Tuesday, October 13, 2015

This is what happens when you select a vendor based on political connections rather than Security expertise.
I know Clinton’s use of a private server has become a political issue, but it’s still also an infosec issue for our government. Jack Gillum and Stephen Braun of AP provide the latest revelations:
Clinton’s server, which handled her personal and State Department correspondence, appeared to allow users to connect openly over the Internet to control it remotely, according to detailed records compiled in 2012. Experts said the Microsoft remote desktop service wasn’t intended for such use without additional protective measures, and was the subject of U.S. government and industry warnings at the time over attacks from even low-skilled intruders.
Read more on ABC.




It's part of the Risk Management budget calculation. Ethical Hacking students: Can we develop an algorithm to calculate the most vulnerable companies (most likely targets) based partly on their cost of insurance?
Jim Finkle reports:
A rash of hacking attacks on U.S. companies over the past two years has prompted insurers to massively increase cyber premiums for some companies, leaving firms that are perceived to be a high risk scrambling for cover.
On top of rate hikes, insurers are raising deductibles and in some cases limiting the amount of coverage to $100 million, leaving many potentially exposed to big losses from hacks that can cost more than twice that.
Read more on Reuters.
Could this foster greater investment in data security? If so, that might be a good outcome. And if insurance pockets weren’t so deep, could this discourage a lot of law suits where there is no evidence of concrete injury or imminent injury? And would that, too, be a good thing?
But if all that happens is that rates and breach costs go up and those costs are passed along to consumers and patients, well, buckle up, because we may be in for a rougher ride.
[From the article:
Average rates for retailers surged 32 percent in the first half of this year, after staying flat in 2014, according to previously unreported figures from Marsh.
Higher deductibles are also now common for retailers and health insurers. And even the biggest insurers will not write policies for more than $100 million for risky customers. That leave companies like Target, which says its big 2013 data breach has cost $264 million, paying out of pocket.




Stunning! The world has run out of teenage males! (Well, I always got it for the articles.)
Playboy will no longer feature nude women in its print edition
… Starting next year, the publication long known for showcasing the female physique will no longer feature models in the nude, according to a report in The New York Times.
… The Times' Ravi Somaiya writes that now that Playboy has effectively accomplished its founding goal of "normalizing" the female body by introducing women to the world in their au naturel state, the magazine's mission has been accomplished.
Keep in mind that in the days before Playboy landed on magazine racks (in the 1950s), female nudity was taboo.
Playboy CEO Scott Flanders is quoted in The Times: "That battle has been fought and won ... you're now one click away from every sex act imaginable for free."
… According to AAM's magazine-circulation figures from 2014, the most popular magazine in circulation among the top 25 in the US was "AARP The Magazine."




I used to have my Spreadsheet students create a budget as a major project. These are a bit fancier.
7 Useful Excel Sheets to Instantly Improve Your Family’s Budget




A tool for explaining Big Data to my students.
The Internet in Real Time


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