Perhaps we have a new meme to
complement the Streisand Effect. The Haley Effect is the repeated
attempt by politicians to convince voters that they know something
when they clearly do not...
IRS
says states must encrypt electronic tax records; Governor Haley
attempts to extricate her feet from her mouth
November 21, 2012 by admin
Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina
should stop talking about the massive databreach at the Department of
Revenue and let someone who actually knows something about data
security speak for the state.
First, she claimed that there was no
industry standard to encrypt Social Security numbers. That claim
was roundly dismissed by, well, everyone, except, perhaps, by the
state’s Inspector General Patrick Maley who had found the
department “in
substantial compliance with sound computer security practices.”
The Governor had also claimed that the
breach probably
couldn’t have been prevented. Yet more scorn was heaped upon
her head, particularly after Mondiant’s forensic investigation
indicated that the compromise likely occurred because an employee
fell for a phishing attempt.
Still in “I really don’t know what
I’m talking about but maybe this will help deflect blame” mode,
the Governor then tried
to blame the IRS for their lax standards, claiming that they
don’t require states to encrypt data.
The IRS was having none of that,
though. Jody Barr reports:
The IRS responded
early Wednesday, refuting the governor’s claim.
In an e-mail, an
IRS spokeswoman wrote: “We have many different systems with a
variety of safeguards–including encryption–to protect taxpayer
data. The IRS has in place a robust cyber security of technology,
people and processes to monitor IRS systems and networks. We have a
long list of requirements for states to handle and protect federal
tax information.”
What was that quote about how it’s
better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and
remove all doubt? Enough said, Governor. Really.
I agree, this should be amusing...
Two
Utah websites claim hacker attacks cost them $180K; @ItsKahuna
challenges the price tag
November 21, 2012 by admin
Back at the beginning of the year, the
Salt Lake City Police Department and Utah Chiefs of Police were among
a number of law enforcement organizations hacked in #OpPiggyBank. A
hacker whose Twitter handle is @ItsKahuna was subsequently
charged in the incidents. Now John Anthony Borrell is
challenging
the organizations’ claims about what the hacks cost them.
Actually, a $180,000 price tag for two
breached sites doesn’t sound that outrageous to me, but I look
forward to seeing the organizations’ responses to discovery
requests and clarification of the security protections they had in
place prior to the hacks.
Gooder or badder?
If you’ve been a long-time Facebook
user, then you know how controversial some of the privacy updates
have been on the social networking site. The company launched its
current site governance model in 2009, which gave users the right to
vote on privacy policy issues. However, Facebook is now proposing to
get rid of that system, saying that Facebook has outgrown the old
model.
Facebook wants to replace the system
with one that solicits high-quality feedback instead of just votes.
This would also prevent votes from being triggered by copy-and-pasted
comments from privacy activists. Currently, if a proposed change
gets 7,000 “substantive comments,” Facebook users can vote on the
change and the vote will be binding if more than 30% of all Facebook
users vote.
Facebook says that it’s doing away
with the voting system because it “resulted in a system that
incentivized the quantity of comments over their quality.”
Therefore, the social network is “proposing to end the voting
component of the process in favor of a system that leads to more
meaningful feedback and engagement.”
I'm sure there must be a perfectly
logical reason...
"Back in September, a U.S.
judge ruled that a school district violated
the First Amendment (freedom of speech) and Fourth Amendment
(unreasonable search and seizure) rights of a 12-year-old student by
forcing her to hand over her Facebook password to school officials
who in turn used it to search for messages they deemed inappropriate.
This month, another U.S. judge has ordered that women
suing their employer for sexual harassment must hand
over cell phones, passwords to their email accounts, blogs, as well
as to Facebook and other social networks."
[From The Next Web
article:
Should the outcome
be different because it is on one’s Facebook account? There is a
strong argument that storing such information on Facebook and making
it accessible to others presents an even stronger case for
production, at least as it concerns any privacy objection. It was
the claimants (or at least some of them) who, by their own volition,
created relevant communications and shared them with others.
[Better citations on
the Eric Goldman Blog:
… EEOC
v. Original Honeybaked Ham Co. of Georgia, Inc., 11 cv 02560 MSK
MEH (D. Col. Nov. 7, 2012)
A look at some new toys for a cheaper
safer way to wage war... (My picks)
Suicide
Drones, Mini Blimps and 3D Printers: Inside the New Army Arsenal
… Flying Grenade
Don't call it a drone. Sure, it looks
just like a small unmanned aerial vehicle -- right down to the little
wings and the cameras. And yes, it's remotely flown. But the Lethal
Miniature Aerial Munition System is more like a tiny, flying
grenade. The 5.5-pound device contains just enough
explosive material -- a little more than a shotgun shell's worth of
tungsten pieces -- to make a single target's day unpleasant in a way
no small drone can.
… Solar Drone
The Army and Marine Corps have bought
thousands of hand-held drones, which can spy on a small piece of the
battlefield. But the small eyes in the sky have a major weakness:
they can only fly for about an hour before the batteries die. The
REF believes it can double that endurance, by outfitting the drone's
wings with these flexible solar cells.
I never like this tax either, since I
don't pirate movies or music, it is a fine for someone else's crime.
Or (worse) completely imaginary crimes.
An anonymous reader writes with news
that hardware vendors aren't too happy about expanded levies on
media. From the article:
"Hewlett-Packard,
Acer, Dell, and Imation are suing the Dutch government over new
levies on hard disks, smartphones, tablets, and MP3 players that
are meant to compensate the music and movie industries for losses
caused by home copying. The entertainment industry estimates lost
income of €40 million, which
is much too high, according to the hardware companies. 'That
amount is excessive and completely unfounded,' they said. The €40
million also incorporates damages for illegally downloaded music and
movies which, according to the companies, legally cannot be recovered
by a levy on devices. Furthermore the Dutch government established a
levy on all devices including devices for professional use that are
not used for private copying, they said."
This could help fund the Privacy
Foundation for example. I think with a few tweeks, this model would
be quite useful.
Group-Funding
Platform Crowdtilt Opens To Non-Profits, Now Offers Tax-Deductible
Donations, Receipts
Since
we first covered its launch back in February, Crowdtilt
has been on a mission to become the easiest way for groups of people
to collaborate around money, specifically fundraising, for any cause.
… As the startup has moved forward,
however, it’s discovered that many of its users want to help raise
funds for charitable causes, like Hurricane Sandy relief projects,
for example. To support the growing number of individuals and
organizations looking to raise money charity, Crowdtilt today
announced that it has enabled tax-deductible donations for 501(c)(3),
or non-profit, organizations. As part of this, Crowdtilt is now able
to send tax-deductible receipts for donations made to campaigns
automatically, and the company believes it’s the first crowdfunding
platform to do so.
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