Centennial Man

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Something to consider as all our health records go online.

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6042

Alberta Health records hit by virus

July 8, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Healthcare Sector, Malware, Non-U.S., Of Note

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has been notified by Alberta Health Services that a virus was present on the Alberta Health Services network in Edmonton. The virus impacted the network and Netcare, Alberta’s electronic health record, before it was discovered and removed.

The virus is a new variant of a Trojan horse program called coreflood and is designed to steal data from an infected computer and send it to a server controlled by a hacker. Coreflood captures passwords and data the user of the computer accesses. The virus was active from May 15 to 29 before it was detected and removed.

AHS identified two groups who are potentially at risk. Patients whose health information was accessed in Netcare through an infected computer and employees who accessed personal banking and email accounts from work using an infected computer. AHS is sending letters to the 11,582 patients whose information may have been exposed and has notified all affected employees.

Commissioner Frank Work says this does not necessarily mean Netcare itself has been infected by the virus; rather the virus may have captured patient data accessed through Netcare from an infected computer and sent it to an external party. [Important distinction. The application can be very secure, but if the entire processing environment isn't as secure, someone can tap in ant the weakest point. Bob] “While it appears the risk to patients is low, viruses don’t discriminate and this is an important message to everyone about the need to run up to date anti virus software”, says the Commissioner.

The Commissioner’s office is investigating. In the meantime Work is expecting a full forensic report from Alberta Health Services on how this happened and what steps will be taken to prevent future breaches. Work says “AHS responded quickly when the virus was detected and that steps have been taken to notify users and patients with advice on what they should do to protect personal and health information”.

Source: Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta

No statement appears on the Alberta Health Service site as of the time of this posting

The legal side is outlined. Is that all there is?

http://infoseccompliance.com/2009/07/08/pci-dss-incident-response-the-legal-perspective/

PCI DSS Incident Response: The Legal Perspective

Posted on July 8th, 2009 by David Navetta Filed under: TJX, breach notice, credit cards

The SANS Institute InfoSec Reading Room recently published an article by Christian J. Moldes entitled PCI DSS and Incident Handling: What is required before, during and after an incident. Moldes’ whitepaper is a good starting point for developing an incident response plan to address payment card security breaches. The paper hits upon the key aspects of payment card security breach handling from an information security professional’s point of view. The paper, however, speaks little of the legal implications of a payment card security breach, and the incident response considerations that arise out of those implications.

Does Microsoft have a “duty to disclose” bugs in its software? (Ask a Class Action lawyer?)

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135259/Microsoft_may_have_known_about_critical_IE_bug_for_months

Microsoft may have known about critical IE bug for months

Researchers uncovered latest bug in 2007; Microsoft mum on timing

By Gregg Keizer July 7, 2009 02:31 PM ET

Computerworld - The vulnerability that sent Microsoft scrambling yesterday and is being used by hackers now to attack Internet Explorer (IE) users may have been reported 18 months ago or more.

… The CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) number for the vulnerability -- CVE-2008-0015 -- points to a possible early 2008 reporting date. According to the database, the CVE number was reserved on Dec. 13, 2007.

Remember, North Korea has a division of hackers in its army. And since they still consider pigeons high-tech communications, how can we retaliate – short of Nuking them?

http://news.cnet.com/Cyberattacks-hit-U.S.-and-South-Korean-Web-sites/2100-7349_3-6249857.html?tag=newsLatestHeadlinesArea.0

Cyberattacks hit U.S. and South Korean Web sites

By Choe Sang-Hun The New York Times July 8, 2009 5:50 AM PDT

SEOUL, South Korea--Cyberattacks that have crippled the Web sites of several major American and South Korean government agencies since the July 4th holiday weekend appear to have been launched by a hostile group or government, South Korea's main government spy agency said on Wednesday.

Although the National Intelligence Service did not identify whom they believed responsible, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the spy agency had implicated North Korea or pro-North Korea groups. [There are pro-North Korea groups? Bob]

… In the attack, an army of thousands of "zombie computers" infected by the hackers' program were ordered to request access to these Web sites simultaneously, causing an overload that caused the sites' servers to crash, South Korean officials said.

