Foreigners Evacuating Egypt |
01/31/2011
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The escalation of protests
across Egypt on Sunday has prompted businesses and governments to
evacuate their citizens and clients from the country.
The U.S. Embassy has been closed indefinitely, according to embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Coulton.
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Food Staples Dwindling in Egypt |
01/30/2011
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While discontent, resentment and nationalism continue to fuel demonstrations, one vital staple is in short supply: food.
Many families in Egypt are fast running out of staples such as bread,
beans and rice and are often unable or unwilling to shop for groceries.
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Common Mistakes for Presentations |
01/28/2011
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A PowerPoint presentation can be
an extremely valuable marketing tool for businesses in this day and
age. Here are a few common mistakes that you should try to avoid when
creating your presentations...
Common Mistakes for Presentations
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Mobile Security Concerns |
01/27/2011
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Academic security researchers
have created an ingenious piece of malware that runs on Android cell
phones and steals credit card details.
As is typical, many are heralding it as a sign of a smartphone security
apocalypse, but they need to calm down. Cybercriminals simply aren't
that smart, and there is nothing new to be worried about.
The so-called Soundminer malware listens in on phone conversations and
uses speech recognition to decode credit card and PIN details that users
might mention when calling their bank, as an example. DTMF tones heard
when keys are pressed are also recognized and decoded.
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While spam declined dramatically
in 2010, social networking threats, identity-theft scams and phishing
campaigns increased in sophistication and complexity, according to
Ciscos Annual Review.
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National Security Budget |
01/25/2011
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Considering the immense
deficit-reduction work that lies ahead to help restore U.S. economic
strength—which underwrites the nations military power—the aerospace
industry ought to have breathed a sigh of relief when Defense Secretary
Robert Gates recently unveiled the Pentagons Fiscal 2012 budget. Even
with $78 billion stripped from future spending and another $100 million
reallocated internally, government suppliers for the most part still
dodged the proverbial bullet.
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Security an Issue for College Sports |
01/24/2011
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Down wide, carpeted hallways and
in and out of meeting rooms, new President Mark Emmert moved through
the NCAAs annual convention in San Antonio last week with an entourage
that spoke to a reality of modern sports.
Beside him walked university presidents, key athletics administrators
and, most always, a couple of stockily built guys in suits and earpieces
who looked exactly like what they were.
Security.
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Cyber War Hype |
01/23/2011
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Cyberwar hype is inhibiting
government attempts to develop an appropriate response to cybersecurity
threats, say computer scientists.
A heavyweight study by UK computer scientists for the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development concludes that it is highly unlikely there will ever be a pure cyber war, comparable with recent conflicts in Afghanistan or the Balkans.
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Intrusion Protection Tools Improve |
01/22/2011
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The latest tests of crucial
equipment used to protect Internet-facing corporate networks show they
are improving but are far from perfect in stopping hacker attacks.
IPS (Intrusion protection systems) are often the front-line guard at the
door of the Internet and used to detect sophisticated attacks designed
to steal information or execute fraud. The systems detect attacks
against applications or OSes intended to install malicious software such
as keyloggers and rootkits.
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Dot Com Bust Heading Our Way? |
01/21/2011
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Startups are raising huge rounds
of financing. Valuations are rumored to be in the billions. Everybody
and his dog has an eye on the social media scene of web apps.
So are we headed for another cyclical bust, or are not we?
While some of the numbers being floated around -- Groupon will IPO at a
$15 billion valuation! Facebooks worth $50 billion! Zynga raised $366
million! -- are dizzyingly high, high enough to make us wonder if
investors, entrepreneurs and journalists are not all a little out of
their minds, there is another set of numbers that balance out the
picture. Numbers that, as this journalist and others recall, one did not
hear a lot of during the first dot-com boom-bust cycle: real revenues.
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Google Chrome Holes |
01/20/2011
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Google has shelled out more than
$14,000 in rewards for critical and high-risk vulnerabilities affecting
its flagship Chrome web browser.
The latest Google Chrome 8.0.552.237, available for all platforms,
patches a total of 16 documented vulnerabilties, including one critical
bug for which Google paid the first elite $3133.7 award to researcher
Sergey Glazunov.
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What is Hot and What is Not in Technology for 2011 |
01/19/2011
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What is Hot
1. Virtual Cloud
2. Mobile Apps
3. Virtual Technology
4. Connectivity
5. Scalability
What is Not
1. Privacy
2. Social Noise
3. Transparency
4. Regulation
5. Land Lines
What is Hot What is Not in Technology for 2011
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Disease a Security Threat |
01/18/2011
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One of the most worrisome
national security threats of climate change is the spread of disease,
among both people and animals, U.S. intelligence and health officials
say.
But more than a decade after such concerns were first raised by U.S.
intelligence agencies, significant gaps remain in the health
surveillance and response network - not just in developing nations, but
in the United States as well, according to those officials and a review
of federal documents and reports.
