Airplanes and Security |
02/26/2010
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After
the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the cockpit doors of commercial airliners
were sealed, air marshals were added and airport searches became more
aggressive, all to make sure that a passenger plane could never again
be used as a weapon.
But little has been done to guard against attacks with smaller planes,
and that point was driven home with chilling force Thursday when Joseph
Stack, 53, crashed his single-engine plane into the seven-story Echelon
building in North Austin, where about 200 Internal Revenue Service
employees worked.
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Leprosy on Olympic Security Ship |
02/25/2010
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Health
officials have confirmed a crew member aboard a cruise ship housing the
Olympic security force has been diagnosed with leprosy.
There is no public health risk associated with this case and the
crew member, who did not work in a service or passenger support role, the government said in a news release.
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Olympic Security Review |
02/25/2010
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Two
security breaches and the dismissal of seven police officers and four
military personnel from the Integrated Security Unit, do not seem to
bother Olympic organizers.
IOC executive Gilbert Felli said he has no complaints.
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Booking Online Has Risks |
02/23/2010
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Hamas
leader assassinated during a visit to Dubai last month exposed himself
to attack when he breached security protocol by talking about his trip
over the phone and making hotel reservations on the Internet, the
militant Islamic group said Saturday.
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Deadly Web Design Sins |
02/22/2010
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Many webmasters repeat the mistakes made by their predecessors. Take a look at these Top 10 most common web design sins. Have you fallen victim to any of these?
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Drop in Illegal Immigration |
02/21/2010
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A
report that America’s illegal immigrant population declined by almost
1 million in one year is fomenting hot debate about why it is
happening, whether the statistics are correct, and how the numbers
should affect US immigration reform.
The number of illegal immigrants living in the United States dropped to
10.6 million in 2009 from 11.6 million in 2008, the sharpest decrease
in 30 years and a second straight year of decline, according to a
Department of Homeland Security report released this week.
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China Cyber Security |
02/20/2010
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Deep
inside a Chinese military engineering institute in September 2008, a
researcher took a break from his duties and decided — against
official policy — to check his private e-mail messages. Among the new
arrivals was an electronic holiday greeting card that purported to be
from a state defense office.
The researcher clicked on the card to open it. Within minutes, secretly
implanted computer code enabled an unnamed foreign intelligence agency
to tap into the databases of the institute in the city of Luoyang in
central China and spirit away top-secret information on Chinese
submarines.
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Blackwater Kicked Out of Iraq |
02/19/2010
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Blackwater,
the controversial security firm responsible for numerous shootings and
deaths of civilians, has been kicked out of Iraq. About 250 former and
current employees of the company, which now operates under the name Xe,
were told they had seven days to leave the country or face possible
arrest for visa violations.
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Flash Security Fix |
02/18/2010
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Adobe has published a cross-platform update for Flash that addresses a potentially serious security flaw.
Flash Player users are advised to upgrade to version 10.0.45.2 to plug
a hole in earlier versions of the software that means the domain
sandbox security protection could be bypassed to make unauthorized
cross-domain requests.
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Arabic Flashcards Security Risk |
02/17/2010
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Nicholas
George planned to brush up on his Arabic vocabulary during a flight in
August from Philadelphia to California, where he was to start his
senior year at Pomona College. So he carried some Arabic-English
flashcards in his pocket to study on the plane.
But those flashcards changed George's life far beyond the classroom.
The 22-year-old from Pennsylvania is speaking out against what he
contends are abuses by federal authorities in airport security measures.
George, a physics major who is considering a career as a U.S. diplomat
in the Middle East, is suing the Transportation Security
Administration, the FBI and Philadelphia police for jailing him after
his flashcards were found and confiscated in a Philadelphia airport
screening. His lawsuit, filed in federal court this week, said his four
hours in detention, half of that in handcuffs, violated his rights to
free speech and protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
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Former Blackwater Employees Accuse Company of Fraud |
02/16/2010
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Two
former employees of Blackwater Worldwide have accused the private
security contractor of defrauding the government for years through
phony billing, including charging taxpayers for alcohol-filled parties,
spa trips and a prostitute.
In court records unsealed this week, a husband and wife who worked for
Blackwater said they have firsthand knowledge of the company falsifying
invoices, double-billing federal agencies and improperly charging the
government for personal expenses. They said they witnessed systematic
fraud in the company’s security contracts with the State Department
in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with the Department of Homeland Security
and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Louisiana after
Hurricane Katrina.
