object storage for AI processing.

The companys StorageMap technology scans and lists a customers entire file and object storage estates, enabling customers to find out what they have in their distributed unstructured data silos. This helps them to manage their data more effectively, moving old data to archives, in the cloud for example, or deleting unwanted data.

We have seen a blurring of the boundaries between file and object storage, with file systems getting S3 wrappers, export capabilities and even object underpinnings, like with Nasuni. Object storage is getting file access layered on top. Conversion between the two formats is not something Datadobi sees in a general way, though.

Even the cloud providers can be seen as downplaying object in favor of file. Datadobi co-founder and chief revenue officer Michael Jack said AWS is doubling down on replacing datacenter file processing. It has a large storage team and has been recruiting from the major datacenter file storage suppliers. If you want to take out large datacenters it has to be file.

Jack said in a briefing that NAS to object is not really happening. He asked whether there is real value in this conversion and said: What is valuable about object storage apart from cost? We dont see cost analysis being done in any significant way.

CTO Carl DHalluin said an intrinsic value of object storage was scale since it is not burdened with the file:folder directory structure of file storage. At large scale billions of files object storage is simpler to access because of this. He said: We see NAS-to-object copy for further processing. For example, analysis with cloud AI tools. He expects generative AI to drive this trend higher.

Jack chimed in that copy to the cloud is not about cost. They need it in the cloud where cloud-native apps can run against it Its a workflow thing. Such apps and tools are typically cloud-native and built to access object storage, not file. Object on flash storage provides the IO speed such apps need. He said a Datadobi AWS partnership is focused on generative AI use cases.

He suggested that a customer could send 100PB or more of file data to cloud object storage for such processing. Datadobis customers need to identify which data to send in this situation, and for that they need to know what data they have and where it is. Enter StorageMap.

DHailluin said that if you use apps like Varonis to crack open files and detect personally identifiable information (PII), it is resource-intensive and can only run on a small subset of files. You cant run against 100PB data sets. But StorageMap can, he told us. It doesnt actually crack open the files, instead it classifies files, such as HR ones, and then this subset can be given to Varonis to crack open.

Due to this broad scanning capability, StorageMAP is becoming a standalone utility, finding data for analysis, replication, PII tracking and analysis, for example. Its multi-vendor and hybrid cloud capable. Every customer is multi-vendor and hybrid cloud, Jack said.

Datadobi licenses StorageMAP on a subscription basis and so earns recurring revenue. Dobi Migrate is pay-per-use, which fits its typical one-off project usage.

In Australia, new regulations mandate that critical data must be secured against ransomware. Backup apps such as Rubrik can backup the data to an immutable vault but they cant scan the customers unstructured data estate to find the critical data. Jack said this is a job that StorageMAP can do and so works with data protection apps like Rubrik.

He added, alluding to the companys rivals: Well stay out of the data path because customers dont want another lock in.

Jack commented: Migration has always been about defeating lock-in. We move files from vendor A to vendor B.

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Datadobi charts course for AI with StorageMap Blocks and Files - Blocks and Files

CGI has been awarded a contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead the development of a cloud-based Universal Virtual Flight Data Recorder (UVFDR).

The Montreal-based company has been delivering space software systems supporting satellite navigation, communications, and operations for over 40 years.

The virtual flight data recorder will replicate the function of traditional crash-protected flight data recorder (Black Box) in a cloud-based environment, enabling access to data almost immediately in case of an emergency, incident, or accident.

Built using CGIs TrustedFabric, a proprietary blockchain solution for storage of sensitive data, the system is scalable and is planned to be made available globally for use on any aircraft equipped to send engineering telemetry and operational data to the ground.

Understanding the cause of an air-related incident is vital to helping improve flight safety, and indispensable for those impacted and their families, said Neil Timms, CGIs senior vice president, Space, Defence and Intelligence for UK & Australia. CGI is proud to be working with ESA, whilst building on our heritage in safe, secure cloud, to develop a virtual flight recording service that allows any suitably equipped aircraft to send flight data to a secure cloud storage facility.

