http://www.databreaches.net/?p=9747
Innotek reports breach
February 2, 2010 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Business Sector
If this site had a “Vaguest Breach Report of the Month Award,” I think Innotek would have won it for January.
For an example of a breach report that pretty much says absolutely nothing useful other than the number of New Hampshire residents to be notified, see Innotek’s notification to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Apparently they neither knew the nature of the breach nor the extent of the breach at the time of their notification. Hopefully, letters they send to those affected contain more detail.
All the surveillance cameras in the world, and they came in over the Internet.
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=9744
UK: Incidents of identity theft up by 32pc
February 2, 2010 by admin Filed under Commentaries and Analyses, ID Theft, Non-U.S.
Justin Harper reports:
The recession has led to a surge in financial fraud with identity theft up by almost a third, latest industry figures have revealed.
A worrying trend is emerging where criminals take over the running of your bank account and transfer funds into an account they have set up to accept these bogus payments, according to CIFAS, the UK’s fraud prevention service.
[...]
Read more in the Telegraph.
“We don't need no stinking Federalist Papers!” You are free to say anything you want and as long as I like it, you won't be arrested.
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=7471
AU: Attorney-General cracks down on ’sewer’ internet election comment
February 1, 2010 by Dissent Filed under Featured Headlines, Internet, Non-U.S.
Michael McGuire reports:
South Australia has become one of the few states in the world to restrict the internet under laws created by Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.
AdelaideNow reports the new law, which came into force on January 6, requires internet bloggers, and anyone making a comment on next month’s state election, to publish their real name and postcode when commenting on the poll.
The law will affect anyone posting a comment on an election story on The Advertiser’s AdelaideNow website, as well as other news sites such as The Punch, the ABC’s The Drum and Fairfax newspapers’ National Times site.
Read more in the Courier Mail.
[From the article:
It also appears to apply to election comment made on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Loose lips sink ships” and they have an impact on companies too.
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=7466
New EU laws to target Facebook
February 1, 2010 by Dissent Filed under Internet, Non-U.S.
Leigh Phillips reports:
Two weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of social networking site Facebook, told the world to just get over it – no one cares about privacy anymore, provoking a storm of protest across cyberspace.
On Thursday (28 January), the European Commission responded to the 24-year-old billionaire and announced plans for comprehensive new laws that have in their sights the massively popular website.
The commission is concerned that its existing rules on data protection date back to 1995, the very early days of what was at the time called the “information superhighway” and are extraordinarily out of date. Brussels is not just worried that the internet has sped ahead of its regulatory grasp, but also that many technologies, in particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), behavioural advertising and even airport security devices have proceeded apace, leaving EU legislation in the lurch.
Read more on EUobserver.com H/T, Brian Honan
(Related) Maybe Facebook will claim privacy does exist when it is in their interest to do so? Be careful who you “friend?”
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=7486
Facebook Fights Subpoena in Police Shooting
February 2, 2010 by Dissent Filed under Court, Internet
Joe Harris reports:
A former St. Louis police officer who is facing a felony trial for a shooting has requested records from Facebook, but the social network site isn’t giving them up without a fight. The officer claims that online friendships between investigators and bar patrons create concerns about the impartiality of the investigation.
Albert Watkins, attorney for former police Officer Bryan Pour, says there are friendships between investigating officers and patrons at Mac N Mick’s Sports Bar & Grill in Pontoon Beach, where the Nov. 9, 2008 shooting occurred.
“We believe law enforcement had pre-existing and subsequent relationships with material witnesses,” Watkins told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Our position is that someone charged with a crime has a right to subpoena exculpatory evidence.”
But Facebook is fighting the subpoena.
Read more on Courthouse News.
[From the article:
Facebook attorneys argued in court documents that the site is prohibited by federal law from disclosing the information. Even if the site complied, the "defendant's requests are hopelessly overbroad and vague, and compliance would impose an undue burden on Facebook's resources," court papers state.
