Local

CO: Hackers hit Larimer County, services impacted

9News reports:

A cyber incident is affecting compute systems in Larimer County.

The county’s computer systems have had limited function since the incident on Wednesday.

County officials say they’re working with security providers to find the cause and get the restores services.  County data is secure and protected.  The duration of this event is unknown.

Read more on 9News.

[From the article:

For a detailed list of impacts to individual departments and offices, visit: http://www.larimer.org/service-impact.cfm.  Larimer County will also provide service impacts via its social network sites on Facebook and Twitter.

For my Computer Security students.

http://www.pcmag.com/news/345786/theyre-just-like-us-oculus-ceo-hacked-thanks-to-terrible-p

They're Just Like Us: Oculus CEO Hacked Thanks to Terrible Password

…   The person behind the attack claimed that he or she found one of Iribe's old passwords listed within the big dump of MySpace user name and password combinations that hit last month.  The attacker also claimed that he or she could have accessed Iribe's email account had he not protected that with two-factor authentication—though it's unclear whether the attacker meant Iribe's personal account or his Oculus account, one scenario likely a lot more catastrophic than the other.

My Computer Security students just got a lot more valuable. 

http://www.csoonline.com/article/3089325/application-security/a-pen-test-a-day-keeps-hackers-away.html?google_editors_picks=true

A pen test a day keeps hackers away

Besides the fact that there is no other way to really test your network, The PCI Security Standards Council finally released version 3. 2 and it now states, “To ensure resilience, service providers are now required to perform penetration testing on segmentation controls at least every six months," according to a new sub-requirement 11.3.4.1.  The PCI SSC also added a testing procedure 11.3.4 to ensure that penetration testing is performed by a qualified internal or external third party.

So the once a year PEN test is gone and rightly so, some PEN testers like ShoreBreak Security offer continuous PEN testing.  Shore Break CEO Mark Wolfgang says "PEN testing once a year is like mowing your lawn once a year, it does not keep up with reality."

What Privacy?

Joe says, “Two stories will make your readers want to scream”

Joe Cadillic has two new blog posts that you will want to check out.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) is using a ‘Social Disorder Index’ (SDI) to determine the level of social disorder a location presents to its surrounding community.  SDI can map areas as small as 250 feet by 250 feet.

[…]

According to the IndyStar, police used SDI to target areas and arrest people with a propensity for violence.

Read more on Police are giving people and homes ‘Social Disorder’ ratings

and:

…Police are secretly using PBS television stations to spy on Americans

DHS is using Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television stations to send videos and messages to law enforcement across the country.

“Once the hardware [IP encapsulator] is set up at the television station to enable this capability, data recipients will need a datacast receiver connected to their computer in order to receive the information being broadcast from the PBS station.   Datacasting’s software allows the owners of the video and other data to target individual users or groups of receivers to receive the video, files and notifications being transmitted.”

Read more on PBS donations are secretly being used by police to spy on Americans

I can sell your PII because I said I would.  Does the buyer have to have the same Privacy Policy?

In Sports Authority bankruptcy, customer e-mail data commands hefty sum

Alex Schiffer reports:

When Sports Authority Inc. said “everything must go,” it meant everything – including its customers’ personal information.

The Colorado sporting goods retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, auctioned this week its intellectual property, including the Sports Authority name, its e-commerce site and about 114 million customers’ files and 25 million email addresses.  Dick’s Sporting Goods won with a $15-million bid.

Read more on Los Angeles Times.

Why were they allowed to auction off consumers’ information, you wonder, remembering what happened with RadioShack?  There’s an answer. Schiffer explains:

Businesses have the legal right to sell consumer information as long as their privacy policies make it clear that data can be transferred or sold if the company is acquired or goes under.

This could be a really bad idea.  Think terrorist incident…

http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/30/technology/apple-patent-stop-phone-recording/

Apple patents technology to block your phone camera

…   The technology could stop people from making illegal recordings at concert venues, in cinemas or theaters.

The patent described how an infrared signal could be fired in places where video recording is prohibited.  The phone would detect the signal and either alter what's shown on the screen or shut down its video features completely.

For my Data Management students.  

http://fortune.com/2016/07/01/brazil-judge-facebook-funds-cocaine-smuggling/

Brazil Judge Freezes Facebook Funds in Cocaine Smuggling Case

A court in Brazil on Thursday blocked 19.5 million reais ($6.07 million) in Facebook funds after the U.S-based social networking company’s WhatsApp messaging service failed to turn over messages sought in a drugs case, the G1 news service said.

Brazil’s federal police said WhatsApp has defied repeated orders to turn over messages sent and received by suspected members of an international cocaine smuggling ring that has been under investigation since January.

…   At the time of that blockage, Facebook said WhatsApp does not store client messages and could not read them if they did because they are encrypted.

Caesar’s wife and Hillary’s husband? 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/opinions/bill-clinton-loretta-lynch-meeting-opinion-callan/

Bill Clinton & Loretta Lynch meeting: 'Incredibly bad judgment'

…   Both should have instantly realized that their private meeting might create public suspicion that something improper must have occurred. After all Donald Trump has been tossing corruption accusations at Hillary Clinton with the frequency of firings on "The Apprentice."

Not being able to see white could make it hard to sell Teslas in snowy Colorado.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2016/07/01/teslas-autonomous-driving-fatal-accident-needs-to-be-kept-in-context/#3e3a370f6df8

Tesla's Autonomous Driving Fatal Accident Needs To Be Kept In Context

…   The company posted on its website on Thursday that the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) decided to open a preliminary investigation and Tesla provided background information on what occurred.

