I can't make any promises about keeping your personal details safe, admits Brown in wake of latest data blunder
By James Slack Last updated at 6:57 AM on 03rd November 2008
Gordon Brown today admitted the Government cannot promise to keep safe the millions of pieces of sensitive personal information it has gathered on the British public.
The Prime Minister's remarks came amid an urgent inquiry into how a memory stick with user names and passwords for a key Whitehall computer system was found in a pub car park.
The Gateway website allows members of the public to access hundreds of government services including self-assessment tax returns, pension entitlements and child benefits.
There are 12m people registered on it, and it had to be temporarily suspended.
Related
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/compute/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501832&objectid=10540887
Memory stick muck-up loses 12 million people's data
2:30PM Monday Nov 03, 2008 By Kim Sengupta
... Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights watchdog Liberty, said her organisation had conducted an audit which showed the Government had lost 30 million items of data in the past year.
"They plough on with their Big Brother ambitions, such as ID cards and scary central communications database, which are disasters waiting to happen at our expense," she said.
...because...
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081103055515911
Data “Dysprotection:” breaches reported last week
Monday, November 03 2008 @ 05:55 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews
A recap of incidents or privacy breaches reported last week for those who enjoy shaking their head and muttering to themselves with their morning coffee.
Source - Chronicles of Dissent
CyberWar: A nice summary
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/02/1415231&from=rss
How China Will Use Cyber Warfare To Leapfrog Foes
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 02, @11:12AM from the cold-war-two-point-oh dept. Security The Military Technology
The Walking Dude writes
"A lengthy article published in Culture Mandala details how China is using cyber warfare (PDF) as an asymmetric means to obtain technology transfer and market dominance. Case studies of Estonia, Georgia, and Project Chanology point towards a new auxiliary arm of traditional warfare. Political hackers and common Web 2.0 users, referred to as useful idiots (PDF), are being manipulated through PSYOPS and propaganda to enhance government agendas."
An example of “undue reliance”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10080752-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
How an 'out of the office' email became a road sign
Posted by Chris Matyszczyk November 2, 2008 1:01 AM PST
... The latest example, from Wales's second city, Swansea, is a singular delight.
Swansea is not a city that every swan would choose as its home. Its average monthly temperature never exceeds 19 degrees centigrade- yes, 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet the City Council is assiduous in ensuring that those who speak English and Welsh have equal rights when it comes to its road signs.
Every sign has to be bilingual. That doesn't mean that every council employee is bilingual.
In the area of Morriston, a new sign was needed, one that told drivers of heavy goods vehicles that they were not welcome on a particular street.
The council official responsible for the road sign immediately emailed its in-house translation service for an accurate Welsh rendition of "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only."
The translator was not around- perhaps he or she was in the pub or, perhaps, practicing their indoor bowls (Swansea hosts the World Championships). So the council official received an automated email reply: "I am out of the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated."
Those who speak Welsh tend to be proud folk. They also tend to send emails in Welsh. However, the English-speaking official thought the automated email was the actual translation. Well, it was two sentences and it seemed like the right length.
Is the potential for (trivial) competition sufficient grounds for terminating a contract? Is there more here than they are reporting?
http://torrentfreak.com/isp-disconnects-customers-with-open-wifi-081102/
ISP Disconnects Customers with Open WiFi
Written by Ernesto on November 02, 2008
Open wireless networks have served as a successful defense strategy for several alleged filesharers, as it is often impossible for content owners to prove that the person they accuse, has actually distributed the files they claim they did. Unfortunately, for the customers of the UK ISP Karoo, running open WiFi might also get them disconnected - even if it’s unintentional.
Anyone giving odds? (Remember, Obama is unlikely to grant pardons...)
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/02/1311219&from=rss
Judge Orders White House To Produce Wiretap Memos
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 02, @10:10AM from the show-and-tell dept. Privacy Communications Government The Courts United States
sv_libertarian sends this excerpt from the Associated Press:
"A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce White House memos that provide the legal basis for the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 warrantless wiretapping program. US District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. signed an order (PDF) Friday requiring the department to produce the memos by the White House legal counsel's office by Nov. 17. He said he will review the memos in private to determine if any information can be released publicly without violating attorney-client privilege or jeopardizing national security. Kennedy issued his order in response to lawsuits by civil liberties groups in 2005 after news reports disclosed the wiretapping."
Hacking for fun and profit
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/02/1734237&from=rss
10th Year of the International Nethack Tournament
Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 02, @02:14PM from the why-did-this-potion-eat-my-legs dept. Classic Games (Games) PC Games (Games) Role Playing (Games) Games
Dr. Zowie writes
"The 10th annual Nethack Tournament just started over at nethack.devnull.net, so put on your Hawaiian shirt, grab an expensive camera, and head for the dungeon. The tourney runs through the month of November each year, with volunteer game servers dotted around the world. Fewer than 1% of contestants actually finish the game by retrieving the Amulet of Yendor and ascending to demigodhood, but take heart: there many prizes for intermediate goals, and prizes for team effort. For those too young to remember games older than Halo, Nethack is the apotheosis of the Roguelike genre of role-playing games, rendered in ASCII. Gameplay is phenomenally complex, and the game is somewhat sadistic; there are no 'checkpoints,' so if you manage to kill yourself somewhere in the dungeon you must start over from the beginning. The dungeons are quasi-randomly generated, so every game is different."
Geeky business opportunity?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/technology/personaltech/30basics.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin
Wirelessly, Home Security Becomes a D.I.Y. Project
By JOHN BIGGS Published: October 29, 2008
... Most security systems consist of two parts: the hardware and the monitoring service. For decades, the hardware (window and door sensors and motion detectors, for example) was often installed by professionals, as it required some wiring and cabling.
And while those sensors may have been connected to a siren or flashing lights, the real benefit to having an alarm has always been that someone will call the police when it goes off.
... The hardware can be subsidized by the security company almost to the point where it is free, but paying an alarm service about $30 a month for years and years to watch over your system more than makes those companies whole.
Newer systems, however, can reduce the total cost of alarm ownership. Instead of relying on installers to rewire the house, new “security systems in a box” use a combination of battery, wireless and cellular technology to make installation simple and quick for most homeowners. Some systems can even bypass monitoring firms directly and contact the owner instead of a third party when the alarm is set off. One such system is sold by InGrid Home Security. The basic package, available for $199 at ingridhome.com, includes an alarm console, a phone that doubles as an alarm control and three window or door sensors. The entire kit fits in a box about as big as a shoebox.
The article identifies the trend, but doesn't provide many links...
http://digg.com/tech_news/Want_a_Free_Education_A_Guide_to_Free_Online_Video_Lectures
Want a Free Education? A Guide to Free Online Video Lectures
boston.com — The rise this year of a host of new Web video sites targeting high-minded, edifying content suggests that today's marketplace of ideas is rapidly moving online. From interviews with obscure geniuses to splashy marquee names and hoary conference proceedings, an entire back catalog of cerebral Web video is steadily accumulating online.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/11/02/u_tube/?page=full
[Sites mentioned:
http://meaningoflife.tv/ http://fora.tv/ http://www.bigthink.com/ http://www.ted.com/ http://edge.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment