Can a breach provide a competitive advantage? Was Lambert linked to the hacker and not the hack? Not much to go on here.

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/263907-report-feds-probing-uber-data-breach

DOJ investigating data breach at Uber

The Department of Justice is probing a data breach at Uber that an internal investigation reportedly linked to an employee at rival service Lyft, Reuters reported late Friday.

Uber has said that the data breach last year may have affected tens of thousands of drivers, exposing their identities and drivers license numbers.

Uber's internal investigation reportedly linked the initial data breach to a Comcast IP address belonging to Chris Lambert, the chief technology officer at rival service Lyft. A separate IP address reportedly executed the hack; that user remains unidentified.

… Lambert’s attorney says the software engineer has signed a sworn statement saying he was not involved in the hack. He told Reuters he expected an investigation would clear his client.

Incentive for my Computer Security students?

http://inhomelandsecurity.com/cybersecurity%E2%80%8B-%E2%80%8Bmarket-reaches-75-billion-2015%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B-%E2%80%8Bexpected-reach-170-billion-2020/?google_editors_picks=true

Cybersecurity Market Reaches $75 Billion In 2015, Expected To Reach $170 Billion By 2020

… According to IDC, the hot areas for growth are security analytics / SIEM (10%); threat intelligence (10% +); mobile security (18%); and cloud security (50%).

… There’s a huge cybersecurity market emerging around protecting cars from being hacked.

… Cybersecurity insurance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the insurance market, according to the PwC Global State of Information Security Survey 2016. A recent PwC report forecasts that the global cyberinsurance market will reach $7.5 billion in annual sales by 2020, up from $2.5 billion this year.

(Related) The subtitle for my Computer Security class is “How to Commit Computer Crime.”

http://www.securityweek.com/how-think-hacker-and-act-security-pro

How to Think Like a Hacker and Act Like a Security Pro

A rite of passage for new parents is child-proofing—securing the home from threats to children. Most experts on the subject highly recommend that parents make their way around the house on their hands and knees in order to experience the environment from a child’s perspective. This may be the only way to see the threats that aren’t obvious from an adult’s point of view.

The same is true when building security into an application. Obviously, there are lists of common vulnerabilities and other guidance in the form of best practices to consider. However, to really protect software you need to consider the hacker’s point of view of the application. You need to think like a hacker, but act like a security pro.

Betting on litigation. A new area for my Statistics students to ponder?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-caterpillar-design-theft-1222-biz-20151221-story.html#

Caterpillar ordered to pay $73.6M to tiny British firm for stealing design

A federal jury has ordered Peoria-based Caterpillar to pay a small British firm $73.6 million for ripping off its design for a piece of heavy-duty construction equipment.

… Miller's victory was good news for Highland Park-based Arena Consulting, which helped bankroll the suit in return for a cut of the jury award.

So-called litigation financing is a growing but controversial industry. Supporters say it levels the playing field, allowing small-time litigants to have their day in court against wealthy defendants, but critics say giving outside investors a stake in the outcome of a case can skew the litigants' decision making.

Interesting. So what do we do about it?

http://inhomelandsecurity.com/young-people-become-jihadists-according-top-expert/?google_editors_picks=true

… Some scholars argue nations must take a rigorous approach to understanding how people become radicalized — and, just as importantly, that religion itself is not the main motivation.

A substantial number of radical Islamic terrorists are recent converts who know surprisingly little about Islam, Olivier Roy, a professor at the European University Institute in Italy and well-known analyst of Islamist terrorism, said in a recent lecture, where he attempted to lay out “a scientific perspective on the causes/circumstances” of people joining radical groups.

… No comprehensive data exists on the militants who have joined the Islamic State and other organizations, but Roy has analyzed individual stories of the path to radicalization — saying that we must first understand radicalization before we can hope to prevent or reverse it.

… 4. Most radicals are motivated by the desire to be a hero, to do violence or get revenge.

Own everything from purchase to delivery? Interesting analysis.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3769986-an-in-depth-analysis-of-plans-for-an-amazon-airline

An In-Depth Analysis Of Plans For An Amazon Airline

After over a month of speculation, more details are beginning to emerge surrounding Amazon's rumored plan to launch an in-house freight airline. The rumor started with someone close to the talks posting on an online forum stating that Amazon is working to create the world's largest overnight parcel service within 2 years. The source stated Amazon would not buy an existing company as it did not want to inherit the problems so instead resorted to launching its own operation. In this article, I go into detail about the implications of such an operation for Amazon financially, structurally and the risks associated with such a venture.

… Amazon has been quietly building up sorting centers across the country, replacing work that was previously done by FedEx and UPS

… Some impressive numbers to note are a 1% market share in U.S domestic parcel deliveries ($800 million), contract logistics ($2.5 billion), and freight forwarding ($1.7 billion) would add $5 billion in annual revenue to Amazon.

Humor is truth.

https://hbr.org/2015/12/strategic-humor-cartoons-from-the-january-february-2016-issue

Strategic Humor: Cartoons from the January-February 2016 Issue

Proof that I am (almost) completely out of touch.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/judging-by-best-of-lists-kendrick-lamar-was-2015s-cultural-icon/

The Best of the ‘Best Of’ Lists

The best of the ‘Best Movies of 2015’

The best of the ‘Best Television Shows of 2015’

The best of the ‘Best Television Shows of 2015’

The best of the ‘Best Albums of 2015’