It’s not lying, it’s not volunteering the
truth. (I don’t see this on whitehouse.gov)
Trump
administration releases rules on disclosing cyber flaws
The Trump administration publicly released on
Wednesday its rules for deciding whether to disclose cyber security
flaws or keep them secret, in an effort to bring more transparency to
a process that has long been cloaked in mystery.
(Related). Possibly?
Microsoft
Patches 17 Year-Old Vulnerability in Office
Microsoft
on Tuesday released its November 2017 security updates to resolve 53
vulnerabilities across products, including a security bug that
has impacted
all versions of its Microsoft Office suite over the past 17 years.
Tracked
as CVE-2017-11882,
the vulnerability resides in the Microsoft Equation Editor
(EQNEDT32.EXE),
a tool that provides users with the ability to insert and edit
mathematical equations inside Office documents.
The
bug was discovered by Embedi security researchers as part of very old
code in Microsoft Office. The vulnerable version of EQNEDT32.EXE
was compiled on November 9, 2000, “without essential protective
measures,” the researchers say.
Although
the component was replaced in Office 2007 with new methods of
displaying and editing equations, Microsoft
kept the vulnerable file up and running in the suite, most
likely to ensure compatibility with older documents.
“
The
component is an OutPorc COM server executed in a separate address
space. This means that security mechanisms and policies of the
Office processes do not affect exploitation of the vulnerability in
any way, which provides an attacker with a wide array of
possibilities,” Embedi notes in a research paper (PDF).
Perhaps a war game rather than a Final exam?
Companies
Turn to War Games to Spot Scarce Cybersecurity Talent
A major shipping company is under attack. With
help from a corrupt executive, an international hacking syndicate
called Scorpius, has penetrated the computer networks of Fast Freight
Ltd. The hackers have taken control of servers and compromised the
systems that control Fast Freight’s vessels and its portside
machinery. The company’s cybersecurity consultants have 48 hours
to uncover the breach and repulse the attackers before they cripple
Fast Freight’s business and cause serious economic damage.
It sounds like the plot to a blockbuster thriller.
But this was the fictional scenario 42 budding computer security
experts faced at the annual U.K. Cyber Security Challenge competition
earlier this week in London. With demand for cybersecurity expertise
exploding, but qualified people in short supply, war-gaming
competitions like this have become key recruiting grounds for
companies and government security agencies.
… There are about 1 million unfilled
cybersecurity jobs globally, according to an estimate from Cisco.
… It’s this gap that
Cyber
Security Challenge U.K., a non-profit organization set up by the
British government with support from corporations and universities,
is supposed to help fill.
Includes some tips for defense attorneys…
EFF’s
Street-Level Surveillance Project Dissects Police Technology
“Step onto any city street and you may find
yourself subject to numerous forms of police surveillance—many
imperceptible to the human eye. A cruiser equipped with automated
license plate readers (also known as ALPRs) may have just logged
where you parked your car. A cell-site simulator may be capturing
your cell-phone data incidentally while detectives track a suspect
nearby. That speck in the sky may be a drone capturing video of your
commute. Police might use face recognition technology to identify
you in security camera footage.
EFF first launched its Street-Level Surveillance
project in 2015 to help inform the public about the advanced
technologies that law enforcement are deploying in our communities,
often without any transparency or public process. We’ve scored key
victories in state legislatures and city councils, limiting the
adoption of these technologies and how they can be used, but the
surveillance continues to spread, agency by agency. To combat the
threat, EFF is proud to release the latest update to our work:
a
new mini-site that shines light on a wide range of surveillance
technologies, including
ALPRs,
cell-site
simulators,
drones,
face
recognition, and
body-worn
cameras….”
This headline is distressing…
Google Docs
went down for ‘a significant’ number of users for over an hour
Google Docs
went
down for a little over an hour today for what Google says was a
“significant subset of users.” For a product with a user base
that reaches into the hundreds of millions at a minimum, that’s
certain to mean a huge number of people who experienced a disruption.
Oddly, the outage was limited
only to Google Docs — other portions of Drive and G Suite were
still working for everyone. And for the people who were still able
to access Docs, there didn’t seem to be any problems at all.
(Related) This headline causes real panic!
Google Docs
just ate your homework
What causes people to ignore procedure?
Body
searches of 900 Georgia students by sheriff’s office leads to $3
million settlement
In April, law enforcement from Georgia’s Worth
County descended on a high school and, without a warrant, conducted
body searches on an estimated 900 students, touching some students’
genitals and breasts. They said they were searching for drugs. They
found none.
Earlier this week,
Gov.
Nathan Deal suspended Sheriff Jeff Hobby by executive order
pending the outcome of his legal case or until the expiration of his
term of office, whichever comes first. Hobby faces charges of sexual
battery, false imprisonment and violation of oath of office, the
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution reported.
I think this covers all the bases and will
certainly work, if we can get anyone to take the time to find and
read all the information. See the examples!
The Trust
Project brings news orgs and tech giants together to tag and surface
high-quality news
Thursday marks the launch of
The
Trust Project, an initiative
three
years in the making (but feeling oh-so-relevant right about now)
that brings together news outlets such as The Washington Post, The
Economist, and the Globe and Mail, as well as Facebook, Google,
Twitter, and Bing, in a commitment to “provide clarity on the [news
organizations’] ethics and other standards, the journalists’
backgrounds, and how they do their work.”
— Best Practices: What Are Your
Standards? Who funds the news outlet? What is the outlet’s
mission? Plus commitments to ethics, diverse voices, accuracy, making
corrections and other standards.
— Author Expertise:
Who Reported This? Details about the journalist who wrote
the story, including expertise and other stories they have worked
on.
