Saturday, February 09, 2008

The most difficult task for management is implementing “lessons learned.”

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080208091755986

Lost thumb drive contains some BJ's employee names and SSN

Friday, February 08 2008 @ 09:17 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

On January 15th, BJ's Wholesale Club sent the New Hampshire DOJ a copy of a notification letter to employees. The letter indicates that an employee who was working on updating a list of participants in the firm's tuition reimbursement programs lost the external back-up drive that contained names and Social Security numbers. The drive was last used on December 31st and noticed as missing on January 3.

The company has arranged for free credit monitoring for those affected and notes that it is recalling all mobile storage devices and replacing them with encrypted, password-protected drives.

Source - BJ's Notification Letter to New Hampshire DOJ [pdf]

[BJ's has been mentioned before...

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118690579.html

Raleigh, N.C., BJ's Wholesale Club Credit Card Holders Told to Eye Statements.

From: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) Date: March 24, 2004



How silly of us! Of course it wasn't done to obstruct the investigation.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080208093328766

D.C.: 2 Computer Servers Taken Out With Trash

Friday, February 08 2008 @ 09:33 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Two large computer servers belonging to the Washington D.C. tax office [D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue] have been found in an alley next to a commercial trash compactor. The office is at the center of a corruption scandal.

.... The Washington Post reports that federal investigators want to examine the servers for possible evidence in a case involving the embezzlement of more than $20 million in bogus property tax refunds. Two former tax office employees are among 10 people arrested in the case.

Authorities also want to know if the servers contain any personal information about the city's taxpayers.

Source - CBS News



“Ve know vere you are. Ve know vere you have been. Ve know everything!” If it was allowed because the technology wasn't very good, shouldn't it be dis-allowed when the technology matures?

http://www.news.com/Police-Blotter-E911-rules-aid-police-in-tracking-cell-phones/2100-1030_3-6229805.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

Police Blotter: E911 rules aid police in tracking cell phones

By Declan McCullagh Story last modified Fri Feb 08 16:14:02 PST 2008

Police Blotter is a weekly News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law.

What: Minnesota man charged with alien smuggling says data from a location tap of his T-Mobile phone should not be used against him in court.

When: U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in Minnesota rules on January 31.

Outcome: Prosecutors can use location information.

What happened, according to court documents:

Federal prosecutors have been arguing that they should be able to track the locations of Americans through their cell phones without showing any evidence of criminal activity--in legalese, no "probable cause"--because cell-tracking technology is not that precise. Police Blotter was the first to report on this trend nearly three years ago.

In one case in Texas, for instance, prosecutors claimed in a legal brief (PDF) that: "It is true that cell-site data provides information about the location of a cell phone user. However, cell phones do not permit the detailed continuous tracking of movement..."

That was then. Now that the Federal Communications Commission's E911 requirements have led to the adoption of assisted GPS and triangulation through cellular towers, "detailed continuous tracking of movement" has become commonplace. (The Sprint Navigation and Verizon's VZ Navigator feature are two examples.)



An interesting resource? (I've even translated it from the New Zealand-ish)

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080208105550694

NZ: Cellphones, computers in privacy law review

Friday, February 08 2008 @ 10:55 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Non-U.S. News

The Law Commission has launched the first phase of a four-stage investigation into privacy that will end with proposals to change the 1993 Privacy Act, which was passed when the Internet was in its infancy and before it was possible to take pictures from cellphones.

The first stage, Privacy Concepts and Issues, made public yesterday, outlines the values surrounding privacy and examines the impact of technology and other areas.

Source - Stuff

Related: This study paper is the outcome of stage 1 of the Law Commission’s Review of Privacy, and provides background for the later stages. It establishes a conceptual framework for the Review; examines social attitudes, technological developments, and international trends relating to privacy; and looks at some particular issues that will be discussed in more detail in the later stages of the Review. It does not include recommendations. Privacy Concepts and Issues - NZLC SP 19 [pdf]


Related What would happen if my students were required to pick a politician and find out everything they could?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080208124620882

The Anonymity Experiment

Friday, February 08 2008 @ 12:46 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Other Privacy News

During a week of attempting to cloak every aspect of daily life, our correspondent found that in an information age, leaving no trace is nearly impossible

Source - Popular Science



Can you see the hacking potential here? (Scan your check, deposit it, modify the amount and check number, repeat...)

http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/61574.html

New Tech Lets Customers Make Bank Deposits Without Leaving Home

By Jim Offner E-Commerce Times Part of the ECT News Network 02/07/08 10:36 AM PT

CheckFree's Remote Deposit Capture system has some hurdles to clear even though in the long run the technology will be a boon to consumers, said Ed Kountz, a senior analyst with JupiterResearch. However, "over the short term, of course, it allows the consumer to basically deposit a check, as long as you have a scanner, a PC and an Internet connection, and that's certainly a positive."



Outsourcing without off-shoring.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/08/Barclays-sells-US-call-center-to-Indian-outsourcer_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/02/08/Barclays-sells-US-call-center-to-Indian-outsourcer_1.html

Barclays turns U.S. call center over to Indian outsourcer

Barclays' credit card business in the U.S. signs a five-year deal worth as much as $80 million with Indian outsourcer Firstsource Solutions to run a call center in Colorado

By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service February 08, 2008

Barclays' credit card business in the United States has struck a five-year deal with Indian outsourcer Firstsource Solutions to run a call center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The value of the deal could be as much as $80 million, according to a notice on Friday sent by Firstsource to the Bombay Stock Exchange.



Interesting. An aggregation of existing (bet the school didn't know about these) podcasts. Perhaps my students would like to create something like this...

http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/7281.html

Indiana University launches podcast.iu.edu

FOR RELEASE Feb. 4, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Podcast.iu.edu, an online gateway for audio and video podcasts from IU faculty and staff and various departments and groups from all of IU's campuses, will be launched publicly on Feb. 4. The user-friendly podcast portal will pull together a variety of contributed content, including lectures, music, radio broadcasts, performances and student profiles, on one convenient home page.



Worth mentioning to my e-commerce students.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Small-and-Medium-Business-IT/Yahoo-Tempts-SMBs-with-AllYouCanEat-Hosting-Buffet/

Yahoo Tempts SMBs with All-You-Can-Eat Hosting Buffet

By Karen D. Schwartz 2008-02-08

The new Yahoo Web Hosting offers unlimited disk space, Web site design tools, 1,000 e-mail accounts and more.

Yahoo has sweetened the pot for small and midsize businesses with an all-you-can-eat plan.

On Feb. 6, Yahoo introduced a flat-rate Web hosting plan called Yahoo Web Hosting. The monthly price of $11.95 includes unlimited disk space, data transfer and e-mail storage, as well as Web site design tools, a free domain name, 1,000 personalized e-mail accounts and live 24/7 customer support.



Because I love lists like this...

http://digg.com/software/10_great_free_downloads_for_your_network

10 great free downloads for your network

computerworld.com — Whether you've got a home network, small network, enterprise network or anything in between, these 10 freebies can make it more secure, run better and easier to manage. They're useful, easy to learn ... and you certainly can't beat free

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9058842&intsrc=hm_ts_head

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