Sunday, January 1, 2006

Happy New Year 2006 !! Happy New Year 2006 !! 11:27:02 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

FBI looking to hire IT workers - Computerworld The FBI is looking for a few good IT professionals to operate and maintain a robust, secure global IT infrastructure environment for the agency. In an announcement last week, the agency said that it's seeking to fill critical IT positions including computer scientists, computer engineers, IT specialists and IT project managers. Annual pay for the positions ranges from $35,452 to $135,136, based on experience and qualifications, with recruitment bonuses for the candidates who possess the most critical skills, the FBI said. The agency has implemented special procedures to hire staffers quickly, with interviews set to begin in January, according to the FBI. 11:20:53 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

The FBI's IT Expansion Plans. The FBI's IT Expansion Plans. Lam1969 writes "The FBI is fast-tracking the hiring of IT professionals, reports Computerworld. Computer scientists, engineers, IT specialists and IT project managers are wanted to develop systems to support FBI analysts and agents working in the field. Large-scale database development projects are part of the FBI's IT expansion as well. From the article: "The FBI is also focusing on data warehousing as well as federated search technology, which allows a single search query to be deployed across a number of databases, regardless of whether those databases belong to the same protocol or platform."" [Slashdot] 11:17:56 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

5,198 Software Flaws Found in 2005. 5,198 Software Flaws Found in 2005. An anonymous reader writes "Security researchers uncovered nearly 5,200 software vulnerabilities in 2005, almost 40 percent more than the number discovered in 2004, according to Washingtonpost.com. From the article: 'According to US-CERT...researchers found 812 flaws in the Windows operating system, 2,328 problems in various versions of the Unix/Linux operating systems (Mac included). An additional 2,058 flaws affected multiple operating systems.'" [Slashdot] 11:12:29 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

New IM Worm Exploiting WMF Vulnerability. New IM Worm Exploiting WMF Vulnerability.  An anonymous reader writes  "After less than a four days after original mailing list posting there are reports about a new Instant Messaging worm exploiting unpatched Windows Metafile vulnerability. This worm is using MSN to spread, reports Viruslist.com." [Slashdot] 11:09:38 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

The Albuquerque Tribune: Columnists - V.B. Price: If we don't stand up for every citizen now, all rights are at risk New Year's Eve is always a time for reflection. This year, Americans have had vivid opportunities to think through the meaning of our basic rights as citizens. The year 2005 put into question the validity of laws that protect our personal privacy and legal status from the Big Brother of government. It also gave us urgent circumstances to explore the practical meaning of the noble words carved in stone above the portals of the U.S. Supreme Court that read, "Equal Justice Under Law." Equal justice is the bedrock of our freedom as Americans. It means that no one is above the law, and no group or individual is beyond the equal protection of due process of law. This is such a basic principle that when people in power circumvent its meaning, their actions put all of us in equal danger. When government imprisons certain people anonymously in secret jails, tortures them and forbids them legal counsel and any of the guarantees of the Sixth Amendment, including confronting the witnesses against them in open court, then government can do it to anyone. How's that possible? By simply changing the names and definitions of those they're going after. 11:00:56 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Thoughts from a Management Lawyer: Another Novel Claim Out of the U.S. Thanks to Professors Bale and Secunda at Workplace Prof Blog for their post Go Away!: Novel Employee Lawsuit Against A Union and their pointer to the Wall Street Journal article In Novel Tactic, Cintas Workers Sue Unions. Professor Runkel has an early post that I just noticed called Privacy vs. union organizing (by the way, please check out Ross' excellent Ross' Employment Law Blog and his other blogs). It seems from the article that number of employees allege that their privacy rights under the Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994 "which prohibits the disclosure and use of personal information obtained through motor vehicle records, with a limited number of exceptions, including use by courts or law-enforcement agencies" had been violated. The employees suggest that the union that was trying to organize them had obtained their "home addresses from license plates in the company parking lot" in contravention of the Act. 10:57:31 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Union Leader - Bill aims to slow RFID in its tracks - Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006 Rep. Neal M. Kurk, R-Weare, was active in the legislation that was originally sponsored by Rep. Howard C. Dickinson, R-Center Conway. "I wanted to go further," Kurk said of the amended bill, "but the committee was not of a mind to do it. These devices have great potential for good or evil for society. "One of the negatives is these could readily be used to track people," Kurk said. "Michelin is thinking of embedding them in their tires. They (the devices) could tell you if the tires are subject to a recall, and they could be embedded in other auto parts as well. "But a reader, in a shopping mall, for instance, could track (the computer chip in) somebody's clothes, and who I am, and offer certain kinds of products," Kurk said. Katherine Albrecht is the founder of "CASPIAN" (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering). The New Hampshire native, a doctoral candidate at Harvard, believes that retail surveillance is increasingly invading consumers' privacy. "I am pleased with the legislation," Albrecht said, noting that much of it is based on a model law CASPIAN developed called the "RFID Right to Know Act of 2003" which called for labeling RFID-embedded products and packages. Albrecht said at least half a dozen states have rejected legislation addressing privacy issues raised by radio frequency technology. 10:45:42 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

New Exploit for Unpatched Windows Flaw. New Exploit for Unpatched Windows Flaw. It appears we will be ringing in the new year with a new and improved exploit that online miscreants can use to attack an unpatched Microsoft Windows flaw and install spyware, viruses and other dangerous digital intruders. The latest bit of malware takes advantage of the same Windows Metafile (files ending in .wmf) security hole that Security Fix warned about... [Security Fix] 10:37:47 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

London estate broadband offers 'spot the ASBO suspect' TV channel. London estate broadband offers 'spot the ASBO suspect' TV channel. The logical conclusion - we use CCTV to watch ourselves When it comes to surveillance, the UK is a world-beater, and way out in front of the rest of the country in terms of CCTV cameras per square mile is London where, as Andy Warhol might have said, everybody can be famous every 15 metres. But who can we get to watch all of those screens? Well, what about the entire population of "one of the UK's most deprived areas", soon to be "the largest ICT literate broadband community in Europe"? [The Register - Internet and Law: Digital Rights/Digital Wrongs] 10:35:01 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []

Music sales slide despite RIAA's crushing blows against piracy. Music sales slide despite RIAA's crushing blows against piracy. Or because of them? Opinion 2005 proved one thing. The music industry really is as dumb as you think. [The Register - Internet and Law: Digital Rights/Digital Wrongs] 10:33:03 PM  PermaLink   / trackback []