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Technology Industry News & Career Management information, brought to you by BrainWave Consulting Company.
July 2008 - Posts
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This is an engaging and fascinating video presentation by Professor James Duane of the Regent University School of Law, explaining why -- in a criminal matter -- you should never, ever, ever talk to the police or any other government agent. It doesn't matter if you're guilty or innocent, if you have an alibi or not -- it isn't possible... Share Post: Read More...
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Video demonstrating how easy it is to social engineer you way into clubs by pretending you're the DJ.... Share Post: Read More...
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An "internal customer" who throws a production department into chaos. READ MORE Share Post: Read More...
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This is just sad. The TSA confiscated a battery pack not because it's dangerous, but because other passengers might think its dangerous. And they're proud of the fact. "We must treat every suspicious item the same and utilize the tools we have available to make a final determination," said Federal Security Director David Wynn. "Procedures are in place for a... Share Post: Read More...
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Great security story from an obituary of former OSS agent Roger Hall: One of his favorite OSS stories involved a colleague sent to occupied France to destroy a seemingly impenetrable German tank at a key crossroads. The French resistance found that grenades were no use. The OSS man, fluent in German and dressed like a French peasant, walked up to... Share Post: Read More...
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It's about the potential power has to corrupt. READ MORE Share Post: Read More...
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Despite the best efforts of the security community, the details of a critical internet vulnerability discovered by Dan Kaminsky about six months ago have leaked. Hackers are racing to produce exploit code, and network operators who haven't already patched the hole are scrambling to catch up. The whole mess is a good illustration of the problems with researching and disclosing... Share Post: Read More...
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Whenever I write about software liabilities, many people ask about free and open source software. If people who write free software, like PasswordSafe, are forced to assume liabilities, they will simply not be able to and free software would disappear. Don't worry, they won't be. The key to understanding this is that this sort of contractual liability is part of... Share Post: Read More...
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Office politics when the budget is tight READ MORE Share Post: Read More...
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SanDisk has introduced Write-Once Read-Many Memory (WORM) cards for forensic applications.... Share Post: Read More...
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At the June Apogaea regional Burning Man event in Colorado, they burned a wooden/cloth giant squid. Before the burn, participants could crawl into the base of the body and turn a massive kaleidoscope with sun shining in the top. (Pictures of the squid and its demise. A picture from the inside.)... Share Post: Read More...
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From this article, published last April: Batiste confided, somewhat fantastically, that he wanted to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, which would then fall into a nearby prison, freeing Muslim prisoners who would become the core of his Moorish army. With them, he would establish his own country. Somewhat fantastically? What would the Washington Post consider to be truly... Share Post: Read More...
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They's at Yankee Stadium: The team contends that sunscreen has long been on the list of stadium contraband, but there is no mention of it on the Yankee Web site. Four weeks ago, Stadium officials decided that sunscreen of all sizes and varieties would not be permitted, a security supervisor told The Post before last night's game. "There have been... Share Post: Read More...
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In my fourth column for the Guardian last Thursday, I talk about information security and liabilities: Last summer, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee issued a report on "Personal Internet Security." I was invited to give testimony for that report, and one of my recommendations was that software vendors be held liable when they are at fault. Their... Share Post: Read More...
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You're an expert, the results will affect you, and you're entirely ignored. Now what? READ MORE Share Post: Read More...
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In this article about British speed cameras, and a trick to avoid them that does not work, is this sentence: As vehicles pass between the entry and exit camera points their number plates are digitally recorded, whether speeding or not. Without knowing more, I can guarantee that those records are kept forever.... Share Post: Read More...
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Clever: Thieves took a legitimate paper Farecard with $40 in value, sliced the card's magnetic strip into four lengthwise pieces, and then reattached one piece each to four separate defunct paper Farecards. The thieves then took the doctored Farecards to a Farecard machine and added fare, typically a nickel. By doing so, the doctored Farecard would go into the machine... Share Post: Read More...
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A high-level British government employee had his Blackberry stolen by Chinese intelligence: The aide, a senior Downing Street adviser who was with the prime minister on a trip to China earlier this year, had his BlackBerry phone stolen after being picked up by a Chinese woman who had approached him in a Shanghai hotel disco. The aide agreed to return... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ...I read your recent post, "Whether leaders can motivate," (Advice Line, 7/16/2008). If I understood you properly, in theory the job of the leader is to determine the needs, wants and desires of the employee and use those factors to generate opportunities to motivate the employee. My question: Read More...
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Who can not feel a little chill of fear after reading this: "Britain on alert for deadly new knife with exploding tip that freezes victims' organs." Yes, it's real. The knife is designed for people who need to drop large mammals quickly: sharks, bears, etc. I have no idea why Britain is on alert for it, though.... Share Post: Read More...
