Payments giant says Cash App customers may be impacted

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This month, McAfee celebrates three years of maintaining pay parity. Compensating employees equally for their contributions, regardless of gender or ethnicity, is one of the many ways we create a culture where all can belong and an environment where everyone is valued.

But equal pay sounds like a given, right?

It absolutely should be. However, unconscious bias and a slew of contributing factors, such as differences in how men and women negotiate pay raises and starting salaries, means inequality can slowly creep in across a business and become pervasive unless actively monitored. This means maintaining pay parity requires constant work and attention.

As the first cybersecurity company to achieve pay parity, we know first-hand the commitment involved in such an undertaking. We also know the overall impact for our employees, including greater trust, engagement, and loyalty. More than this, we believe simply, that pay parity is the right thing to do.

Today, I’m sharing more about our journey, our process, and our work to maintain pay parity.

How we began

Our pay parity journey began in 2018. Few companies had achieved pay parity at the time, but we realized it was an essential part of ‘walking the walk.’ It’s well documented that diverse teams perform higher, and when employees feel seen and valued for their contributions, they are more productive and increasingly innovative.

We developed a framework and conducted our first annual audit in 2018. When results revealed pay disparities across nine of our 45 countries, we were unwavering in our commitment to resolve swiftly and to put measures in place to maintain any pay parity drift over time.

Within six months, we spent $4 million adjusting salaries to achieve pay parity – this is something most companies undertaking this exercise take years to achieve.

Our process

In its simplest form, we adhere to the following framework for achieving and maintaining pay parity:

We define. Pay parity means fair and equal pay for employees in the same job code, grade level and location, regardless of gender or ethnicity.
We analyze. We first audit employee job codes for accuracy and then group employees by job code. We apply controls for pay differentiators such as performance, tenure, and experience.
We adjust. After meticulous evaluation with the business, we make any pay adjustments.
We uphold. In addition to annual analysis, we keep parity at the forefront throughout the year—from our hiring practices to how we promote and reward our employees.

Staying the course

Maintaining pay parity is a year-long exercise and is now part of our culture. At McAfee, we regularly run audits and use a third-party vendor to help remove any bias and subjectivity. If discrepancies are identified, we address them quickly.

We also work hard to keep pay parity front of mind for people leaders and hiring managers. Through regular training on diversity topics, we remind people leaders of the science behind unconscious bias and how to overcome it. To further remove any bias, we overlay promotions, awards, and relevant employee programs with a Diversity Impact Analysis to ensure allocation of awards is statistically aligned to the diverse population of that team or organization.

It’s the combination of these efforts that resulted in an exciting milestone: our latest independent audit revealed no disparity. This tells us our commitment to equality permeates our culture. The absence of any discrepancies did not happen by accident – it’s the result of intentional focus from our leaders, recruitment team, and hiring managers.

What the future holds

Since we began our journey three years ago, the world has experienced tremendous change and challenging times – some may feel more divided than united. This makes our commitment to pay parity and building an inclusive culture even more important.

We will continue to maintain parity, ask what we can do better, and share the best practices we continue to follow, as well as learnings along the way.

Ready to join a company that stands for equality? Search our openings at Careers.McAfee.com.

 

 

The post Three Years of Pay Parity: Lessons in Maintaining Equality appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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In an SEC filing made on Monday, Cash App parent company Block, Inc., said that it was working to contact roughly 8.2 million past and present customers of its investment services, as names, brokerage portfolio values and account numbers were compromised in a data breach.

According to Block’s form 8-K, a employee who had regular access to the records during their employment downloaded customer records after leaving the company. The reports didn’t contain Cash App usernames or passwords, and the company said that Social Security numbers, birthdays, payment card info and most other types of personally identifiable information weren’t accessed.

To read this article in full, please click here

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Outfitting your smart home could get a whole lot easier this year. 

A new industry standard called Matter aims to remove a big barrier in smart home technology, one that makes different smart home devices compatible with any smart home platform—something that wasn’t possible until now. 

