This from an IBM report on security threats to Financial Services companies. It was just released yet dated Nov 2014, but based on 2013 data.  Its more of an IBM sales tool, but this graph caught my attention.   17% of attacks on Banks involve insiders.  Thats almost 1 in 5.  If correct this is a staggering statistic, and imortantly not one that encryption or password strategies will necessarily solve. Continue reading IBM: 17% of attacks on banks involve insiders

hmmmm …  Continue reading Contrast in design approach – simple vs arghhh!

The reference is to HAL 9000, the fictional onboard computer in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which loses its mind after it is programmed to lie. The International Telecommunications Union, otherwise known as the ‘Time Lords’ (Wired) will be meeting later this year to determine whether to continue with the Leap Second.  There have been 26 Leap Seconds since 1970. The pic shows some Japanese watching the Leap Second being added July 1st, 2012. The problem lies that while adding the second is easy, Unix based systems believe a day is comprised of 86,400 seconds. A day is unchangeable, so what … Continue reading Unix & Linux could pull a HAL 9000 on June 30th ‘Leap Second”

CES has opened.  This is a conference that some have taken to describing as closer to a World Fair than the original mobile conference that it was. This Mercedes concept car is cool, and the link provides more pics and description of the concepts, some of which could apply to normal cars including LED messages to following cars. mercedes-benz.com Continue reading Mercedes made a statement at CES with the F015 driverless concept car

Its that time of year when reviews are everywhere. This NY Times piece on Brazil is no surprise but shocking nonetheless. As the ‘B’ in brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Brazil is least deserving to be part of the group, with Russia doing its best to hang on too. The transportation systems that will never be completed, and white elephant stadiums that will absolutely be empty after the World Cup in June make Brazil look more like Detroit relatively. “The fiascos are multiplying, revealing disarray that is regrettably systemic,” said Gil Castello Branco, director of Contas Abertas, … Continue reading Brazil – a country racked by white elephant projects

I asked this question just over a year ago. What had caught my attention was a post from Renesys indicating the single points of failure in the internet connections to Sudan. Earlier Estonia, a highly sophisticated user of internet had been shut down, including banks, in what was suspected as a Russian attack. Now we see North Korea undergoing a sustained attack that is significantly degrading the North Korean internet. The comments from State Department and others are very cautious, and almost denying US involvement, with exception of Dutch Ruppersberger who is probably the wrong guy for the House Permanent … Continue reading Just how easy is it to close down a country’s internet – reprise