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This report, "Assessing the risks, costs and benefits of United States aviation security measures" by Mark Stewart and John Mueller, is excellent reading: The United States Office of Management and Budget has recommended the use of cost-benefit assessment for all proposed federal regulations. Since 9/11 government agencies in Australia, United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere have devoted much Read More...
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I sure want to know more: Giants have very strange sexual behaviour where the male has a metre-long muscular penis that he uses a bit like a nail gun and shoots cords of sperm under the skin of the female's arms and she carries the sperm around with her until she is ready to lay her big jelly mass of... Share Post: Read More...
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Did you know that, in some jurisdictions, police can inject midazolam into suspects to subdue them? "There is no research guideline. There is no validated protocol for this. There's not even a clear set of indications for when this is to be used except when people are agitated. By saying that it's done by the emergency medical personnel, they basically... Share Post: Read More...
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I am, I have to say, appalled.In a recent post ("A hostile work environment in a foreign country," Advice Line, 7/14/2008) a correspondent describes her experience in an Asian organization. Her colleagues and boss are Western, not Asian, and make frequent humiliating jokes at her expense, in particular Read More...
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Together with Tadayoshi Kohno and four of his students at the University of Washington, I have a new paper that breaks the deniable encryption feature of TrueCrypt version 5.1a. Basically, modern operating systems leak information like mad, making deniability a very difficult requirement to satisfy. ABSTRACT: We examine the security requirements for creating a Deniable File System (DFS), and the... Read More...
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They do: Hobby groups throughout North America have cracked supposedly unbeatable locks. Mr. Nekrep, who maintains a personal collection of more than 300 locks, has demonstrated online how to open a Kensington laptop lock using Scotch tape and a Post-it note. Another Lockpicking101.com member discovered the well-publicized method of opening Kryptonite bike locks with a ball-point pen, a revelation Read More...
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This is an excellent paper by Ohio State political science professor John Mueller. Titled "The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability: Assessing the Costs, Benefits, and Probabilities of Protecting the Homeland," it lays out some common send premises and policy implications. The premises: 1. The number of potential terrorist targets is essentially infinite. 2. The probability that any individual target Read More...
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Trusted insiders can do a lot of damage: Childs created a password that granted him exclusive access to the system, authorities said. He initially gave pass codes to police, but they didn't work. When pressed, Childs refused to divulge the real code even when threatened with arrest, they said. He was taken into custody Sunday. City officials said late Monday... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ...I am currently taking a psychology college course and the paper this week is regarding motivation. The exact question is, “Can managers motivate employees? Describe in your opinion using intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors.” I found this question rather interesting and decided I have Read More...
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The U.S terrorist watch list has hit one million names. I sure hope we're giving our millionth terrorist a prize of some sort. Who knew that a million people are terrorists. Why, there are only twice as many burglars in the U.S. And fifteen times more terrorists than arsonists. Is this idiotic, or what? Some people are saying fix it,... Share Post: Read More...
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By a California court: The designer, Carter Bryant, has been accused by Mattel of using Evidence Eliminator on his laptop computer just two days before investigators were due to copy its hard drive. Carter hasn't denied that the program was run on his computer, but he said it wasn't to destroy evidence. He said he had legitimate reasons to use... Share Post: Read More...
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Last week's dramatic rescue of 15 hostages held by the guerrilla organization FARC was the result of months of intricate deception on the part of the Colombian government. At the center was a classic man-in-the-middle attack. In a man-in-the-middle attack, the attacker inserts himself between two communicating parties. Both believe they're talking to each other, and the attacker can delete... Share Read More...
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Dear Bob ...I work as an English teacher in an Asian country.I am an American, I am 57 years old, I am female, and am a Christian. At the workplace are all male teachers, except me. I many times hear sarcasm and bashings by different teachers at different times over a span of three years ... about Christianity, Read More...
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Impressive. Be sure to watch the video.... Share Post: Read More...
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From his blog: Future presidents can learn a lot from all this -- do exactly what the Bush Administration did! If the law holds you back, don't first go to Congress and try to work something out. Secretly violate that law, and then when you get caught, staunchly demand that Congress change the law to your liking and then immunize... Share Post: Read More...
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The popular media conception is that there is a coordinated attempt by the Chinese government to hack into U.S. computers -- military, government corporate -- and steal secrets. The truth is a lot more complicated. There certainly is a lot of hacking coming out of China. Any company that does security monitoring sees it all the time. These hacker groups... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ...In your column on progress ("A progressive view of IT," Keep the Joint Running, 6/23/2008) you said, "I've worked with quite a few companies that avoid application upgrades in much the way campers avoid rabid badgers, although with less justification," and in general wrote in favor of companies Read More...