From the post it appears that the accident was a combination of unfortunate circumstances and timing.  “The vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S.  Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied.  The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer, with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S.”

When they started using Periscope, I had hopes they might be tech savvy.  Now?  Not so much. 

http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/29/19-house-democrat-websites-have-been-down-for-days-hacked-following-sit-in/

19 House Democrat Websites Have Been Down For Days, Hacked Following Sit-In

Hackers took over 19 official government websites for Congressman since last Thursday after a major hacking incident compromised the network.

The affected representatives contract their website management with the company DCS Services who works exclusively with House Democrats.  People who visit the official sites of the nineteen affected legislators see a “site under maintenance” message.

…   Ferson said that at this point, they have no evidence or specific reasons to believe that the hack was directly related to the day-long protest over gun control, but Gordon Stanton, director of congressional services at DCS, said that “we do not believe it is a coincidence that this happened just as the Democrats started officially wrapping up their sit-in on efforts to prevent gun violence.”

…   Politico reported that DCS builds its websites using Joomla, a content management system that has a history of significant security flaws and that, “anger at DCS is so widespread that some aides [from affected offices] asked colleagues on an internal email list for suggestions of other vendors.”

…   This latest hack follows a string of security breaches for Democratic Party officials, including a hack of the Democratic National Committee.  

An ethical question for my students to ponder.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3090133/security/terror-suspect-database-used-by-banks-governments-has-been-leaked.html

Terror-suspect database used by banks, governments, has been leaked

A database described by some as a "terrorism blacklist" has fallen into the hands of a white-hat hacker who may decide to make it accessible to the public online.

The database, called World-Check, belongs to Thomson Reuters and is used by banks, governments and intelligence agencies to screen people for criminal ties and links to terrorism.

Security researcher Chris Vickery claims to have obtained a 2014 copy of the database.  He announced the details on Tuesday in a post on Reddit.

"No hacking was involved in my acquisition of this data," he wrote.  "I would call it more of a leak than anything, although not directly from Thomson Reuters."

…   His copy of the World-Check database contains the names of over 2.2 million people and organizations declared "heightened risks."  Only a small part of the data features a terrorism category.  Additional categories include individuals with ties to money laundering, organized crime, corruption and others.

He is asking Reddit users whether he should leak the database to the public.  His concern is that innocent people with no criminal ties may have been placed on the list.

The information isn't really secret either.  Users can buy access to the database from Thomson Reuters.

Leaking the database, however, could create risks and tip off "actual bad guys" that they’ve been placed on the list, Vickery said.

For my Computer Security students.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/protect-8-social-engineering-attacks/

How To Protect Yourself From These 8 Social Engineering Attacks

For all my students!

http://www.bespacific.com/new-google-tool-tracks-user-behavior-across-applications/

New Google tool tracks user behavior across applications

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 29, 2016

The Guardian: “Google has rolled out new tools to let users see what its ad-tracking service has learned about them, and to let users opt in or out of a new personalised ads service.  The addition to Google’s account settings, called My Activity, allows users to review everything that Google has tracked about their behaviour – across search, YouTube, Chrome, Android and everything else – and edit or delete it at each step.  If you use Google for everything you do, you might be surprised by just how much it catalogues about your comings and goings on the internet…”

Japan has always feared foreigners.  I see the US becoming more like them.

Japan’s court approves govt’s blanket surveillance of Muslims

Totally forgetting or ignoring the lessons of what happened to Japanese-Americans in the U.S. during World War II, it seems:

Japan’s Supreme Court has approved the government’s blanket surveillance of Muslims in the country.

The country’s top court struck down a second appeal by Japanese Muslim plaintiffs against what they perceive an unconstitutional invasion of their privacy and freedom of religion.  Mohamed Fujita, whose name has been changed to protect his identity is one of the 17 plaintiffs in a lawsuit that challenged extensive monitoring of Japan’s Muslims, Al Jazeera reported.

Fujita and the other plaintiffs sued the government following the leak in 2010 of 114 police files, which revealed religious profiling of Muslims across Japan.

Read more on Pakistan Today.

Isn’t Microsoft making the same argument because the FBI keeps issuing requests for data on their Irish servers?  Will US courts agree with the Appeals Court? 

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36671941

Facebook wins appeal on Belgian tracking

Originally, the regulator won its case and ordered the social network to stop tracking non-members when they visited publicly available Facebook pages.

The Brussels Appeals Court overturned that, saying the regulator had no jurisdiction over Facebook, which has its European headquarters in Ireland.

…   Willem Debeuckelaere, president of the Belgium privacy commission said: "Today's decision means simply that the Belgian citizen cannot obtain privacy protection when it concerns foreign players.  The citizen is thus exposed to massive violations of privacy."

…   Initially the court found in favour of the Belgian data authority.  It said that collecting the data on the web-surfing behaviour of millions of people who were not members of the social network was a "manifest" violation of Belgian data protection law, irrespective of what purposes Facebook used the data for.

…   The ruling though was ultimately about who has authority over the social network.

"Belgian courts don't have international jurisdiction over Facebook Ireland, where the data concerning Europe is processed," the court said.

What assumptions are behind this?  US students can’t learn STEM?  All foreign students want jobs in the US?  Voters might like it?

