Oracle said it’s buying internet traffic service Dyn, to extend its cloud computing platform. “Oracle cloud customers will have unique access to Internet performance information that will help them optimize infrastructure costs, maximize application and website-driven revenue, and manage risk,” said Dyn Chief Strategy Officer Kyle York in a Monday news release. A month ago Dyn’s DynDNS service experienced distributed denial-of-service attacks that resulted in outages or latency for many major websites, including Netflix and Twitter (see 1610210056). The attacks spurred interest on Capitol Hill in IoT cybersecurity (see 1610260067 and 1611160051).

Only 42 percent of consumers who responded to an Intel Security survey said they take proper measures to ensure their connected devices’ cybersecurity. Consumers are aware it’s important to secure their devices but 47 percent of respondents indicated they were unsure whether they were taking the correct cybersecurity measures, Intel said Sunday. OnePoll queried 9,800 consumers at Intel’s request for the survey. There's increased interest from Capitol Hill on connected devices’ cybersecurity. Two House Commerce Committee subcommittees sought a potential middle ground last week on addressing IoT cybersecurity in response to last month's distributed denial of service attacks against Dyn (see 1610210056, 1610260067 and 1611160051), which Oracle is now buying (see 1611210047). “Unsurprisingly, connected devices remain high on holiday wish lists this year,” said Intel Security Chief Consumer Security Evangelist Gary Davis in a news release. “What is alarming is that consumers remain unaware of what behaviors pose a security risk when it comes to new devices.” Consumers “are often eager to use their new gadget as soon as they get it and forgo ensuring that their device is properly secured,” Davis said. “Cybercriminals could use this lack of attention as an inroad to gather personal consumer data, exposing consumers to malware or identity theft or even use unsecured devices to launch DDoS attacks as in the recent Dyn attack.”

Symantec agreed to acquire identity protection company LifeLock in a $2.3 billion cybersecurity transaction, the companies said Sunday in a news release. Symantec expects to close the deal in Q1 next year after it gets U.S. antitrust and shareholder approvals.

The FTC OK’d a final consent order with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, which settled allegations in July that it paid online influencers to promote a videogame without telling consumers (see 1607110029), the agency said in a Monday news release. Commissioners voted 3-0, after a comment period, the FTC said. The agency accused Warner Bros. of paying thousands of dollars to influencers to plug the videogame Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor on Google's YouTube and other social media sites and of telling such influencers how to promote the game and not disclose any bugs. "Over the course of the campaign, the sponsored videos were viewed more than 5.5 million times," said the FTC. The company is barred from failing to make such public disclosures in the future and can't misrepresent sponsored content. In July, the company said in an email statement it always tries to be transparent with its customers and is committed to complying with the guidelines.

The National Retail Federation estimates 137.4 million U.S. consumers -- about 59 percent of the population -- will shop at least once during Thanksgiving weekend, including online, NRF reported Friday, citing a poll that Prosper Insights & Analytics conducted for NRF. "The holiday shopping season is long and consumers will look for and expect great deals down to the very last minute," said NRF President Matthew Shay.

Advancing encryption, changing government surveillance, opposing internet censorship and pushing for comprehensive privacy legislation are some policy priorities that the Center for Democracy & Technology wants President-elect Donald Trump to adopt. CDT said Friday that it submitted a document to Trump outlining a series of technology and internet recommendations for the incoming administration. In the cover letter to Trump, CDT President Nuala O'Connor called the proposals "moderate" and "pragmatic." CDT said privacy and national security measures should include elevating encryption to bolster internet security, rejecting back doors that could weaken encryption, stopping warrantless spying on Americans and creating an environment for security researchers to find and help patch software vulnerabilities. CDT said Trump should reject policies that force companies to monitor their users, fight online censorship and protect open internet rules. Trump also should address technology that could "exacerbate inequality and lead to discrimination in automated systems" and improve data protection. Early last week, the Internet Association wrote a letter to Trump outlining industry priorities, which include privacy and security (see 1611140069).

The Internet Association and TechNet, both of which count several sharing-economy companies as members, approved of a Thursday FTC review of such peer-to-peer platforms (see 1611170017). The report summarized a 2015 workshop on the topic and didn't issue any recommendations. "Consumers enjoy increased competition, lower prices, and better quality services when sharing economy platforms are able to compete," said IA General Counsel Abigail Slater in a statement. "Consumer protections are hardwired into sharing economy platforms and the internet industry welcomes the FTC’s recognition of this important attribute." TechNet President Linda Moore said in a statement that such platforms produce flexible job opportunities, encourage competition and help the economy. She said the study "demonstrates why it’s critical to advance policies that allow sharing economy platforms to compete on a level playing field with traditional industry participants.” Airbnb, Etsy, Instacart, Lyft and Uber are some major sharing economy companies that are members of either IA, TechNet or both.

It's time to abandon "over the top" as a way to describing broadband video, with the term OTT "a relic of a previous time," The Diffusion Group analyst Eric Grab wrote in a post Thursday. While OTT describes delivery of video over networks not owned by the distributor, "the modern video ecosystem is now inseparable from the Internet," Grab said, adding that "even the name 'Internet Video' doesn't seem to fit the bill." The Internet-delivered video itself is less important than the services enabled by the internet, Grab said. While OTT will be used for years to come, he said, "Gradually the industry will recognize the need to replace the term with ... something that captures the essence of the quantum video and the complete entertainment experience."

The Department of Homeland Security issued IoT security principles aimed at helping manufacturers and other stakeholders make better decisions about how they develop, build, implement and use such technologies and systems. “The growing dependency on network-connected technologies is outpacing the means to secure them,” said DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in a Tuesday news release. "Securing the Internet of Things has become a matter of homeland security." The DHS principles emphasize integration of security measures at the design phase, vulnerabilities management, use of tested security practices, prioritization of security measures based on potential disruptions or failures, greater transparency across the IoT ecosystem, and consideration of what should be connected to the internet and what shouldn't. Wednesday, CTA issued an IoT white paper (see 1611160017).

President-elect Donald Trump was sent advice from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation about how his administration can boost competitiveness, innovation and productivity in 2017. ITIF proposed 36 policies that can be achieved via executive authority and legislation in a 14-page open memo to Trump, the group said in a Wednesday news release. President Robert Atkinson said it means going beyond "outdated" economic theories and addressing "quarterly capitalism." He said it proposed "relatively easy, bipartisan steps" that Trump can take. For example, ITIF said Trump should create a digital infrastructure council of federal agency representatives to discuss how artificial intelligence, data analytics and the IoT can improve power grids, roads, water systems and other infrastructure. The group said that the Department of Agriculture's rural broadband support mechanisms should be updated and that access, permitting and leasing of federal land for fiber and wireless network buildouts should be streamlined.