Wednesday, June 27, 2007

There is no reason for a Governor (or CEO) to know off the top of their head how many computers were stolen or how many potential security breaches there were last year. But someone in the organization should know. How else can you develop or refine policies and procedures? I still think an article (web site?) suggesting some basic guidelines is sorely needed. (see next articles)

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20070626082335896

OH: State Patrol Investigating Dozens Of Computer Thefts

Tuesday, June 26 2007 @ 08:23 AM CDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

The highway patrol said Monday the two most recent cases of data theft from state government agencies are among eleven reports so far this year.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol spokesman said the reports of lost or stolen computer equipment or devices were either owned by the state or went missing by private people on state property.

Lieutenant Tony Bradshaw said an estimated 27 incidents from 2006 and roughly 30 from 2005 are also being reviewed.

Source - 10TV.com


Let's hope he rules say more than: “Don't embarrass the administration.”

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20070626195749765

A&M-CC adopts new rules regulating student data

Tuesday, June 26 2007 @ 07:57 PM CDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Minors & Students

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi officials have adopted new rules regulating the access to and use of personal student data. The rules were being drafted several weeks ago when a faculty member reported losing a flash drive that possibly contained about 8,000 students’ personal information, including their Social Security numbers. Officials are investigating whether Blair Sterba-Boatwright violated any university policies in taking the data overseas.

... Officials sent a June 20 memorandum requiring faculty and staff secure or remove information such as social security numbers and dates of birth from computer hard drives, lap tops, external drives, storage devices and hard copy records.

Source - Caller.com


Will this mitigate future “issues?”

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20070626152338436

Police to form privacy council

Tuesday, June 26 2007 @ 03:23 PM CDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Surveillance

The Redlands Police Department is accepting applications for a Citizens' Privacy Council to provide input and advice on department policy in its use of surveillance cameras.

The Privacy Council will help the Redlands Police Department in its efforts to balance the use of surveillance cameras in public areas to enhance community safety with the citizens' right to privacy.

Source - Redlands Daily Facts



Another talk at the ALA conference...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015269.html

June 25, 2007

Reverberations in Case Involving FBI NSLs and Connecticut Librarians

Follow up to previous postings on Connecticut librarians and FBI NSL gag order, via Wired Blog, Librarians Describe Life Under An FBI Gag Order: "Two Connecticut librarians on Sunday [at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC] described what it was like to be slapped with an FBI national security letter and accompanying gag order."

  • From the conference program: Lifting the Gag: Patron Privacy and the Patriot Act: "When a federal lifetime gag order prevented our speakers from revealing that the FBI had demanded library records, they refused to comply. Represented by the ACLU, they successfully sued the government. Of the thousands who have received National Security Letters, Mr. Chase, Ms. Bailey and two colleagues are the only ones free to discuss the experience. They will discuss their personal and professional roles in defending patron privacy. Speakers: Peter Chase, Library Director, Plainville Public Library; Barbara Bailey, Director, Wells Turner Public Library"



Another “fun” case? Note: It was inevitable that someone would fight back. That's one of the risks their strategy accepted.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20070626/010102.shtml

Are The RIAA's Investigation Techniques Illegal?

from the put-to-the-test dept

Having victims of the RIAA's shotgun legal approach fight back is certainly nothing new. In fact, having people charge the RIAA with racketeering for its actions has happened quite a few times at this point. However, this latest case against the RIAA is a little different. Filed by the same woman who charged the RIAA with racketeering two years ago, Tanya Andersen, the latest case doesn't just focus on the legal strategy, but also on the technology strategy of spying on what users are uploading -- again claiming it violates both racketeering laws and computer fraud and abuse laws. It notes that the process by which the company MediaSentry tries to figure out who is offering files isn't just flimsy, it's illegal.

Ray Beckerman has a link to the full complaint (warning: pdf file). It talks about how flimsy the evidence is, how it's easily falsified, how MediaSentry knew that -- and how it still claims that it offers positive identification on uploaders. The suit also points out that in Oregon (where the suit is filed), MediaSentry is not properly licensed as a private investigator, which breaks the law. Then, the suit goes in for the kill -- focusing on how the RIAA proceeds to use this weak and flimsy evidence to bully and scare people into paying up, abusing their private information and not giving them nearly enough time (or information) to counter the claims. The filing also contains a rather detailed description of the specific actions the RIAA took to intimidate Andersen and her daughter -- despite Andersen providing an awful lot of evidence that she was completely innocent of the charges. It's quite a filing, and should make for an interesting case should it get anywhere. The RIAA will likely do as much as it can to get the case dismissed or buried (as they did with Andersen's previous case), but so far Andersen has shown a very strong willingness to fight for what's right.



Can they say that?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/freespeech_06-25.html

Experts Analyze Supreme Court Free Speech Rulings

Originally Aired: June 25, 2007

The Supreme Court ruled to loosen restrictions on campaign ads and tighten limits on student speech Monday. Two law professors, Walter Dellinger and Richard Garnett, weigh in on what the rulings mean for the nation, and what they indicate about the justices' take on First Amendment rights.



Does Romania's law offer more protection?

http://www.managinginformation.com/news/content_show_full.php?id=5735

26 June 2007

Worldwide Comparison Of Wiretap Laws Published

The Ready Guide, (available from SS8’s website - http://www.ss8.com/ready-guide.php) is the result of extensive research, conducted on behalf of SS8 into LI legislation around the world. The pocket-sized guide covers twenty-four countries, each with a specific overview and history of the particular national laws. Designed to serve as a valuable reference point for anybody connected with the surveillance industry, the guide includes legislation from countries as diverse as the U.S., U.K., Romania and the Philippines.



Other than pointing out a major opportunity for someone to steal the market, what good is this?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015271.html

June 25, 2007

Speed Matters: A Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States

First-Ever State-By-State Report on Internet Connection Speed Shows U.S. Far Behind Other Industrialized Nations: "Results released today of the first-ever state-by-state report on Internet connection speed reveal that the United States is falling far behind other industrialized nations. The report, based on aggregated data from nearly 70,000 users, shows that the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is a mere 1.9 megabits per second (mbps). The best available estimates show average download speeds in Japan of 61 mbps, in South Korea of 45 mbps, in France of 17 mbps and in Canada of 7 mbps."



I predict this will be ignored...

http://techdirt.com/articles/20070625/003804.shtml

Violent Crimes Keep Dropping As Violent Video Games Get More Popular

from the correlations dept

A few years back, we posted some research someone had done noting that youth violence had decreased drastically over the years as violent video games became more popular. Now Digg is highlighting a similar, and rather dramatic, drop in overall violent crime during the period since 1993 (when the video game Doom was released). Obviously, this is a correlation, not proving any kind of causal linkage. However, if it were true that these video games were convincing people to go out and commit actual crimes, it would be hard to bring that into line with this data. Combined with recent studies that have shown that violent crime decreases when violent movies are released, it certainly suggests that the "threat" of such movies and video games aren't as big as some would have you believe.



Oh goodie. Do you suppose this has something to do with poor security in organizations?

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/27/0018252&from=rss

Microsoft Security Makes "Worst Jobs" List

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday June 27, @02:06AM from the whale-meat-and-blubber dept.

Stony Stevenson asks, rhetorically, "What do whale-feces researchers, hazmat divers, and employees of Microsoft's Security Response Center have in common? They all made Popular Science magazine's 2007 list of the absolute worst jobs in science." Quoting:

"The MSRC ranked near the middle as the sixth-worst job in this year's list.. 'We did rate the Microsoft security researcher as less-bad than the people who prepare the carcasses for dissection in biology laboratories,' Moyer said. Moyer didn't have to think long when asked whether he'd rather have the number 10-ranked whale research job. 'Whale feces or working at Microsoft? I would probably be the whale feces researcher,' he said. 'Salt air and whale flatulence; what could go wrong?'"

Here's the Popular Mechanics list all on one page.



I don't get this one, but they have some others that might be more interesting...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015274.html

June 25, 2007

askSam Releases Free Searchable e-Book, 15,000 Useful Phrases

askSam releases free searchable ebook: Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases, by Greenville Kleiser: "A Practical Handbook Of Pertinent Expressions, Striking Similes, Literary, Commercial, Conversational, And Oratorical Terms, For The Embellishment Of Speech And Literature, And The Improvement Of The Vocabulary Of Those Persons Who Read, Write, And Speak English."

[From the web site...

Also Available in Searchable Databases:



Very interesting. Take a look at their web site...

http://digg.com/software/PicLens_Firefox_plugin_for_viewing_pictures_online

PicLens: Firefox plugin for viewing pictures online.

a firefox plug-in that provides an immersive full-screen experience for viewing photos on the Web. A must see! This software interacts with a number of different sites and has many different features such as the ability to view pictures in a slideshow.

http://piclens.com/firefox/

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