There are some downsides to outsourcing you must consider, even if you only pay 17 cents/hour...
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_5853763
Grantsville employee info may have been compromised at prison
The Associated Press Article Last Updated: 05/09/2007 07:10:39 AM MDT
Posted: 7:11 AM- DRAPER -- The personal information of Grantsville City employees may have been compromised by prison inmates contracted to handle the info.
Anyone who has worked for the city for the last 45 years has been told that they may want to cancel their credit cards and close bank accounts. [Must be serious! Bob]
Grantsville City contracts with the prison to have inmates input the information of former and current employees. About 65 inmates transcribe paper and older records onto CDs.
The inmates worked with social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and even bank account numbers. Mayor Byron Anderson says using the inmates saved the city about half what it would cost to have it done elsewhere. [Obviously he's overpaying these people. Bob]
But about three weeks ago one of the inmates told the city that all the information had been compromised.
Grantsville has sent out about 500 letters to employees going back as far as 1960. The letters explain what happened and include suggestions on what to do if they're a victim of identity theft.
Perhaps we should get out the old Pringle's can antenna and check out the neighborhood?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=487
May 10th, 2007
Retailers haven’t learned from TJX - still running WEP
Posted by George Ou @ 3:46 am Categories: Security, Mobile/Wireless, Networking, Servers, Hardware, Desktop
When I blogged earlier this week about TJX's failure to secure their wireless LAN and how it may end up costing TJX a billion dollars, I knew that it was merely the tip of the iceberg with so many retailers still running WEP encryption. As if WEP wasn't already broken enough, WEP is now about 20 times faster to crack than in mid-2005 when TJX's WEP-based wireless LAN was broken and I knew from experience that most retailers were still running WEP. I decided to stroll through town and check on some of the largest retail stores in the country to see how they're doing today. The reason I looked at the large retailers is because they're the big juicy targets with millions of credit card transactions that the TJX hackers love. What I found was truly disturbing and I'm going to tell you what I found.
Faster than the government, I suppose.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20070509080131344
Survey on Universities' Use of SSN on Transcripts
Wednesday, May 09 2007 @ 08:01 AM CDT - Contributed by: PrivacyNews - Minors & Students
In light of all the breaches of university databases and the risk of ID theft when SSN are used on transcripts, Aaron Titus recently conducted a survey on universities' use of SSN on student transcripts. His results have been written up and he has graciously made them available to this site.
Report - The Secure Transcript: Survey of National Universities' Use of the SSN on Academic Transcripts [pdf]
Some decisions take no time at all... So fast, you might think they were pre-made!
Agency Affirms Mandates for Driver’s Licenses
By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: May 9, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 8 — The Homeland Security Department said Tuesday that it would plow ahead with national standards for driver’s licenses, despite a highly unusual level of activity by state legislatures opposed to the idea, and substantial second thoughts in Congress.
The department said it had received about 12,000 public responses to its draft rules, in a 60-day comment period that ended Tuesday. Russ Knocke, a spokesman, said the comments were mixed.
Could be useful
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/014820.html
May 08, 2007
National Center for State Courts Database Links to Over 130 Court Related Issues
"The CourTopics database contains resource guides, state profiles, and much more for over 130 court-related topics."
Could be amusing...
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/014817.html
May 08, 2007
Rhode Island Launches New Public Inmate Search Function
Inmate Search - "The Department of Corrections website is a service that is maintained by the Department of Corrections (“DOC”) to provide certain inmate information to the public. The information on this service is provided as a voluntary service to promote communication between the DOC and the public by allowing computerized access to certain information contained in DOC files.... After agreeing to a disclaimer, visitors to the site can enter partial or complete information about an inmate and press the search button. The information displayed includes: Inmate ID, Last Name, First Name, Name Type (Real or Alias), Race, Sex, Age, Last Known City/Town, and Current Security. The inmate's sentences and charges are also displayed." [Govtech.net]
Geeky, but keep this one in mind.
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/replace-windows-explorer-with-xplorer2-258730.php
Replace Windows Explorer with Xplorer2
... The "lite" version of Xplorer2 has a few features disabled, but it's far from limited; it's free for personal or academic use.
For English majors only!
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TECHBIT_IPOD_POETRY?SITE=VALYD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Penn Archive Offers Downloadable Poetry
By KATHY MATHESON Associated Press Writer May 9, 12:48 PM EDT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- When you're done loading your iPod with Better than Ezra and Carlos Santana, why not try a little Ezra Pound or William Carlos Williams?
Recordings of the poets' works are available for free through PennSound, an online audio archive developed by professors at the University of Pennsylvania.
On the Net: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound
I suppose now we'll see ads suggesting you “Sue da bastids!”
http://www.localnewswatch.com/skyvalley/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=106929
Chicago dumps racy law firm billboard
Staff and agencies 09 May, 2007
CHICAGO - A racy billboard proclaiming "Life‘s short. Get a divorce" caused enough of an uproar, city workers stripped it from its downtown perch after a week.
A city alderman who lives nearby found a technical reason to jettison the sign.
Fetman and Garland say they‘re upset the sign was removed.
Despite its brief run, the sign apparently was good for business. Since it went up last week, the two women said calls to their law firm have gone up dramatically.
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