How pathetic…
September 6, 2003
Bruce Schneier stoops to a new low in Cryptogram: "And finally, I have a favor to ask. I'd like to see if I can subvert the Amazon bestseller system and get to #1. My previous big book, "Secrets and Lies," made it to #4. (Harry Potter was #1, #2, #3, and #5.) If everyone who plans on buying this book on Amazon waits until 12:15 PM Pacific time (that's 2:15 PM Central Time, 3:15 PM Eastern time, 8:15 PM UK Time, and 9:15 PM Western European time) on Friday, August 15, and all does it together, I might make #1. Don't worry if you can't do this, but I would appreciate it if you can. Thanks."
Potential New Attacks
September 4, 2003
A Department of Homeland Security advisory issued Thursday warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States. A Department of Homeland Security official said most of the flights fitting this description originate in Canada, and that U.S. officials have been working with Canada over the past month to ensure it is improving screening and other security measures. Full Story
Blaster Worm Linked to Severity of Blackout
September 3, 2003
The W32.Blaster worm may have contributed to the cascading effect of the Aug. 14 blackout, government and industry experts revealed last week. On the day of the blackout, Blaster degraded the performance of several communications lines linking key data centers used by utility companies to manage the power grid, the sources confirmed. "It didn't affect the [control] systems internally, but it most certainly affected the timeliness of the data they were receiving from other networks," said Gary Seifert, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls, referring to flow-control and load-balancing data that's transmitted over public telecommunications networks. "It…
Baghdad Burning – A Blog
August 29, 2003
I saw this link on the Doc Searls site. The Baghdad Burning Blog is an interesting read.
The Dean Machine!
August 28, 2003
He won't get my vote, but the Dean campaign certainly has my respect. How many political events put out a call to attendees to bring their laptops and then set up an 802.11b network connected to a T1! I've always been fascniated by the use of technology for political purposes. In fact, I participated in the first online town meeting with Senator Leahy in 1995 [Link to Transcript] and found it to be a very interesting event. The Dean Internet machine will be marked as a significant turning point for grassroots campaigning and the use of the Internet.
Loving my Mac!
August 23, 2003
Just another one of those reasons, I am absolutely happy about my switch to Mac. "Microsoft Corp., whose Windows operating system and e-mail programs have been under siege from new computer "worms" for at least 10 days, has released a patch for two critical vulnerabilities in its Web browser. As a result of the Internet worms -- which are viruses that spread through a network -- hundreds of thousands of PCs worldwide, at the minimum, have been infected. Many have crashed and networks have slowed to a crawl. "
“Am I bugging you? Don’t mean to bug ya…”
August 19, 2003
Don't know why, but those words from U2's Rattle 'n Hum came to mind when I first viewed this picture. As a parent, it is one of those things that takes your breath away. Confronting violence is a vital piece of what I do for a living, but it still doesn't prepare you for an image like this. The only images I can think of that are more haunting that this one is the picture of a young Kurdish child after having been subjected to chemical weapons and the award winning child and vulture image.
We Love Arnold…
August 18, 2003
You knew it was bound to happen. Brought to you by the same slackers who started We Love the Iraqi Information Minister, we now have the We Love Arnold web site!
Cascading failures
August 15, 2003
I always have a tough time articulating the true potential impact of cascading infrastructure failures. Not any more...
Poindexter Resigns
August 13, 2003
If you haven't read his resignation letter, you ought to. Unconventional threats require unconventional thinking. I've never met a terrorism expert that didn't support the type of "thinking outside the box" exploration this program represents. Additionally, once most privacy advocates invested the effort to educate themselves on the project, they had limited objections. Politics and public perception impact government projects all the time, I just hope those that want to restrict the exploration of new ideas are willing to live with the consequences.
Here come the MANPADS
August 12, 2003
This threat is here to stay: "The FBI arrested three people Tuesday for allegedly plotting to smuggle a shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile into the United States, government and law enforcement sources said. The missile was successfully smuggled into a port in New Jersey from Russia, several U.S. government sources said. FBI agents arrested a British citizen of Indian descent Tuesday afternoon in Newark, New Jersey. Law enforcement sources said he was an independent arms dealer and had sold weapons to al Qaeda in the past."
Stupid claim
August 11, 2003
This Nader claim from US News, borders on insulting to those of us actually in the business of preventing terrorism: "Get a load of this: Likely 2004 third-party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader thinks the 9/11 terrorist attacks wouldn't have happened if he had been president. He claims that amid all the big decisions new presidents have to make after inauguration, he would have ordered cockpit doors to be hardened against attack. He says an old report warning about how easy it is to get in the cockpit still sticks with him. What's more, he would have wiped out Osama bin Laden and his gang without a shot being fired. How? Bribe Osama's…
Hanging DARPA Out to Dry
August 8, 2003
Charles Cooper writes about public perceptions of DARPA. With the media coverage these days, it is easy to forget the DARPA charter and the intended unconventional nature of the research it conducts. As Cooper writes: "The fact is that TIA data was supposed to focus on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information gathered--not whether you rented "Debbie Does Dallas" on your last trip to Blockbuster. It's not hard to build in safeguards that protect against potential abuses of the system. The Defense Department set up internal and external oversight boards to make sure that constitutional rights and privacy protection are not compromised. Painting a worst-case scenario of mission-creep, TIA critics say this is an open…
TRCcon
August 6, 2003
We've worked really hard to put together an annual conference on terrorism and homeland security entitled TRCcon. It will be held on Oct 1-3 in Washington, DC and brings together some of the most interesting speakers and topics in the industry. Hope to see you there!
Typepad Blog
August 6, 2003
I am testing this Typepad blog service in consideration for replacement of using MT on my own server. I've found, I just don't have the time to tinker with MT and get all pieces working correctly. This service is attractive to me as it integrates several things that are important to me that haven't been integrated before: 1) Blog content with customized layout; 2) Mobile blog with auto update and linking from the Master blog; and 3) Photo albums. Having all three items in one package is attractive and the price is worthwhile to me if I don't have to maintain and troubleshoot the server. There are still several other areas to explore, such as remote posting via XML, etc. but so far I am impressed.
Losing Hacker Jeopardy
August 5, 2003
You win some and you lose some on a technicality. Yes, we took on the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick and his team and we were ahead going into final Jeopardy. We bet it all on the final Jeopardy question and they bet it all minus $10. We answered the question correctly and they answered it wrong, but we got beat because we didn't answer the question in the form of a question! Go figure...a moral victory and a technical loss! Regardless, our team made a strong showing and we had lots of fun. Seeing Hacker Jeopardy up close really gives you an appreciation for how much work Winn and G. Mark put into it, most of which goes unappreciated.