Should be among the last people to have a data spill. What were they thinking?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071205224157898

Forrester Loses Laptop Containing Personnel Data

Wednesday, December 05 2007 @ 10:41 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Thieves stole a laptop from the home of a Forrester Research employee during the week of Nov. 26, potentially exposing the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of an undisclosed number of current and former employees and directors, the company said in a letter mailed to those affected on Dec. 3.

Source - eWeek

[From the article:

... Forrester "Chief People Officer" Elizabeth Lemons said in the letter that the hard drive is password-protected but made no mention of encryption.

... the office of Forrester's "chief people officer" apparently had not informed the firm's media staff of the incident before sending out the letter.

... As such, the media relations staff was not prepared with an incidence response plan.

“ because we need a social security number to determine blood type.”

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2007120522440441

Stolen Laptop Had 268,000 Social Security Numbers

Wednesday, December 05 2007 @ 10:44 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

A Twin Cities blood bank says a laptop computer with 268,000 names and Social Security numbers has been stolen.

Memorial Blood Centers said Wednesday it has begun notifying blood donors of the theft, but they should monitor their financial accounts as a precaution. The laptop computer was taken on Nov. 28 in downtown Minneapolis during preparations for a blood drive.

Source - WCCO

[From the article:

... Spokeswoman Laura Kaplan said they need the Social Security numbers to verify that donors are eligible to give blood.

Just in case you missed this little tidbit from the land of 1984.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20071205232553538

UK: Lost data discs 'endanger protected witnesses'

Wednesday, December 05 2007 @ 11:25 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

Hundreds of people in police witness protection programmes have been put at risk by the loss of millions of child benefit records, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

The missing data discs are understood to contain both the real names and the new identities of up to 350 people who have had their identities changed after giving evidence against major criminals.

Source - Telegraph.co.uk

(Props, Fergie's Tech Blog)

Minimum standard? Do this... (see next article)

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/016729.html

December 05, 2007

FTC Offers Tutorial for Businesses on Protecting Personal Information

"Protecting the personal information of customers, clients, and employees is good business. The Federal Trade Commission has a new online tutorial to alert businesses and other organizations to practical and low- or no-cost ways to keep data secure. The tutorial, “Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business,” at www.ftc.gov/infosecurity, takes a plain-language, interactive approach to the security of sensitive information. Although the specifics depend on the type of company and the kind of information it keeps, the basic principles are the same: any business or office that keeps personal information needs to take stock, scale down, lock it, pitch it, and plan ahead. The tutorial explains each of these principles, and includes checklists of steps to take to improve data security."

...or else?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/016737.html

December 05, 2007

CRS Report - Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism

Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress, Updated November 15, 2007. "Cybercrime is becoming more organized and established as a transnational business. High technology online skills are now available for rent to a variety of customers, possibly including nation states, or individuals and groups that could secretly represent terrorist groups. The increased use of automated attack tools by cybercriminals has overwhelmed some current methodologies used for tracking Internet cyberattacks, and vulnerabilities of the U.S. critical infrastructure, which are acknowledged openly in publications, could possibly attract cyberattacks to extort money, or damage the U.S. economy to affect national security... This report discusses options now open to nation states, extremists, or terrorist groups for obtaining malicious technical services from cybercriminals to meet political or military objectives, and describes the possible effects of a coordinated cyberattack against the U.S. critical infrastructure."

Perhaps we need one for politicians?

http://www.nbc24.com/News/news_story.aspx?id=73000

Device that warns against nearby sex offenders

Posted: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 at 4:00 p.m.

... Offendar LLC of Chagrin Falls showed the device, about the size of a key fob, that vibrates when picking up a signal from a parolee's monitoring bracelet. The device has a range of about 50 yards, and would also alert the parolee to stay out of range and avoid tripping the alarm.

Convergence... Should work fine until the TSA decides that cellphones could detonate bombs and starts arresting people for pointing them at security personnel...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2007-12-04-electronic-boarding-pass_N.htm

Cellphone could be boarding pass, too

By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY Updated 23h 57m ago

... Instead of a paper pass, Continental Airlines (CAL) and the Transportation Security Administration will let passengers show a code the airline has sent to their cellphone or PDA.

Some useful stuff!

http://digg.com/software/Top_10_Free_Windows_File_Wranglers_2

Top 10 Free Windows File Wranglers

lifehacker.com — You spend a whole lot of time each day moving, copying, trashing, browsing and otherwise fiddling with all the files stored on your PC, and you should have the most efficient power tools to get those jobs done.

http://lifehacker.com/software/lifehacker-top-10/top-10-free-windows-file-wranglers-330037.php

A dalliance for my Small Business Management class? I've gotta play with this one!

http://www.killerstartups.com/Web20/ThirtyDayChallengecom---Start-Your-Own-Online-Business/

ThirtyDayChallenge.com - Start Your Own Online Business

The Thirty Day Challenge is a site that helps beginners break into the online business world. The challenge is to start your own online business without spending any money and to earn at least $10 in a month. The friendly fellows at The Thirty Day Challenge will provide users with the necessary information and tools to create a successful online business.

... The Thirty Day Challenge will also provide you with modern software that will help you create the ultimate site. The Thirty Day Challenge starts on the first of every month so challenge yourself and you can possibly create a successful online business.

Be prepared!

http://www.allowe.com/Humor/book/When%20Insults%20Had%20Class.htm

When Insults Had Class