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3089314/it-careers/clinton-wants-to-staple-green-cards-on-stem-grads-diplomas.html

Clinton wants to ‘staple’ green cards on STEM grads' diplomas

As president, Hillary Clinton would support the automatic granting of green cards, or permanent residency, to foreign students who earn advanced STEM degrees in the U.S.

(Related)  Another indication of the Democrat platform? 

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/285989-warren-targets-amazon-apple-google-in-speech-against-monopolies

Warren targets Amazon, Apple, Google in anti-monopoly speech

Modern IT Architecture.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3089505/internet/5-steps-to-turning-your-company-into-a-platform.html

5 steps to turning your company into a platform

We can all see the future around us. Uber, Airbnb and Alibaba have all seemed to come out of nowhere to take commanding positions in their respective sectors of local transportation, hospitality and retail.  Together, they and other companies that are basically network orchestrators with a digital platform are leading a revolution in business model design.

You, as an IT leader in a traditional sector of the economy, might wonder what this revolution has to do with you and your company.  Everything.  The benefits of this new model are so compelling, and the underlying premise is so basic, that it will inevitably take root in virtually every sector.  And as an IT leader, it is your responsibility to help your company adapt as soon as possible.

(Related) A brick and mortar business turning into and online marketplace.  Amazon is building distribution centers; Walmart already has them. 

http://www.wsj.com/article_email/wal-mart-expands-free-two-day-shipping-1467238705-lMyQjAxMTE2MzM4MDIzMzA5Wj

Wal-Mart Expands Free Two-Day Shipping

…   On Wednesday the retailer said it would open its free two-day shipping program to any U.S. customer, an expansion of the $49 per-year service designed to grab shoppers from Amazon’s popular $99 a year Prime program.  Until now Wal-Mart allowed only a limited and undisclosed number of shoppers to sign up.

…   The move shows Wal-Mart believes the steps it has taken to improve its fulfillment capabilities have prepared it to compete head on with Amazon Prime for the growing slice of retail sales that take place online.  Wal-Mart, which has been struggling with sluggish U.S. sales growth, has made bolstering its e-commerce operation a priority and is investing $2 billion to that business.

(Related)  A whole new dimension to architect.

https://hbr.org/2016/06/companies-are-turning-drones-into-a-competitive-advantage

Companies Are Turning Drones into a Competitive Advantage

Armed with an array of sensors, commercial drones are about to become a new source for digital information.  We expect the drone market to surge to nearly $7 billion by 2020 globally, driven by regulatory clarification, continuously decreasing component costs, and – most important– ongoing innovation that connects drone capabilities to big-data analytics.

…   For many companies, drones are quickly becoming another component that must be considered in developing digitalization strategies.  Backed by cloud services and big-data techniques, the unprecedented data gathering capabilities of drones have the potential to radically alter the competitive dynamics of the information landscape.

For my Enterprise Data Management students.

http://www.csoonline.com/article/3088177/network-security/report-security-teams-plagued-by-poorly-managed-identity-data.html?google_editors_picks=true

Report: Security teams plagued by poorly managed identity data

Security teams handling Identity and access management (IAM) are hampered by dirty data and need management help from a chief data officer, according to a new report by TechVision Research.

IAM is typically defined as a “security discipline that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times for the right reasons.”  But identity data is riddled with errors, which ultimately raise security and privacy risks, the report says.

The problems include multiple versions of employee names and titles in various systems — and even “ghost” employees.  “We find a plethora of identity data challenges, including multiple authoritative sources of data, inconsistent data, redundant data, old data and misclassification of data,” the report says.

Well, I find it interesting.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/06/how-to-write-a-history-of-writing-software/489173/?utm_source=feed

How to Write a History of Writing Software

It’s hard to believe, but one of the most important changes in the way people write in the last 50 years has been largely overlooked by historians of literature.  The word processor—that is, any computer software or hardware used for writing, a nearly ubiquitous technology adopted by poets, novelists, graduate students, foreign correspondents, and CEOs—has never gotten its own literary history.

Perhaps it was just too much under our noses—or, I suppose, in front of them.

Now it finally has one.  Five years ago, Matthew Kirschenbaum, an English professor at the University of Maryland, realized that no one seemed to know who wrote the first novel with the help of a word processor.  He’s just published the fruit of his efforts: Track Changes, the first book-length story of word processing.

I’d ask my students how I was doing, but they might tell me. 

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-speaking-tips-that-will-make-people-want-to-listen-to-you/

6 Speaking Tips That Will Make People Want to Listen to You

Have you run into situations where you’re talking but nobody seems to care?  Over time, maybe you’ve even noticed that people just don’t like listening to you for some reason.

This 10-minute talk by Julian Treasure explains why that might be the case and what you can do to make yourself more pleasant to the ears of others:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIho2S0ZahI

It’s not looking good for The Donald. 

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/

Who will win the presidency?

We'll be updating our forecasts every time new data is available, every day through Nov. 8.

For my Computer Security students.  When the process is well understood and simple to execute, the failure is due to poor management.

C’mon folks, stop screwing up the easy stuff

It’s been what – at least a decade? – since we started seeing reports of personal and corporate information left on drives that were being resold on eBay?  And yet even now, 2/3 of drives contain personal or corporate data, according to a new study.

Local

Noodles and Company confirms payment card breach

Brian Krebs first broke the story in May that casual food chain Noodles and Company had likely had a payment card breach. Now the company has confirmed it:

Press Release

Noodles & Company Provides Notice of Data Security Incident

Broomfield, Colorado, June 28, 2016 – Noodles & Company (NASDAQ: NDLS) today announced that a recent data security incident may have compromised the security of payment information of some guests who used debit or credit cards at certain Noodles & Company locations between January 31, 2016 and June 2, 2016.  Credit and debit cards used at the affected locations are no longer at risk from the malware involved in this incident.