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Year of Tiger - or Security |
02/15/2010
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The
Spring Festival began in China on Saturday as 1.3 billion people got
ready to celebrate the start of the Year of the Tiger on Sunday.
Over 10,000 temple fairs and thousands of other public events including
fireworks shows, lantern exhibitions, official and corporate events
will take place in the coming 10 days. The Public Security Bureau,
which handles all security, said it has made elaborate arrangements to
ensure the safety of people across the country. It was ready to handle emergencies to prevent serious accidents during the Lunar New Year festivities.
If you were born under the Chinese sign of the Tiger, it does not
pay to argue with you! Tigers are usually larger than life,
warm-hearted extroverts. They can not help being noticed and are often
very good-looking. However, they can be quick tempered, laughing and
joking one moment and angry the next, turning on anyone who annoys them.
Tigers are fearless and will pursue a perceived wrong no matter
what. They have a restless spirit and hate to be confined. Tigers need
to be free to roam.
Year of Tiger
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Blogging
has quickly become very common place, and while blogs may be plentiful,
many bloggers still make a number of mistakes when it comes to managing
their blogs. Presented here are the most common blog mistakes, in hopes
that you can avoid making them yourself...
Blog Mistakes
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Mobile Security |
02/14/2010
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The phrase mobile security does
not usually mean much to anyone, until of course they encounter their
first mobile attack. For a growing number of App Store and Android
Market customers, this is a growing fear that is becoming all too real.
Already in 2010, mobile apps via both the App Store and Android Market,
owned by Apple Inc and Google Inc respectively, have experienced a rise
in malicious mobile apps.
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Munich Security Conference Raised Issues |
02/13/2010
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The
annual Munich Security Conference closed Sunday after intensive talks
on a rising Asia, Irans nuclear program and reform of the West's
security institutions.
The pursuit of networked security was clearly seen at the
conference, as the West sought more integrated security institutions
and wider international cooperation to cope with global threats, and
tried to solve disputes over Iran's nuclear program through joint
international efforts.
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Pros and Cons of RSS Feeds |
02/12/2010
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Weigh
the pros and cons of implementing an RSS feed as a communication
channel, and determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks in your
own situation.
Pros and Cons of RSS Feeds
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Another Government Security Error |
02/11/2010
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The
state health department mailed letters to nearly 50,000 Californians
this month - inadvertently listing their Social Security numbers
alongside their names and addresses on the envelopes.
The security breach involved a Feb. 1 mailing by the California
Department of Health Care Services to 49,352 recipients of the states
Adult Day Health Care program. It occurred when workers at the
department, as they prepared and formatted a mailing list, mistakenly
included the Social Security numbers on the mailing labels, officials
said.
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Improving Software Quality and Security |
02/10/2010
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The hope is to educate IT and business professionals and improve the quality of software and also improve overall security.
The Rugged Software Manifesto:
I am rugged… and more importantly, my code is rugged.
I recognize that software has become a foundation of our modern world.
I recognize the awesome responsibility that comes with this foundational role.
I recognize that my code will be used in ways I cannot anticipate, in
ways it was not designed, and for longer than it was ever intended.
I recognize that my code will be attacked by talented and persistent
adversaries who threaten our physical, economic, and national security.
I recognize these things - and I choose to be rugged.
I am rugged because I refuse to be a source of vulnerability or weakness.
I am rugged because I assure my code will support its mission.
I am rugged because my code can face these challenges and persist in spite of them.
I am rugged, not because it is easy, but because it is necessary… and I am up for the challenge.
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Airport Delays Due to Security |
02/09/2010
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U.S.
airport security lines will lengthen and terminals will become more
congested with the coming of body scanners, airport officials predict.
Even though the U.S. Transportation Security Administration says the
scanners will not significantly increase waits at security lines, some
airport managers and the International Air Transport Association, an
airline group, disagree, USA Today reported Tuesday.
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Scaling Back Aviation Security |
02/08/2010
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Citing
industry objections, the Transportation Security Administration is
preparing to scale back a controversial plan to expand aviation
security rules for the first time to thousands of private planes.
