Another case of hackers getting through “all required security measures.” Another question: Why is the identifying data online? Is there a scientific connection between your Social Security number and breast cancer? (HIPAA violation as well?)

http://www.databreaches.net/?p=7511

Hacker hits UNC-Chapel Hill study data

September 25, 2009 by admin Filed under Breach Incidents, Breach Types, Education Sector, Hack, Of Note, U.S.

From McClatchy Newspapers:

A hacker has infiltrated a computer server housing the personal data of 236,000 women enrolled in a UNC-Chapel Hill research study.

Among the information exposed: the Social Security numbers of 163,000 study participants.

Though the intrusion was detected in late July, computer forensics experts say it may have happened two years ago, said Matthew Mauro, chairman of the UNC-CH Department of Radiology.

And though UNC-CH officials and a private computer forensic expert have spent two months investigating, they still don’t know who did the hacking, where the attack originated, or even whether data was downloaded.

”There’s no direct evidence that any information has been removed,” Mauro said. “But we can’t say for sure.”

The compromised server had all required security measures, Mauro said. It was one of two servers housing data on more than 662,000 women. The data are part of the Carolina Mammography Registry, a 14-year-old project that compiles and analyzes mammography results submitted by radiologists across the state.

Read more in News-Record.comr.

Mostly extreme back-patting, but I'll have to read it more carefully to see what they aren't saying.

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=4115

DHS issues annual privacy report to Congress

September 24, 2009 by Dissent Filed under Featured Headlines, Govt, Other, U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office has released its privacy report [pdf] for the period July 2008 – June 2009.

Another perspective.

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200939/4504/Cyveillance-More-than-half-of-the-active-threats-online-go-undetected

Cyveillance: More than half of the active threats online go undetected

by Steve Ragan - Sep 24 2009, 17:00

Cyber intelligence-based security vendor Cyveillance recently released the results of an internal study that says, even with the latest anti-Virus protection, users have a 1-in-2 chance of being infected by Malware. In short, the report says traditional Malware protections are failing you.

… If you want to read the report, you can view it online here.

Help Google spend its money.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10360903-265.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Google announces Project 10^100 themes

by Tom Krazit September 24, 2009 1:17 PM PDT

Google has finally whittled down the more than 150,000 ideas submitted as part of its Project 10^100 to 16 themes that will compete for $10 million in funding.

It's taken far longer than Google had originally anticipated, but the results of the company's 10th anniversary project to solicit ideas that could change the world are ready for inspection. Google is asking the public to vote on the most worthy of the 16 "idea themes" that it has identified from the submissions it has received over the past year.

For my Forensic students? In any case, my local library has it on order, so now I'm HOLD number 1 of 1. Simple.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10361244-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Microsoft Office plays detective in new novel

by Ina Fried September 25, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

Like many who spend their days trapped inside a cubicle, Microsoft Office probably dreams of living a more exciting life. Perhaps, when it was just a beta, it thought maybe it would grow up to be a policeman.

Well, in "Crush," a new crime novel, the mundane piece of software gets its chance. Office, or at least one key Office document, ends up playing a central role in the pursuit of a serial killer.

Without giving away too much of the plot, it's fair to say that a certain PowerPoint file becomes a key piece of evidence, with a worker at Microsoft finding central clues within the document's metadata.

… Gadgetry infuses the pages of Crush. While Office has the starring role, a number of products make cameos, including Windows Live, Surface, Outlook and even RoundTable, which Microsoft handed off last year to Polycom. In fact, there were so many Microsoft products, I thought perhaps it was some sort of paid placement.

I've had some interesting results playing with this. Give it a try yourself.

http://www.killerstartups.com/Search/bigola-com-search-everywhere-by-searching-just-once

Bigola.com - Search Everywhere By Searching Just Once

http://www.bigola.com/index.php

Bigola is a new portal that will enable you to combine the results from Twitter, Youtube, Digg, Friendfeed and Technorati when executing a single search. That is, you supply the query that represents your interests and then proceed to filter the results by clicking on the corresponding logo from the ones grouped on the right-hand side of the screen , underneath the “Filter by site” banner.

In this way, you can jump from results within one site to the other and have a very good overview of the way things are shaping up socially. If you have just launched a product, for example, you will be able to realize the impact it is having so far and take any corrective measures that might be necessary while there is still time.

Social media is not huge – it is actually immense, and it escalates by the second. to discover who is talking about what, and find exactly the kind of talk that is taking place have a definitive niche

For my website students

http://www.insidecrm.com/features/101-web-site-fixes-031808/

101 Five-Minute Fixes to Incrementally Improve Your Web Site

These quick tweaks will help you keep visitors engaged.

By Inside CRM Editors

Global Warming! Global Warming!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/sunspots/

Photo: The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)

By Alexis Madrigal September 24, 2009 6:27 pm

Two sunspots are visible on our star’s face for the first time in more than a year, possibly ending an unexpected lull in solar activity.

[Why does Al Gore care, you ask?

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/08/27/one-sunspot-mystery-solved-researchers-say/

Here’s the mystery when it comes to sunspots:

The small increase in energy emitted by the sun during solar maximums (the peak of sunspot activity) doesn’t seem to match the higher temperatures observed on earth. During sunspot years, the sun’s total energy output rises by just one-tenth of one percent. During those years, average sea surface temperatures increase by about 0.1 degrees C. But scientists calculate that, to get those higher temperatures, the amount of solar energy reaching earth would have to increase by about 0.5 Watts per square meter. And that’s where observed reality refuses to align with scientists’ number-crunching. During the peak of the sunspot cycle, the energy reaching Earth only increases by about 0.2 Watts per square meter – less than half what scientists think is necessary.

In short, Earth seems to warm up too much during solar maximums. Where is that extra energy coming from? [My guess? Congressional hot air! Bob]