For years, different smart home devices have run on several different competing platforms, such as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, or Samsung SmartThings. And put plainly, those different platforms didn’t work with each other. And that was unfortunate. After all, the vision for the smart home was to run everything from lights, appliances, doorbell cameras, and all kinds of connected things in your home from a central set of controls, regardless of device manufacturer or platform. 

But that hasn’t been the case, and this lack of compatibility created some headaches for homeowners. They’ve had to choose between one smart home platform over another and then only use smart devices built for that platform. For example, if you’re running a bunch of devices on Apple HomeKit and find a great deal on a new Samsung smart refrigerator with Alexa built-in, you’re pretty much out of luck if you want those devices to all work together as one in your smart home. The result is that consumers have had to check the fine print to see what’s compatible with what when shopping for smart devices. Again, a real headache. 

Matter aims to take care of that. It’s hailed as a unifying technology that will make all those devices work together. Right now, the first wave of Matter-enabled devices is on track for a mid-year launch, which means we may finally see that vision of a smart home come true—a place where all your connected stuff works together with just the sound of your voice or a tap on your phone. 

With that, let’s take a closer look at the new Matter protocol and what it offers, along with a look at security and privacy for smart home devices in general. 

How does Matter work with connected homes? 

A smart device featuring the Matter logo

Without getting too technical about it, Matter is designed to create a more energy-efficient, secure, and reliable network for your smart home devices. Additionally, it’s designed to run independently of your internet connection, so if your internet goes out, you can still control your smart devices locally—from the app or device of your choice. 

The tech industry looks like they’re very much on board. Matter is led by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, a body of more than 200 technology companies working together to create this new standard. And if you’re wondering Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung are among the many members of this alliance. If the launch goes as planned, you can expect to see Matter-enabled devices and the Matter logo on several new products by the middle of the year. 

Additionally, several companies have announced that they will provide an upgrade path for existing products so that their existing customers don’t have to scrap their current smart home devices to take advantage of Matter. 

Security and privacy in your smart home 

In all, the idea is exciting. What remains to be seen is how security and privacy matters are handled, not only by the network but by the devices on it. 

As far as security goes, Matter uses a combination of encryption and blockchain technology to secure transmitted data and ensure that only the devices you trust can use the network. Considering that you may be heating your home, warming up your oven, or even locking your front door, security features like these only make sense.  

Yet looking beyond Matter and thinking about connected homes more broadly, there are a few question marks when it comes to privacy.  

Imagine for a moment what a highly connected home might look like—and all the data those connections will generate. That data will show what time of day your front door tends to unlock and lock when family members go to and from work, school, or what have you. It’ll also show when you tend to turn on your lights, cook your dinner, or turn on the house alarm for the night.  

Over time, all this data can piece together a picture of your comings and goings during a typical week. Shy of a bad actor physically casing out your home over several days, data like this simply hasn’t existed until the age of the connected home. If that data goes unprotected or if the devices creating it don’t give you some control over it, the privacy risks will run high.  

Moreover, data privacy policies come into play here as well. As consumers like us are very much aware these days, not every company treats your data the same way. Some companies have different policies around what data they may collect and then what they do with that data—like cloud sites for other smart devices, government agencies, insurance companies, law enforcement, data aggregators, data banks, social media sites, and others according to findings published by some industry groups. In a smart home that’s kitted out with devices from five, seven, or even more different manufacturers, that are multiple privacy policies in play—each of which may view and treat your private data in their own way. That’s potentially volumes of your data circulating out there, potentially in ways you aren’t aware of or that give you any control over its use. 

Of course, the issue of data privacy is nothing new and certainly not specific to smart devices. Already, the dozens of different apps and services we use as we go about our day have their own data privacy policies as well. Devices in a smart home only add to that mix, which is worth considering in our already highly connected lives. 

Protecting your smart home 

As I write this, Matter has yet to be released. Yet if you already have some smart devices in your home, you may be wondering how to make your connected home safer. Let’s take a look at a few of the things you can do to protect your smart devices and the home network they’re running on. 

Grab online protection for your smartphone 

Many smart home devices use a smartphone as a sort of remote control, not to mention as a place for gathering, storing, and sharing data. So whether you’re an Android owner or iOS owner, protect your smartphone so you can protect the things it accesses and controls—and the data stored on it too.  

