Saturday, December 03, 2011


Dang. There goes another Drone/Maverick Targeting Tool...
Hole in Skype reveals location and downloading habits
December 2, 2011 by Dissent
Joan Goodchild reports:
Researchers have found a flaw in Skype, the popular Voice-over-Internet-Protocol service which allows users to make video phone calls and internet chat with their computers. The vulnerability can expose your location, identity and the content you’re downloading. Microsoft, which owns Skype, says they are working on the problem.
The issue was uncovered earlier this year by a team of researchers from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), MPI-SWS in Germany and INRIA in France and included Keith Ross, Stevens LeBlond, Chao Zhang, Arnaud Legout, and Walid Dabbous.
Read more on CSO Online.


Could it be that someone in Congress is starting to get it?
By Dissent, December 2, 2011
Five members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to TRICARE Management Authority concerning the recent SAIC breach that affected over 4.9 million members of the military and their dependents.
In a series of questions, the legislators ask for details as to TRICARE’s policies and, in particular, any policies or contracts it had for SAIC. Noting that SAIC had experienced at least six prior breaches, they also ask what steps TMA took since these breaches and what steps it will take to prevent future incidents.
Actually, this is a killer letter that I encourage you to read in its entirety. Kudos to Reps. Markey, Barton, DeGette, Stearns, and Andrews for asking the right questions – including why TMA continued and continues to deal with SAIC in light of its track record.
I can’t wait to see the answers, which they’ve requested be provided by February 22.
In a press release today, Deborah Peel, M.D., of Patient Privacy Rights, said:
The fact that SAIC has continued to get billions in funds from the federal government despite repeated breaches of sensitive health information shows also that the federal process of awarding, monitoring and auditing, and assuring performance of billion-dollar contracts needs investigation.
Providers, healthcare organizations, and technology companies that do not use state-of-the-art data security for health information should not be allowed to work in the healthcare field. If you are unwilling to protect patient data, you don’t belong in healthcare.


This is an interesting idea. I never liked the idea that crooks would just 'give up' their tools. This suggest a thoughtful player with strategic vision – I think I'll start a fan club!
"Reuters has published a provocative article describing the findings of cyberwarfare expert John Bumgarner, a former Army intelligence officer. His contention is that Conficker identified targets, then opened the door for Stuxnet. 'His analysis challenges a common belief that Conficker was built by an Eastern European criminal gang to engage in financial fraud. The worm's latent state had been a mystery for some time. It appears never to have been activated in the computers it infected, and security experts have speculated that the program was abandoned by those who created it because they feared getting caught after Conficker was subjected to intense media scrutiny. If confirmed, Bumgarner's work could deepen understanding of how Stuxnet's commanders ran the cyber operation that last year sabotaged an underground facility at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are enriching uranium using thousands of gas centrifuges.'"


Is it “insurmountable” or simply the wrong approach? Do we care “How” they did it or “What “they did?
The Cookie Crumbles for Amazon Privacy Plaintiffs – Del Vecchio v. Amazon
December 2, 2011 by Dissent
Suggested musical accompaniment to this entry “Another One Bites the Dust.”
Venkat Balasubramani summarizes a recent order to dismiss in a federal action against Amazon
Plaintiffs sued Amazon, alleging that Amazon’s use of “flash” cookies and certain browser “tokens” was misleading. In a putative class action, Del Vecchio asserted claims against Amazon under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the Washington Consumer Protection Act, along with claims for trespass and unjust enrichment. The court dismisses the lawsuit, and although it grants leave to amend, it sends a pretty clear message to plaintiffs that they face a high (and likely insurmountable) hurdle.
Read Venkat’s analysis on Technology & Marketing Law Blog.
[From the article:
The court identifies two problems with the CFAA claim. First, plaintiffs fail to satisfy the $5,000 damage threshold. Plaintiffs argued that Amazon’s use of cookies “devalued” their personal information but the court says that this allegation is entirely speculative. Did the plaintiffs really lose the ability to exchange their personal information with third parties as a result of Amazon’s use of cookies or was this ability somehow lessened? Negative, says the court. The second category of possible loss was diminished performance to the plaintiffs' computers. The court rejects this allegation as well, noting that “not one of the Plaintiffs alleges that he or she discerned any difference whatsoever in the performance of his or her computer while visiting [Amazon’s] site.”


