2009’s Top Five Data Disasters

If we can look back at the data breaches that happened in 2009, many of them occurred because of failure in providing data security.

Companies had the same reasons of poorly coded or patched software, of lost laptops, disclosed insider information and other inadvertent disclosures rather than new hacking tools or devious hacking techniques applied by hackers.

Let us look back at the TOP five noteworthy breaches of year 2009.

TSA: Lessons of Redaction

In one of the most shocking security gaffes this year, which can be ranked as number one, is when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted a manual on the public website that contained the facts on airport screening processes.

» Read more

The 2010 Tech Predictions: What is Technology Up To In the Year Ahead?

As 2009 draws to a close, we are once again at that time of year when we wonder what could be in store for us for the coming year. And yes, that includes wondering where technology might be leading us. So settle down as you gaze at the digital display backlight of that overworked PC, make yourself comfy, and let’s mull over the many possibilities that 2010 technology may turn into.

Accolades for Windows 7. Oh yes, expect a lot of rave reviews about this OS to convince the market that the switch from its predecessor will be worth their while – and money. Microsoft will undoubtedly spend millions to persuade Vista loyalists to look forward to (or is it back to?) the advantages of Windows 7 and how much better it is. The thing is there will be quite a resistance to the new operating system, especially for home users who don’t have the technical capability to do a quick change. IT departments are more likely to defer an upgrade until such time that their Vista-generation system is at least partially depreciated. Like they say, “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” All in all, it doesn’t look like there will be much clamor for the new operating system – at least not for a while. Take heart IT departments, you can stay put and bide your time before thinking of setting up the upgrade.

» Read more

Security Threats to Supply Chains: 5 Forces which can change the Game

As any Chief Supply Officer would know; that taking care of one’s own business is not enough. There is a chain of suppliers which keep your supply replenished therefore the links need to remain in place – one a virtual or physical plane.

As any Chief Supply Officer would know; that taking care of one’s own business is not enough. There is a chain of suppliers which keep your supply replenished therefore the links need to remain in place – one a virtual or physical plane. This is doubly applicable as this is an era of quick change and high stress.

According to Ryan Brewer, CISO of the Medicaid Services and Centers for Medicare, there is a constant threat in the environment which changes like quicksilver, and the situations are as unpredictable.

Three years ago the piracy on the supply chain was minor or unheard of and no one guessed it would become such a big thing. Sometimes it was natural disasters, the others terrorism, presently it is malware. This article discusses the five threats perceived by the CSOs which may spell disaster for the supply chains.

» Read more

Ersatz Currency Yet Asunder

Fake money is being printed at several places all over the world. Fortress Paper’s CEO, Chad Wasilenkoff the Bank Note Maker alerts on the ongoing operations of the counterfeiters.

The state administration for law arrested people in Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina for trying to induce forged currency into the system. The U.S. Secret Service confiscated US $8.4 million as forged currency which had originated in Peru, in the first quarter of the year.

» Read more

What has been in the News for Apple Lately

The week that passed was memorable indeed. From emails inviting all iPhone users to bring down AT&T, to the legions of faithful owners of Apple products, and to the mysterious Board of Directors of Apple, the stuff that has been attributed to them continues to amaze everyone. Apple is already so big that it has joined Microsoft in being one of IT world’s big, fat, and juicy targets. But stories such as the following three rumors have, at one time or another, been attested to be valid fact.

iPhone users to bring AT&T down

As a means of exacting revenge over AT&T providing insufficient bandwidth to iPhone users, an e-mail, said to originate from the depths of Apple’s engineering laboratories, was sent to thousands of owners of the slick smartphone. The e-mail urged all iPhone users to overwhelm AT&T’s network by running network heavy apps that will flood AT&T with thousands of simultaneous connection requests such that the phone company’s network servers will simply give up. Called Operation Chokehold, the plan of involving thousands of iPhone owners was meant to tell AT&T that people are fed up with the measly bandwidth and the insults the giant phone company has been saying to those complaining about the inadequacy of the network.

» Read more

Chip Makers Tighten Belts in 2009

In 2009, the semiconductor industry hit an all time low. With a big drop of over 11.4 percent in sales (roughly about 29 billion dollars) the semiconductor industry only made an income of 226 billion dollars in 2009, in total. This is further emphasized by the fact that sales had already gone down in 2008 (beginning during 2,008’s last quarter) and just continued to go down in 2009, steeping down most in its first quarter. These were observations made at Gartner by its semiconductor research director, Stephen Ohr.

With the unsure and weak economy, 2009 has seen the lowest sales in semiconductors globally. The last time this ever happened was in 1985.

» Read more

A Complaint on Facebook Privacy Settings Elicits Heated Response

EPIC or the Electronic Privacy Information Center has yet again launched a heated debate over the new privacy settings that Facebook has updated and changed. This is the second time that EPIC has raised its voice against Facebook concerning the importance of protecting online user privacy.

The last complaint made by EPIC was when it announced that it was getting ready to file a federal complaint about the stipulation in Facebook Terms and Conditions that if any user were to register on Facebook and deleted his or her account, the information used in the account would be forever owned by Facebook.

» Read more

Firefox 3.6 Beta Updated, Wait until 2010 for Firefox 4

The browser that is used by more than 25 percent of all web users just got an important update. Firefox 3.6 underwent a fifth beta release which fixed more than 130 bugs and this was made available to the public last on December 17, 2009. Part of the bugs that were eliminated included some that caused the computer to crash, including the version of TraceMonkey JavaScript Rendering Engine that runs on Apple Mac computers. Other important fixes include automatic password retrieval, fast startup module and Firefox’s private browsing mode. Despite the number of significant fixes that came with this release, the makers of Firefox, Mozilla, opted to make this batch of latest fixes still part of the 3.6 beta package, because there were only a few new features present and the number of features were not enough to warrant a release candidate. This only means that for those waiting for the next big version of Firefox, which will be Firefox 4, they would have to wait until 2010.

» Read more
1 2 3