Live from New Orleans
Someone give the folks a book deal. Some of the most interesting reporting coming out of New Orleans from a company that refused to evacuate.
What's in the mail today?
Spam, viruses, malicious code, widows who want to give me their fortunes and corrupt Nigerian politicians. I should point out that it is only 8:00 in the morning! My techno-geek friend Eric installed a program called MailScanner for me last week and I couldn't give a higher endorsement. I received just under 1000 emails per day and MailScanner is doing a great job of keeping out the spam and viruses and letting me deal with the real email. He also installed MailWatch, so I have a real-time control panel I can use to keep track of statistics, train the spam filters and run reports to understand what sort of email I am receiving. Thanks Eric!
A New Type of Terror Cell
From the Always On Network
"The thought of people being able to use cell phones on airplanes during
flight is almost too horrible to contemplate. But I understand why the
airlines are considering it: They’ve run out of new ways to make flying
unpleasant. Long lines, inexplicable delays, lost baggage, no food,
filthy airplanes, unhappy workers (is anyone else worried about planes
being flown by despondent pilots who’ve had their pensions stolen from
them?)—allowing people to use their cells phones is the only way for
the airlines to freshen up the hell they’ve created for us"
I couldn't agree more....
e-QAEDA | From Afghanistan to the Internet
The Washington Post is running a three part series on terrorist use of the Internet. I was interviewed for this story as were several of my colleagues. Not quite sure what I think of it yet, so I will reserve comment until the final two parts of the series are out.
Off to Vegas
I am not officially speaking at either conference, but I will be attending DefCon and crashing a few parties at BlackHat. I look forward to touching base with a few old friends that I only see every year or two. If you are in Vegas already, call my cell. Number hasn't changed in 6 years, otherwise drop me an email.
Security as a Market Factor
The following story from the Washington Post attracted my attention. Full Story
- "The head of a payment processing firm that was infiltrated by
computer hackers, exposing as many as 40 million credit card holders to
possible fraud, told Congress yesterday that his company is "facing
imminent extinction" because of its disclosure of the breach and
industry's reaction to it. "As a result of coming
forward, we are being driven out of business," John M. Perry, chief
executive of CardSystems Solutions Inc., told a House Financial
Services Committee subcommittee considering data-protection
legislation. He said that if his firm is forced to shut down, other
financial companies will think twice about disclosing such attacks." -
Are we supposed to feel sorry for this company. I am happy that the market is imposing costs for failing to provide adequate security. As I've stated in my presentations for about 6 years, the market is moving to a due diligence model. If you can't be diligent, then you should not survice. If a drug company puts out drugs that kill people, the market goes after them. If your business line involves protecting sensitive information, you better protect it, lest your competitor dance on your grave. I am glad that Visa is playing hardball on this issue as market factors will be the single greatest influence on improving security in the next decade.
iDefense sells for $40,000,000.00
So, it is hard not to be bitter about this given the slimy acquisition of themselves a couple of years ago that led to my stock options going away. However, that was under the old management regime, so I've got to give the new CEO and current employee base kudos for the turn-around.
I was the first Director of Intelligence Analysis at iDefense and this picture documents the first ever release of the iAlert product line. This is edition number one and it led to our first sale ($1m subscription). I won't put any names with the faces, but there are a few folks who will get a kick out of this picture and the fact that iAlert is still the iDefense flagship brand product.
London Terror Attacks
The London terror attacks have obviously been the focus of my day. All my analysis goes into the TRC for events like this. I am incredibly proud of the work our team has been doing. TRC London Attack Coverage
His name is Adam Curry
Three months ago, I wrote that I had stopped listening to radio and spent all my commute time listening to PodCasts. I'm happy to report that wasn't a fad and PodCasts have fundamentally changed my interaction with broadcast media. Gone are Elliot in the Morning, Howard Stern and the Don and Mike show. I am perfectly content (happier even) to listen to Leo Laporte and Adam Curry.
PodCasting is also an amazing technological development to observe. One year ago, it didn't exist. Today, it is embraced by 10 million listeners and there are over 6000 folks providing content. It has progessed to the state that Apple released a version of iTunes today with extensive PodCast support. If that isn't mainstream, I don't know what is. I would expect that Adam Curry will meet his hundred million listener drive in the next two years. How long, if ever, would it take Sirius or XM to meet that kind of goal. My friend Eric got a Sirius unit for Christmas, and now that I got him into PodCasting, he is considering cancelling it. Wow....talk about a paradigm shift. I won't be tuning in the radio again any time soon as I love the fact that I can touch my scroll wheel and be listening or content from the heart of Santa Monica or Guildford UK.
Here are the PodCasts that help me make it through my commute:
- This Week in Tech
- Adam Curry's Daily Source Code
- KCRW's the Treatment
- KCRW's the Business
- Evil Genius Chronicles
- IT Conversations
- In Our Time
- 2600 - Off the Hook
- Rock and Roll Geek Show
- Inside Mac Radio
- Coverville
Quite the selection for every mood and if I get bored with them, there are 7990 more to chose from (and counting).
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Steve Jobs. Therefore, it should be no surprise that I find his commencment address to Stanford to be very interesting. Originally from here.
"
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the
finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth
be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big
deal. Just three stories."