About time we started seeing editorials like this one.

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5711.html

The Data Breach

EDITORIAL

Prevention is always cheaper than damage control. But some companies never learn.

... But one thing should already be clear to every bank that employs a security guard or owns a vault or a paper shredder: Encrypt all sensitive data — particularly when you entrust that data to a third party.

Those who fail to encrypt in 2008 are operating in the wrong century. They’ve failed to notice that dumpster divers and phishers are much more of a threat than Bonnie & Clyde.

...because...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080609065743544

Data “Dysprotection:” breaches reported last week

Monday, June 09 2008 @ 06:57 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Breaches

IA recap of incidents or privacy breaches reported last week for those who enjoy shaking their head and muttering to themselves with their morning coffee.

Source - Chronicles of Dissent

Security isn't an “out of the box” thing. How secure you are depends on how much of an effort you make.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9962106-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

How safe is instant messaging? A security and privacy survey

Posted by Declan McCullagh June 9, 2008 4:00 AM PDT

The number of interested parties eager to listen in on your online conversations, including what you type through instant messaging, has never been higher.

It's trivial to monitor unencrypted wireless networks and snatch IM passwords as they flow through the ether. Broadband providers and their business partners are enthusiastically peeking into their customers' conversations. A bipartisan majority in Congress has handed the FBI and shadowy government agencies greater surveillance authority than ever before.

The need, in other words, for secure IM communication has never been greater. But not all IM networks offer the same privacy and security. To chart the differences, CNET News.com surveyed companies providing popular IM services and asked them to answer the same 10 questions.

... Encryption is important. If you're using an open wireless connection, anyone who downloads free software like dSniff can intercept unencrypted IM communications streams. WildPackets sells to police an EtherPeek plug-in it says can intercept and decode unencrypted IM conversations in wiretap situations (plus Web-based e-mail, VoIP calls, and so on).

Tools & Techniques Fortunately I recognize Science Fiction when I see it. Although it might be fun to try reading the minds of political candidates...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20080609070606562

Mind reading by MRI scan raises 'mental privacy' issue

Monday, June 09 2008 @ 07:06 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews News Section: Other Privacy News

Scientists have taken MRI scanning equipment normally used in hospital diagnosis to detect lying, racism, and even identify which image a person is looking at, suggesting one could visualise scenes from a person's dreams or memory.

At the Cheltenham Science Festival, backed by The Daily Telegraph, Prof Geraint Rees of University College London said that, although hospital patients and experimental volunteers are protected, there is a need for debate about, for example, whether employers could use mind reading methods to decode brain activity to screen job applicants.

Source - Telegraph

“Hey, we're a monopoly! What fun is that if we can't exercise our evil powers?”

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/08/1354257&from=rss

Legal Trouble For Multiple ISPs

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday June 08, @11:06AM from the what-goes-around dept.

Ars Technica reports that Comcast has been hit with three new class-action lawsuits due to the company's traffic-shaping practices. "The lawsuits ... ask that Comcast be barred from continuing to violate various state laws, in addition to unspecified damages." Meanwhile, members of the US House Telecommunications Subcommittee have asked Charter Communications' president to stop testing a program which uses Deep Packet Inspection to track the habits of its customers. A number of privacy groups have voiced their support (PDF). As if that weren't enough, it seems the City of Los Angeles is suing Time Warner for fraud and deceptive business practices. The Daily News notes, "... the City Attorney is seeking $2,500 in civil penalties for each violation of the Unfair Competition law as well as an additional $2,500 civil penalty for each violation described in the complaint perpetrated against one or more senior citizens or disabled persons."

Sort of like the weekly Identity Theft report, but more broadly targeted. Think of it as a “Murphy was here” report

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/018538.html

June 08, 2008

Akamai Technologies Releases Annual State of the Internet Report

Akamai, 1st Quarter 2008 - The State of the Internet Report.

"During the first quarter, Akamai observed attack traffic originating from 125 unique countries around the world. China and the United States were the two largest attack traffic sources, accounting for some 30% of this traffic in total. Akamai observed attack traffic targeted at 23 unique network ports. Many of the ports that saw the highest levels of attack traffic were targeted by worms, viruses, and bots that spread across the Internet several years ago. A number of major network “events” occurred during the first quarter that impacted millions of Internet users. Cable cuts in the Mediterranean Sea severed Internet connectivity between the Middle East and Europe, drastically slowing communications. Cogent’s de-peering of Telia impacted Internet communications for selected Internet users in the United States and Europe for a two-week period. A routing change by Pakistan Telecom that spread across the Internet essentially took YouTube, a popular Internet video sharing site, offline for several hours.

“Global Warming is coming! Global Warming is coming! We're all gonna die! ...or maybe not.”

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/09/050251&from=rss

Scientists Surprised to Find Earth's Biosphere Booming

Posted by timothy on Monday June 09, @04:03AM from the but-there's-also-the-slow-hiss-in-the-background dept. Earth Science

radioweather writes

"An article from the Financial Post says that recent studies of biosphere imaging from the NASA SEAWIFS satellite indicate that the Earth's biomass is booming: 'The results surprised Steven Running of the University of Montana and Ramakrishna Nemani of NASA, scientists involved in analyzing the NASA satellite data. They found that over a period of almost two decades, the Earth as a whole became more bountiful by a whopping 6.2%. About 25% of the Earth's vegetated landmass — almost 110 million square kilometers — enjoyed significant increases and only 7% showed significant declines. When the satellite data zooms in, it finds that each square meter of land, on average, now produces almost 500 grams of greenery per year.' Their 2004 study, and other more recent ones, point to the warming of the planet and the presence of CO2, fertilizing the biota and resulting in the increased green side effect."

More access to 'free' data.

http://oad.simmons.edu/oadwiki/Wikis_about_OA

Wikis about OA

This is a list of wikis focusing on open access and related issues. When possible, please annotate with the name of the person or organization responsible for the wiki.

[One example: http://www.wikieducator.org/Main_Page