Although most of the North Korean military's hardware is decrepit, the South Korean authorities have recently voiced their concern over possible cyberattacks from the North. In May, South Korean media reported that North Korea was running a cyberwarfare unit that operates through the Chinese Internet network and tries to hack into American and South Korean military networks.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6051

State Dept lost track of its laptops

July 8, 2009 by admin Filed under Commentaries and Analyses, Of Note

The State Department does not have an accurate accounting of its laptop computers, including ones meant for classified use, and has failed to encrypt machines [Deadline was July 1 last year! Bob] as it is supposed to do to protect sensitive information, according to a new report by the department’s inspector general.

Inspectors found that 27 laptops, worth $55,000 were missing out of a sample of 334 from four State Department bureaus.

“Because the content and the encryption status of the missing laptop computers are unknown, there is a risk that PII (Personally Identifiable Information) and other sensitive Department information may be susceptible to unauthorized access and use,” it says.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Today's theme seems to be the increasing sophistication of hacker gangs.

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6030

Hackers Decrypt Encrypted Data?

July 8, 2009 by admin Filed under Business Sector, Hack, ID Theft, Non-U.S.

Meanwhile, in Manila, the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. reports:

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) started expanding its probe into the credit card fraud after uncovering that the arrested Nigerians who managed to hack the merchant website to get vital information of the credit card holders.

[...]

Last Friday, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested four Nigerians engaged in purchasing plane tickets through fraudulently acquired credit cards in an operation in Cavite.

[...]

Mallari said the arrested Nigerians and other syndicates engaged in the credit card fraud were able to hack the merchant website.

“Information in the merchant website is encrypted and the internet hackers managed to decrypt the info. Of course not all info in the merchant web can easily accessed by syndicates like the big companies, because they have measures to protect their clients but in some instances; the syndicates succeed in decrypting the info,” said Palmer.

The remainder of the story is a bit difficult for me to understand. If anyone would like to read the whole thing and then summarize, that would be nice

Small, but interesting. Sounds like an amusing project for my Math students... Identify the range of numbers your bank (any card issuer) uses and then generate a few dozen valid numbers. My usual 10% guarantees an “A” Best Practice would be a truly random number, but with hundreds of issuers, that could cause duplicates...

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6021

ID Theft Case in Japan

July 7, 2009 by admin Filed under ID Theft, Malware, Non-U.S., Other

It’s unusual for me to see an ID theft report coming out of Japan. There was the report last year involving Yahoo! Japan, but other than that, I’m hard-pressed to think of any cases offhand. Today’s Yomiuri Shimbun, however, reports one such case:

The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Chizuru Asahi, 21….. She allegedly used other people’s credit card numbers she illicitly obtained through card-generation malware called CreditMaster. [Another useful crook-tool! Bob]

[...]

During a search of her house, the police seized eight credit cards issued under other people’s names.

Asahi was quoted by the police as saying, “We identified credit card numbers [originally issued] for more than 60 people based on these [eight] credit cards.”

[...]

This is the first time in Japan that a person has been charged in connection with a CreditMaster scheme, the Japan Credit Card Association said.

According to the association, credit card numbers are basically set sequentially based on a specific protocol created by individual credit companies.

The CreditMaster fraud scheme allows existing credit card numbers to be illicitly identified with computer software based on an existing number by making calculations based on the numb ter of the base card, excluding a specific set of numerals with which the credit card company can be identified.

(Related?) What do you bet that they also generate account numbers based on a simple algorithm...

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6014

eMoney Transfer Customer Data Accessed

July 7, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Financial Sector, Of Note, U.S., Unauthorized Access

MoneyGram International has notified the Vermont Attorney General’s Office of a breach affecting some customers using MoneyGram Payment System’s eMoney Transfer system.

