Our Blog, March, 2008

Blackberry or Crackberry?

I love my Blackberry and have weaned myself off checking it every 3 seconds. I came across a great word to describe me pre- weaning. Crackberry . There are forums for addicts http://www.crackberry.com/.

Here is a great youtube video on a business guy and his life without his blackberry for 1 week.

I love this one too…

Blackberry Addiction – Watch a funny movie here
I read 5 newspaper on a Sunday , kids permitting, is that crackpaper?

Product of the year

Alcatel-Lucent have won the 2007 Internet Telephony product of the year with its non stop laptop guardian.

Lost laptops incidents and the major impact on businesses and consumers are becoming more prominent day by day.

The Real Cost of ID Theft

E Commerce News have a good post on the cost of ID theft. The impact differs dramatically on the industry involved. In the banking and ecommerce it is the business that gets hit as the consumer is protected. The average cost per data loss for businesses seems to be $197 per consumer data loss.

Consumers have still a lot to be concerned about, personal ID theft, according to USA Today , has more than tripled in 2007. The identity theft resource center is a useful tool to look to if personal ID theft has become a personal experience.

Phone Backup

The guys at Popsci.com have a brief article on the different ways of backing up your contacts from your phone. It seems to be either a carrier service at a monthly fee or a one off payment for a save to pc bit of software using cables etc.

Non encrypted laptop stolen in USA 2500 patient records in the wild

A sense of Deja Vu – Another non encrypted laptop has been stolen. The Washington Post report that it had health details of 2500 patients that had been involved in a health study with the National Health Institute.

Global State of Information Security Study

PWC have published an interestting report on how companies are treating IT security. 60% surveyed have hired either a Chief Information Security Officer or Chief Security Officer, 22% have hired a Chief Privacy Officer but suprisingly  a whopping 50% do not encrypt information on  company laptops.

The report indicates that organisations are starting to take IT security very seriously and putting resources into the issue.

HSBC under major fraud pressure

HSBC is being hammered with a wave of fraudulent activity according the folks at consumerist.com. The post details a number of worrying fraud incidents.

A fiance of the victims of the fraud stated that  the HBSC Fraud Investigator who spoke to her “said that their fraud department was so overwhelmed, it was ’still in the developing stage of how we’re going to handle’ it.

Laptop bags are xray proof !!!

I always did wonder why I had to take my laptop out everytime i went through airport security. Digitaltrends.com report that the TSA is looking for laptop bag makers to redesign them to ensure they are able to be xrayed. My 20 euro laptop bag doesnt have much technology – a bit worrying that it can sneak through a multimillion euro xray machine.

University Of Washington security Tips

Some interesting pointers on GSM phone security from the University of Washington security blog. Nicely broken down into assets, adversaries, potential weaknesses and potential defenses.

M Banking and M Commerce hampered by security concerns

According to Bizreport.com only 16% of mobile phone users in the US use their phones for M commerce and M Banking. The primary reason for slow adoption are security ( 66%), exposure to fraud and financial scams (63%) and concern that they might lose device with valuable information (61%). The mobile wallet report has some fascinating facts.