I fear this author has nailed it. Would other types of organization be so lucky? (see next article)
http://www.cio.com/article/179603
How TJX Avoided Wall Street's Wrath
The discount retailer allowed the biggest customer data breach in history, and yet Wall Street barely noticed. Why?
By Thomas Wailgum
... To retail analyst Paula Rosenblum, a managing partner with Retail Systems Research, the reason why TJX was able to escape unscathed is simple: TJX's customers didn't care, so why should Wall Street.
Enabling ubiquitous surveillance.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080206181615552
Privacy experts warn of 'ambient intelligence' risks
Wednesday, February 06 2008 @ 06:16 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Other Privacy News
A group of European technology researchers and academics has warned industry and policy makers of the privacy and security risks posed by gathering and using so-called "ambient intelligence" — data gathered from ubiquitous technology.
A book published on Thursday, Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence, claims both customers and citizens could be alienated if information collected by embedded devices, such as RFID tags, as well as surveillance technologies, biometrics and communications devices, is not properly controlled.
Source - ZDNet
Thanks to Brian Honan for this link.
Is someone at war and forgetting to tell the press?
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/06/1431206&from=rss
Fifth Cable Cut To Middle East
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday February 06, @10:16AM from the now-wait-a-minute dept.
You may have noticed a number of stories recently about undersea cables getting cut around the world. Apparently the total is now up to 5, but the scariest part of this is that Iran is now offline. You can also read Schneier's comments on this coincidence. Update: 02/06 17:42 GMT by Z : As a commenter notes, though the country of Iran is obviously experiencing some networking difficulties, it is not offline.
On the other hand...
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/who-cut-the-cab.html
Cable Cut Fever Grips the Web
By Ryan Singel EmailFebruary 06, 2008 4:50:11 PM
Are underseas telecom cable cuts the new IEDs?
After two underwater cable cuts in the Middle East last week severely impacted countries from Dubai to India, alert netizens voiced suspicions that someone -- most likely Al Qaeda -- intentionally severed the cables for their own nefarious purposes, or that the U.S. cut them as a lead-in to an attack on Iran.
Then two more cables failed in the same area, one in a segment connecting Qatar to an island in the United Arab Emirates, and another in a link between Oman and the UAE. The former wasn't even a cut -- it was a power failure, but you can't keep a good conspiracy theory down; some news sites are even reporting incorrectly that Iran is cut off from the internet, and claiming that there's a fifth cut, which turns out to be an unexceptional cable failure from weeks ago.
... "Cable cuts happen on average once every three days," Beckert said. There are 25 large ships that do nothing but fix cable cuts and bends, Beckert adds.
... That said, even some security experts who early on dismissed suggestions of intentional sabotage are starting to get a little suspicious.
Take Columbia University Professor Steven Bellovin, a computer security and networking expert, for one:
As a security guy, I'm paranoid, but I don't understand the threat model here. On the other hand, four accidental failures in a week is a bit hard to swallow, too. Let's hope there will be close, open examination of the failed parts of the cables.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080206125820795
White Paper: Data Loss Prevention Best Practices
Wednesday, February 06 2008 @ 12:58 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches
Abstract: (Source: Ironport) Data loss prevention (DLP) is a serious issue for companies, as the number of incidents (and the cost to those experiencing them) continues to increase. Whether it's a malicious attempt, or an inadvertent mistake, data loss can diminish a company's brand, reduce shareholder value, and damage the company's goodwill and reputation.
Source - Download from Computerworld (requires free reg.)
The world, she is a changin'
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/017413.html
February 06, 2008
UN Information Economy Report 2007-2008
Information Economy Report 2007-2008 (386 pages, PDF): "The Information Economy Report 2008 - Science and technology for development: the new paradigm of ICT, analyses the current and potential contribution of information technology to knowledge creation and diffusion. It explores how ICTs help generate innovations that improve the livelihoods of the poor and support enterprise competitiveness. The report examines how ICTs affect productivity and growth and reflects on the need for a development-oriented approach to intellectual property rights in order to enable effective access to technology. ICT has also given rise to new models for sharing knowledge and collective production of ideas and innovations, known as "open access" models, which often bypass the incentive system provided by intellectual property rights."
Perhaps public data isn't public? (Why would I pay $8 per map when I can get them all for $20?)
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080206/085541.shtml
West Virginia Tax Official Tries To Stop Website From Posting Public Tax Maps
from the follow-the-money dept
Paul Alan Levy writes "The county tax assessor in Charleston, West Virginia, has sued a local tech company that had the audacity to post public tax maps from the entire state of West Virginia on its web site. The company obtained the maps under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for a total charge of $20 for 28000 maps (the actual cost of copying electronic files to CDs). The tax assessor complains that she stands to lose the profit she makes by selling paper tax maps at $8 per sheet. Why should you care? If the county tax assesor wins her case, it could affect other Web sites and bloggers that make public government records available on the Internet." Apparently, what some people have a different idea of what "public" information means than others... especially when the government stands to profit from that information. While government documents cannot be covered by copyright, apparently some gov't officials feel that preventing their ability to profit off of that public data is illegal.
Boy, if I knew how to do anything I'd start a web site like these...
Ex-Googlers Launch Instructional Video Site Howcast, Raise $8 Million A Round
Erick Schonfeld
A New York City startup called Howcast is launching today that wants to be the YouTube of instructional videos.
... Howcast faces competition from Expert Village, 5min, and Instructables (even though the latter uses step-by-step images more than video).
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