According to the letter dated June 29, during routine security checks, the company discovered that some customers’ accounts had been accessed by unauthorized individuals. The company insists, however, that there was no security breach on their end. The letter from Debra Guertin, MoneyGram’s Privacy Officer, said:

The access was not a result of breakdown in MoneyGram’s security controls. Although we have investigated thoroughly and contacted law enforcement, we do not know how the criminals obtained the customers’ login information.

The unauthorized access may have exposed the customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, transaction history, and last four digits of a masked credit card number. As a preventive measure, the company blocked access to those accounts and wrote to affected customers to ask them to call in and change their password to unblock their accounts. Customers were also offered a discounted rate on a subscription to services through Equifax.

Three Vermont residents were notified of the breach. The total number affected was not reported.

Very slick. By routing through the victim's link, the bank would see the correct IP address of their customer.

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/07/2051238/PC-Invader-Costs-a-Kentucky-County-415000?from=rss

PC Invader Costs a Kentucky County $415,000

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday July 07, @07:26PM from the don't-be-stupid-out-there dept.

plover recommends a detailed account by Brian Krebs in the Washington Post's Security Fix column of a complex hack and con job resulting in the theft of $415,000 from Bullitt County, Kentucky.

"The crooks were aided by more than two dozen co-conspirators in the United States, as well as a strain of malicious software capable of defeating online security measures put in place by many banks. ...the trouble began on June 22, when someone started making unauthorized wire transfers of $10,000 or less from the county's payroll to accounts belonging to at least 25 individuals around the country... [T]he criminals stole the money using a custom variant of a keystroke logging Trojan known as 'Zeus' (a.k.a. 'Zbot') that included two new features. The first is that stolen credentials are sent immediately via instant message to the attackers. But the second, more interesting feature of this malware... is that it creates a direct connection between the infected Microsoft Windows system and the attackers, allowing the bad guys to log in to the victim's bank account using the victim's own Internet connection."

Why would the cellphone companies need to know where you are? They could count the number of calls at each cell (without identifying users) if they needed to determine the load on their system. What business purpose is served by knowing who is where?

http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/07/2331254/Cellphones-Increasingly-Used-As-Evidence-In-Court

Cellphones Increasingly Used As Evidence In Court

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday July 08, @09:02AM from the we-know-where-you-were-last-summer dept. court privacy

Hugh Pickens writes

"The NY Times reports that the case of Mikhail Mallayev, who was convicted in March of murder after data from his cellphone disproved his alibi, highlights the surge in law enforcement's use of increasingly sophisticated cellular tracking techniques to keep tabs on suspects before they are arrested and build criminal cases against them by mapping their past movements. But cellphone tracking is raising concerns about civil liberties in a debate that pits public safety against privacy rights. Investigators seeking warrants must provide a judge with probable cause that a crime has been committed, but investigators often obtain cell-tracking records under lower standards of judicial review — through subpoenas, which are granted routinely, or through an intermediate type of court order based on an argument that the information requested would be relevant to an investigation. 'Cell phone providers store an increasing amount of sensitive data about where you are and when, based on which cell towers your phone uses when making a call. Until now, the government has routinely seized these records without search warrants,' said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. Last year the Federal District Court in Pittsburgh ruled that a search warrant is required even for historical phone location records, but the Justice Department has appealed the ruling. 'The cost of carrying a cellphone should not include the loss of one's personal privacy,' said Catherine Crump, a lawyer for the ACLU."

Reenforces a lots of my views. Politicians can't understand everything so they rely on the bureaucrats to tell them what their policy should be. (Presidents may change but bureaucracies live forever.)

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=1552

Obama’s cyber plan raises privacy hackles

July 8, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Govt, Internet, Surveillance, U.S.

