http://techdirt.com/articles/20060914/002151.shtml
Is Anyone Safe From HP's Spies?
from the just-wondering dept
As HP brings on new lawyers to deal with the expected indictments concerning the HP board spying scandal, it's now coming out that the spying went even further than the board and a whole bunch of reporters. Turns out that at least two employees had their phone records obtained via "pretexting" (which used to be called identity theft). It's also worth noting that Patricia Dunn (who has been choosing her words carefully) says that the spying included "a number of individuals outside the company, including journalists." This would at least suggest that some of the people outside of the company were not journalists -- though no such people have been identified yet. Anyone made up "HP spied on my phone records" t-shirts yet? [Perhaps we should send a few to selected Congressmen? Bob]
State: We have evidence to charge HP execs
California Attorney General spokesman says they can indict people within HP as well as outside contractors
By Ben Ames, IDG News Service September 13, 2006
... The state now has enough evidence to indict people both within HP and contractors outside the company, confirmed Thomas Dressler, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
... HP hired investigation firm Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc. (SOS), which shares its Boston offices with a law firm called Bonner, Kiernan, Trebach and Crociata, according to a report in The New York Times that cited sources close to the case.
... Ironically, an SOS newsletter posted on the firm's Web site warns corporate executives that their privacy is at risk since their Web surfing and e-mail records can be traced by Internet browsers and cookies. It advises clients to shield their identities by using a Web site called Anonymizer.com.
http://news.com.com/2010-1014_3-6115517.html?part=rss&tag=6115517&subj=news
What the HP affair really says about privacy
By Charles Cooper Story last modified Thu Sep 14 06:54:08 PDT 2006
After what had to be the most hellish week of her professional career, Patricia Dunn finally had enough. Hewlett-Packard's embattled chairman said she will leave the post in January, making the right decision--for all the wrong reasons.
In the only public comment she's made since then, Dunn offered a modest apology for the "inappropriate techniques" HP used to carry out an inquiry into boardroom leaks.
And so now it's back to business, everyone, she seemed to imply. I'm staying put until the start of the new year. Let's move on.
Actually, let's not.
Just to be clear, HP's investigators lied to fool the phone company into supplying private data belonging to company board members and journalists. Yes, I suppose that does qualify as an "inappropriate" technique.
Indeed, if a parliamentary democracy found itself in this sort of mess, the minister in charge of the probe would have immediately drawn the appropriate conclusions and resigned.
Not at HP.
Instead, Dunn still justifies her original decision to discover the source of leaks that she claims "had the potential to affect not only the stock price of HP but also that of other publicly traded companies."
On behalf of the CNET News.com newsroom, I thank her for the compliment, since it was our January story that apparently set her off. But her claim stretches beyond the boundary of credulity. Her real point was to point attention elsewhere.
Dunn's heavily lawyered "non-apology, apology" was an obvious sop to Wall Street. If management let the affair fester, big investors worried it might cause real damage. The board felt pressure not to let things get out of hand. And so a deal was struck: HP would get a new chairman, while Dunn could hang around for the long goodbye.
Maybe we were supposed to conclude that Dunn's judgment wasn't as flawed as the critics--yours truly among them--suggest. But California's attorney general, who is gathering evidence and may indict HP personnel and its hired contractors, apparently thinks this story is not over.
Truth be told, I wasn't hoping for a Tammy Faye moment of teary contrition from Dunn. But this was a moment where she needed to do more than shift blame to some mysterious--and still unidentified--contractor. Wishful thinking on my part, but HP might have seized the moment to make an important statement about protecting peoples' rights to privacy in the cyberage. Instead, HP served up pabulum and hoped that would satisfy the growing chorus of naysayers.
Not everyone agrees this is such a big deal. Since writing an earlier column urging the board to get a new chairman, I've received no shortage of e-mails from readers accusing me of selective outrage. To wit: "You wouldn't give a rat's tootsie if reporters' precious personal data had not been involved."
With all due respect, my interlocutors are missing the bigger point. The HP affair is only the latest in a series of depressingly familiar incidents that underscore a painful truth: When it comes to privacy, expediency too often trumps principle. In the eyes of our best and brightest, it's just not very important. Congress grandstands but does little to give weight to its words. The president cuts corners, saying court-ordered permission to snoop is an encumbrance--and even harmful to national security.
Maybe it was too much to hope for better from the folks running HP. After all, they're just doing what everyone else does.
$500 million for something Google or cell phone companies would do for free. Boy, them poly-ticians is smart!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WIRELESS_NORTHROP?SITE=VALYD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Northrop to Build NYC Wireless Network
By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer Sep 13, 6:03 PM EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- The city has awarded defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. a $500 million contract to build a wireless network that will let police and firefighters plug into city computer systems, even when they are rushing to emergencies.
Plan first.
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/13/2219219&from=rss
DHS Publishes Report on Operation Cyberstorm
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday September 13, @07:20PM from the blind-leading-the-blind dept. Security United States
uniquebydegrees writes "InfoWorld reports that the Department of Homeland Security has released the findings of Operation Cyber Storm, a large-scale simulation of combined cyber-physical attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure. From the article: 'According to DHS, "observers noted that players had difficulty ascertaining what organizations and whom within those organizations to contact when there was no previously established relationship or pre-determined plans for response coordination and risk assessments/mitigation. There was a general recognition of the difficulties organizations faced when attempting to establish trust with unfamiliar organizations during time of crisis.
Lawmakers, others: U.S. lacks cybersecurity leadership
DHS has still not named an assistant secretary for cybersecurity
By Grant Gross, IDG News Service September 13, 2006
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to take several basic steps to protect the nation's cyber infrastructure, including a year-plus delay in naming an assistant secretary for cybersecurity, lawmakers and other critics said Wednesday.