And those gaps, they say, undermine the ability of the U.S. and world
health officials to respond to disease outbreaks before they become
national security threats.
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Add a Podcast to Your Business |
01/17/2011
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Podcasts are easy for businesses
to create and they can be a great communication channel with staff,
existing customers or potential customers. The cost to implement
podcasting is small typically under $100.00 in fact you can purchase a podcasting bundle for $69.95.
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Lawmakers Continue to Debate Security |
01/16/2011
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Lawmakers are already engaged in
vigorous debate over their security, with several pushing for dramatic
measures and more money and others saying the actions of a single
deranged gunman should not shut them off from the public.
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2010 Reflections, 2011 Predictions |
01/15/2011
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The year of 2010 was considered a
rough year for the United States. There was a variety of economic
issues, a tragic oil spill, and two tumultuous wars. The world's
troubles were no less; they also included evident with failing
economies, political struggles and natural disasters.
The environment faced both natural and man-made disasters in 2010. An
earthquake in Haiti rocked the country to its roots early in the year.
European travel and United Kingdom travel was suspended, disrupting
travelers schedules for the better part of a week. When a volcano in
Iceland erupted, making it too dangerous for commercial flights to fly.
The Gulf of Mexico was tainted by an oil spill of massive proportions.
Destroying a way of life and ecosystem throughout the Gulf.
The oil gushed unchecked into the serene waters, for more than 100 days.
2010 Reflections, 2011 Predictions
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Governments Failure to Act Clouds the Facts |
01/14/2011
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Recent disparaging comments
about private sector engagement in U.S. national cyber defense
misrepresent collaboration and hard-won progress with the U.S.
government and public sector. In an interview that aired on National
Public Radio, a former Bush administration official applauded Estonias
emerging citizen-based cyber army while casting aspersions at the
contributions of our own nations corporate security experts.
Not only are those assertions untrue, it is a ridiculous comparison. The
U.S. is certainly not Estonia and the issues are more complex with more
risk to us from criminals, terrorists and nation states. With the
advent of cloud computing and new degrees of openness on the Internet,
our problems could become even more complex. The characterization of
private enterprise as standoffish by a former government insider,
whose focus was not cyber, highlights the heart of the problem. The
fact is, until recently we've not had sufficient expertise in the
government to secure our critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
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Defense Clearance for Nuclear Case |
01/13/2011
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Lawyers for a New Mexico
physicist, who is accused of trying to help Venezuela develop a nuclear
weapon, have received security clearances and can begin to review
documents after agreeing with prosecutors on a deal to share
unclassified material.
Attorney Amy Sirignano, representing former Los Alamos National
Laboratory physicist Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, says the clearances were
issued Thursday.
Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni and his wife, Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, are
accused of offering to help develop a nuclear weapon for Venezuela
through dealings with an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as a
representative of the Venezuelan government.
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Apple Security Loopholes Open Mac App Store to Piracy |
01/12/2011
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A number of security loopholes
in the applications listed on the Mac App Store allow users to download
paid applications for free and repackage bootleg programs with malicious
code.
Security oversights by Mac developers and Apple allow users to pirate or
modify applications downloaded from the Mac App Store, several users
reported on Jan. 6.
Less than 24 hours after Apple unveiled the Mac App Store for the Mac OS
X, reports emerged on various user forums, including Pastebin and
Daring Fireball, that some paid apps do not properly validate App Store
receipts, making it easy to obtain those programs for free.
Users can copy the App Store receipt from any legitimate Mac App Store
download—free or paid—and paste it to validate other paid
applications, according to the posted instructions.
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Guns in Schools |
01/11/2011
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Late Thursday morning, staff at
Hoover High School in Des Moines discovered a student had brought a gun
into the school. It is the kind of incident that rattles parents -
especially a day after an Omaha high school student shot and killed an
assistant principal, wounded the principal and later killed himself.
And, especially days after an Iowa law went into effect that made it
easier for people to get permits to carry guns.
At Hoover, thankfully, no one was hurt. The student who allegedly
brought a loaded handgun into the building was arrested. Classes were
not disrupted. Parents were kept informed. Police say the student had no
deadly plan.
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UK Threat Level |
01/10/2011
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The U.K. has raised the security threat level for the country's transport hubs to severe from substantial, according
to a person familiar with the matter, the latest reflection of mounting
concern over a possible terrorist attack in Europe.
U.K. authorities raised the threat level for transport hubs in the last
two days, this person said. The U.K.s Department of Transport notified
the aviation industry about the decision shortly after it was made, the
person said.
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Unscreened Cargo with Dead Dog |
01/09/2011
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A dead dog in a cardboard box
placed aboard a flight from Newark to Los Angeles set off a scare 30,000
feet below when local airport security officers discovered the animal
had not been screened, officials disclosed today.
Concerned that the carcass could contain a bomb or be a disease carrier,
security leaders huddled in Newark to decide whether to divert the
plane that was already in the sky.