(Related) “This doesn't cost us anything, so we could care less.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10445698-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
New Facebook craze can violate terms of service
by Caroline McCarthy February 2, 2010 5:20 AM PST
If you're one of Facebook's 350-million-plus members, you've probably noticed a handful of people on your friends list changing their profile photos to pictures of celebrities, cartoon characters, Muppets, and other notable figures recently.
That's because an unofficial viral craze called "Doppelganger Week" has arisen on the social network. To participate, you change your profile picture to a celebrity or otherwise notable figure whom you resemble (or like to think you resemble).
Nobody's really sure where Doppelganger Week came from or who started it. It's particularly funny considering the recent emergence of more photos from the set of "The Social Network," a movie based on the origins of Facebook in which the company's early executives are portrayed by, yes, celebrity doppelgangers.
The catch is, putting up a celebrity photo on your Facebook profile may not actually be kosher. In the company's terms of service, it says: "You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else's rights or otherwise violates the law... We can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement." So unless you took that celebrity photo yourself or bought the rights to it, it may be in violation.
(Related)
Facebook king when it comes to social networking risk
by Steve Ragan - Feb 1 2010, 17:20
Based on comments from Facebook and new data from Sophos, the social portal with over 350 million users is the leader when it comes to privacy risks, Spam, and other malicious activity.
When asked, 61 percent of respondents to a Sophos survey pegged Facebook as the biggest security risk in the social networking world, followed by MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The fact that Facebook is on top could be based on the sheer number of people using the service, as criminals will always target the easy mark when it comes to a Spam run or malicious link spree. With 350 million users, each offering up a treasure trove of personal data, the pickings are plenty on Facebook alone.
If you can't copy your eBooks from device to device, you need to buy more copies. (Or talk to a hacker)
Apple Demands Removal Of USB Sharing Feature In Stanza iPhone App
by Robin Wauters on February 2, 2010
… This morning, we got some tips from people who were angry or surprised about Lexcycle removing the USB sharing feature from the Stanza app. I looked up the app in the iTunes Store and saw that the update notice now read ‘Removed the ability to share books via USB as required by Apple’. A glance at the forums on the Lexcycle website revealed that users were quite upset about the removal of the app, with only some suggesting that Apple may have had something to do with it and offering explanations why they would have demanded it.
Could be China is planning to put spies in all of Iowa's casinos. Could be Las Vegas/Atlantic City are trying to get the employee's addresses to send them job offers. Could be some teenager with a “system.” Could be they are raising the “China hacked us” flag because they have no other clues. (Great new term: Cyber vikings!)
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=9746
Data breach: Trail points to China in Iowa computer hack
February 2, 2010 by admin Filed under Government Sector, Hack
William Petroski reports:
Iowa investigators suspect a serious breach of a state government computer database last week originated in China, which a congressional panel says has increased its use of cyber espionage tactics.
The hackers gained access to a computer system operated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. The breach allowed access to personal information involving about 80,000 people, primarily current and former employees of Iowa’s casino and racing industries, commission administrator Jack Ketterer said.
Letters advising people of the security breach are scheduled to be mailed today, Ketterer said.
A forensic investigation indicates China was the source of the hacking incident, although state officials are not absolutely certain because some computer hackers try to disguise their digital footprints, said Robert Bailey, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.
Read more in the Des Moines Register.
[From the article:
The hacker gained entry to the state's computer system on Jan. 26 while the state-owned Iowa Communications Network was performing routine maintenance on a firewall, said Bailey. He said the hacker then accessed the commission's database because a firewall on the commission's computer system had not been properly patched by a private contractor.
[So, the State turned off the firewall while they were “maintaining” it. And the State hired incompetent security consultants and didn't bother to check their work. That about cover it? Bob]
James Carafano, a national security scholar at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., said Monday he was not surprised to hear of a possible Chinese link to the breach of the Iowa commission's computers.
"The Chinese are the cyber vikings of the 21st century," Carafano said. "They go everywhere, and they are looking for everything.