Andy Greenberg of Forbes discusses the initial concerns and reactions of privacy advocates to Obama’s cybersecurity plan. Concerns kicked into higher gear last week with news about NSA involvement in monitoring government traffic on private sectors and the Einstein 3 program. Greenberg reports:

While the concerns over privacy and the NSA are valid, they could hamper the progress of the Obama administration’s cyber plan, says James Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which authored an influential paper aimed at shaping the president’s thinking on cyber issues. “We have technologies that would greatly improve cybersecurity, but their use wouldn’t be consistent with our laws on surveillance and privacy,” Lewis says, pointing to statutes such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, which disallows wiretaps without a warrant.

Lewis says these laws may need to be amended to allow effective government monitoring systems, but he notes that the scandal surrounding the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping practices may have precluded that kind of legislation.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

For your Security Manager

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16036/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=RlgBwBQn

Microsoft warns of serious computer security hole

JORDAN ROBERTSON

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Microsoft Corp. has taken the rare step of warning about a serious computer security vulnerability it hasn't fixed yet.

The vulnerability disclosed Monday affects Internet Explorer users whose computers run the Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating software.

It can allow hackers to remotely take control of victims' machines. The victims don't need to do anything to get infected except visit a Web site that's been hacked.

Security experts say criminals have been attacking the vulnerability for nearly a week. Thousands of sites have been hacked to serve up malicious software that exploits the vulnerability. People are drawn to these sites by clicking a link in spam e-mail.

The so-called "zero day" vulnerability disclosed by Microsoft affects a part of its software used to play video. The problem arises from the way the software interacts with Internet Explorer, which opens a hole for hackers to tunnel into.

Microsoft urged vulnerable users to disable the problematic part of its software, which can be done from Microsoft's Web site, while the company works on a "patch" - or software fix - for the problem.

There is a lot of open source “health” stuff already out there, but there is always a niche to be filled. Should make an interesting baseline for debate though...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10280095-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Former Red Hat execs aim to open-source health care

by Matt Asay July 6, 2009 10:35 AM PDT

It was bound to happen. With the U.S. government promising truckloads of cash to overhaul the U.S. health care system, while simultaneously making positive noises around open source, it was just a matter of time before someone connected the dots.

That someone appears to be Joanne Rohde, former executive vice president of worldwide operations at Red Hat, who has launched the Axial Project, a stealth-mode start-up that aims to "combin[e] the principles of Open Standards and Open Source...to connect all the parties in the Health ecosystem safely and securely.

We want our employees to be happy! (It is better to look happy than to be happy.)

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/1722225/Railway-Workers-Get-Daily-Smile-Scans?from=rss

Railway Workers Get Daily Smile Scans

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 06, @02:15PM from the *_* dept.

More than 500 workers at Japan's, Keihin Electric Express Railway, must have their faces scanned each morning to determine their optimum smile. The "smile scan" analyzes a smile based on facial characteristics, from lip curves and eye movements to wrinkles. After the program scans you, it produces a smile rating that ranges from zero to 100 depending on the estimated potential of your biggest smile. If your number is sufficient, you can go about your day grinning like a maniac. If your smile number is too low the computer will give you a message such as, "lift up your mouth corners" or "you still look too serious." Every morning employees receive a printout of their daily smile which they are expected to keep with them throughout the day.

Well, there goes all that hacker fun! This is a hot topic on the security blogs.

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=6003

SSN Relatively Easy to Predict

July 6, 2009 by admin Filed under Commentaries and Analyses, ID Theft, Of Note, U.S.

Over on PogoWasRight.org, I’ve posted about a study released by researchers Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross of Carnegie Mellon University. The study has significant implications for the use of SSN and for protecting against identity theft, even though a government spokesperson responded by seemingly downplaying the findings and their implications.

If you would like to read additional coverage of the study, there are already about 100 news stories that have appeared since the study was posted online at 5 pm, including articles in the New York Times and Associated Press , as well as Wired. The press release on the study can be found here.

[From the Press Release:

The study findings will appear this week in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and will be presented on July 29 at the BlackHat 2009 information security conference in Las Vegas.

… Because many businesses use Social Security numbers as passwords or for other forms of authentication — a use not anticipated when Social Security was devised in the 1930s — the predictability of the numbers increases the risk of identity theft.

