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Politics
Policy and Law
Thursday, July 18, 2002
Policy and Law
Thursday, July 18, 2002
NPR Misses The Boat On Security
A two part story from NPR's All Things Considered. In Part One, Larry Abrahmson reports on a government program to better secure computers and completely misses the boat. First, he talks about patches in a way that suggests they actually fight off intruders - never pointing out the pieces of code are meant to close holes in poorly written software. Then, he focuses on the tension between tight security and ease-of-use, using the Plug and Play vulnerability as an example. Again, he never seems to get that it wasn't so much the feature that caused a problem, as the error made in implementing the feature. Not a helpful report. Part Two, on Logan's failing facial recognition software trial, does a better job.
The Large Print Giveth...
...and the small print taketh away. Roundup of analyst's advice to customers offers insights into common software license hangups.
Cue The Firestorm of Protest
A thought-provoking article slams the security industry's self-serving hackers who are alleged to generate FUD only to promote their own aims and careers.
Pssst!! Sildenafil Citrate, No Doctors!
eMail newsletters, once a hot marketing vehicle, have seen reduced effectiveness. Part of the reason is that the mails never arrive, having been caught in the heavy-handed filters administrators are establishing to try and stem the flood of spam. It's not only a problem for senders, but for recipients as well since they may not be receiving material they want - and in some cases have paid to to receive.
A two part story from NPR's All Things Considered. In Part One, Larry Abrahmson reports on a government program to better secure computers and completely misses the boat. First, he talks about patches in a way that suggests they actually fight off intruders - never pointing out the pieces of code are meant to close holes in poorly written software. Then, he focuses on the tension between tight security and ease-of-use, using the Plug and Play vulnerability as an example. Again, he never seems to get that it wasn't so much the feature that caused a problem, as the error made in implementing the feature. Not a helpful report. Part Two, on Logan's failing facial recognition software trial, does a better job.
Software, Facial Recognition Used to Fight Terrorism [NPR News (Audio)]
11:27:18 AM 
The Large Print Giveth...
...and the small print taketh away. Roundup of analyst's advice to customers offers insights into common software license hangups.
Software deals--what's in the fine print? [ZDNet Tech News]
10:45:10 AM
Cue The Firestorm of Protest
A thought-provoking article slams the security industry's self-serving hackers who are alleged to generate FUD only to promote their own aims and careers.
Security industry's hacker-pipming slammed. Somebody had to say it [The Register]
10:18:14 AM
Pssst!! Sildenafil Citrate, No Doctors!
eMail newsletters, once a hot marketing vehicle, have seen reduced effectiveness. Part of the reason is that the mails never arrive, having been caught in the heavy-handed filters administrators are establishing to try and stem the flood of spam. It's not only a problem for senders, but for recipients as well since they may not be receiving material they want - and in some cases have paid to to receive.
Smelling Spam, Software Rejects Newsletter. Recently a legitimate newsletter contained the word "Viagra," which resulted in the newsletter itself being tagged as spam by e-mail filters. By Jennifer 8. Lee. [New York Times: Technology]
10:03:23 AM