… Ketterer said Monday that a computer log had indicated before the breach occurred that Ambient had installed all appropriate software patches, although in reality the patches had not been installed. [I know of no way to make the log reflect actions/results that did not occur except by deliberate falsification. Bob]
I did not expect Colorado to be an “above average” Twitter using state, but then we do have a lot of young, tech-aware citizens.
Twitter Territory: How States Compare to the Average U.S. Twitter Grade
Wow! Economic stimulus for teachers? Can I get a grant to explore the intricacies of the On/Off switch?
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/023397.html
February 01, 2010
National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies Funded for Launch
News release: "After more than a decade of nationwide effort, the Digital Promise Project has achieved an essential goal – the creation of the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies. This year the Department of Education, as provided by their 2010 appropriations legislation, will make available the initial funding required to launch the National Center. In the words of the Center’s authorizing legislation, “The purpose of the Center shall be to support a comprehensive research and development program to harness the increasing capability of advanced information and digital technologies to improve all levels of learning and education, formal and informal, in order to provide Americans with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy.” Congress voted overwhelmingly to establish this Center, the first new national research center in many years, as an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Authorized in 2008 by amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, the National Center will have a governing board of nine members, which will include outstanding representatives from the public and private sectors and from varied professions and disciplines."
"The National Center will be eligible to receive private as well as public funds. It will fill a critical gap by funding practical, advanced learning research that is unlikely to be undertaken entirely with private funds. To help the efficient launch and operation of the new Center, the Digital Promise team has developed a suggested management plan. In addition, a suggested learning research “road map” has been produced under the supervision of the Federation of American Scientists in workshops attended by distinguished educators, scientists, technology experts, and other stakeholders."
Eventually, even my students graduate.
Build An Impressive Free Resume Online In 15 Minutes With JobSpice
By Jessica Cam Wong on Feb. 1st, 2010
If you’re uploading a resume that you created the painful way through Microsoft Word, you’ll also have to go through the hassle of converting your resume to PDF in order to prevent the potential employer from seeing the squiggly red lines in your resume indicating that your last name or your most recent employer’s isn’t grammatically recognized, among other formatting risks. Save yourself all the trouble (and time!) and let Y Combinator-funded JobSpice help you build a free resume online in 15-20 minutes!
(Related) What does the modern resume look like? Here's one version.
Digital Organization: Create a clickable resume!
… If you don’t already have a resume/vita online, you need to decide on a format. The most commonly used platforms are websites or blogs (although I think a wiki would work well too). If you’re nervous about creating your own webpage, I’ve found that Google Sites is extremely easy to use. In one of my math classes last semester, every student had to create a clickable resume/portfolio as a final project - we used Google Sites (here’s an example) and it took about 5 minutes of lab time to get everyone using it.
I may need this, since I frequently quote from “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and “Forrest Gump” and others.
http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/vidinotes-create-printable-notes-video/
VidiNotes: Create Printable Notes From A Video
… VidiNotes lets you capture up to 30 different images from any FLV video, add notes to them and generate a printable PDF from them. You can upload any video up to 25MB in size and once it is uploaded, just play the video and start capturing screens.
Note that the last few articles help you to “get with” modern technology. This article talk about one of the more backward areas – education.
Israel’s Time To Know Aims To Revolutionize The Classroom
by Roi Carthy on February 2, 2010
Time To Know is the realization of a single man’s vision to un-root teaching methodologies from their 19th century origins and thrust them into the 21st century.
...Time To Know believes there are three main reasons why today’s classroom is ineffective: First, relevancy—or rather, irrelevancy. Kids are living in a digital world with a tremendous amount of stimulus. Expecting them to happily and effectively embrace ‘passive learning’ that requires them to just sit, listen and provide output in exams is simply unrealistic. Second, variance. There no such thing as a homogeneous level of learning and comprehension in a classroom of students. Third, assessment—aka, the feedback loop. In today’s classroom a student could have gotten lost with the material three weeks back, but the teacher would be oblivious to it.
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