Something for nothing!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20001665-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
April 2, 2010 10:19 AM PDT
Whole Foods working to curb Facebook-based scam
by Caroline McCarthy


The equivalent of shouting “You’re an idiot!” in a crowded theater?
http://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2010/03/ca-court-cyberbullying-is-not-protected-speech.html
Cyberbullying Held not Protected Speech in CA Civil Suit


Frequently lawyers have problems with technology, but they are usually good about telling others what needs to be done. These are lawyer-failure items.
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=11069
The DOJ Criminal Division’s Laptop Computer Encryption Program and Practices – Audit Report
April 2, 2010 by admin
From the summary of findings in The Criminal Division’s Laptop Computer Encryption Program and Practices, Audit Report 10-23, March 2010:
Criminal Division-Owned Laptop Computers
Our review found that of the 40 laptops we tested for encryption software, 10 did not have encryption, and 9 of those 10 did not have Windows passwords enabled. All of the unencrypted laptops were in one Criminal Division section, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), and all of those laptops contained sensitive departmental data.
In addition to our testing of laptops for encryption, we found weaknesses in other areas of the Criminal Division’s laptop encryption program. We determined that at least 43 laptops did not comply with DOJ standards and Criminal Division requirements for laptop security settings. Also, documentation was not maintained to verify the successful installation of whole disk encryption software for all laptop computers. In addition, the Criminal Division was unable to produce an accurate inventory of the universe of laptop computers it owns from ARGIS, DOJ’s official property management system.
Non-Criminal Division-Owned Laptop Computers
We found serious deficiencies with the [Offices, Boards, and Divisions] OBD 47 contractor-owned laptops. Specifically, seven out of nine OBD 47 contractors we tested processed sensitive Department data on laptops without encryption.
In addition to our testing of contractor laptops for encryption, we found weaknesses in oversight of data security policies for the Criminal Division’s contractors. For both the Mega 3 and OBD 47 contracts, we found that these contracts did not have the required security clause requiring encryption, and the Criminal Division had not implemented alternative controls to compensate for the contract deficiencies.
The entire audit can be found here (pdf).


For my Computer Security students
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/catch-snoop-logging-wireless-network/
To Catch a Snoop: How To Tell If Someone Is Logging On To Your Wireless Network
by Tim Lenahan on Apr. 2nd, 2010


If the Republicans did this, they would call it profiling…
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=8718
Personal traits will be used to screen U.S.-bound air passengers
April 2, 2010 by Dissent
David S. Cloud reports:
The Obama administration will announce Friday a new screening system for flights to the United States under which passengers who fit an intelligence profile of potential terrorists will be searched before boarding their planes, a senior administration official said.
The procedures, which have been approved by President Obama, are aimed at preventing another attack like the one attempted by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspected of ties to Al Qaeda who allegedly tried to blow up an airliner Christmas Day with a bomb hidden in his underwear, the official said.
After that attempt, the administration began mandatory screening of airline passengers from 14 high-risk countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
Under the new system, passengers on flights from all countries could be subject to special screening before boarding if they have personal characteristics that match the latest intelligence information about potential attackers, the senior official said.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times.


What would the equivalent punishment have been before personal computers? You can’t own or use (read?) books and magazines?
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/04/03/0022231
Federal Appeals Court Says Sex Offender's Computer Ban Unfair
Posted by timothy on Friday April 02, @08:26PM
crimeandpunishment writes
"A federal appeals court says a 30-year computer restriction for a convicted sex offender was too stiff a punishment. The man, who was caught in an internet sex sting, had been ordered not to own or even use a computer." The D.C. Circuit Court's opinion in the case against Mark Wayne Russell is available as a PDF; slightly longer coverage from the Courthouse News Service.


If this happened here, the husband would still be on the Sex Offenders registry.
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/04/02/1236232
Stalker Jailed For Planting Child Porn On a PC
Posted by samzenpus on Friday April 02, @10:29AM
An anonymous reader writes
"An elaborate scheme, to get the husband of a co-worker with whom he was obsessed jailed, backfired on Ilkka Karttunen, 48, from Essex in the UK. His plan was to get the husband arrested so that he could have a go at a relationship with the woman, and to do this he broke into the couple's home while they were sleeping, used their family computer to download child pornography, and then removed the hard drive and mailed it anonymously to the police, along with a note that identified the owner."
[From the article:
Before sending the hard disk to the police, he downloaded its contents onto his computer, which he kept in the garden shed. A lot of personal information like pictures and credit and debt card information belonging to the family was discovered on it after the computer was analyzed.


This will be handy until we get adequate bandwidth…
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/sync-folders-usb-drive-allway-sync-windows/
Sync Folders With Your USB Drive Using Allway Sync [Windows]
The beauty of Allway Sync is that it’s versatile


Sometimes you have to play soothing music for your students.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jazz-music-websites/
Everything A Jazz Fan Needs To Find The Best Jazz Music