Though more than half of consumers canvassed globally said they have been a victim of online fraud or know someone who has, most respondents say they expect their online activity will increase in the next three months, reported Experian Thursday. The information services company polled more than 6,000 consumers in 20 countries, including the U.S., finding nearly three-quarters “expect businesses to take the necessary security steps to protect them online,” it said. More than eight in 10 consumers canvassed said security “is their most important factor of the online experience,” it said. More than 95% of baby boomers cited security as the most important aspect of their online experience, 10 points more than their Generation Z counterparts, it said.

Implementing zero-trust architecture (ZTA) in the federal government, per executive order 14028 by President Joe Biden last year (see 2204080039), won’t be easy and will require a different approach in different agencies, said a Center for Strategic and International Studies report released Thursday. “Shifting from perimeter defense to ZTA is not as easy as flipping a switch; it is a complex undertaking,” the paper argues: “It involves more than procuring new hardware and software. Making such a shift requires adopting new policies, processes, and structures.” CSIS said a top barrier is what it calls “tech debt.” The federal government spends about $90 billion each year on IT, with most of the money dedicated to maintaining “legacy, often antiquated systems,” the report said: “Departments and agencies often find it challenging to secure funding and authorization for new large-scale IT modernization efforts and relatively easier to obtain funding for existing systems. This dynamic often motivates agencies to focus on operating and maintaining existing systems rather than pursuing new capital investments.” Another concern is a lack of urgency by government leaders, CSIS said. “The federal government, as a whole, really needs to understand the why and commit to the how,” said Emily Harding, CSIS deputy director, during a webcast. “ZTA can create friction for the user, but that’s OK,” she said. “U.S. government employees need to understand why they should make the effort, why the friction is worth it,” she said. The federal government needs to become “as efficient as a Google or an Amazon” but “we’re a ways from there,” said James Lewis, CSIS senior vice president. New infrastructure relies more on AI, the cloud and other new technologies, he said. “The old approach to cybersecurity isn’t going to work,” he said. Getting the federal government to change won’t be easy, Lewis said. “It’s a huge entity,” he said: “It has thousands, sometimes millions of parts. The parts don’t always want to cooperate.” The attitude can be “I can just wait 18 months and these political appointees will go away, and I can go back to what I've been doing,” he said. Legislative mandates, budget directions and standards can help move the government, he said.

The White House launched a task force Thursday for addressing online harassment and abuse in response to mass shootings, misogyny and other online-related harms. President Joe Biden signed a presidential memorandum to address harms that “disproportionately affect women, girls, people of color, and LGBTQI+ individuals,” the White House said. Vice President Kamala Harris launched the task force with a survivor and expert roundtable Thursday. “The tragic events in Buffalo and Uvalde have underscored a fact known all too well by many Americans: the internet can fuel hate, misogyny, and abuse with spillover effects that threaten our communities and safety offline,” the White House said. The task force will be co-chaired by the Gender Policy Council and the National Security Council and will include the attorney general, the secretary of Health and Human Services and other agency heads.

ICANN's 2023 annual general meeting will be Oct. 21-26 in Hamburg, Germany, it announced. Hosts are eco-Association, Denic eG, which manages the .de country-code top -level domain name, and the city of Hamburg.

Amazon should permanently ban private policing agencies from joining its Neighbors Public Safety Service, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the company Tuesday, citing privacy invasions from Amazon Ring. Markey noted more than 2,100 “policing agencies have apparently joined” NPSS, a platform “on which participating police departments may request footage from Ring users.” That’s a 500% increase since 2019, he said: “Reports indicate that multiple police departments have attempted to bypass Ring’s video request process, including by gaining direct access to user footage in real time.” Ring previously placed a moratorium on onboarding private policing agencies onto NPSS. The company didn’t comment.

The Supreme Court denied rehearing in a mass surveillance case involving AT&T and Verizon customers Monday (see 2201210050). The court didn’t offer an explanation in Jewel v. NSA. A 9th Circuit three-judge panel denied a petition for panel rehearing in October with little explanation.

Google believes its policies and practices are fair but agreed to pay $118 million to settle a class-action, gender-equity lawsuit, the company said in a statement Monday. Plaintiffs announced the settlement Friday, saying a settlement monitor will supervise over the next three years to ensure women aren’t paid less than male counterparts. The settlement covers 15,500 female employees in 236 positions in California since September 2013, said law firms Lieff Cabraser and Altshuler Berzon. “While we strongly believe in the equity of our policies and practices, after nearly five years of litigation, both sides agreed that resolution of the matter, without any admission or findings, was in the best interest of everyone,” Google said. “We are absolutely committed to paying, hiring and leveling all employees fairly and equally and for the past nine years we have run a rigorous pay equity analysis to make sure salaries, bonuses and equity awards are fair.” Plaintiff Holly Pease said: “As a woman who's spent her entire career in the tech industry, I'm optimistic that the actions Google has agreed to take as part of this settlement will ensure more equity for women.”

Bipartisan draft discussions on privacy are encouraging, but the bill being circulated needs more work, tech industry groups wrote Congress Monday (see 2206100061). The Computer & Communications Industry Association, Software & Information Industry Association and TechNet can’t support the bill in its “current form,” the groups wrote. They raised issues with the bill’s inclusion of a private right of action and duty of loyalty, as well as an “untailored, burdensome requirement to submit assessments of virtually all computer-based activities involving algorithms.”

The next FTC virtual open meeting will be at 1 p.m. EDT June 16, the agency announced Thursday. The commission plans to vote on issuing a report to Congress “highlighting current uses of artificial intelligence to combat specific online harms.” The report will include high-level policy recommendations concerning harms like scams, fake reviews, deepfakes, dark patterns, hate crimes and child sex abuse.

Twitter’s refusal to share data with Elon Musk on the number of fake and spam accounts on the platform puts the company in noncompliance “with its obligations under the merger agreement,” lawyers for the Tesla CEO wrote Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde Monday. “As Twitter’s prospective owner, Mr. Musk is clearly entitled to the requested data to enable him to prepare for transitioning Twitter’s business to his ownership and to facilitate his transaction financing,” said the lawyers. “To do both, he must have a complete and accurate understanding of the very core of Twitter’s business model -- its active user base.” Due to the “clear material breach” of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement, “Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement.” they said. Twitter didn’t comment. Twitter shares closed 1.5% lower Monday at $39.56 -- roughly 27% below Musk's $54.20 offer price. In “certain specified circumstances” in which Musk's takeover is terminated, Musk has agreed to pay Twitter a $1 billion “reverse termination fee,” the payment of which he has personally “guaranteed,” says their merger agreement (see 2205170006). Musk has said the deal can't move forward until Twitter shows proof that fake or spam accounts comprise less than 5% of its memberships.