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Interesting Computer Stuff with Professor Cameron: Metadata and You

January 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Metadata is something that is used today in many areas, from computer forensics to corporate espionage. I will give you a regular example first. As a professor, there are times when I think something might be an exact copy of someone else’s file. The first thing I will do is take a look at the file properties. In Office 2010, I would go to the File tab and select “Info”. On the right side are properties. I can see very easily the name of the person who created the file. In a computer lab, most people probably have the same user name, so that may not tell me anything. However, if you created it at home and gave it to a friend, there is pretty damning evidence since your friend has handed in a file with your name in it. Other ways include “date created” – this tells me the day and time the file was created. I am of course not opening up my whole bag of tricks here, but these are two ways to investigate a file further.

In terms of corporate espionage and hacking…many times, the metadata in programs such as Word (and most of the rest of Office) includes data like username, company name and a file path. If this file was created on a network drive, I now know the name of one of your company’s internal servers and possibly your username. This information is valuable for hackers!

If you are distributing a file from Office, also be aware if your company uses tracking changes, revisions, comments, or hidden text, that information can be included in a file you distribute. If a member of a company’s staff left a comment in the file, there is a good chance it could be found. You can use the Office 2010 Prepare for Sharing options to minimize this risk, though once again, most people do not realize this.

via Interesting Computer Stuff with Professor Cameron: Metadata and You.

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SAP won’t fight Oracle claims in espionage case | The Associated Press

August 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In a surprise twist in a corporate espionage case involving two of the world’s biggest business software makers, SAP AG on Thursday said it won’t fight claims that a subsidiary stole valuable data from rival Oracle Corp. and that SAP tried to use it to steal customers.

That leaves the two companies to fight over just how valuable that data was. A trial over Oracle’s lawsuit begins in November. Oracle says it is entitled to $1 billion in damages; SAP says that figure is “vastly overstated.”

The case centers largely on customer-support materials that Oracle had developed and that its customers — and third parties that support their software — had access to through password-protected websites.

TomorrowNow, a SAP subsidiary that provided software support services until SAP shut the division down in 2008, is accused of abusing its access to those sites.

via The Associated Press: SAP won’t fight Oracle claims in espionage case.

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The quiet threat: Cyber spies are already in your systems – Computerworld

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Is your company’s data under surveillance by foreign spybots looking for any competitive advantages or weaknesses they can exploit? This might sound farfetched, but such electronic espionage is real. It’s an insidious security threat that’s a lot more common than you probably realize.

As an IT or security executive, determining whether your organization is under attack via this seemingly undetectable threat — and putting in place adequate technology and procedural safeguards — should be a high priority. The stakes are too high to ignore the problem.

[ Not all corporate espionage is high-tech; find out how to stop low-tech spies. | InfoWorld's Roger Grimes says you should lure spies with honeypots. | Master your security with InfoWorld's interactive Security iGuide. ]

Security experts believe that a growing number of companies are being spied upon electronically by sources from other countries, most notably China. What makes these attacks so troublesome is that their techniques are often undetectable by the usual security tools. Electronic spies try to get into systems without causing disruptions, so they can quietly gather information over a period of time.

via The quiet threat: Cyber spies are already in your systems – Computerworld.

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Aggressive IP enforcement is a must | Deputy AG Gary G. Grindles | National Law Journal

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Businesses that create and rely upon intellectual property, from large entertainment conglomerates to small biotech firms, make up among the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy. These industries also represent a significant portion of U.S. exports, with intellectual property now comprising a significant — and growing — share of the value of world trade. The proliferation of worldwide Internet access and advances in traditional distribution methods, such as transportation and shipping, now allow American businesses of all sizes to market their intellectual property throughout the world. Digital content, whether embodied in software, books, games, movies or music, can be transmitted from one corner of the world to another almost instantly.

But these unprecedented opportunities for American businesses and entrepreneurs are put at risk by criminals and criminal organizations that seek unlawfully to profit by stealing from the hard work of American artists, authors and inventors. For every new technological advancement by American business, there is, unfortunately, a criminal who would seek to misuse it for his own illicit purposes. Criminals are responding to American innovation with their own creative methods of committing intellectual property crimes — from widespread online piracy to well-funded corporate espionage to increased trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other goods.

When we fail to enforce intellectual property rights aggressively, we fail to protect some of our nation's most important and valuable resources. The theft of even a single trade secret can completely destroy a burgeoning small business. When criminals sell counterfeit drugs and medical devices to consumers, our nation's public health is compromised. And when illicit products such as counterfeit airplane parts or pirated electronic components make their way into the marketplace, they place our public safety at risk.

In light of these threats, it is imperative that the government act, and act aggressively. And that is exactly what we at the Department of Justice are doing. In cooperation with our partners across the federal government, the Department of Justice has redoubled its commitment to protecting American innovation and technology through aggressive criminal and civil enforcement of our nation's intellectual property laws.

via Aggressive IP enforcement is a must.

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