What Happened? On May 17, 2016, Noodles & Company began investigating unusual activity its credit card processor reported to the Company.  Noodles & Company immediately began working with third-party forensic experts to investigate these reports and to identify any signs of compromise on its computer systems.  On June 2, 2016, Noodles & Company discovered suspicious activity on its computer systems that indicated a potential compromise of guests’ debit and credit card data for some debit and credit cards used at certain Noodles & Company locations.

…   The information at risk as a result of this event includes the cardholder’s name, card number, expiration date, and CVV.  A list of impacted Noodles & Company locations is available at www.noodles.com/security.  This incident did not involve online debit or credit card transactions at www.noodles.com.  

For More Information. Noodles & Company has established a dedicated assistance line for individuals seeking additional information regarding this incident.  Guests can call 888-849-1067, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT, Monday through Friday (excluding U.S. holidays).  Guests can also find information on this incident and what they can do to better protect against fraud and identity theft at www.noodles.com/security.

For more information and a list of affected locations, see their FAQ on the incident.

Oh goodie.  Now I can check to see if anyone has noticed that I’m an idiot.

Colorado Law Grants Employees Right to Access Personnel Files

Jason C. Gavejian writes:

Beginning January 1, 2017, employees in Colorado will now have a right to inspect and copy their personnel files.  Prior to this law, Colorado had no law granting private-sector employees access to their personnel records.

Under the new law, upon a current employee’s request, an employer must allow that employee to inspect and obtain a copy of any part of the employee’s personnel file at least once annually.

Read more on Jackson Lewis Workplace Privacy, DataManagement & Security Report.

From where do such ideas arise?  Simple expansion of the bureaucracy?  Sinister ulterior motives? 

Groups Protest NAEP Plan to Assess Student Mindsets

Shane Vander Hart reports:

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) that governs the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has announced it will expand beyond assessing students’ academic content knowledge to also include subjective, non-cognitive, socioemotional parameters.  Such factors will include “grit,” “desire for learning,” and “school climate.”  Assessing “mindsets” of students potentially will allow the government to determine and possibly reshape children’s moral and religious beliefs about controversial social issues.

American Principles Project, Eagle Forum and Education Liberty Watch along with five additional national organizations, as well as, 69 state organizations in 29 states have joined Liberty Counsel to object what they see as illegal changes to the NAEP.  (Disclosure: This author is among those who have joined Liberty Counsel.)

Read more on Caffeinated Thoughts.   (And could I NOT love a blog with that name!)

[From the article:

As Liberty Counsel demonstrates in its letter to three congressional committees, if these factors are assessed as part of the NAEP test itself, their inclusion violates federal law prohibiting assessment of “personal or family beliefs and attitudes” via 20 USC section 9622.  If they are instead part of the background survey given to students, their inclusion violates the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, 20 USC section 1232(h), which requires that such material be made available for parental inspection before administration.

The future of lawyering?  I have some students who are learning to write Apps, I wonder where I could find lawyers who know of other simple legal applications?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2016/06/28/this-teens-lawyer-bot-is-busting-thousands-of-parking-tickets/#44d3c2c210e1

This Teen's Lawyer-Bot Is Busting Thousands Of Parking Tickets

…   Browder’s web-based bot DoNotPay has appealed 250,000 parking tickets in London since last September, and in New York since March 2016.  It has successfully overturned 160,000 of them.

“When I got to the legal driving age of 18 I got a lot of parking tickets,” he admitted in a phone interview.  “I started appealing them.  Then I started helping my friends.”

Browder thought it would fun to build an automated bot — essentially software that understands human language well enough to hold a basic conversation — that could talk his friends and family through the process of appealing a ticket.

(Related)  Or lawyers could build their own.

http://appinventor.mit.edu/explore/

MIT App Inventor

Perspective.

http://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-lyft-numbers-show-it-had-a-record-may-but-growth-could-be-flat-after-that-2016-6?op=1

Leaked Lyft numbers show it had a record May, but growth could be 'flat' after that

Lyft had a record May, completing 12.7 million rides in the month, according to a leaked investor update viewed by Business Insider.

…   At that pace, the ride-hailing company said the net value of its rides — that's the ride value minus tips and tolls — is on track for a nearly $1.9 billion run rate, or a total net value of its rides over 12 months.

·  Loss: Lyft remains on track to not lose more than $600 million per year

·  Monthly ride volume: Rides increased by nearly 1.3 million month-over-month to 12.7 million, a new record for the company. At that pace, Lyft predicts its will complete around 152 million rides this year

For those days when I don’t feel like lecturing.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-alternatives-ted-talks-may-not-seen-yet/

10+ Alternatives to TED Talks You May Not Have Seen Yet

…   TED Talks aren’t the only way to get you closer to big ideas.  The alternatives to TED Talks enable you expand your world view in little ways too.  Some of the links below will take you to events that are much easier on the pocket (without watering down the knowledge), and some are free.  Of course, you can catch them all for free on the web.

A small breach that moves well beyond a “prank.”

French police hit by security breach as data put online

BBC reports:

The personal details of 112,000 French police officers have been uploaded to Google Drive in a security breach just a fortnight after two officers were murdered at their home by a jihadist.

