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Arrested Russian Spies Used Steganography To Hide Data – Privacy and Identity Theft

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

11 alleged Russian spies have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by not registering with the attorney general. 9 of these individuals have also been charged with money laundering. Details on the people arrested are here. One couple is based in Cambridge, MA.

The FBI says that these spies not only used encryption to protect data on their laptops and USB flash drives, but that they also are suspected of using proprietary Russian-build steganography software to hide data inside images and other files on their computers.

Steganography is the technique of hiding information inside other documents or data, so that it cannot be detected. Combining steganography with cryptography can create systems of communications and data protection that are incredibly difficult to detect and to crack.

via Arrested Russian Spies Used Steganography To Hide Data – Privacy and Identity Theft.

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Arrested Russian Spies Used Steganography To Hide Data – Privacy and Identity Theft

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

11 alleged Russian spies have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States by not registering with the attorney general. 9 of these individuals have also been charged with money laundering. Details on the people arrested are here. One couple is based in Cambridge, MA.

The FBI says that these spies not only used encryption to protect data on their laptops and USB flash drives, but that they also are suspected of using proprietary Russian-build steganography software to hide data inside images and other files on their computers.

Steganography is the technique of hiding information inside other documents or data, so that it cannot be detected. Combining steganography with cryptography can create systems of communications and data protection that are incredibly difficult to detect and to crack.

via Arrested Russian Spies Used Steganography To Hide Data – Privacy and Identity Theft.

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Dell shipped faulty PCs for years, court documents show | TG Daily

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dell deliberately shipped millions of PCs that it knew to be faulty, according to recently unsealed court papers.

The three-year-old documents, obtained by the New York Times, show that at least 11.8 million Dell OptiPlex PCs, which shipped between May 2003 and July 2005, were at risk of failure from faulty capacitors.

They relate to a civil case filed against the company in the North Carolina Federal District Court by web hosting company Advanced Internet Technologies.

via Dell shipped faulty PCs for years, court documents show | TG Daily.

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Microsoft Admires How Apple Products Just Work – CRN

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft NSDQ:MSFT has zeroed in on what makes Apple NSDQ:AAPL products so popular that people will wait hours in line just for a chance to purchase them. But will this realization be reflected in the next version of Windows, or just used as a compass for product development down the road?

One of a series of purported Windows 8 slides that leaked earlier this week focuses on the uncomplicated, “It just works” nature of Apple product design. The slide describes a virtuous circle in which a user experience thats “low in friction” makes the products easy for people to use, which in turn leads to satisfied customers placing high value in the products.

“This is something people will pay for!” reads the slide.

via Microsoft Admires How Apple Products Just Work – Software – IT Channel News by CRN.

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‘Google Me’ Google’s next social experiment? | Relevant Results – CNET News

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

“Google me” sounds like a lame pickup line delivered near closing time, but it might also be Google’s latest attempt at becoming relevant in social media.

Kevin Rose, of Digg fame, got the speculation rolling Sunday with a tweet that Google was working on a social service called Google Me that would compete with Facebook, perhaps Google’s biggest rival for attention on the Internet. On Tuesday, former Facebook executive and Quora founder Adam D’Angelo took things a little further by declaring on Quora that “this is not a rumor. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this.”

So what might Google Me actually be? No one seems to really know. But it does appear to be somehow related to one’s Google Profile, a service that got a shot in the arm with the debut of Google Buzz earlier this year. Google Buzz lets users share links, pictures, and thoughts with friends who find them through their Google Profile, but Buzz hasn’t exactly put a dent in Facebook’s growth.

That could mean something that mimicked Facebook’s news feed within a Google Profile, with status updates, new pictures, and ultimately a fair amount of requests for pitchforks or other digital farming equipment could be in the works at Google. A company representative did not immediately return a call seeking further comment.

via ‘Google Me’ Google’s next social experiment? | Relevant Results – CNET News.

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Vatican Says Not Liable in U.S. Sexual Abuse Case – NYTimes.com

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Vatican, struggling to control the damage to its image from a sexual abuse scandal, said Tuesday it would prove it cannot be held legally responsible for a predatory priest in a pivotal U.S. lawsuit.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a case on whether the Vatican has immunity over the sexual abuse of minors by priests, allowing a lawsuit filed in 2002 to go forward.