[I found it here: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/07/02/0904891106.full.pdf+html

I suspect the RIAA realizes what will happen if hundreds of geeks listen to their “facts” and “theories” Think of it as having “human BS detectors” helping with the case for free...

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/2034213/RIAA-Seeks-Web-Removal-of-Courtroom-Audio?from=rss

RIAA Seeks Web Removal of Courtroom Audio

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 06, @05:48PM from the afraid-people-might-see-what-they-are-up-to dept.

suraj.sun writes to tell us that the RIAA has asked a federal judge to order the removal of what they are calling "unauthorized and illegal recordings" by Harvard University's Charles Nesson of pretrial hearings and depositions in a file-sharing lawsuit.

"The case concerns former Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum, who Nesson is defending in an RIAA civil lawsuit accusing him of file-sharing copyrighted music. Jury selection is scheduled in three weeks, in what is shaping up to be the RIAA's second of about 30,000 cases against individuals to reach trial. The labels, represented by the RIAA, on Monday cited a series of examples in which they accuse Nesson of violating court orders and privacy laws by posting audio to his blog or to the Berkman site."

I find articles like this one amusing. Think of it as a guide to screwing up, big time.

http://ralphlosey.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/inside-the-head-of-a-digital-pirate/

Inside the Head of a Digital Pirate

What goes on in the head of a digital pirate who is hauled into court? A recent case in New York gives us a pretty good idea. Arista Records LLC v. Usenet.com, Inc., 2009 WL 1873589 (S.D.N.Y., June 30, 2009). All images of Johnny Depp aside, tis not a pretty sight.

Does this make sense? Or is it another “Here's a new way to do it the old way” kind of wasted effort? Should be interesting to see if they can compete with FREE.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/198237/Google-Will-Star-In-New-Dow-Jones-News-Model?from=rss

Google Will Star In New Dow Jones News Model

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 06, @05:05PM from the free-will-find-a-way dept. media news

An anonymous reader writes

"Dow Jones is getting set to launch a new aggregator, akin to Google News, which will charge Web users for access to high-quality journalism. 'The Journal is one of the many newspapers you might buy in one place and with one payment [...] Watch for it,' said Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton. However, rather than posing a threat to Google News, Andrew Keen, author and entrepreneur, says the aggregator will use Google as a critical partner. The only people who should be worried about this new model, says Keen, 'are all those lucky consumers who, over the last 15 years, have been getting their news for free.'"

If the app is free (or almost so) what's wrong with it? The decision should be based on time/cost savings and benefits.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/should_local_governments_back_the_iphone

July 6, 2009 - 11:23 A.M.

Should local governments back the iPhone?

Boston will soon have an official iPhone app allowing residents to send photos of neighborhood nuisances to City Hall and request action, the Boston Globe reports this morning, "making the filing of complaints quicker and easier for iPhone users."

Cool, yes. But fair?

… Actually, the app was the idea of a city tech worker who uses a BlackBerry. But he told the Globe the city decided on an app for the iPhone "mostly because of its sex appeal -- because it's new and it's hot."

Interesting to look at the old home town...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/021745.html

July 06, 2009

Google Maps Launches Enhanced Features for Real Estate Search

Google LatLong Blog: "The web is becoming increasingly indispensable to people looking for a new home to buy...from today, if you enter a query like <<homes for sale in san francisco>> on Google Maps, you'll see that we make it easy for you to see all your results on a map with a one-box that will take you to real estate listings... We've added lots of markers that will show not only the ten most relevant listings with pins on the map, but also show a small circle on every other listing in that area using the search results layer, so you can get a really good idea of the distribution of properties for sale. You can click on each marker and each small circle to get more detailed information about the property."

Imagine a similar project that is NOT inside Microsoft... That must scare them, so they are attempting to preempt others...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10280270-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

Microsoft's Gazelle browser takes a radical path

by Ina Fried July 7, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Many people think that the browser is starting to replace the operating system as the center of the personal computer.