A mutual organisation which provides extra health and other insurance benefits for police says the details were uploaded by a disgruntled worker.

It has said the files are protected by a password and there is no reason to believe details have been accessed.

Read more on BBC.

Is Big Data always better data?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Google-gives-700-trillion-pixels-makeover-to-Maps-and-Earth-apps/articleshow/52954353.cms

Google gives 700 trillion-pixels makeover to Maps and Earth apps

Finding Google Maps, Google Earth apps prettier? Yes, the search giant Google has been working on it and has rolled out sharper and more seamless imagery to the tools.

The update includes photos from Landsat 8

…   Google claims that it is mining data from nearly a petabyte of Landsat imagery.  To put that in perspective, 700 trillion pixels is 7,000 times more pixels than the estimated number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, or 70 times more pixels than the estimated number of galaxies in the Universe.

Another highly biased look at the Megaupload saga.  Is our Justice Department really that disorganized? 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/06/from-file-sharing-to-prison-a-megaupload-programmer-tells-his-story/

From file-sharing to prison: A Megaupload programmer tells his story

Perhaps we could take the resulting program and translate it into other languages?

http://www.wired.com/2016/06/google-thinks-future-code-toy-blocks/

Google Thinks the Future of Code is Toy Blocks

…   as programming becomes an increasingly important part of the modern world—this is the new construction—educators and researchers are trying to make it more fun and approachable, particularly for young kids with little patience for frustration and abstraction.  In recent years, they’ve tried everything from kids books to games like Minecraft.  Now, with a new initiative called Project Bloks, a team of Google researchers is trying to make coding a hands-on experience—literally.

Useful for all my students?  Share what you have learned?  I’d rather have one that lets me grab their screen rather than have them push a screen to me. 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/27/12033492/google-is-making-its-educational-tools-more-powerful

Google is making its educational tools more powerful

…   Today, Google is announcing new tools and expanded capabilities of its existing tools for educators that stand to make its position in the classroom even stronger.

The first new tool is Cast for Education, which lets students and teachers share their screens from anywhere in the classroom to the computer that’s plugged into the projector.  Teachers turn their main computer into a Cast destination and then can approve Cast requests from students on a case by case basis.  Google says the idea behind this feature is to expand the use of the projector - one of the most widely used devices in the classroom - to people other than the teacher and to foster improved interaction with students.  Cast for Education is designed to work with the complex wireless networks that are often found in schools and allows both video and audio sharing.  It is available in beta as a Chrome app that works in Chrome OS, Mac, and Windows for free starting today.

Great, if I gave quizzes.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/06/google-forms-can-now-automatically.html

Google Forms Can Now Automatically Grade Quizzes Without an Add-on

For a long time Flubaroo has been one of my go-to recommendations for easy scoring of quizzes created in Google Forms.  Today, Google made it easier than ever to have quizzes scored for you and to show students their scores.  Now when you create a Google Form you can go into the Form settings and choose the quiz option.  Within the quiz option you can choose to have your questions scored as students answer them.  You can also choose to show students their scores as well as correct answers.  See my screenshot below to learn where you can find the new quiz scoring options.

The new automatic quiz scoring feature will make it easier to quickly deliver feedback to your students when they take multiple choice or true/false quizzes.

The automatic quiz scoring feature only supports multiple choice and true/false questions at this time.  If you want to have short answer or fill-in-the-blank questions scored for you, you will need to use Flubaroo in Google Sheets.

Regardless of their motive, I can use breaches like this to show my Computer Security students that no one is invulnerable. 

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/27/12038262/google-sundar-pichai-quora-account-hacked-mark-zuckerberg

Google CEO's Quora account briefly hijacked by Mark Zuckerberg hackers

Google CEO Sundar Pichai had his Quora account hacked last night, becoming the latest in a list of major tech figures to have their social media presences hijacked by a group calling itself "OurMine."  The breach comes less than a month after both Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify boss Daniel Ek suffered a similar fate.

…   Speaking to Mic, OurMine claimed to be a three-person team.  Some experts suggest the group is breaching big-name accounts using older databases of passwords available to nefarious actors: a method may explain why it was Pichai's Quora account hijacked in this case, rather than far more frequently trafficked networks like Twitter or Facebook.  Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg's Pinterest account was hacked alongside his Twitter account, with OurMine clearly stating that it had gained access using the password "dadada," revealed as part of the 2012 LinkedIn hack.

…   It's not clear whether Pichai paid to regain access to his Quora account, but both the comments and the auto-tweets were deleted a few hours after they were posted.

Another IRS security failure.  Perhaps they should hire someone who knows how to do it?  (If the IRS could deny attackers as easily as it denies deductions, they would be security gods!) 

http://www.securityweek.com/irs-shuts-down-e-file-pin-tool-after-more-attacks

IRS Shuts Down e-File PIN Tool After More Attacks

…   The e-File PIN tool on IRS.gov allowed taxpayers to generate PINs that they could use to file tax returns online.  The agency reported in February that identity thieves had obtained more than 100,000 PINs by launching an automated bot attack against the tool.

Fraudsters had used names, addresses, dates of birth, filing statuses and social security numbers obtained from other sources to abuse the e-File PIN tool.  The IRS kept the application online – at the time it had been used by most commercial tax software products – but implemented additional security features.

The agency recently detected another round of automated attacks at an increasing frequency and despite only a small number of PINs being affected, it has decided to shut down the program as a safety measure.  The IRS believes only a small segment of taxpayers are affected because most users don’t actually need the PIN to electronically file tax returns.