The system can be used on its own on a smaller aircraft, or alongside traditional recorders on aircraft that are legally required to carry them. But CGI noted that, in either case, the UVFDR is designed to meet the Global Aeronautic Distress and Safety System (GADSS) requirements.

The technology, the company added, shows the potential to support additional services, like improved technical support for aircraft in flight, flight recording solutions for remotely piloted vehicles, and airspace data integration services for air navigation service providers.

The system will not only provide assured truth data required by investigations, but it can also detect and flag potentially unsafe situations before they occur, said Li Wen-Chin of the Safety and Accident Investigation Centre at Cranfield University, UK. Our vision of the future is that flight crews in abnormal situations have access to much better support than whats presently possible.

To develop the global UVFDR service, the company and other stakeholders will use the increasing availability of satellite data communications bandwidth and the growing amount of aircraft equipment, such as Quick Access Recorders (QAR), that is capable of transmitting flight data.

For this, CGI will work with ESA, Code Magus, Cranfield University, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and industry stakeholders SatAuth and others.

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CGI to lead the development of a cloud-based flight data recorder - Channel Daily News

The Google Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) service was introduced in September 2022, which enables centralized management of backup and DR directly from the Google Cloud console.

Wiseman categorized bikers into two main groups: those who wear protective gear and those who will eventually experience accidents. Similarly, companies can be divided into two groups when it comes to data protection: those who learn from the experiences of others and take precautions, and those who disregard the risks posed by hardware failures, site crashes, malware, viruses, software malfunctions, and human errors.

Some individuals or companies take measures to prevent data loss because they have heard stories from those who couldnt recover from such incidents (approximately 80% of those who have experienced data loss). Additionally, larger companies face even fewer chances of successfully dealing with data loss.

In the modern business landscape, data security and protection are paramount for organizations worldwide. Numerous threats can result in data corruption, destruction, or loss. While it may be challenging to anticipate these factors, preventive measures can still be taken. This is where Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) options come into play, ensuring the resilience and recoverability of data even in the most unexpected circumstances.

In this blog, we will explore the Backup, DR and Google Cloud solutions and delve into the establishment of a robust infrastructure that enhances data security and protection in the face of malicious activities.

Lets begin by understanding the concepts of Backup and DR.

What is data backup? Backup involves creating copies or archives of critical data and storing them in an alternate location, allowing for recovery in the event of data loss or corruption. Backup options in cloud services and on-premises infrastructure should possess the following characteristics:

On the other hand, disaster recovery (DR) refers to the processes and measures implemented to ensure the continuity of operations and the restoration of vital infrastructure following an adverse event.

When discussing Backup and DR, two essential metrics come into play when assessing the likelihood of recovering from natural or other disasters:

In September 2022, Google introduced the Google Cloud Backup and DR service, which enables centralized management of Backup and DR directly from the Google Cloud console. Now, lets delve into the key features and Google Cloud benefits for workload Backup and restoration.

Google Cloud offers its users a straightforward approach to setting up, restoring, and managing disaster recovery (DR) and various cloud backup strategies.

A key focus of the GCP backup solution is to provide a centralized management experience. What does this mean? It means that you can reduce the time spent on management and control by having a comprehensive view of your data protection.

With this capability, IT administrators can create application- and crash-consistent backups for virtual machines (VMs) on Compute Engine, VMware Engine, or on-premises VMware, as well as databases and file systems, all from a single interface. Your data will be stored in its original format, ensuring its readability for applications.

By leveraging data protection in the cloud, you can store all your valuable information in one backup storage, in a cost-effective format, without extensive translation or transition efforts. This reduces the time required for recovery and allows critical business operations to be restored more quickly.