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It's due to rising sea temperatures.... Share Post: Read More...
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From Salon: "You ain't takin' this through," she says. "No knives. You can't bring a knife through here." It takes a moment for me to realize that she's serious. "I'm ... but ... it's ..." "Sorry." She throws it into a bin and starts to walk away. "Wait a minute," I say. "That's airline silverware." "Don't matter what it is.... Share Post: Read More...
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Here's the video of a panel I was on at Supernova; the topic was security and privacy.... Share Post: Read More...
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Petty thieves are exploiting the war on photography in Genoa: As they were walking around, Jeff saw some interesting looking produce and pulled out his Canon G-9 Point-and-Shoot and took a few pictures. Within a few minutes a man came up dressed in plain clothes, flashed a badge, and told him he couldn't take photos in the store. My brother... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ...I have to take issue with your current column and the parallel it drew between Apple's use of PARC Labs' GUI and Microsoft's use of Apple's GUI ("Barbarians at the Gates," Keep the Joint Running, 7/7/2008).Apple offered PARC a million dollars' worth of Apple stock if PARC would give Apple Read More...
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Now labor strikes are terrorism: The Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) said today it was planning a 24-hour strike by rail workers on July 17, the busiest day of the Catholic event. It is the day Pope Benedict XVI will make his way through the streets of Sydney during the afternoon peak. The NSW Government will take the matter... Share Post: Read More...
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Clever. Article and video: They work by mounting two small infrared lights on the front. The wearer is completely inconspicuous to the human eye, but cameras only see a big white blur where your face should be. Building them is a snap: just take a pair of sunglasses, attach two small but powerful IR LEDS to two pairs of wires,... Share Post: Read More...
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No surprise: Automated passenger profiling is rubbish, the Home Office has conceded in an amusing -- and we presume inadvertent -- blurt. "Attempts at automated profiling have been used in trial operations [at UK ports of entry] and has proved [sic] that the systems and technology available are of limited use," says home secretary Jacqui Smith in her response to... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ... I am looking to read over a typical contract (if there is such a thing) that Headhunters have with clients for services rendered. The reason I ask is I am going to do some recruiting and a potential client asked to see my contract. I am not sure if one needs to put in a ton of information Read More...
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Dear Bob ...In a recent column you took a shot at George Will as being against progress ("A progressive view of IT," Keep the Joint Running, 6/23/2008).Actually, I think George Will's point is not that progress itself is bad; it's that when you have something functioning, most things that you can try Read More...
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It's twenty-five feet long, with tenticles the size of human legs.... Share Post: Read More...
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Not recommended to wear at the airport.... Share Post: Read More...
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The UK is learning: The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed today that a package containing contact information from its Paisley Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC) has been lost by the courier, TNT, while in transit to one of its IT suppliers. The portable data disk contained a copy of records of 894,629 calls to the ambulance service's Paisley EMDC since February... Share Post: Read More...
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This is a weird statistic: Some of the largest and medium-sized U.S. airports report close to 637,000 laptops lost each year, according to the Ponemon Institute survey released Monday. Laptops are most commonly lost at security checkpoints, according to the survey. Close to 10,278 laptops are reported lost every week at 36 of the largest U.S. airports, and 65 percent... Share Post: Read More...
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An air traveller in Canada is first told by an airline employee that it is "illegal" to say certain words, and then that if he raised a fuss he would be falsely accused: When we boarded a little later, I asked for the ninny's name. He refused and hissed, "If you make a scene, I'll call the pilot and you... Share Post: Read More...
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This excellent paper measures insecurity in the global population of browsers, using Google's web server logs. Why is this important? Because browsers are an increasingly popular attack vector. The results aren't good. ...at least 45.2%, or 637 million users, were not using the most secure Web browser version on any working day from January 2007 to June 2008. These browsers... Share Post: Read More...
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Dear Bob ...I'd like your take on "social software" and business. Is there a place for LinkedIn-like social networking, wikis, blogs, forums, Facebook/MySpace, SecondLife, Twitter, Flickr, and so on in business? Or is this just another thing that leads to employee "not"-working? I keep thinking that Read More...
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It's been a while since I've written about electronic voting machines, but Dan Wallach has an excellent blog post about the current line of argument from the voting machine companies and why it's wrong. Unsurprisingly, the vendors and their trade organization are spinning the results of these studies, as best they can, in an attempt to downplay their significance. Hopefully,... Share Post: Read More...
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A 19-yearold from Wyoming will plead guilty.... Share Post: Read More...
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It used to be that just the entertainment industries wanted to control your computers -- and televisions and iPods and everything else -- to ensure that you didn't violate any copyright rules. But now everyone else wants to get their hooks into your gear. OnStar will soon include the ability for the police to shut off your engine remotely. Buses... Share Post: Read More...
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