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From Wired The revolt that started a year ago today in Egypt was spread by Twitter and YouTube, or so the popular conception goes. But a group of Navy-backed researchers has a more controversial thesis:Egyptians were infected by the idea of overthrowing their dictator. Using epidemiological modeling to chart the discussions and their trajectory online is an interesting idea, I don’t …

Historical data in  log files  has little intrinsic value in the here-and-now process of event response and mediation and compliance check lists have little direct value in protecting customers. Software Associates specializes in helping medical device and healthcare vendors achieve HIPAA compliance and improve the data and software security of their products in hospital and …

If you’re a a information  security and compliance analyst, we have an offer that cannot be beat. Get  PTA ( Practical Threat Analysis) Professional software from our colleagues at Practical Threat Analysis Technologies totally free for one year. After the year is up, just drop them an email, and you’ll get a free license renewal. When you …

A practical, proven methodology for practical risk assessment and security breach risk reduction in enterprise software systems. Click here to download the article

A common question for a large company that needs to protect intellectual property from theft and abuse is choosing the right balance of technology, process and procedure. It has  been said that the Americans are very rules-based in their approach to security and compliance where the the Europeans are more principles-based. This article presents a …

Obama’s National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace In April President Obama signed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) which charts a course for the public and private sectors to collaborate on raising the level of trust associated with identity in online transactions. NSTIC focuses on upgrading outdated password-based authentication systems and …

We normally associate the term “small business” or SME (small to medium sized enterprise) with commercial operations that buy and sell, manufacture products or provide services – lawyers, plumbers, accountants, web developers etc… However – there is an important class of small business operations that is often overlooked when it comes to information security and …

A recent HIPAA violation in Canada  where an imaging technician accessed the medical records of her ex-husband’s girlfriend comes as no surprise to me. Data leakage of ePHI in hospitals is rampant simply because a) there is a lot of it floating around and b) because of human nature.  Humans being naturally curious, sometimes vindictive and always …

Speaking at this years RSA Security conference in San Francisco, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn was worried about al-Qaeda getting Stuxnet: al-Qaeda operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical SunniMuslim movement calling for global Jihad…Characteristic techniques include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets…beliefs include that a Christian-Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy …

In a previous lifetime, I developed airline reservation systems software. The owner and CEO of one of our customers (a rapidly growing regional airline) was a larger than life figure who kept chilled Finlandia vodka in a mini-freezer in his office and liked to tell stories. One day he told me a story. He said …