In a statement, the Vatican’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lena, said when the case returns to a U.S. district court it would show it cannot be held responsible for the actions of the priest as he was not a Vatican employee.

“The decision not to hear the case is not a comment on the merits of our case,” Lena said, adding that the case would now go back to the district court in Oregon.

via Vatican Says Not Liable in U.S. Sexual Abuse Case – NYTimes.com.

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Jury Instruction Allowing Inference that Destroyed Evidence Was Unfavorable and Payment of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Ordered as Sanction for Failure to Preserve : Electronic Discovery Law

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Medcorp, Inc. v. Pinpoint Tech., Inc., 2010 WL 2500301 (D. Colo. June 15, 2010)

Finding “willful” spoliation of 43 hard drives “in the sense that Plaintiff was aware of its responsibilities to preserve relevant evidence and failed to take necessary steps to do so”, a special master ordered a jury instruction which allowed the jury to infer that the destroyed evidence was unfavorable to plaintiff and for the parties to split the cost of defendants’ litigation of the spoliation issue.  Upon a motion to modify the order, the magistrate judge affirmed the imposition of the jury instruction, but found plaintiff should pay all of defendants’ reasonable expenses and ordered payment of $89,365.88.

via Jury Instruction Allowing Inference that Destroyed Evidence Was Unfavorable and Payment of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Ordered as Sanction for Failure to Preserve : Electronic Discovery Law.

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Digitizing Records is an Untapped Opportunity for Many Organizations – Oce Business Services

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In a recent document management industry survey sponsored by Oce Business Services, 83 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has a records management program in place. However, only 10 percent of the executives surveyed said their company’s program included an integrated electronic records repository. This indicates that integrating digital processes and technology into their records programs could be an untapped opportunity for many companies.

Today’s challenging business environment includes stringent statutory and regulatory mandates from a host of entities that require following specific processes. Digitizing business records – when implemented in an organized fashion using best practices – can help ensure that records are easily retrievable, storage costs are under control, legal discovery costs are mitigated and the organization is compliant.

via Oce Business Services: Digitizing Records is an Untapped Opportunity for Many Organizations — NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ –.

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EU Could Ask Google, Bing To Hang On To Search Data Longer | MediaPost Publications

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The watchdog group Privacy International will write to more than 200 European organizations this week — urging to fight the adoption, or a portion, of the EU proposed Written Declaration 29 intended to protect children. The directive aims to serve as part of an early warning system that fights against pedophiles and sex offenders, but points to incorporating stored search engine data to serve as an early warning signal.

Although the group commends the EU for the creating the Directive, the proposal raises several issues related to search data. Extending existing requirements to hold onto search data would violate EU regulations, for starters. Privacy International asserts that once authorities are able to store and analyze search records of all EU citizens, a window into their interests, associations and activities of tens of millions of people will have been opened.

via MediaPost Publications EU Could Ask Google, Bing To Hang On To Search Data Longer 06/29/2010.

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MEXICO PASSES NEW DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION | PA Privacy and Data Security

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Does your organization do business “south of the border” or otherwise collect personal information on citizens of Mexico? If the answer is yes, you need to be aware that the Mexican Senate has recently passed a new law on data protection.

The purpose of the new law is to “protect personal data held by individuals” and regulate the legitimate treatment, monitoring and reporting of such information. The law requires persons or entities who obtain, use, store or transmit personal information to establish security measures to prevent the “improper access” to such information.

According to the law, a business cannot process “sensitive personal information” (such as race, health status, political affiliation, genetic information and union membership) without obtaining the written consent (through handwritten signature, electronic signature or other authentication mechanism) of the data owner. Consent may be revoked at any time. In addition, the processing of personal information on Mexican citizens is strictly limited to the purposes set forth in the data processor’s privacy notice. The privacy notice must contain, among other things, the identity of the person who collects the information, the purpose of data processing and the identity of any third parties personal information will be shared with.

via PA Privacy and Data Security.com: MEXICO PASSES NEW DATA PROTECTION LEGISLATION.

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