I like this for a lot of reasons, not least of which is charging students for missing lectures – which we won't be forced to recapitulate for the slackers! (I wonder if I could get the Video Production class to do this as a project?)
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/13/2352211&from=rss
Professor Sells Lectures Online
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 13, @08:27PM from the never-go-to-class-again dept.
Media Education
KnightMB writes "Students at NCSU have the option of purchasing the lectures of a professor online. The Professor did this as a way to help those that missed class, didn't take good notes, or from another country and have trouble understanding an English speaking Professor. The reactions on campus were mixed among the students as some saw it as a great way to keep up with things should real life interfere [College isn't real? Bob] and others see it as something to pay for on top of the tuition cost at the university. Each one cost $2.50 for the entire lecture. Some students feel it should be free or cost less. The professor brings up a point that doing this takes extra effort and it's only fair that they should have to pay for that extra time and effort needed to put the lectures online for sale such as editing, recording equipment, etc. No one is forced to purchase the lectures, they are only an additional option that students will have. Quote Dr. Schrag "Your tuition buys you access to the lectures in the classroom. If you want to hear one again, you can buy it. I guess you could see the service as a safety net designed to help the students get the content when life gets in the way of their getting to class."
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/52965.html
Open Source App Connects Professors, Students
By Casey Waltz Daily Targum 09/13/06 4:00 AM PT
Rutgers used to use WebCT, a similar piece of course-management software, until a new version of WebCT was developed. The university considered this too expensive, however, hence the switch to Sakai, said University Director for the Office of Instructional and Research Technology Charles Hedrick.
... For Professors and Students Alike
With Sakai -- the program, that is -- a professor can manage a syllabus, organize dissertation research and facilitate international discussion among his students and those of universities abroad.
The program also allows professors to see photographs of their students even before classes begin.
Through the software, students can see the course material their professors post on the site.
... Sakai was created in February 2004 by a consortium of the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Latest News about Massachusetts Institute of Technology
With a high speed, always-on connection “We don't need no stinking PC to spy on you!”
Software Streams Music With PC Off
By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer Sep 14, 12:23 AM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Music lovers can sample songs over the Internet without turning on a personal computer in a first-of-a-kind offering that could help popularize the concept of streaming music.
... Sonos' ZonePlayer devices already are connected to a home computer network, but new software for the boxes will now let people access a music service directly without the need for a PC.
I'm surprised this isn't hosted by Comedy Central... Clearly this is just a (insert party out of power) plot to embarrass the (insert party in power)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRACKING_US_MONEY?SITE=VALYD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Congress to Open Tax Money Tracking Site
By JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer Sep 14, 4:15 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- From $500,000 for a teapot museum in North Carolina to $450,000 for plants on the east side of the Capitol, the federal government spends hundreds of billions every year for grants, contracts, earmarks and loans. With creation of a new federal Web site, citizens will at least be able to see where some of their tax money goes.
The House on Wednesday passed by voice vote and sent to President Bush legislation to create a Web site that will give people ready access to information on the $300 billion in grants issued to some 30,000 organizations annually, and the roughly 1 million contracts exceeding a $25,000 threshold.
New technology, new problems – same old story.
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/52967.html
No Data Secure With iPods in the Workplace
By Tony Glover The Business 09/13/06 4:00 AM PT
The problem for company security chiefs is that a user can copy a crucial file to an iPod and delete its entry from the device's list of recorded files without wiping the actual file from the iPod's hard drive. An inspection of the device would only reveal music, but once it were taken from the building, the stolen file could easily be accessed by reading it straight from the device's hard drive.
The legal department is trying to recoup all those antitrust fines..
http://news.com.com/2100-7348_3-6115328.html
Microsoft wins record amount from spammer
Company wins $84,177 over term violation; U.K. individuals, though, are virtually helpless against spammers, lawyer says.
By David Meyer Special to CNET News.com Published: September 13, 2006, 10:47 AM PDT
Scandal-in-waiting... (There is a video showing how to do it...)
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/012454.html
September 13, 2006
Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine
Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine by Ariel J. Feldman, J. Alex Halderman, and Edward W. Felten
Abstract - "This paper presents a fully independent security study of a Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine, including its hardware and software. We obtained the machine from a private party. Analysis of the machine, in light of real election procedures, shows that it is vulnerable to extremely serious attacks. For example, an attacker who gets physical access to a machine or its removable memory card for as little as one minute could install malicious code; malicious code on a machine could steal votes undetectably, modifying all records, logs, and counters to be consistent with the fraudulent vote count it creates. An attacker could also create malicious code that spreads automatically and silently from machine to machine during normal election activities — a voting-machine virus. We have constructed working demonstrations of these attacks in our lab. Mitigating these threats will require changes to the voting machine's hardware and software and the adoption of more rigorous election procedures."
Full research paper [PDF]
Is it vandalism?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3379017
Artist Draws 'Clean' Graffiti from Dirty Walls
Some British Officials See Moose's Handiwork as Vandalism
Morning Edition, July 15, 2004 · A British street artist known as Moose creates graffiti by cleaning dirt from sidewalks and tunnels -- sometimes for money when the images are used as advertising. But some authorities call it vandalism.
Just an observation, don't you use sting operations to arrest people? This sounds more like a training exercise that points out that NO ONE DETECTED THEM!
NYPD BOOM: BOMB SHOCK
By GEOFF EARLE and MURRAY WEISS
September 13, 2006 -- Two undercover NYPD cops in a sting operation used $7,000 and the Internet to build a truck bomb big enough to blow up a skyscraper, officials revealed yesterday.
In what was dubbed "Operation Kaboom," [Humor? PR? Bob] every purchase the cops made was legal - and aroused little suspicion - even driving their simulated truck bomb throughout the city.
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