Naturally, the view that Windows is on a path to irrelevance is not one generally espoused by Microsoft. That said, at least some inside Redmond's walls argue that the Web browser needs to start acting more like an operating system.

… Microsoft first outlined Gazelle earlier this year, but has only recently started to detail its thinking. Wang plans to present a paper on Gazelle at the Usenix security conference next month, and last week Microsoft posted an article on its Web site explaining more about Gazelle.

… Microsoft is also trying to be clear that Gazelle is not the immediate replacement for Internet Explorer, which has been losing share to rivals, including Mozilla's Firefox and Apple's Safari. The company has yet to commit to commercializing Gazelle in any way, meaning it remains just one of scores of projects incubating inside the company's research labs.

Many outside Redmond, though, see the browser finally starting to take on the preeminence that many had assumed it might back in the early days of Netscape. Google's decision to offer Chrome, some think, was more about having an engine for running its Web applications and it was offering an alternative means for serving up traditional Web pages.

Some light summer reading...

http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/137217/Beautiful-Security?from=rss

Beautiful Security

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 06, @02:56PM from the read-all-about-it dept. security

brothke writes

"Books that collect chapters from numerous expert authors often fail to do more than be a collection of disjointed ideas. Simply combining expert essays does not always make for an interesting, cohesive read. Beautiful Security: Leading Security Experts Explain How They Think is an exception to that and is definitely worth a read. The book's 16 chapters provide an interesting overview to the current and future states of security, risk and privacy. Each chapter is written by an established expert in the field and each author brings their own unique insights and approach to information security."

Keep reading for the rest of Ben's review.

A project for my Computer Security class – portable security.

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/secure-your-identity-and-data-on-every-pc-you-use-613834

Secure your identity and data on every PC you use

Protect yourself with this essential portable security toolkit

By Nick Peers

It's hard enough keeping your own PC secure without worrying about other computers.

But if you do need to access the web, email or an important document on another computer, you need to be sure you're not compromising yourself by doing so.

With a portable flash drive, you can build a collection of portable tools that will keep your data and identity secure, plus help you ascertain if that PC is safe to use.

(Related) Mobile Security

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10280533-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

FAQ: How to vanquish mobile spam

by Elinor Mills July 7, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

… I called the four major U.S. wireless carriers to find out exactly what they suggest their customers do when they get SMS spam. Here is what they said, along with some other basic questions and answers people may have about mobile spam.

Monday, July 06, 2009

How big is this one? Too complex (or to scary) for network news?

http://developers.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/0353217/Goldman-Sachs-Trading-Source-Code-In-the-Wild?from=rss

Goldman Sachs Trading Source Code In the Wild?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 06, @08:31AM from the bunny-ball-ball dept. business court

Hangtime writes

"The world's most valuable source code could be in the wild. According to a report by Reuters, a Russian immigrant and former Goldman Sachs developer named Sergey Aleynikov was picked up at Newark Airport on July 4th by the FBI on charges of industrial espionage. According to the complaint, Sergey prior to his early June exit from Goldman copied, encrypted, and uploaded source code inferred to be the code used by Goldman Sachs to process in real-time (micro-seconds) trades between multiple equity and commodity platforms. While trying to cover his tracks, the system backed up a series of bash commands so he was unable to erase his history that would later give him away to Goldman and the authorities. So the question, where are the 32MB of encrypted files that Sergey uploaded to a German server?

[From the ZeroHedge article:

This week's NYSE Program Trading report was very odd: not only because program trading hit 48.6% of all NYSE trading, a record high at least since the NYSE keep tabs of this data, and a data point which in itself was startling enough to cause some serious red flags as I jaunt from village to village in what little is left of Europe's bison country, but what was shocking was the disappearance of the #1 mainstay of complete trading domination (i.e., Goldman Sachs) from not just the aforementioned #1 spot, but the entire complete list. In other words: Goldman went from 1st to N/A in one week.