Let's hope that TSA agents will glow in the dark before people who travel occasionally by plane.
December 02, 2011
PBS Special Highlights Risks of Airport Body Scanners
"A PBS Newshour special highlights the radiation risks and security flaws of airport body scanners. The program follows EPIC's Freedom of Information Act lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security. EPIC's suits forced disclosure of documents detailing the health risks and privacy hazards posed by the scanners as well as the proposed use of the scanners on public streets and in train stations
[Could someone explain to TSA how difficult it would be for terrorists to drive a train into a skyscraper? Bob]


Looks like I'll have to print off a Swiss passport...
"One in three people in Switzerland download unauthorized music, movies and games from the Internet, and — since last year — the government has been wondering what to do about it. This week their response was published, and it was crystal clear. Not only will downloading for personal use stay completely legal, but the copyright holders won't suffer because of it, since people eventually spend the money saved on entertainment products."


Depressing?
December 01, 2011
Pew Report: The internet as a diversion and destination
The internet as a diversion and destination - On a typical day, 53% of young adults go online just for fun and to pass the time, by Lee Rainie. December 2, 2011
"Americans are increasingly going online just for fun and to pass the time. On any given day, 53% of all the young adults ages 18-29 go online for no particular reason except to have fun or to pass the time. Many of them go online in purposeful ways, as well. But the results of a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project show that young adults’ use of the internet can at times be simply for the diversion it presents. Indeed, 81% of all young adults in this age cohort report they have used the internet for this reason at least occasionally."


Okay guys, next time...
Programmers Shred Pentagon’s Paper Puzzle Challenge
A team of California computer programmers has conquered the Pentagon’s latest civilian research challenge.
The military’s way-out research arm, Darpa, today announced that the team of three, called “All Your Shreds Belong To Us,” had scooped up the $50,000 prize. To do it, they’d required 33 days and 600 man hours, all to re-assemble five shredded documents. A whopping 9,000 teams entered the contest, which gave groups until Dec. 5 — meaning the winners barely scraped by — to use whatever means necessary to put pulverized papers back together.


Please, not in my classroom.
Angry Birds Launches Wonderful Pistachios Branded Game For Free [News]
Are you a fan of Angry Birds? Are you a fan of Wonderful Pistachios? If you answered yes to both of these questions than Rovio Mobile has a proposition for you. They have just launched a Wonderful Pistachios branded Angry Birds game that is 100% free and playable right in your web browser by simply heading to GetCrackin.com. That’s one interesting way to market your pistachio company.
The game only works if you are using Google Chrome as your web browser (another bit of marketing perhaps). As long as you have Chrome installed, you just go to the website, and click “Play and Win now” to get started.
In addition to being a free game, you can also win prizes for playing. Prizes range from free pistachios all the way up to $25,000 in cash. [Remember my cut Bob]


Global Warming!...Global Warming!...See, this confuses me. If we went from an “inter-glacial period” (i.e. not an Ice Age) to an Ice Age, that seems to suggest that during the inter-glacial period the Earth was much warmer than it is now, before there was much “industrial pollution” and something triggered a rapid cooling. Would we be wrong to try and reverse that “climate event” rather than the “climate event” that is returning us to a warmer Earth?
Study: CO2 drop drove Antarctic ice birth
… "We went from a warm world without ice to a cooler world with an ice sheet overnight, in geologic terms, because of fluctuations in carbon dioxide levels."


Apparently it does confuse my students when I recommend a Cheat Sheet
Want To Be More Productive? Download Our 24 Free PDF Cheatsheets Today
We here at MakeUseOf have been committed from day one to teaching you how to do things faster, easier, and more efficiently. Now we have produced 24 PDF cheatsheets for you to download absolutely free of charge which will list all the shortcuts available for different popular programs such as Microsoft Outlook, Skype (including the secret emoticons), Firefox, Chrome, Gmail and many more.
The other programs for which cheatsheets are available are :
iPhone Gmail Twitter Photoshop CS5 iTunes (for both Windows and Mac) Windows Windows CMD Mac OSX Linux GIMP Chat smileys Facebook VLC Player Google Reader Mozilla Thunderbird Internet Explorer Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox (for both Windows and Mac) Google search


Interesting grouping for “security breach” and I like being able to “Hide” a category
Helioid’s Search Engine Provides Category Sorting To Aid Research, Targets Students And Professionals
Without billions of dollars in resources like Microsoft or a tight vertical focus like travel site Kayak to help attract users, would-be competitors haven’t been able to pull people away from Google.
Helioid is a small startup out of New York that’s trying to change that, by delivering results tied to categories of information. It’s aiming at students, professionals and others who are trying to do exploratory research across a topic, and aren’t just looking for a specific answer to a question.

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