Set strong, unique passwords for your smart home devices 

Early on when the first sets of smart home devices rolled out, some found themselves open to attack because they come with a default username and password, which hackers often publish on the internet as part of massive listings. (Baby monitors are a classic example.) And it remains an issue today. When you purchase any IoT device, set a fresh password using a strong method of password creation. Likewise, create an entirely new username for additional protection as well.  

Secure your internet router too 

Another device that needs good password protection is your internet router. Make sure you use a strong and unique password there as well to help prevent hackers from breaking into your home network. (A password manager as part of comprehensive online protection can help.) Also, consider changing the same of your home network so that it doesn’t personally identify you. (I’ve seen some fun alternatives to using your name or address, everything from movie lines like “May the Wi-Fi be with you” to old sitcom references like “Central Perk.”) Also check that your router is using an encryption method, like WPA2, which will keep your signal secure. If you haven’t done this sort of thing before, check the documentation that came with your router or with the internet provider if you rent or purchased it from them. 

Use multi-factor authentication 

Online banks, shops, and other services commonly offer multi-factor authentication to help protect your accounts—with the typical combination of your username, password, and a security code sent to another device you own (often a mobile phone). If your IoT device supports multi-factor authentication, consider using it there too. It throws a big barrier in the way hackers simply try and force their way in with a password/username combination, which will make your device tougher to crack.  

Update your devices regularly 

In addition to fixing the odd bug or adding the occasional new feature, app and device updates often address security gaps. Out-of-date apps and devices may have flaws that hackers can exploit, so regular updating is a must from a security standpoint. If you can set your smart home apps and devices to receive automatic updates, even better. 

Looking ahead to your connected home 

Smart homes show plenty of promise. Seeing a new and broadly adopted industry standard like Matter on the horizon may make them even more promising. Ideally, Matter will make it easier for people to bring more smart devices in their homes, and in a way that’s reliable and secure. Moreover, there are steps you can take now to help keep your smart home devices, and smart home in general, more secure as well. 

Yet when it comes to thinking about a home full of smart devices, questions around privacy remain. Smart home devices offered by different manufacturers will have different privacy policies and thus use people’s data in different ways, which puts consumers like us in a position to understand the terms, conditions, and implications of each one. Yet with data privacy being such a hot topic for consumers, the industry, and regulators already, it remains to be seen what consumer-friendly standards are set for data collection in the years to come—both in and out of the smart home. 

The post Smarter Homes & Gardens: Protecting the Smart Devices in Your Home appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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Businesses have been at work since last week investigating whether their applications or third-party software products are vulnerable to Spring4Shell, a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability impacting Spring Framework, one of the most popular development frameworks for Java applications. While exploitation attempts have already been observed in the wild, the rate at which developers are updating their Spring instances appears to be slow going.

According to Sonatype, the company that maintains Maven Central, the biggest repository of Java components and libraries, 80% of Spring downloads since March 31 when the flaw was confirmed have continued to be for vulnerable versions of the framework. Maven Central integrates with many development tools, so the data suggests that developers are not in a rush to upgrade their Spring instances.

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If you’re thinking about crypto, one of the first things you’ll want to do is get yourself a good wallet.  

Topping the several important things a new cryptocurrency investor needs to think about is security. Rightfully so. Cryptocurrency is indeed subject to all kinds of fraud, theft, and phishing attacks, just like the credentials and accounts we keep online.  

But here’s the catch. Lost or stolen cryptocurrency is terrifically difficult to recover. By and large, it doesn’t enjoy the same protections and regulations as traditional currency and financial transactions. For example, you can always call your bank or credit card company to report theft or contest a fraudulent charge. Not the case with crypto. With that, you’ll absolutely need a safe place to secure it. Likewise, in the U.S. many banks are FDIC insured, which protects depositors if the bank fails. Again, not so with crypto. 

So, when it comes to cryptocurrency, security is everything. 

What makes crypto so attractive to hackers? 