To minimize the total cost of owning a backup solution, Google has developed a space-efficient technology called incremental forever storage as part of Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery. This solution follows the principle of paying only for what you use and need. Heres how it works: once you have your initial backup, Google Cloud will store subsequent backups by capturing only the block-level changes since the last backup session.

This approach enables faster backups, reduces the impact on production resources, minimizes network bandwidth requirements, and lowers storage costs by optimizing the amount of storage consumed by your backups.

Additionally, Google Cloud offers flexibility in terms of cost and data retention. With Google Cloud Storage, a managed service for storing unstructured data, you can choose the storage class that best suits your needs, balancing business requirements and cost efficiency.

For example, Archive Storage provides the lowest-cost option for highly durable storage, suitable for data archiving, with low-latency access, online backup, and disaster recovery capabilities, ensuring that your data is available within milliseconds.

Many people mistakenly assume that storing data in the cloud automatically guarantees its safety in the face of disasters or threats like malware. However, its important to remember that simply using the cloud does not guarantee sufficient data security. Its crucial to assess what backup and disaster recovery capabilities your cloud provider offers.

Here are the benefits of Google Cloud Platform (GCP) backup and disaster recovery:

In summary, GCP Backup and DR solutions offer unique features that protect your cloud workloads from unforeseen events. They also provide a secure backup solution for on-premises data by storing it in Google Cloud. By leveraging these capabilities, you can optimize costs and benefit from efficient disaster recovery options in the cloud.

Compared to traditional legacy software and new entrants in the market, GCPs Backup and DR functionalities stand out as a comprehensive, unique, and reliable solution.

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Essential Insights on Google Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery ... - HackRead

Source: filecoin.io

Filecoin is revolutionizing data storage through its blockchain-based cloud storage platform. in the new digital age, Filecoin is helping businesses and hundreds of projects in data storage, unlocking the open data economy. Through its native token FIL, the project incentivizes a global network of computer operators to provide a file-sharing and storage service.

Filecoin has managed to attract major partners such as Lockheed Martin which is worth more than $100 billion. The two have collaborated to develop a program for deploying the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) in space.

More recently, Protocol Labs which founded and funds the development of Filecoin, has entered into a partnership with venture capital firm a16z which has over $35 billion in assets under management. Under this collaboration, the two will provide targeted support to some of web3s most visionary founders participating in the 2023 Crypto Startup School (CSS) accelerator program. Participants will benefit from Privileged Engineering Support, Decentralized Storage Credits, Talent support, and PL Founders Community.

Mid-last month, the platform underwent an upgrade with the launch of Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) Builder Cohort on the Mainnet. As the team confirmed, over 60 project teams were building with FVM on its Hyperspace testnet and were part of the mainnet pioneers.

The FVM Mainnet Pioneers cohort aimed to support the creation of impactful and sustainable solutions, on FVM, as part of the growing Protocol Labs network and saw strong interest from the Filecoin community and beyond. Teams with impactful ideas and skilled, credible teams were accepted.

An earlier post noted that the launch will unleash a wave of new possibilities including programmable storage primitives such as storage bounties and auctions, cross-chain interoperability bridges, data-centric DAOs, Layer 2 solutions (reputation systems, computation fabrics, etc.), and more.

Although there is much to be optimistic about for Filecoin, investors are concerned about the United States Securities and Exchange Commissions recent actions against Binance and Coinbase. In its lawsuit accusing the crypto exchanges of listing securities, the regulatory agency named Filecoins FIL as one of those tokens that are securities in its view.

Since the revelation, this has dampened its optimistic outlook with investors concerned that the SEC might come after the team and foundation behind the platform. As witnessed with Ripple and its token XRP, the SECs case led to its token being delisted from multiple exchanges, and its price was dragged down.

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Market leaders have come together to unite against the SEC whose recent actions have shown that it is looking to regulate the market by enforcement. When Ripple, Binance, and Coinbase win, this will be a landmark ruling that potentially defines the future of crypto.

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Filecoin Unleashed: Exploring the Advancements in Data Storage ... - Crypto News Flash