You can never underestimate stupid.

ProTip: Attach the GPS device to a real limb, not the prosthetic one

This is one of those stories that may be best read if you’ve had a bit of caffeine first.  Otherwise, you may just wind up shaking your head for quite a while.

Andrea McCarren reports that a DC man who was supposed to be monitored by a GPS tracking device while confined to his home escaped surveillance by…. wait for it… simply taking off the prosthetic limb it had been attached to and using his spare prosthetic limb.

Why a contractor’s employee attached a GPS device to a prosthetic limb and not a real one is one of those questions where you’re likely to get a “Human Error” catch-all explanation.

The story might be a bit of a chuckler were it not for the fact that the 34-year-old suspect, Quincy Green, allegedly gunned down a man while he was supposedly at home being monitored.

McCarren explains:

After a gun possession charge in April, Dana Hamilton’s alleged killer was confined to his home while awaiting trial.  He was equipped with a GPS tracking device.  But somehow, the technician from Sentinel, the California-based government contractor, placed it on Green’s prosthetic leg.

“Here you have a company [Sentinel] that comes along and working with DC government, doesn’t even follow their own protocols,” said Russ Mullins, an Executive Shop Steward at the Fraternal Order of Police.

Read more on WUSA.

Will this upset their partners? 

Report: Google Wants to Release Its Own Phones By End of Year

Finally, the rumor we’ve been waiting for: Google is working on its own line of smartphones that could be available by the end of the year.

Google’s Android operating system already runs on several phones, and it’s partnered with companies like Huawei to license the Nexus phone. But sources tell The Telegraph that the company wants to release its own handset and venture further into hardware. This would allow it to control everything about Android, just like a certain other company controls everything about the iPhone.

(Related)  Is this what is driving the Google entry into smartphones?

http://mashable.com/2016/06/25/worlds-cheapest-smartphone-freedom-251-release-date/

This $4 smartphone finally has a ship date after sparking investigations

Chances are, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

That seemed to be the case for the Freedom 251, the world's cheapest smartphone, announced in February.  Ringing Bells, the Indian company behind the phone, sparked controversy when it claimed the smartphone would sell for just $4. 

…   The ICA also accused Ringing Bells of potentially fraudulent claims saying even the cheapest build-of-materials would cost about $40 for a phone with barebone specs such as Android 5.1, a 4-inch screen, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 1,450 mAh battery, and a 3.2-megapixel back and 0.3-megapixel front camera.

Furthermore, there was no clear wireless carrier backing the $4 phone and providing subsidies on it to offer savings to customers.

Just when things couldn't get any worse, it was discovered that the Freedom 251 was actually an illegally rebadged version of China's Adcom Ikon 4, which sells for about $54.  Oh, and the app icons were basically ripped right off iOS.

…   Fast forward a couple of months and 70 million registrations for the device later and Ringing Bells is finally gearing up to ship the first $4 Freedom 251 phones to customers on June 30, according to IANS.

…   The company plans to fulfill 2.5 million orders by the end of the month and ship 200,000 units per month afterwards.

Will other industries be as resistant to change? 

http://www.bespacific.com/new-on-llrx-bots-big-data-blockchain-and-ai-disruption-or-incremental-change/

New on LLRX – Bots, Big Data, Blockchain, and AI – Disruption or Incremental Change?

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 26, 2016

Via LLRX.com – Bots, Big Data, Blockchain, and AI – Disruption or Incremental Change? – Ron Friedmann discusses the potential, likely and unlikely impact of high profile disruptive technologies on Big Law – including Bid Data. blockchain, AI and bots.

Something for my Architecture students.

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/iot-and-implications-for-organizational-structure/

IoT and Implications for Organizational Structure

In the classic structure, a business is divided into functional units, such as R&D, manufacturing, logistics, sales, marketing, after-sale service, finance, and IT.  These functional units enjoy substantial autonomy.  Though integration across them is essential, much of it tends to be relatively episodic and tactical.

With the emergence of smart, connected products, however, this classic model breaks down.  On June 9, 2016 James Heppelmann, president and CEO of PTC and co-author of the Harvard Business Review article “How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Companies,” discussed the new need for companies to coordinate across product design, cloud operation, service improvement, and customer engagement.

An Amazon win or a consumer befuddlement?  (Or both)

http://www.wsj.com/article_email/amazon-to-add-dozens-of-brands-to-dash-buttons-but-do-shoppers-want-them-1466970276-lMyQjAxMTE2MTIzNjEyMzY4Wj

Amazon to Add Dozens of Brands to Dash Buttons, but Do Shoppers Want Them?

Amazon.com Inc. is doubling down on its Dash push-button ordering devices, getting consumer-products makers to invest in the gadgets even amid evidence that consumers are cool to them.

…   Mistaken by some as an April Fool’s joke when Amazon rolled them out in the spring of 2015, the thumb-drive-sized devices enable shoppers to order things like Tide detergent and Cottonelle toilet paper simply by pressing a button.  Customers are encouraged to put the wireless devices by their refrigerators and washing machines for quick reordering.

But fewer than half of people who bought a Dash button since March 2015 have used it to place an actual order, estimates Slice Intelligence, which conducts market research based on emailed consumer receipts.  Those consumers who do order make a purchase roughly once every two months, Slice found.

…   Companies pay Amazon $15 for each button sold and 15% of each Dash product sale, atop the normal commission, which typically ranges from 8% to 15%, the people familiar with the matter said.