… Another major question: do Goldman and the NYSE not have a fiduciary responsibility to announce to both shareholders and any interested parties if there has been a major security breach in their trading operations? Certainly this seems like a material piece of information: given that program trading accounted for 49% of all NYSE trading last week, and Goldman as recently as one week ago represented about 60% of all principal program trading, will this be called an issue threatening the National Security of the United States. Shouldn't all market participants be aware that there is some rogue code in cyberspace that can be abused by the highest bidder, who very likely will not be interested in proving the efficient market hypothesis?

… The complete affidavit can be downloaded from this post here

Coming soon to a country near you.

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=1338

New cellphone laws in Zambia

July 5, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Businesses, Govt, Legislation, Non-U.S.

Experts have lambasted new laws to collect information about prepaid cellphone users, citing their “severe” privacy implications.

One academic described existing rules that forced operators to retain personal call data for a minimum of three years as “excessive”.

And as of last Wednesday the government will collect more data. Operators now have to obtain the full name, address and identity number of customers buying SIM cards for prepaid services. MTN, Vodacom and Cell C have been given 18 months to get this information from customers.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Another day when very little news gets reported – too busy with beer and hot dogs.

Polluters must face the Green Party and the RIAA get the Pirate Party...

http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/05/0714203/Pirate-Party-Coming-To-Canada?from=rss

Pirate Party Coming To Canada

Posted by timothy on Sunday July 05, @05:08AM from the but-the-vikings-hit-canada-hundreds-of-years-ago dept. media politics

An anonymous reader writes

"After scoring a surprise electoral win in Sweden and getting high-profile support in Germany, The Pirate Party is coming to Canada. The party's goals are fairly simple. People should have the right to share and copy music, movies and virtually any material, as long as it is for personal use, not for profit. It opposes government and corporate monitoring of Internet activities, unless as part of a criminal investigation. It also wants to phase out patents."

(Related) “Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” You know there will be a reaction, you know it probably will not be organized and the odds of it changing the laws are similar to winning the lottery five times in a row...

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/04/1638223/Study-Deconstructs-Canadian-Copyright-Lobby-Deception?from=rss

Study Deconstructs Canadian Copyright Lobby Deception

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday July 04, @02:19PM from the anatomy-of-a-slow-con dept. internet

An anonymous reader writes

"A new Canadian study deconstructs how copyright lobby groups manipulate public opinion by laundering proposals through seemingly independent groups. The study started after the Conference Board of Canada was shown to have plagiarized several of its IP reports and now shows the connections that all lead through the MPAA and RIAA. Michael Geist writes, 'It is not just that these reports all receive financial support from the same organizations and say largely the same thing. It is also that the reports each build on one another, creating the false impression of growing momentum and consensus on the state of Canadian law and the need for specific reforms.'"

Everyone look up!

http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/04/2230220/Space-Station-Marathon-Starting-This-Weekend?from=rss

Space Station Marathon Starting This Weekend

Posted by timothy on Saturday July 04, @11:02PM from the this-calls-for-a-twitter-mashup dept. space nasa usa science

RobGoldsmith writes with this snippet from Space Fellowship:

"If you've never seen a spaceship with your own eyes, now's your chance. The International Space Station (ISS) is about to make a remarkable series of flybys over the United States. Beginning this 4th of July weekend, the station will appear once, twice, and sometimes three times a day for many days in a row. No matter where you live, you should have at least a few opportunities to see the biggest spaceship ever built."

[Get specific times here: http://spaceflight1.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/

Now that I have your attention...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090703/ap_on_fe_st/as_odd_new_zealand_flying_nude

New Zealand airline issues nude safety video

By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press – Fri Jul 3, 7:37 am ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand's national airline has adopted a cheeky way to encourage passengers to watch its in-flight safety video: The cabin crew's uniforms are nothing but body paint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v7-Mq9HAE62Y&featureresponse(underscore)watch

Amusement

http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/web-site-story-hilarious-internet-musical/

http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/microsoft%E2%80%99s-vision-of-the-future-parody/

Centennial Man

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