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Wikileaks Leaks |
01/08/2011
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Recent headline-grabbing leaks
by the controversial website again have highlighted for companies the
complex and fast-changing nature of cyber risk exposures.
Although the highest-profile information released by WikiLeaks has
centered on government documents, concerns have been raised about
corporations also becoming the target of potentially damaging
information leaks.
Before the infamous leak, the 250,000 State Department cables acquired
by anti-secrecy activists resided in a database so obscure that few
diplomats had heard of it.
It had a bureaucratic name, Net-Centric Diplomacy, and served an
important mission: the rapid sharing of information that could help
uncover threats against the United States. But like many bureaucratic
inventions, it expanded beyond what its creators had imagined. It also
contained risks that no one foresaw.
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10 key technology tutorials from 2010 |
01/07/2011
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PC Advisor publishes hundreds of
walk-throughs and tutorials every year, and 2010 was no different. Here
are the Top 10 most popular technology tutorials we wrote and published
in 2010.
complete article
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Google Notification of Hacked Site |
01/06/2011
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In a continued effort to help
their users know exactly what they are searching for good has now
launched a new service titled simply, Hacked Site Notification. Google
Hacked Site Notification is exactly what it sounds like. When you search
for a particular site the search giant uses a variety of automated
tools to detect the fingerprints of a hacker on that site.
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Hotmail Email Has Disappeared |
01/05/2011
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Some users of Microsoft Hotmail
are starting off the new year scrambling to get back e-mails of old. A
chorus of frantic users has posted complaints on Microsofts online forum
that all of their messages have disappeared.
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2010 A Year in Review |
01/04/2011
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The year of 2010 was considered a
rough year for the United States. There was a variety of economic
issues, a tragic oil spill, and two tumultuous wars. The world's
troubles were no less; they also included evident with failing
economies, political struggles and natural disasters.
The environment faced both natural and man-made disasters in 2010. An
earthquake in Haiti rocked the country to its roots early in the year.
European travel and United Kingdom travel was suspended, disrupting
travelers schedules for the better part of a week. When a volcano in
Iceland erupted, making it too dangerous for commercial flights to fly.
The Gulf of Mexico was tainted by an oil spill of massive proportions.
Destroying a way of life and ecosystem throughout the Gulf.
The oil gushed unchecked into the serene waters, for more than 100 days.
2010 Reflections, 2011 Predictions
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Top 10 Security Tools of 2010 |
01/03/2011
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As smartphones and tablets
complement and battle with notebooks and PCs as routes to the connected
world, as corporate users and consumers turn to both traditional Web
sites and newer social networking sites to communicate, share ideas,
trade business concepts, and shop, corporate IT professionals and the
government organizations overseeing the nations cybersecurity are
all-too aware they must do more. And they must do it fast. Recognizing
this, the federal government hopes to create a new wave of cybersecurity
educational and certification programs in order to form the next,
much-needed workforce. And law enforcement agencies around the world are
becoming more adept at working cooperatively to combat the growing
number, complexity, and sophistication of cyber criminals that pursue
money and power through their creation of malware and network
destruction. This teamwork already has brought down some botnet gangs in
different nations.
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India Security Increased |
12/31/2010
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India heightened security measures Tuesday amid fears a militant group is planning a New Years weekend terror attack.
According to intelligence reports, a banned Pakistan-based militant
group called Lashkar-e-Taiba may target the countrys financial capital
of Mumbai as well as the beach resort state of Goa.
Security has been increased at bus and train stations and airports.
Police in Mumbai are also searching for four men suspected of entering
the city for the purpose of carrying out a terrorist attack.
Computer-aided photographs of the four suspects were released.
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Security in the Cloud |
12/31/2010
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Security in the cloud is a key
concern for 2011 as customers start to question how cloud computing can
be safeguarded, it has been claimed.
According to the 2011 Cloud Computing Predictions for CIOs and Business
Technology Leaders report from the CIO Network, until now customers have
thought of the cloud as unsecured, however in the coming months they
will increasingly be asking how security can be achieved.
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Privacy vs Security |
12/30/2010
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Privacy has emerged as a
dominant topic of debate among digital marketers this year. Consumer
watchdog groups are clamoring for new protective measures. The U.S.
government, including the Federal Trade Commission, is considering
regulating advertising methods and practices. Advertisers are taking
proactive measures to self-regulate their behaviors in hopes of
lessening any regulatory impact.
Why the commotion? What has sparked such concern? More personalized, behaviorally-based advertisements.
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Social Network Security |
12/29/2010
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Social networks will remain
hotbeds of malicious attacks, McAfee predicted, but geolocation services
like Foursquare and Facebook Places will see new prominence. In just
a few clicks, cybercriminals can see in real time who is tweeting,
where they are located, what they are saying, what their interests are,
and what operating systems and applications they are using, McAfee noted. This wealth of personal information on individuals enables cybercriminals to craft a targeted attack.
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