Cryptocurrency theft offers hackers an immediate payoff. It’s altogether different from, say, hacking the database of a Fortune 500 company. With a data breach, a hacker may round up armloads of personal data and information, yet it takes additional steps for them to translate those stolen records into money. With cryptocurrency theft, the dollars shift from the victim to the crook in milliseconds. It’s like digital pickpocketing. As you can guess, that makes cryptocurrency a big target. 

And that’s where your wallet will come in, a place where you store the digital credentials associated with the cryptocurrency you own. The issue is doing it securely. Let’s take a look at the different wallets out there and then talk about how you can secure them. 

Hot wallets and cold wallets for crypto 

Broadly, there are two general categories of wallets. First, let’s look at what these wallets store. 

A wallet contains public and private “keys” that are used to conduct transactions. The public key often takes the form of an address, one that anyone can see and then use to send cryptocurrency. The private key is exactly that. Highly complex and taking many forms that range from multi-word phrases to strings of code, it’s your unique key that proves your ownership of your cryptocurrency and that allows you to spend and send crypto. Needless to say, never share your private key.  

With that, there are two ways to store your keys—in a hot wallet or a cold wallet. 

 

Hot Wallets: 

 

These wallets store cryptocurrency on internet-connected devices—often a smartphone, but also on computers and tablets—all of which allow the holder to access and make transactions quickly. 

 

Think of a hot wallet as a checking account, where you keep a smaller amount of money available for day-to-day spending, yet less securely than a cold wallet because it’s online. 

  

Cold Wallets: 

 

These wallets store cryptocurrency in places not connected to the internet, which can include a hard drive, USB stick, paper wallet (keys printed on paper), or physical coins. 

 

Think of the cold wallet like a savings account, or cold storage if you like. This is where to store large amounts of cryptocurrency more securely because it’s not connected to the internet. 

Hot wallets for cryptocurrency 

As you can see, the benefit of a hot wallet is that you can load it up with cryptocurrency, ready for spending. However, it’s the riskiest place to store cryptocurrency because it’s connected to the internet, making it a target for hacks and attacks.  

In addition to that, a hot wallet is connected to a cryptocurrency exchange, which makes the transfer of cryptocurrencies possible. The issue with that is all cryptocurrency exchanges are not created equal, particularly when it comes to security. Some of the lesser-established exchanges may not utilize strong protocols, likely making a target for attack. Even the more established and trusted exchanges have fallen victim to attacks—where crooks have walked away with millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars.  

Cold wallets for cryptocurrency 

While the funds in cold wallets are far less liquid, they’re far more secure because they’re not connected to the internet. In this way, cold wallets are more vault-like and suitable for long-term storage of larger sums of funds. But cold wallets place a great deal of responsibility on the holder. They must be stored in a physically secure place, and be backed up, because if you lose that one device or printout that contains your cryptocurrency info, you lose the cryptocurrency altogether. Within the cold wallet category, there are a few different types: 

1. Purpose-built cryptocurrency storage devices 

Several manufacturers make storage devices specifically designed to store cryptocurrency, complete with specific features for security, durability, and compatibility with many (yet not always all) of the different cryptocurrencies on the market. An online search will turn up several options, so doing your homework here will be very important—such as which devices have the best track record for security, which devices are the most reliable overall, and which ones are compatible with the crypto you wish to keep.  

2. Hard drives on a computer or laptop 

Storing cryptocurrency information on a computer or laptop that’s disconnected from the internet (also known as “air-gapped”) is a storage method that’s been in place for some time. However, because computers and laptops are complex devices, they may be less secure than a simpler, purpose-built cryptocurrency device. In short, there are more ways to compromise a computer or laptop with malware that a determined hacker can use to steal information in some rather surprising ways. (Like noise from a compromised computer fan passing information in a sort of Morse Code or generating electromagnetic signals on a compromised computer that nearby devices can use to skim information.) 