— Type of Work: What Is This? Labels to
distinguish opinion, analysis and advertiser (or sponsored) content
from news reports.
— Citations and References:
For investigative or in-depth stories, greater access to the sources
behind the facts and assertions.
— Methods:
Also for in-depth stories, information about why reporters chose to
pursue a
story and how they went about the process.
—
Locally Sourced? Lets people know when the story has
local origin or expertise.
— Diverse Voices:
A newsroom’s efforts to bring in diverse perspectives.
—
Actionable Feedback: A newsroom’s efforts to
engage the public’s help in setting coverage priorities,
contributing to the reporting process, ensuring accuracy and other
areas.
Excellent collection. I probably would not drop
all of this on my website students at one time.
U.S. Web
Design Standards + DigitalGov
Digital.gov:
“We’re excited to announce that
the
U.S. Web Design Standards has moved over to the
Office
of Products and Platforms (OPP) and joined
the
new DigitalGov team, effective October 1, 2017. Over the last 10
years, Digital.gov has become an authoritative destination to learn
about the methods, practices, policies, and tools needed to create
effective digital services in government. It’s where government
goes to learn from experience: building, working, communicating, and
adapting to the evolving needs of our digital nation. Our mission
has been to help people deliver smart, effective digital services in
the government. Going forward, we aim to set an example for how
government learns, builds, delivers, and measures digital services in
the 21st century. The Standards provides an increasingly important
service to government modernization. By moving the Standards to OPP
under DigitalGov, we are providing the Standards with the financial,
organizational, and communications support needed to focus on
delivering a high-quality design system and supporting framework for
government sites… ”
Perspective. In short, you better get some
digital skills. My spreadsheet students should take note!
Report –
Digitalization and the American workforce
The report, “
Digitalization
and the American workforce,” provides a detailed analysis of
changes in the digital content of 545 occupations representing 90
percent of the workforce in all industries since 2001, rating each
occupation on a digital content scale of 0-100. While the digital
content of virtually all jobs has been increasing (the average
digital score across all occupations rose 57 percent from 2002 to
2016) occupations in the middle and lower end of the digital skill
spectrum have increased digital scores most dramatically. Workers,
industries,and metropolitan areas benefit from increased digital
skills via enhanced wage growth, higher productivity and pay, and a
reduced risk of automation, but adaptive policies are still needed.
The report offers recommendations for improving digital education and
training while mitigating its potentially harmful effects, such as
worker pay disparities and the divergence of metropolitan area
economic outcomes. Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings and the
report’s author, said, “We definitely need more coders and
high-end IT professionals, but it’s just as important that many
more people learn the basic tech skills that are needed in virtually
every job. That’s the kind of digital inclusion we need. In that
respect, not everybody needs to go to a coding bootcamp but
they
probably do need to know Excel and basic office
productivity software and enterprise platforms.”
Perspective. Are my students binge watching in
class?
People
watch Netflix unabashedly at work (and in public toilets, too)
… About 67% of people now watch movies and TV
shows in public, according to an online survey it commissioned of
37,000 adults around the world. It was conducted between late August
and early September.
The most popular public places to stream are on
planes, buses, or commuting, the survey found. But 26% of
respondents also said they’ve binged shows and movies at work.
… Another 17% were so engrossed in a show or
movie that they missed their stop on their commute (hopefully not
while driving). And 45% said they’d caught someone spying on their
screens; 11% said they had a show spoiled after looking on another
person’s screen. Only 18% said they felt embarrassed about
watching in public.
Think there might be a big market for these?
Profane
anti-Trump sticker sparks free-speech debate in Texas
A Texas sheriff reportedly threatened to bring
disorderly conduct charges against a truck driver for displaying a
profane anti-Trump sticker on the rear window of the vehicle.
Sheriff Troy Nehls in Ford Bend County
told
the Houston Chronicle that he had received many complaints about
the sticker, which read: “F--- TRUMP AND F--- YOU FOR VOTING FOR
HIM.”
Nehls posted a
photo
of the truck and the offending sticker on his Facebook page
… Meanwhile, Nehls’ message on Facebook drew
criticism from the ACLU of Texas, which posted on its Facebook page:
“Memo to @SheriffTNehls: You can’t prosecute speech just because
it contains the word “----” The owner of this truck should
contact @ACLUTx”
I’d just like my students to read!
Article –
Why doesn’t everyone love reading e-books?
“Why do many students still prefer paper books
to e-books? This article summarizes a number of problems with
e-books mentioned in different studies by students of higher
education, but it also discusses
some of the unexploited possibilities with e-books.
Problems that students experience with e-books include eye strain,
distractions, a lack of overview, inadequate navigation features and
insufficient annotation and highlighting functionality. They also
find it unnecessarily complicated to download DRM-protected e-books.
Some of these problems can be solved by using a more suitable device.
For example, a mobile device that can be held in a book-like
position reduces eye strain, while a device with a bigger screen
provides a better overview of the text. Other problems can be
avoided by choosing a more usable reading application.
Unfortunately, that is not always possible, since DRM protection
entails a restriction of what devices and applications you can
choose. Until there is a solution to these problems, I think
libraries will need to purchase both print and electronic books, and
should always opt for the DRM-free alternative. We should also offer
students training on how to find, download and read e-books as well
as how to use different devices.”
(Related).
...and I’m still trying to convince my students
to get to class on time. I miss Japan.
Apology
after Japanese train departs 20 seconds early
A rail company in Japan has apologised after one
of its trains departed 20 seconds early.
Management on the Tsukuba Express line between
Tokyo and the city of Tsukuba say they "sincerely apologise for
the inconvenience" caused.
