Oh what a shock. Initial reports underestimated the scope of the data spill...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20519959/
Personal data stolen on gov. jobs Web site
Hackers took information from about 146,000 users of site run by Monster
By Jim Finkle Reuters Updated: 5:31 p.m. MT Aug 30, 2007
BOSTON - About 146,000 people using a jobs Web site sponsored by the U.S. government have had their personal information stolen by hackers who broke into computers at Monster Worldwide Inc, a government spokesman said on Thursday.
The theft on the USAjobs.gov site, which has about 2 million total users, was part of the hacking operation that Monster disclosed last week, according to Peter Graves, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
... The information stolen was names, mailing addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Social security numbers, which are encrypted in the database, were not compromised, Graves said.
... The government got its first clue that the site had been compromised on July 20, when a subscriber submitted what appeared to be a fraudulent e-mail, Graves said.
Very (too) common.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2177674,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594
Monster.com Admits It's Been Hit Before
By Brian Prince August 30, 2007
Monster officials admit the database breach was larger than previously announced and promise to tighten security controls.
The fallout from the data breach at Monster.com is growing wider, as the company has confirmed that the company's databases have been targeted by hackers before.
Monster copped to a large security breach Aug. 22, but is now admitting that the data leakage has been going on for longer and could involve more customers than originally announced.
... But company officials noted that the theft of confidential information was not an isolated incident and said the scope of illegal activity was impossible to pinpoint.
... This kind of rolling disclosure is likely to become widespread, according to Prat Moghe, chief technology officer and founder of Tizor, a data auditing software firm also based in Maynard.
"We will continue to see this pattern, where a breach is announced and then days, even months later it comes to light that the scope of the breach was much larger than first thought."
Moghe said thieves can exploit the fact that most enterprises don't have real-time visibility into what is happening with data (see next article) once credentialed users access it. "Without visibility into the data core, the escalation of damage is inevitable," he said.
Another HP scandal? What effect will this have on e-Discovery? (See why you need to know where your data flows?)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070829/224855.shtml
Turns Out The MPAA Did Get Access To TorrentSpy Execs' Email
from the ethically-challenged dept
The MPAA has been pushing the courts to force TorrentSpy to spy on its users -- something TorrentSpy refuses to do, noting that it would break their own privacy policy and is simply ethically questionable. It should come as no surprise, of course, that the MPAA has no such qualms. In fact, it came out today that the MPAA had, in fact, been snooping through TorrentSpy's executives' emails. So, which organization looks more ethically challenged? This stems from a case TorrentSpy filed last year, after finding out that a former co-worker gave the MPAA access to TorrentSpy emails. While a court has found that the MPAA's actions did not violate wiretap laws, it's still pretty questionable. What appears to have happened, is that a former TorrentSpy employee who had access to the company's email system set it up so all executives' emails also forwarded to a gmail account he owned. He then sold access to that gmail account to people at the MPAA. Clearly, the MPAA knew that the TorrentSpy execs thought these emails were private, and yet they still eagerly paid up for access to them, which is really sleazy. TorrentSpy is appealing the case, but they'd probably have a much stronger case against the former employee who set up the email forwarding system in the first place.
Their immediate reaction shows how serious they are!
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9769449-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Cell carriers fined over missed e911 deadlines
Posted by Anne Broache August 30, 2007 2:17 PM PDT
Federal regulators late on Thursday slapped three wireless firms, including No. 3 operator Sprint Nextel, with a total of $2.83 million in fines for not meeting a long-passed deadline for equipping subscribers with enhanced 911 service.
The Federal Communications Commission had set a December 31, 2005 date by which all mobile carriers had to ensure that 95 percent of their subscribers had location-sensitive handsets--that is, those that allow emergency responders to pinpoint a caller's location upon connection to the 911 switchboard.
