Digital Choke Daynotes

 Tuesday, February 22, 2005       mail    link   the story

Yesterday was a bit interesting around here. The weather just down the road a bit turned into Kansas. There were two tornados (class F0, the lowest rating) near the "Arco Arena", which is where the Sacramento Kings basketball team plays (not very well, I'm told). Some minor roof damage, a couple of semi trucks blown over, etc. Although one guy in a small car said that his car was lifted up about 15 inches by a tornado, and the windows were blown out by the air pressure differential. That was probably a bit unique.

So the news and weather dweebs got all excited about this, as you might guess. Live shots, video from the locals, breathless stories from the field reporters. I was home yesterday (due to the holiday), and wandered outside during that period of time, but didn't see the funnel clouds. The area is about 15 miles away (crow-flying distance) to the southwest. There was another big thunderstorm cell to the north of me, and I did see a strange cloud bubble protruding from underneath a dark mass of clouds. Unfortunately, my camera was at my daughter's house, so no pictures from me.

But it was quite interesting. Not much rain up here in the Sacramento area; certainly not as much as in Southern California the past several days. A bit too much from those normally sunny southern California skies. Of course, I did see the video of the guy doing a bit of wake-boarding behind a truck going down a flooded street.

Noticed that McAfee came out with an extra release of updates yesterday, in response to the latest MyDoom virus. They are going to come out with daily updates for enterprise customers starting this week. Don't know how that will affect home users.

And Microsoft released a special patch today that appears to take care of a "blue screen" problem with Windows XP/SP2 and certain (not named) anti-virus programs. Your automatic Windows Update should take care of that.

 Wednesday, February 23, 2005       mail    link   the story

In last Thursday's post, you learned about the problem that ChoicePoint had with the loss consumer data that has resulted in many cases of identity theft:

" Database giant ChoicePoint said late Wednesday that 145,000 consumers nationwide were placed at risk by a recent data theft at the company. Previously, the company had suggested the theft only affected California residents. "

This is a problem that is much deeper than just the loss of data. One of the sites that I visit is "Shneier on Security". In his post for today, he talks about the wider ramifications of this problem. I think that you will find his thoughts quite interesting.

Even if you think you aren't directly affected by the ChoicePoint problem, you might want to protect yourself by checking out your credit report. As discussed last week, it is free (or will be) for US residents. Just be careful about "free credit report" sites that aren't really free.

 Friday, February 25, 2005       mail    link   the story

Seems to have been the week for problems with personal data. Today, Bank of America announced that they lost some backup tapes of their customers. The data included information on 1.5 million federal workers, including some Congress Critters, who were less than thrilled.

It appears that BofA ships it's backup tapes to other locations, which is a good practice. And the package was stolen by airline baggage handlers. It's probable that the theft was just one of opportunity, not a specific grab for the personal data.

Here's an interesting opinion of the risks of technology, from the Internet Storm Center's Handler's Diary:

This tug-o-war between features and vulnerabilities reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague about anonymity. We agreed that to be a consumer of all the technological wonders available (ATMs, voice mail, online pharmaceuticals, etc.) you need to give something in return - the right to use any and all information that you provide for those services. Remember, friends, whenver information is out of your direct control, it is percisely that. Don't expect the technologists and developers to provide hack-proof solutions. Remember Microsoft's 10th Immutable Law of Security: Technology is not a panacea. *These laws are MS's crowning security achievement, IMHO* If, instead, you prefer all of your personal details be safe and unreachable from the digital inquisitorial squads, you are quite welcome to change your identity, sell all of your technologically-acquired assets, and plant yourself somewhere in Garfield County, Montana (or the NE Kingdom of Vermont, for that matter).

Those "10 Laws of Immutable Law of Security" are interesting. Take a look.

And FireFox has an update to fix some security and other problems; the Internet Storm Center's Handler's Diary has a good summary.