Good-bye clickbait? Facebook has tossed out more than 800 publishers and accounts it accused of trafficking in clickbait and political spam, the Washington Post reports. Facebook also accused some of the accounts of “inauthentic behavior,” otherwise known as fake news. The bans met with some resistance, with some critics saying Facebook’s terms of service represent a moving target.
Let’s Encrypt rising: Let’s Encrypt, a service that provides websites free SSL certificates, is helping the Internet move toward better encryption, Forbes says. Let’s Encrypt “may finally fix the broken world of HTTPS hosting and usher in an online future in which creating an HTTPS site becomes as transparent as visiting one,” the author writes.
Government’s role in IoT security: The U.S. government could drive more security into the Internet of Things industry by changing its tech acquisition standards, says Nextgov. Federal agencies could use the Federal Acquisition Regulation to enforce minimum security standards, the author suggests.
RIP Google+: Google is planning to shut down the consumer version of its Google+ social media site after the company disclosed a massive data breach there, The Verge reports. Google+ also has “low usage and engagement,” according to Google.
Insecure security cameras: Millions of IoT security cameras, network video recorders, and DVRs manufactured by a Chinese company and sold under several brands are vulnerable to a number of Internet-based attacks, ZDNet reports. A feature that connects the devices to a customer’s cloud account is vulnerable and includes a default admin username of “admin” with no password.
AI’s final frontier: Satellite operator SES is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to explore ways to use artificial intelligence to help operate its satellite fleet, SpaceNews says. Government agencies and other space companies are also looking for ways to use AI in space.
Change is hard: Executives say that rolling out distributed ledger technology like blockchain at the enterprise level has been harder than expected, Forbes reports. That’s according to a survey of more than 200 executives working on blockchain initiatives at banks, technology vendors, dedicated blockchain companies, and other organizations. Top challenges include scalability issues, hardware security, and difficulty handling the payments portion of transactions.
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