As information-driven physical-world services like Uber, AirBnB and Square become more common they bring up some unique security issues for the interacting parties. To make the service effective they collect and store a large amount of user data. This data can be compromised as data needs to be shared not only with users but also with third party apps.  Then there is a threat of physical assault, physical damage and stolen card data.

At minimum, it is imperative to have a comprehensive information security program that protects the core data collection/processing pipeline and extends outwards to a) services built on top of the data and b) physical identities of the parties involved to assure them of trust in a brief interaction enabled by the information.

This article discusses how 50,000 driver information were compromised at Uber. The driver database keys were found on github ? How is that possible ?

If it is possible then it is a security incident that needs visibility, not just into the information within an enterprise but also outside it. The security incident and event monitoring products that exist (e.g. ArcSight, Bit9, CrowdStrike, Tanium) barely scratch the surface of this requirement – the haystack is bigger than we think it is and the needle we don’t know in advance.

The physical security is harder to deal with. One thing becomes apparent is that the reason the supply of hotels, cabs, even credit card issuers was constrained was due to legislation and regulations that were designed to create a high bar for an offering and build a high level of trust between the interacting parties.

Those lines are being redrawn with technology. The people impacted by the technology should be part of the conversation in coming up with appropriate ways to regulate the offerings to maintain security and safety.

Two-Factor authentication solutions are based on the premise that the combined verification of (i) a thing possessed (a card) and (ii) a piece of information known to the user (a pin or password) provides a high degree of assurance to authenticate users. For financial and enterprise transactions it gives a high level of security. But 2FA is not a seamless solution – as the number and variety of services and devices for a user increases – it requires the user to carry a number of cards/tokens/devices and remember several passwords (that are unique, complex, updated). It is also not a foolproof solution as the identity theft continues to be a problem.

With the large number of IOT applications and devices appearing, the problem will become worse. Consider a health monitoring device that needs to periodically share information of a patient with her family members and doctor, while keeping the information safe from cloud attacks. Or consider keyless entry to vehicles or homes. For such common use cases entering complex passwords would be cumbersome.

With biometric authentication methods, as present with fingerprint based authentication on Apple and Samsung phones, there is a more direct identification of the user. But the way this is commonly used is not to eliminate passwords completely – it is typically used to

1. store existing passwords securely,
2. reduce repeated password entry by extending session created by an existing password
3. combined with a user identifier such as a phone number or email address
4. combined with a password (e.g. for byod deployments where multiple users can register fingerprints)

One can imagine a two factor auth where both factors are biometric, such as multiple fingerprints, or fingerprint and iris authentication. Such a two factor biometric approach could eliminate the need to remember passwords and reduce friction in accessing services securely. An example is the combination of facial recognition and fingerprint recognition.

Biometric authentication methods being worked on include gait recognition and voice biometrics. These can be included in a continuous authentication method.

IDC gave a good security landscape overview at the SecureAuth executive luncheon today in Palo Alto.

SecureAuth provides a flexible adaptive authentication system that balances security with user experience.

BehavioSec does biometric authentication based on user behavior such as the pattern of keystrokes when entering a password. It builds a statistical profile and them determines if the password is entered anomalously. It provides collector SDKs to collect this information from mobile apps and websites.

In case of a large difference between the expected pattern and the current pattern, the SecureAuth integration forces a step up auth to a second factor.

There is adoption of this kind of technology in banking, retail and other verticals.

Lancope, Viewfinity, Vormetric, LogEntries, Boxer, Secure Islands, Silanis

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3000479/security/security-acquisitions-reach-a-fever-pitch.html

Lancope – StealthWatch provides a visual representation of the network to detect anomalies that could signify an attack. In the event of an infection, StealthWatch analyzes traffic between servers to determine which hosts were affected. Acquired by Cisco, $453m.

Viewfinity – Endpoint security for windows. App control features and administrative privilege capabilities to protect against zero-day attacks, malware and threats.

Vormetric – Filesystem encryption, keeping metadata in clear and enterprise key-management for third party encryption keys. Acquired by Thales Security for $400m

LogEntries – machine data search technology to help security teams  investigate security incidents deeply. Spun out of University College Dublin (UCD). Acquired by Rapid7, $68m. 3k customers.

Boxer – Android email app, acquired by VMWare

Secure Islands –  IQProtector looks at content and wraps/protects it based with policy based DRM automatically. “Secure Islands’ Data Immunization uniquely embeds protection within information itself at the moment of creation or initial organizational access. This process is automatic and accompanies sensitive information throughout its lifecycle from creation, through usage and collaboration to storage.” Acquired by Microsoft.

Silanis – e-Signatures with strong crypto algorithmic and keys