Eventually, your “risk assessment” score will
be passed to the “automated drone targeting” system and you could
be the recipient of your very own Maverick missile! And no one knows
how that decision is made. (Except Skynet)
This
rant by frequent contributor Joe Cadillic contains some
interesting statistics and links to other resources on the Automated
Targeting System.
Yes, it is as bad as you suspect.
Read more on Joe’s blog, MassPrivateI.
(Related) If the government puts it in my car, is
it still voluntary? (Don't get me started on the “unfairness”
of electric cars not paying the gasoline tax.)
Joe Wolverton II, J.D. writes:
A new Oregon law allows the government to track drivers’ every move, and the United Nations and the federal government think that’s a great idea — for all of us.
So as to punish electric car drivers for not paying their fair share of transportation taxes associated with gas-powered vehicles, the state of Oregon is installing in every electric car a GPS device that will measure the number of miles traveled.
For now, however, the program is voluntary, but such invasions of privacy and surveillance schemes rarely stay that way.
Read more on New
American.
The article makes it seem like security in the
21st Century is all new. It's not, just the same old Best
Practices.
Stepping Up
Security Risk Management Practices
… damages associated with breaches are
motivating companies to transition from a check-box mentality to a
pro-active, risk-based approach to security.
… This
approach requires that organizations take real-time information into
account when running continuous monitoring and mitigation programs.
Technology plays a central role in gathering all the necessary pieces
that make up the security risk management puzzle. Many organizations
have invested heavily in deploying a technology portfolio that can
detect cyber-attacks before they can wrack havoc. This trend has
been confirmed by Gartner (“Gartner Says Worldwide Information
Security Spending Will Grow Almost…”, Gartner, August 2014),
which predicts that worldwide spending on information security will
reach
$76.9 billion in 2015, an increase of 8.2 percent over 2014.
Not sure the law makes sense. Should be an
amusing debate.
Rich Lord reports:
Facebook’s handling of your headshot is now the subject of class action lawsuits that pose the question: When someone turns your mug into data, are those digits theirs or yours?
Filed in April and May, the lawsuits claim that when Facebook started converting the geometry of your profile picture into what it calls “a unique number,” it broke a 2008 Illinois law giving residents certain rights when their biometric information is collected.
Facebook is disputing the claims, and fired its first legal salvos this month.
Read more on Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
Another
CloudFlare
Releases Transparency Report for First Half of 2015
CloudFlare
said it received 12 subpoenas between January 1, 2015 and June 30,
2015, the same number as in the second half of 2014. These
subpoenas, ten of which have been answered, affect a total of 12
accounts and 139 domains.
While
the number of subpoenas has remained the same, the number of court
orders increased considerably. In the first half of 2015, the
company was hit with 50 court orders, more than it received in the
entire last year. The content delivery network responded to 49 of
the court orders, which affect a total of 2,120 domains and 96
accounts.
The
transparency
report, which is published on a semiannual basis, shows that
CloudFlare received three search warrants and one pen register/trap
and trace order, and answered all of them. Records show that the
company has not received any wiretap orders.
As if my IT Governance students did have enough to
worry about... New term: “App Creep”
3 Ways to
Control App Creep
With employees of enterprise companies using an
average of 397 cloud apps, according to a Netskope Cloud Report,
the phenomenon of "app creep" is real. And it doesn't show
any signs of slowing.
App creep strikes organizations that continue to
adopt new point solution apps without retiring old, duplicative,
underused or ineffective technologies. For sales teams, this causes
more than just a cluttered virtual workspace; it can lead to siloed
information and disjointed customer interactions that can stymie
growth and impact the bottom line.
Sales leaders are adopting new technologies at an
ever-increasing rate in fear of falling behind.
Another IT Governance question: What is the proper
response?
Concerned about the security of student
information? If so, this should infuriate you:
A researcher who exposed security flaws in tools used to monitor the Internet usage of UK students has been hit with a copyright complaint. ‘Slipstream’ discovered flaws in Impero Education Pro which could reveal the personal details of thousands of pupils but in response Impero has sent in its legal team.
I would be interested to see who take the time to
actually read (and understand) the code. Perhaps this will lead to a
shared documentation website?
How to Find
Open Source Software for Windows
Open
source software is the name of the game these days, largely due
to a surge in concerns
over online privacy and awareness
regarding data security. With proprietary software, you just
never really know what the program is doing with your data.
The world is moving towards a greater acceptance
of open source software, and in some circles, acceptance has turned
into demands for viable open
source alternatives to popular programs like Word
and Photoshop.
… Near the end of 2014, Microsoft announced
that they would be open
sourcing their .NET Framework, a code platform and environment on
which many modern Windows programs rely. More recently, they also
decided to open
source Windows Live Writer.
And then there’s Apple, who announced that they
would soon open
source their Swift programming language.
Open
Source Windows is a curated list of the best open source
programs available to Windows users.
Open
Source Software Directory is a light resource for finding
non-proprietary programs.
AlternativeTo
so as far as comprehensive software coverage is concerned, there’s
no better site out there.
… If you need a starting point for quality
programs, check out our Best
Windows Software list.
Is this just a bit of “bad mouthing” or will
it really impact the bottom line? From the look of a few Tweets, I'd
say the latter.
This chart
shows just how badly HSBC got slayed on social media for being late
on Apple Pay
Apple Pay launched
in the UK on Tuesday, with most of the big banks and plenty
of big name chains already signed up.
