Tuesday, March 24, 2009

There is nothing in the secret wiretap law to exempt lawyers...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090324050027922

UK: Lawyer-client privilege can't stop surveillance, says House of Lords

Tuesday, March 24 2009 @ 05:00 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews

The state is allowed to bug communication between lawyers and their clients, the House of Lords has said. The UK's highest court ruled that spy law the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) allows lawyers' conversations to be bugged.

Source - Out-Law.com

[From the article:

Lord Carswell said that legal professional privilege cannot be absolute, that it has to have exceptions. "If it were not possible to exercise covert surveillance of legal consultations where it is suspected on sufficiently strong grounds that the privilege was being abused, the law would confer an unjustified immunity on dishonest lawyers," he wrote.



Attention paranoids!

http://www.atthebreach.com/blog/827-increase-in-malware-sites-with-password-stealing-crimeware/

March 23, 2009

827% Increase in Malware Sites with Password-Stealing Crimeware

According to the anti-phishing working group the number of websites that contain malware/crimeware that can infect PCs with password stealing software reached an all time high of 31,173 in December which was an 827% increase from 12 months prior. December alone was nearly 3 times higher than any previous month on record.



“We'll need more cameras...”

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/the-uninsured-m.html

New Database Tells Big Brother You're Uninsured

By Ben Mack March 23, 2009 11:55:00 AM

At least 16 percent of motorists tool around without insurance, and a Michigan company says it has developed technology that allows police to easily identify and cite them.

InsureNet's database would compile names, license plate numbers and other information about motorists and provide it to some 35,000 law agencies through a nationwide network linking local, state and federal law enforcement. Cops and traffic cameras could use the information to instantly identify uninsured motorists. InsureNet claims the system could save the insurance industry billions of dollars in fraud and generate hundreds of millions in ticket revenue. It says Chicago and Mississippi are among those that may adopt the technology.

… Just 13 states require insurance companies to report customers' names and license plate numbers. Illinois is not among them, but InsureNet recently pitched its system to the Chicago City Council Transportation Committee anyway. Company officials told the panel the National Insurance Status System could generate "well in excess of $100 million" in ticket revenue for the city, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. [“First, pitch the money.” Marketing 101 Bob]



For your Security Manager.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/23/2257252&from=rss

Botnet Worm Targets DSL Modems and Routers

Posted by kdawson on Monday March 23, @08:12PM from the new-vector dept. Security The Internet

CoreDuo writes

"The people who bring you the DroneBL DNS Blacklist services, while investigating an ongoing DDoS incident, have discovered a botnet composed of exploited DSL modems and routers. OpenWRT/DD-WRT devices all appear to be vulnerable. What makes this worm impressive is the sophisticated nature of the bot, and the potential damage it can do not only to an unknowing end user, but to small businesses using non-commercial Internet connections, and to the unknowing public taking advantage of free Wi-Fi services. The botnet is believed to have infected 100,000 hosts."

A followup to the article notes that the bot's IRC control channel now claims that it has been shut down, though the ongoing DDoS attack on DroneBL suggests otherwise.



Would you backup critical data in only one place?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10202498-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Carbonite sues hardware maker, reseller

by Elinor Mills March 23, 2009 5:26 PM PDT

Customers who lost data after it had failed to be backed up properly by service provider Carbonite in 2007 may have few legal remedies, a lawyer said on Monday. Meanwhile, Carbonite is suing the hardware manufacturer and reseller for charges including breach of warranty, breach of contract, fraud, and unfair and deceptive practices.



If they Twitter, are they twits? If executives are getting paid a bazillion an hour (plus bonus) is this the best use of their time?

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/exectweets-com-follow-top-business-execs-on-twitter

ExecTweets.com - Follow Top Business Execs On Twitter

http://www.exectweets.com/

A new initiative that is sponsored by Microsoft, ExecTweets is a platform that will let you befriend and follow the top executives on the Twitterverse. The site also doubles as a true aggregator that gathers the most insightful business-related tweets in the same spot. [but insight into what, exactly? Surely not insider information... Bob]

Some of the featured executives on the list include Don Dodge from Microsoft, David Sifry from Technorati, the popular Mark Zuckerberg from the famed social networking giant and Pierre Omidyar from eBay. Executives from brands like Coca Cola, Kodak and Ford Motor are likewise featured. You can peruse the full list online, and also recommend new execs be added to it via the provided link.

Navigation-wise, the site includes a “Hot topics” cloud that will let you jump straight to any subject or recent event that you deem as important like the recent SXSW Music and Media Conference.

When all is said and done, a resource like this one will let anyone learn from the very best and also form stronger bonds among the players of the different industries that are taken into consideration.



There are a few students I might loan money to. (Keyword: few)

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/greennote-com-a-different-way-to-get-student-loans

GreenNote.com - A Different Way To Get Student Loans

http://www.greennote.com/

“Get student loans from people who believe in you” is the tagline of this new company. It aims to let students obtain loans for education via a channel that is going from strength to strength, namely social networks.

Essentially, the site will let students connect with those that make up their social networks [Other impoverished students? Bob] and ask for small student loans. These loans are formalized by GreenNote so that everything becomes legally binding and repayments are ensured.



For my over-achieving readers... (I'm looking for a student version that lock them onto the computer...)

http://teachingcollegemath.com/?p=747

Computer Lockdown is a Good Thing

Whenever I give a presentation at a college or conference, someone always asks the question. You know. THAT question.

“Just how much time do you spend at the computer every day?”

I’m not sure if I really don’t want to know, or I know, but I don’t want to acknowledge it. It’s a lot. In the last year I’ve gained a few pounds and that’s got to be reversed, so I’ve once again instituted the “Computer Lockdown” program (which my husband absolutely hates).

What is the “Computer Lockdown” program, you ask? (well, thanks for asking) It’s actually a software program called WorkPace designed to prevent RSI (repetitive strain injury). After intensive periods of typing it locks the keyboard for a few seconds to force you to rest your fingers. But that’s not the primary reason I use it. The reason I use WorkPace is that I can force myself to take computer breaks. My computer will actually lock me out and no amount of cajoling or rebooting will let me back in for 10 minutes.

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