“Use the 'Streisand Effect' wisely, Luke” (The video is also at this link)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070829/195149.shtml
Supermarket A&P Makes Sure That People Associate Mock Gangsta Rap Video With A&P
from the nice-work,-Streisand dept
Well, here's an interesting variation on the Streisand Effect. Apparently, the well known supermarket in the northeastern US, A&P, recently fired two young brothers who worked at the grocery store for making a satirical gangsta rap video about the produce section of a supermarket. The brothers never actually mention A&P in the video, which is clearly just parodying typical gangsta rap videos, but the company now says that it's going to sue the brothers for a million dollars for defamation. Of course, in doing so, they've now made it so that a lot more people will both see the video and associate it with A&P. Before this, it's unlikely most people would have known that it was filmed in an A&P. But, now that they're suing... everyone will know and a lot more people will see it. It's hard to see how that's beneficial to anyone. In the meantime, the video remains up on YouTube:
This must be why Copyright Lawyers get the big bucks... (Might make an interesting exam question – if I knew what to ask...)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070830/143225.shtml
Viacom Accuses Guy Of Copyright Infringement For Showing Video Of Viacom Infringing On His Copyright
from the follow-that? dept
Ben S. was the first of many folks to submit to us this incredible story of Viacom's latest ridiculous claim of copyright infringement. As you're most likely aware by this point, Viacom is in the middle of a nasty $2 billion lawsuit with Google over what it alleges are videos that infringe on Viacom's copyright appearing on YouTube. Of course, in making those claims, Viacom has been known to be a bit too aggressive in taking down videos -- including some that clearly did not violate Viacom's copyright. This latest case, however, may be the most ridiculous.
VH1 is a Viacom property that has a popular TV show called "Web Junk 2.0." It basically just takes the more popular/funny/stupid clips that show up on YouTube every week and shows them on TV along with some goofy commentary from the show's host. I'd always wondered if Viacom compensated the owners of those videos -- especially given the company's position about YouTube. It turns out that neither Viacom nor VH1 compensate the video owners, or even ask their permission. It just assumes that it can use them. Most turn out to be perfectly happy (not surprisingly) to get this sort of free publicity. One guy thought it was so cool that he recorded the clip of Web Junk that featured his own video and posted that on YouTube so he could blog about it. And, in an incredibly ironic move, Viacom sent a takedown notice to YouTube forcing it offline. Just to make it clear: Viacom used this guy's work without permission and put it on TV. The guy then takes Viacom's video of his video and puts it online... and Viacom freaks out claiming copyright infringement. Effectively, Viacom is claiming that it's infringement of Viacom's copyright to display an example of Viacom infringing on copyright.
[The original(?) copyright holders web site: http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/08/viacom-hits-me-with-copyright.html ]
Lots of legal stuff on email discovery...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20070830233049295
Caution: Private E-Mails Might Turn Public
Friday, August 31 2007 @ 05:22 AM CDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: In the Courts
Recent headlines have highlighted the blurring divide between professional and private e-mail accounts: The White House and its staffers were subjected to criticism and scrutiny for their use of non-governmental e-mail accounts and BlackBerrys in connection with official business; New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's aides' personal e-mail accounts have been targeted for communications concerning the investigation into the Senate majority leader; and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine recently declared that he would stop using e-mail entirely in response to legal requests for private e-mails between the governor and his ex-girlfriend.
Source - Law.com
For my Web Site classes. Imagine a map showing everyplace to get pizza within 2 miles of the campus!
http://www.killerstartups.com/User-Gen-Content/mapufacture--Build-Your-Own-Map/
Mapufacture.com - Build Your Own Map
Calling all travel bugs, geography buffs, and anyone else who sees the world as their playground. Mapufacture.com is a clever site that helps users construct their own special map sprinkled with different tags. Maps can be concentrated in a certain town or can include all seven continents. Once an area is decided on, users can tag locations with data feeds from blogs and websites, photos, text, weather, and add other personal touches.
My artistic ability isn't...
http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/proce55ing--Software-for-New-Programmers/
Proce55ing.net - Software for New Programmers
Are you a current or future computer programming student with a passion for electronic art? Processing might be right up your alley, as it is a free dowloadable software program designed for students learning the art and technique of both computer programming and electronic art. Started by fellow peers in the MIT Media Lab, the application aims to simplify and deconstruct the programming process using visual aids (or 'sketching') as its main teaching tool. Further, it focuses on the process of creating a new program rather than the finished product, and wants to be a transition tool for more complicated programs like Java. Right now their software is in beta testing, and they encourage users to try it out. The site contains links to many other resources and teaching tools for other kinds of programming.
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