If I was a suspicious-paranoid, I'd probably think this was intelligence gathering for a terrorist attack. Water, Power and possible Police response – all hit on one night.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090310/NEWS/903100371/1033?Ti

1,000 sheriff's employees' data at risk

Computers stolen from department vehicles Feb. 28 included personal information

By LAURA NORTON THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 3:46 a.m. Last Modified: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 3:46 a.m.

… The information was potentially exposed when thieves broke into Santa Rosa police cars at the city's Municipal Services Center on Stony Point Road the night of Feb. 22 or morning of Feb. 23, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Lisa Banayat said.

There was no immediate explanation why sheriff's authorities waited two weeks to disclose the breach.

Four laptop computers with access to the county data system were stolen.

… The theft was one of four burglaries of government agencies that occurred that night and authorities believe they are related.

Computers also were stolen from the Sonoma County Water Agency and PG&E office on Stony Point Road.

Isn't this what intelligence services are supposed to do?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090310174041623

German intelligence tapped foreign desktops

Tuesday, March 10 2009 @ 05:40 PM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews

The German foreign intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), has eavesdropped on 2,500 PCs in the last couple of years.

News magazine Der Spiegel broke the news on its website this weekend. According to the magazine, information saved on HDDs was copied and transferred to Pullach, where the BND is headquartered. In various other cases, keyloggers were installed to capture passwords for email accounts.

Source - IT Examiner Thanks to Brian Honan for the link.

Anything can be counterfeited. The poorer the security, the easier it is to counterfeit. (Comments are a chuckle...)

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/10/2116219&from=rss

iTunes Gift Card Key System Cracked, Exploited

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 10, @05:59PM from the poisoning-the-currency dept. Media (Apple) The Almighty Buck

moonbender writes

"Fake but working iTunes gift cards are being sold on Chinese auction sites for a fraction of their value: 'The owner of the Taobao shop told us frankly that the gift card codes are created using key-generators. He also said that he paid money to use the hackers' service. Half a year ago, when they started the business, the price was around 320 RMB [about $47] for [a] $200 card, then more people went into this business and the price went all the way down to 18 RMB [about $2.60] per card, "but we make more money as the amount of customers is growing rapidly."' The people at Chinese market researcher Outdustry have apparently confirmed this by buying a coupon and transferring it into an iTunes account. Oops."

The geek debate begins?

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/10/239249&from=rss

Copyright and Patent Laws Hurt the Economy

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 10, @07:40PM from the speaking-sense-to-power dept. Patents

Norsefire writes

"Two economists at Washington University in St. Louis are claiming that copyright and patent laws are 'killing innovation' and 'hurting [the] economy.' Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine state they would like to see copyright law abolished completely as there are other protections available to the creators of 'intellectual property' (a term they describe as 'propaganda,' and of recent origin). They are calling on Congress to grant patents only where an invention has social value, where the patent would not stifle innovation, and where the absence of a patent would damage cost-effectiveness."

Our tax dollars at work.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/03/ftc-fights-free.html

FTC fights FreeCreditReport.com with spoof ad

Posted: Tuesday, March 10 2009 at 04:28 pm CT by Bob Sullivan

You’re the federal agency charged with protecting consumers. You have a $250 million annual budget, subpoena power and the ability to refer cases to the Justice Department for prosecution. So what do you do when one of America's biggest companies continually flouts the law?

You challenge the company to a joke-off.

Just in case you think your customers are ignorant...

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090310102214750

Users Complain of Mysterious 'PIFTS' Warning

Tuesday, March 10 2009 @ 10:22 AM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews

Computer support forums are lighting up with queries from users wondering what to do about an alert on whether to trust a file called "PIFTS.exe". Meanwhile, someone at Symantec's support forum seems to be deleting posts from users inquiring about this alert almost as soon as they go up on the forum.

Source - Security Fix

[From the article:

A Security Fix reader sent this e-mail today about his experience with this alert: "Symantec's response has been odd. It has removed all chat threads on the subject, and seems to be deleting questions about PIFTS.exe wherever they may be posted. In short, it is Symantec's response which has caused greater questions than the problem that it seems to be trying to cover up.

Is this getting tough, or just “for show?” We will have to wait for the lawsuits, right?

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20090310193747675

State Laws Require Secure Personal Data

Tuesday, March 10 2009 @ 07:37 PM EDT Contributed by: PrivacyNews

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Nevada recently enacted laws requiring businesses to institute certain compliance measures to secure personal information that can be used to perpetrate identity theft. The Massachusetts law applies to a business located anywhere in the United States that stores or maintains personal information about a Massachusetts resident. This article discusses the requirements of these new state laws and their practical significance for businesses.

Source - Law.com

Government data mining, including a watch on social networks.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020800.html

March 10, 2009

Office of the Director of National Intelligence Data Mining Report

Unclassified: Office of the Director of National Intelligence Data Mining Report, 15 February 2008.

• "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is pleased to provide to the Congress this report pursuant to Section 804 of the Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, entitled The Federal Agency Data Mining Reporting Act of 2007 ("Data Mining Reporting Act"). The Data Mining Reporting Act requires "the head of each department or agency of the Federal Government" that is engaged in activities defined as "data mining" to report on such activities to the Congress. This report covers the data mining activities of all elements of the ODNI. This report covering ODNI activities is unclassified and has been made available to the public through the ODNI's website. A classified annex has also been prepared and has been transmitted to the appropriate Congressional committees."

Related This could also provide data for my Data Mining classes.

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020801.html

March 10, 2009

Will Raw Data Feeds on Congressional Activities Finally Reach the Public Domain?

Mother Jones: "By slipping a simple, three-sentence provision into the gargantuan spending bill passed by the House of Representatives last week, a congressman from Silicon Valley is trying to nudge Congress into the 21st Century. Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) placed a measure in the bill directing Congress and its affiliated organs—including the Library of Congress and the Government Printing Office—to make its data available to the public in raw form. This will enable members of the public and watchdog groups to craft websites and databases showcasing government data that are more user-friendly than the government's own."

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=111543&catid=346

Weld County ID theft investigation put on hold

posted by: Jeffrey Wolf 9 hrs ago

WELD COUNTY - A district court judge put a halt to a major identity theft investigation in Weld County on Tuesday afternoon.

… The judge in the case said Tuesday he'll rule on the matter next month, but until he does, he wants those tax files handed over to the court and the arrests to stop.

… Tuesday's ruling is not expected to affect the cases already in the system. They are expected to proceed as scheduled.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/020804.html

March 10, 2009

New GAO Reports: National Cybersecurity Strategy, DOT Programs,

• GSA Global Supply's Direct Vendor Delivery Proposal Addresses Declining Office Product Sales, but Annual Reviews May Be Needed to Monitor Impact on Small Business Participation, GAO-09-230R, February 6, 2009

• National Cybersecurity Strategy: Key Improvements Are Needed to Strengthen the Nation's Posture, GAO-09-432T, March 10, 2009

• Transportation Programs: Challenges Facing the Department of Transportation and Congress, GAO-09-435T, March 10, 2009

[From the report:

Over the last several years, GAO has consistently reported that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has yet to fully satisfy its responsibilities designated by the national cybersecurity strategy.

I can use this (via the overhead projector) to show my students how much time is left. (May use the Bomb Countdown instead..)

http://www.online-stopwatch.com/