TSA officials said this week they expect to issue a revised plan this
fall that will significantly reduce from 15,000 the number of
U.S.-registered general-aviation aircraft subjected to tougher rules.
Also, instead of mandating that all passengers aboard private planes be
checked against terrorist watch lists, name checks in many cases could
be left to the discretion of pilots, they said.
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The
recent hacking attack that prompted Googles threat to leave China is
underscoring the heightened dangers of previously undisclosed computer
security flaws -- and renewing debate over buying and selling
information about them in the black market.
Because no fix was available, the linchpin in the attack was one of the
worst kinds of security holes. Criminals treasure these types of 'zero day'
security vulnerabilities because they are the closest to a sure thing
and virtually guarantee the success of a shrewdly crafted attack.
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How to Choose a Domain - Part II |
02/04/2010
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Here are some other things to pay attention to when selecting domain names...
1. Domain Extensions
Many webmasters wrestle not only with choosing the best domain name,
but also with the decision of what domain extensions to select for
their website. The following is a general guide to what the most
popular domain extensions represent...
.com - commercial (by far, the most popular domain extension)
.net - network host (often used by hosting companies)
.edu - educational institution
.org - organization
.info - informational sites
If your primary focus is in a local market, you may find value in a local domain as well.
How To Choose A Domain Name - Part 2
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Executives
at corporate operators of critical infrastructure -- power, water, oil,
telecom, finance, and transportation companies -- say that their
networks face relentless attacks from cybercriminals and foreign
governments, a situation that amounts to an undeclared cyberwar.
On Thursday, McAfee, a security vendor, published a cyber security
report authored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS), a public policy research group.
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Fear of Cyber Attacks Increasing |
02/02/2010
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A
survey of 600 computing and computer-security executives in 14
countries suggests that attacks on the Internet pose a growing threat
to the energy and communication systems that underlie modern society.
The findings, issued Thursday by the Center for Strategic and
International Studies and the computer-security company McAfee, echoed
alarms raised this month by Google after it experienced a wave of
cyberattacks.
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How to Choose a Domain |
02/01/2010
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So,
you have an idea or a product.... now you need a domain name for a
website. How do you choose a great domain name? Here are a few ideas...
Brainstorm
Create a list of words or phrases that relate to the product, service,
information, or brand that will be promoted on the website.
Experiment
Experiment with variations of the words in the above list. Change the
order of words in phrases to create unique combinations for possible
domain names.
How to Choose a Domain
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Internet Access in Space |
01/30/2010
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In a high tech first — really, really high — astronauts in space finally have Internet access.
Space station resident Timothy Creamer had been working with flight
controllers to establish Internet access from his orbital post ever
since he moved in last month. On Friday, his effort paid off. He posted
the first live Twitter post truly from space.
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Internet Regulation |
01/29/2010
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Silvio Berlusconi is moving to extend his grip on Italy's media to the freewheeling Internet world of Google and YouTube.
Going beyond other European countries, the premier's government has
drafted a decree that would mandate the vetting of videos for
pornographic or violent content uploaded by users onto such sites as
YouTube, owned by Google, and the France-based Dailymotion, as well as
blogs and online newsmedia.
Google, press freedom watchdogs and telecom providers are among those
pressing for changes in the draft to prevent the fast-track legislation
from taking effect as early as Feb. 4. They say the decree would erode
freedom of expression and mandate the technically burdensome — maybe
even impossible — task of monitoring what individuals put on the
Internet.
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Government Posts Info to Net |
01/28/2010
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The
Obama administration on Friday is posting to the Internet a wealth of
government data from all Cabinet-level departments, on topics ranging
from child car seats to Medicare services.
The mountain of newly available information comes a year and a day
after President Barack Obama promised on his first full day on the job
an open, transparent government.
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China Does Not Want to Learn from US |
01/27/2010
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China
needs no lessons about its Internet from the United States, the head of
an online media association said through official media on Saturday
after the United States rapped Beijing over information freedom.
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Increased Security Risks |
01/27/2010
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Consumers
are growing increasingly comfortable storing sensitive information on
their computers, USB flash drives, and external hard drives, as well as
using Web-based solutions to automate regular tasks such as shopping
for holiday gifts, paying bills, and tracking financial portfolios. The
push from vendors encouraging their customers to move toward e-billing
has also played a major role in more personal information being stored
locally on personal computers.
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