3. Paper wallets 

Ah, good old paper. Write down a code and keep it secure. Simple, right? In truth, creating a paper wallet can be one of the most involved methods of all the cold storage options out there. Bitcoin offers a step-by-step walkthrough of the process that you can see for yourself. Once done, though, you’ll have a piece of paper with a public address for loading cryptocurrency into your paper cold wallet, along with a private key. One note: Bitcoin and others recommend never reusing a paper cold wallet once it’s connected to a hot wallet. You should go through the process of creating a new cold paper wallet each time.  

4. Physical coins for cryptocurrency 

Physical coins are a special case and are relatively new on the scene. They’re a physical coin minted with a tamper-resistant sticker that indicates the actual value of the coin. Like other methods of cold wallet storage, this calls for keeping it in a safe place, because it’s pretty much like a wad of cash. And like cash, if it’s stolen, it’s gone for good. Also note that a cryptocurrency holder must work with a third party to mint and deliver the coin, which has its own costs and risks involved. 

Securing your cryptocurrency wallet 

With that look at wallets, let’s see what it takes to secure them. It may seem like there’s plenty to do here. That’s because there is, which goes to show just how much responsibility falls on the shoulders of the cryptocurrency holder. Of course, this is your money we’re talking about, so let’s dive into the details. 

1. Back up your wallet

Whatever form your storage takes, back it up. And back it up again. Cryptocurrency holders should make multiple copies just in case one is lost, destroyed, or otherwise inaccessible. For example, one story that’s made the rounds is of a IT engineer in the UK who accidentally threw away an old hard drive with his cryptocurrency key on it, one that held 7,500 bitcoins, worth millions of dollars. Redundancy is key. Back up the entire wallet right away and then often after that. 

2. Store your wallet(s) securely

With redundant backups in place, store them in places that are physically secure. It’s not uncommon for crypto holders to use fireproof safes and safe deposit boxes at banks for this purpose, which only highlights the earlier point that a wallet is as good as cash in many ways. 

3. Use online protection software

This will help prevent malware from stealing crypto, whether or not your device is connected to the internet. Comprehensive online protection software will give you plenty of other benefits as well, including identity theft monitoring and strong password management, two things that can help you protect your investments, and yourself, even further. 

4. Update your operating system, apps, and devices

Updates often address security issues, ones that hackers will of course try to exploit. Keep everything current and set automatic updates wherever they are available so that you have the latest and greatest. 

5. Make use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) where possible

Just as your bank and other financial accounts offer MFA, do the same here with your crypto. Some extra security-conscious crypto investors will purchase a device for this specific purpose for yet greater protection, such as a separate phone with texting capability. This keeps their crypto transactions separate from the multitude of other things they do on their everyday smartphone, effectively putting up a wall between these two different digital worlds.  

6. Keep your investments to yourself

 Two things fall under this category. One, the less you say about the crypto investments you make, the less word gets around, which can help keep hackers out of the loop. Particularly on social media! Two, consider setting up a unique email account that you only use for crypto. The less you associate your crypto accounts with other financial accounts like your banking and online payment apps, the more difficult it is to compromise several accounts in one fell swoop.  

7. Watch out for phishing scams

Just like hackers send phishing emails with an eye on accessing your bank accounts, credit cards, and so on, they’ll do much the same to get at your crypto accounts. The target may be different, that being your crypto, but the attack is very much the same. An email will direct you to a hacker’s website, using some sort of phony pretense, get-rich-quick-scheme, or scare tactic. Once there, they’ll ask for private key information and then simply steal the funds. And it’s not just email. Hackers have used online ads to phish for victims as well. 

Crypto: security is on you 

As you can see, these security measures rely almost exclusively on you. If something happens to you, that could make recovering your funds a real problem. Consider reaching out to someone you trust and let them know where you’re storing your wallets and information. That way, you’ll have some assistance ready in the event of an emergency or issue. 

The very things that define cryptocurrency—the anonymity of ownership, the lack of banking institutions, the light or non-existent regulation—all have major security implications. Add in the fact that you’re your own safety net here and it’s easy to see that crypto is something that requires plenty of planning and careful through before diving into. Getting knowledgeable about security, how you’ll protect your crypto, should absolutely top your list before investing.  

The post Cold Wallets, Hot Wallets: The Basics of Storing Your Crypto Securely appeared first on McAfee Blog.

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