But one bank that was supposed to come online this
week, HSBC, was hit by delays, and new
analysis from social media monitoring company Brandwatch shows
the bank got absolutely killed on social media for the slip up.
The chart below shows that negative tweets about
HSBC on Tuesday outnumbered positive ones 5 to 1:
(Related) Don't react, take control!
Your
Company Should Be Helping Customers on Social
People under 35 spend almost four
hours per day on social media, and more of that time is being
spent engaging with brands. Our research has shown that the volume
of tweets targeted at brands and their Twitter service handles, for
example, has grown 2.5x in the past two years. Similarly, the
percentage of people who have used Twitter for customer service leapt
nearly 70%, from
22 to 37% from 2013-14. McKinsey’s analysis shows that 30% of
social media users prefer social
care to phoning customer service.
Perspective. Your news today will
agree with your news yesterday. You will never be bothered with news
that contradicts your opinion. How will you learn?
More
Americans login to Facebook and Twitter to read news says Pew
Not surprisingly, a recent survey has
found that more people in the United States get their daily news fix
from social media sites, namely Facebook and Twitter.
… Two years ago, only 37 percent
of Americans admitted that they read news/articles within Facebook.
This year, according to Pew Research’s Journalism.org,
63 percent of Americans now use their Facebook accounts to get or
read articles. On Twitter in 2013, only 52 percent of Americans read
news articles and other content within the micro-blogging site’s
backyard. And this year, 63 percent of Americans say they now follow
the news using Twitter’s product and services (apps, desktop site).
[The
Pew Research:
http://www.journalism.org/2015/07/14/the-evolving-role-of-news-on-twitter-and-facebook/
(Related)
Facebook
Inc (FB) Does Not Provide A Choice When It Comes To Reading News
Perspective.
Google becomes Amazon?
… Eager to get in the e-retail game, Google
announced that it will begin to test “buy" that will appear on
mobile advertisements. The move is meant to make online purchasing
easier than ever by letting users buy products with just the click of
a button using the payment information linked to their Google
accounts.
(Related) Of course, Facebook wants some of that
market too.
Soon, you
may be able to shop on Facebook
… Facebook pages will soon host e-commerce
shopping sites, according to media reports.
The digital storefronts will also have a "Buy"
button to help you get items you have developed a fancy for.
(Related) And this didn't help Amazon keep the
wolves at bay. (Digest Item #1)
The Problem
With Amazon Prime Day
The first ever Amazon Prime Day may also be the
last, judging by the overwhelmingly negative comments from customers
hoping to pick up a bargain. The biggest problem was hype, as the
first Amazon Prime Day, held yesterday (July 15) did not live up to
expectations. Instead, the whole event has left a nasty taste in the
mouth of many loyal Amazon
Prime subscribers.
Amazon didn’t lie, as there were some incredible
bargains on offer. Unfortunately, demand outstripped supply, meaning
most people were left picking up the scraps left behind by the eager
beavers sitting at their computers all day ready to click “Buy”
at a moment’s notice. These scraps trended towards being old stock
Amazon needed to clear out of its warehouses.
This may well have been “bigger than Black
Friday” in terms of the number of items on offer, but we all know
quality is much more important than quantity. Amazon probably made a
small fortune yesterday, but judging by the reactions
on social networking sites, the online retailer has eroded the
faith shown by longtime Amazon
Prime subscribers thinking they were being rewarded for their
loyalty.
If there is to be an Amazon Prime Day 2016, Amazon
needs to up its game in every department. A better user interface,
better deals with more stock available at the lower price, and more
common sense right across the board. As The
Next Web pithily notes, this
first Amazon Prime Day could have been called the Amazon Garage Sale.
For my students, especially the vets, who should
be using these people more!
New EFF
Tool Makes Emailing Congress Just a Few Clicks Away
by Sabrina
I. Pacifici on Jul 15, 2015
“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has
created a new tool that makes emailing your congressional lawmakers a
quick and easy process. Democracy.io simplifies and streamlines the
current fractured system for contacting lawmakers, allowing you to
message your two senators and your representative from a single
website. “Democracy thrives when the voices of Internet users are
heard in Washington. The easier it is for you to reach your member of
Congress, the better,” said EFF Activism Director Rainey Reitman.
“With Democracy.io, you can send one message to both your senators
and your representative right away, instead of tracking down three
different forms on three different websites. We are proud to open
this tool to the public and increase lawmakers’ awareness of how
their constituents really feel.” At Democracy.io,
you enter your home address, and a quick look-up provides the names
of your three congressional lawmakers. You then can choose any or
all of those lawmakers, and send them whatever message you’d like.
Democracy.io follows best practices for protecting the privacy of
users, and all of the code is licensed under the AGPL, which means
people can create new versions with different features. EFF does not
control or influence the messages sent through Democracy.io.”
For the website developer's toolkit.
Ultimate
Free Tools for Cross-Browser Testing
As long as I don't have to win, I can do this!
Chipotle Is
Giving Away Free Burritos to Any Customer Who Plays This Online Game
… From July 21 until the end of August,
Chipotle is giving out buy one, get one free coupons for a free
entrée. All customers have to do is go to Chipotle's "Friend
or Faux?" website and play an interactive game.
Do you think we could require politicians to wear
these when campaigning?
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