You mean the President didn't want me to try Viagra?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/026437.html

February 05, 2011

Reports that White House e-mail system used in UK cyberattack

Federal Computer Week: "The White House's unclassified e-mail system is back up after an eight-hour outage, but the e-mail security problems may go deeper. It was disclosed February 4, 2011 that some officials alleged White House e-mails were the source of a cyberattack against British officials two months ago. Officials from the United Kingdom said today that alleged White House e-mail accounts were the source of a malware attack against U.K. government officials in late December, according to news report."

• "The UK Government highlighted attacks upon UK cyberspace as a priority risk in its National Security Strategy published in October 2010. The setting for the Foreign Secetary's speech is the 47th Munich Security Conference on 4 February. The UK delegation is led by Prime Minister David Cameron. [Read Foreign Secretary's speech in full - snipped here: "Government systems are being targeted too. ZEUS is a well-known piece of malware that attempts to steal banking information and other personal details. In late December a spoofed email purporting to be from the White House was sent to a large number of international recipients who were directed to click on a link that then downloaded a variant of ZEUS. The UK Government was targeted in this attack and a large number of emails bypassed some of our filters. Our experts were able to clear up the infection, but more sophisticated attacks such as these are becoming more common."

Do they even have a business plan? An interesting hack, for the time being. Does this look like $40/year worth of content?

http://mashable.com/2011/02/03/the-daily-free-tumblr/

HOW TO: Read The Daily Without an iPad, For Free

The Daily, the iPad-only tablet “newspaper” released Thursday, has an odd relationship with the web: It allows both subscribers and non-subscribers to view web-based versions of all of its articles for free, but it doesn’t offer a convenient index (a.k.a. homepage) for perusing them.

So Andy Baio, formerly the CTO of Kickstarter and now a project director at Expert Labs, decided to do The Daily a favor: Compile all of the stories published each day by and post them to Tumblr.

Now, everyone can read The Daily, and even subscribers can access back issues — which they weren’t able to do previously.

The problem, of course, is that The Daily doesn’t want users accessing its content for free; it wants people to pay for the iPad edition.

“Frankly, I’m… very curious about the legal implications,” he wrote, pointing out that his e-mail is listed at the top of the page should any of News Corp’s lawyers care to get in touch.

Who owns what?

http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=20460

AU: Employers to be banned from monitoring staff’s email, Facebook and internet use

February 5, 2011 by Dissent

Renee Viellaris reports:

Sneaky bosses who spy on personal emails are facing D-Day as state and federal politicians move to protect workers’ privacy.

Queensland Attorney-General Cameron Dick said it was time to safeguard workers who unknowingly had their emails read and internet use monitored by unreasonable bosses.

Companies are also monitoring social network sites and using information to sack staff even if they are posting messages at home and don’t mention their employer.

Lawmakers say they are determined to stop any such abuse.

Read more on news.com.au

[From the article:

"Due to the advancement of technology there is no longer a clear cut line between employees' private lives and their work, so employers need to take this into consideration," he said. [True enough, but where do you draw the line? Bob]

Interesting legal tactics. Wish I knew if they would work.

http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-stop-domain-names-being-seized-by-the-us-government-110205/

How To Stop Domain Names Being Seized By The US Government

This week, an ever more familiar picture started to emerge, the third such situation in well under a year. US authorities had begun another round of domain name seizures, this time against sites connected with sports streaming.

Apple tried “addicting” students by making Apple computers available to schools for next to nothing. Is this just Round Two?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/218790/ipad_may_replace_textbooks_and_playbooks.html

iPad May Replace Textbooks and Playbooks

This week the Georgia Senate president pro tempore, Tommie Williams, acknowledged that Apple had approached the state with a sweet deal, according to Atlanta Journal Constitution political columnist Jim Galloway. For $500 a student annually, Apple would provide each student in Georgia's middle schools with an iPad, set up wireless networks, load all the textbooks for system and take responsibility for upgrading the system and training teachers on how to use it.

One legislator with his hands on the state's purse strings, though, cast a sour note on Apple's proposal. "There's a lot of groundwork that needs to be covered before we can even remotely consider moving forward," said Tom Dickson, vice chairman of the House appropriations committee, in a report posted by a Fox TV station in Boston.

Does this explain the Bonuses and pay raises at Google?

http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/026441.html

February 05, 2011

Report: Managing Talent Will Be Even Tougher in 2011

Managing Talent Will Be Even Tougher in 2011: "Several trends are expected to make the mission of talent management even more challenging in 2011, according to Douglas Matthews, President and Chief Operating Officer for Right Management. Right Management is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, the world leader in innovative workforce solutions.

“Retaining, recruiting and managing high performers will become more difficult and complicated in the new year,” said Matthews. “We already see the signs from both job candidates in our programs as well as directly from client companies. And we’re finding it in our research. Concern is growing because talent is increasingly the only sustainable differentiator organizations have. Developing and pursuing a coherent talent management strategy is essential to executing on business strategy.”

• Talent will look elsewhere for opportunities. In a recent poll of 1,400 workers Right Management found that 84% plan to look for a new job in 2011. While the finding may not actually translate into turnover at such a high level, it no doubt reflects widespread discontent and frustration among employees after two years of recession. Any employer that does not recognize the mood will suffer by the oversight.

For my Ethical Hackers

http://www.ethicalhacker.net/content/view/348/2/

Tutorial: Hacking Linux with Armitage

(Related) Why my students like Ethical Hacking.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/218850/cybercrime_a_recession_proof_growth_industry.html

Cybercrime: A Recession-Proof Growth Industry

Even in a struggling economy there are some businesses that continue to thrive. In an era of cutbacks and layoffs, one industry has continued to skyrocket--with double digit growth year over year--cybercrime. The bar for entry is low, the overhead is minimal, and the compensation can be phenomenal.