For their part, consumers pay $5 per button, though Amazon sweetens the deal by offering a $5 rebate for every button.  The rebate is good toward the first purchase using that button.  Only members of Amazon’s $99-per-year Prime membership are eligible to use the Dash buttons.

Can police demand a breathalyzer test of anyone at any time, driving or not? 

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/166955/20160625/supreme-court-verdict-refusing-breathalyzer-is-a-crime.htm

Supreme Court Verdict: Refusing Breathalyzer Is A Crime

Justice Samuel Alito delivered the 5-to-3 decision in Thursday's case, saying that breath tests do not implicate "significant" concerns in privacy.

The race for bragging rights?

http://hothardware.com/news/us-to-field-200-petaflop-summit-supercomputer-in-2018-doubling-performance-of-chinese-rivals?google_editors_picks=true

U.S. To Field 200 Petaflop ‘Summit’ Supercomputer In 2018 Doubling Performance Of Chinese Rivals

There is one constant in the world of supercomputers: no one is going to be 'fastest' for long.  In fact, some supercomputers can seem downright slow after only a couple of years, as hardware continues to become faster and more dense.

Take for example Oak Ridge's TITAN supercomputer.  Launched in 2013, this supercomputer managed to push about 20 petaFLOPs of throughput (17.59 pFLOPs LINPACK; 27 pFLOPs theoretical).  At the time, that was downright mind-blowing. But consider TaihuLight, China's latest supercomputer, coming in at 93 petaFLOPs.  For those who don't want to grab a calculator or exercise simple math, that means that in a mere three years, China managed to push out a supercomputer 5x faster than ORNL's TITAN.

…   ORNL's next supercomputer is going to be called Summit, and it's expected that it will launch with 200 petaFLOPs capabilities.  For a system that's set to launch in early 2018, a literal doubling of China's new TaihuLight is downright mind-boggling.

Interesting that you don’t have the inclination to implement Best Practices until you have been breached.  I hope my Computer Security students can learn from the failures of others.

Verticalscope sounds serious about password security

I’ve previously posted info on the Verticalscope breach affecting 45 million.  But I never posted their breach announcement.  As I was just reviewing it, I noticed their response to the breach with respect to new password requirements . I thought it was a bit different, and should be mentioned here.

From the What We Are Doing part of their statement:

We are in the process of invalidating passwords of all VerticalScope user accounts.  We have posted a site security notification on each site updating users on the potential risk to certain accounts, the password reset and steps we are implementing to improve security.  We are in the process of implementing stronger password rules (passwords now require a minimum of 10+ characters and a mixture of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols) along with automated account password expiries to encourage more frequent password changes.  We will remind our users to use good password practices (not using the same password for multiple online accounts and using unique strong passwords).  We are in the process of implementing additional safeguards to detect, alert and mitigate any future brute force attempts, and have notified our third party vendors that interact with our various forum API’s of the February breach to allow their own security teams to investigate.  We are continuing our investigation and will be collecting information to provide to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

VerticalScope is taking steps to strengthen account security.  We were already using encrypted passwords and salted hashes to store passwords, and our new password controls are intended to further strengthen user security.  We are taking steps to investigate and test new encryption and security technologies to further protect our users.

Why would you cut yourself off from your customers? 

Is LookBook aware?

Well, I wanted to send an inquiry to LookBook to ask them if they were aware of being hacked or a report that their user database was up for sale, but there was no contact method on their web site, and the domain lookup didn’t help, either.  So I resorted to tweeting to them, and hope that their Twitter team will escalate the tweet to their security folks.

@lookbook  Was lookbook.nu hacked?  Are you aware of claims your user database is up for sale?  See this post: https://t.co/GiSAzrpkGq

— Dissent Doe (@PogoWasRight) June 26, 2016

A system where no one is responsible… 

http://inhomelandsecurity.com/emails-state-dept-scrambled-on-trouble-on-clintons-server/?google_editors_picks=true

State Dept. scrambled on trouble on Clinton's server

State Department staffers wrestled for weeks in December 2010 over a serious technical problem that affected emails from then-Secretary Hillary Clinton’s home email server, causing them to temporarily disable security features on the government’s own systems, according to emails released Wednesday.

The emails were released under court order Wednesday to the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch, which has sued the State Department over access to public records related to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s service as the nation’s top diplomat between 2009 and 2013.

The emails, reviewed by The Associated Press, show that State Department technical staff disabled software on their systems intended to block phishing emails that could deliver dangerous viruses.  They were trying urgently to resolve delivery problems with emails sent from Clinton’s private server.

…   Abedin and Clinton, who both used Clinton’s private server, had complained that emails each sent to State Department employees were not being reliably received.

…   Days after the technical crisis, on Jan. 9, 2011, an IT worker was forced to shut down Clinton’s server because he believed “someone was trying to hack us.”  Later that day, he wrote, “We were attacked again so I shut (the server) down for a few min.”  It was one of several occasions when email access to Clinton’s BlackBerry smartphone was disrupted because her private server was down, according to the documents.

Can you think of a better way?

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-internet-extremism-video-exclusive-idUSKCN0ZB00M

Exclusive: Google, Facebook quietly move toward automatic blocking of extremist videos

Some of the web’s biggest destinations for watching videos have quietly started using automation to remove extremist content from their sites, according to two people familiar with the process.

The move is a major step forward for internet companies that are eager to eradicate violent propaganda from their sites and are under pressure to do so from governments around the world as attacks by extremists proliferate, from Syria to Belgium and the United States.

