We usually think of the Internet as a place where we can obtain information, communicate with others, and engage in various business and personal activities.
However, is it also a new battlefield?
Yes, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Indeed, as reported by Reuters, he maintains that while hackers have already attacked financial institutions, they also have the capability to strike mission-critical domestic power grids and government systems.
The New Jersey Department of State issued a directive to county elections officials to permit New Jersey registered voters displaced by Hurricane Sandy to vote electronically. Specifically, the directive permits voting by e-mail or fax. Of course, there are many security addresses that must be addressed to eliminate voter fraud. Of particular concern is how election officials plan to authenticate the e-mail and fax ballots they receive from displaced New Jersey residents.
This is the first time technology has been used in this way to vote and assuming that the security issues are adequately addressed, it will likely be studied to determine if it can used for the masses in future elections.
The release can be viewed on the New Jersey state website:
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/news/552012/approved/20121103d.html.
All sorts of businesses and organizations are potentially vulnerable to hackers. Educational institutions are no exception, as highlighted by a recent example involving Northwest Florida State College.
One or more hackers accessed a folder on the school’s main server from May through September, according to a memo from the College’s President to all employees. The folder contained multiple files.
Continue reading “Hackers Increasingly Target Colleges, Universities”
I believe that I have the world’s greatest commute. I board the ferry at Larkspur Landing in Marin County, California and travel thirty minutes across the water to the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco.
Friday morning was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the sky was crystal clear with the moon still hanging high, and the water was sparkling.
From the ferry ride, there were gorgeous views of Mount Tamalpais, Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, San Francisco, as well as Berkeley and a bit of Oakland.
Continue reading “Put Down Your Devices and Look Around, People”
It is amazing that in this day and age we still see students hauling around backpacks full of heavy school textbooks. This is true not only for college and high schools students, but also for much younger students in middle school and elementary school.
With the technology available such that many voluminous books can be loaded electronically onto an electronic book reader, a laptop, an iPad, or even a PDA, there seems no reason why kids should have to shoulder the heavy weight of books.
Continue reading “Switching to E-Books Would Save Our Children’s Backs”
Many web sites prohibit children under the age of 13. It’s not necessary out of altruism, but because the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) contains various provisions and requirements concerning special treatment that must be accorded to the children.
The statute is designed to protect young children from web sites that might seek to exert influence over them by obtaining personal data and marketing to them. Indeed, web sites are required to get verifiable parental consent before allowing such children to participate and they must follow certain rules to safeguard their privacy.
Continue reading “How Many Millions of Children are on Facebook?”
Make no mistake, Cybercrime is real and its impact is huge. Indeed, a recent Norton Cybercrime report by Symantec provides some fairly startling statistics.
For example, there are 1.5 million Cybercrime victims on a daily basis – that is 18 victims per second. There are 556 million such victims per year – in excess of the European Union total population.
Two-thirds of online adults already have been Cybercrime victims at some point in their lives, and 46% of online adults have been victims within the past year.
Continue reading “The Cost of Cybercrime: 1.5 Million Victims Every Day”
Most of us hate unsolicited commercial email – aka spam. Notwithstanding spam filters and federal and state laws prohibiting spam under various circumstances, we nonetheless continue to receive these annoying emails in our in boxes.
One might think that the spammers are making fortunes as part of their predatory practices.
But a recent study indicates that while the societal cost of spam is phenomenally high, to the tune of $20 billion, the revenue derived from spam is a fraction of that, only $200 million.
Continue reading “Spam Email Costs Billions But Yields Far Less”
Dude, where are my clothes? Those might have been the words of Prince Harry when he learned that photos of him naked, but covering his royal private parts, had gone viral worldwide.
How did this happen? Apparently, his royal nakedness was partying in Las Vegas when someone snapped cellphone shots of him in the aftermath of a strip billiards game that then ended up on TMZ.com.
The London 2012 Olympics games were successful, and indeed spectacular, on many levels.
Of course, there were incredible performances by phenomenal athletes, including veterans like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, as well as new breakout stars such as Missy Franklin and Gabby Douglas.
Great Britain also served up wonderful musical acts for entertainment purposes. Not only were we regaled by Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, George Michael, and bits and pieces from Queen and Pink Floyd, but we also witnessed the reunion of the Spice Girls (oh my).