…   The technology was originally developed to identify and remove copyright-protected content on video sites.  It looks for "hashes," a type of unique digital fingerprint that internet companies automatically assign to specific videos, allowing all content with matching fingerprints to be removed rapidly.

Such a system would catch attempts to repost content already identified as unacceptable, but would not automatically block videos that have not been seen before.

(Related)  Because the poorer way is already in place.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/284826-how-the-us-is-seeking-to-defeat-isis-online

How the US is working to defeat ISIS online

…   The office is also growing from 68 people earlier this year to about 150 now.

Its budget has grown from $5.6 million in 2015, to more than $15 million this year.  The administration has requested $21.5 million for 2017.  

…   "We recognize that it takes a network to defeat a network, so we're building a network of partners because we believe we have a very good message, we're not always just the most credible entity to convey that message," he said. 

"So we have partners that have a tremendous amount of credibility that we're working with to make sure they have the tools and capabilities to get out the word that Daesh is indeed a vicious awful organization that is rife with hypocrisy and everything else," he said, using a derogatory Arabic term for ISIS.  

…   "It's not that it's not working, it's just frankly, it'll take some time to work through the process."  [It's not that it's not working, it’s just not working now?  Bob] 

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) recently noted during the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that the State Department currently needs 14 levels of review before sending out a Tweet.

Those who receive State Department funding also have to meet a bar, albeit a lower one, of six levels of review, he added.  By contrast, he said, "If you're a volunteer, you do a tweet."

(Related)  And then there’s the Google way…

http://www.bespacific.com/usnews-article-google-has-global-censor-across-all-its-brands/

USNews article – Google as global censor across all its brands

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 25, 2016

Robert Epstein, June 22, 2016: Google, Inc., isn’t just the world’s biggest purveyor of information; it is also the world’s biggest censor.
“…But as the golden gateway to all knowledge, Google has rapidly become an essential in people’s lives – nearly as essential as air or water.  We don’t let public utilities make arbitrary and secretive decisions about denying people services; we shouldn’t let Google do so either.”  An outline of the list discussed in the article as follows:

1. The autocomplete blacklist.
2. The Google Maps blacklist.
3. The YouTube blacklist.
4. The Google account blacklist.
5. The Google News blacklist.
6. The Google AdWords blacklist.
7. The Google AdSense blacklist.
8. The search engine blacklist.
9. The quarantine list.

Now you think of it? 

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/284874-dem-protest-ignites-debate-about-control-of-house-cameras

Dem protest ignites debate about control of House cameras

Rank-and-file Democrats are calling for C-SPAN to be given more control of cameras in the House after the blackout of their sit-in on gun control.

The cameras in the House have long been under the control of the majority party, despite vocal protests from C-SPAN and government transparency advocates.

The First Amendment promises that I can tell you this.

http://www.bespacific.com/msu-mclellan-free-expression-online-library/

MSU McLellan Free Expression Online Library

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 25, 2016

“MSU Law’s First Amendment Law Clinic is the only clinical program in the country solely dedicated to the protection of student speech and press rights.  Now, a $500,000 donation from leading Michigan attorney and MSU Law Trustee Richard D. McLellan will expand the clinic’s impact nationwide by creating a Free Expression Online Library and Resource Center.  The McLellan Free Expression Online Library will provide answers to legal questions and links to hundreds of sources on topics such as student censorship, invasion of privacy, social media speech, libel and copyright issues.  Students across the country will be able to connect with MSU Law’s resources to protect their rights to free speech.”

Perspective.  Preparing for the self-driving car?

http://www.bespacific.com/the-young-and-the-carless-the-demographics-of-new-vehicle-purchases/

The Young and the Carless? The Demographics of New Vehicle Purchases

by Sabrina I. Pacifici on Jun 25, 2016

June 24, 2016 – The Young and the Carless? The Demographics of New Vehicle Purchases, Christopher Kurz, Geng Li, and Daniel Vine, Federal Reserve Board:

U.S. sales of new light vehicles have rebounded strongly since the end of the 2007-09 recession and are considered one of the bright spots of the recovery.  Indeed, sales totaled 17.4 million units in 2015, about the same rate as the all-time record set in 2000 Personal vehicle sales, which exclude sales to businesses and governments, have also rebounded strongly since the end of the recession…  As sales have rebounded, some analysts have noticed a shift in the age composition of new light vehicle buyers.  Indeed, a number of recent studies and press articles have documented a dramatic decline in young adults’ willingness to own vehicles, particularly in the years since the 2007-09 recession.  For example, Fortune recently cited the decline in the fraction of new vehicles purchased by young adults–defined as 18 to 34 year olds–as evidence that financial constraints for that age group had increased and their interest in driving had decreased.  As quoted in the article, young adults “just don’t think driving is cool–or even necessary–anymore.”  Similar stories abound and often attribute these changes to the rising popularity of social media, which reduces the need to travel, and alternative means of transportation, such as ride-sharing, public transportation, and biking, which reduce the need of owning a vehicle…”

For the next time I teach Math.

https://colleenyoung.wordpress.com/2016/06/25/review-questions-underground-mathematics/

Review Questions – Underground Mathematics

I wrote earlier on the wonderful resources on Underground Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.  Thinking about the new A level specifications I believe this site will provide us with rich resources for these new specifications.

Each section includes Review Questions, look at Thinking about Algebra for example; scroll down the different resource types for the Review questions for this station.

Alternatively you can browse all the Review questions.