Security: Search a Factor
May 10, 2009
Security of online information is critical to any company who operates on the Internet, from large corporations to medical institutions to the federal government. Remember the stolen laptop? Security online, especially when setting up a database of searchable, confidential material, is a herculean task, because if it’s online–someone can search and find it. Case in point, a headline from May 7: US Med Data Held Hostage by Hackers; Ransom: $10M. See the article at http://bit.ly/16IoZi. Hackers stole over eight million cases of drug prescription records, social security numbers, and driver’s license details from Virginia on April 30. It was reported that several layers of protection failed and allowed the hackers access. It’s not the first time something like this has happened. Data security online must be improved, or we’re all going to be facing a lot more fraud in the future.
Jessica Bratcher, May 10, 2009
LexisNexis, Its Data and Fraud
May 3, 2009
Robert McMillan’s “LexisNexis Says Its Data Was Used by Fraudsters” here caught my attention. The story reported that “LexisNexis acknowledged Friday [May 1, 2009] that criminals used its information retrieval service for more tan three years to gather data that was used to commit credit card fraud.” Mr. McMillan added that “LexisNexis has tightened up the way it verifies customers.” The article noted that LexisNexis “was involved in other data breaches in 2005 and 2006.” Interesting. So 2005, 2006, 2009. Perhaps the third time will be the charm?
Stephen Arnold, May 2, 2009
The Individual: The Fount of Crime
May 3, 2009
Most people don’t think of bad guys as the fellow who lives in the next flat or the nice girl with the lawn service. Those in bank security, law enforcement, and insurance investigators know that the individual is the key to certain interesting activities. The numerous comments about Spock’s sale to the Naveen Jane, the founder of Intelius and InfoSpace, were quite tame. You can read “Intelius Buys Spock, the People Search Engine” here. My thoughts on this deal included these musings:
- Mr. Jane is a canny lad. I think he senses that the value of a people-centric service will rise. If this takes place, Mr. Jane could make a tidy profit
- In the near term, the market demand for people information is likely to rise
- People data can be sliced and diced, and I think that Mr. Jane will make an attempt to generate some revenue from this property.
And crime? Well, I don’t have much to say about that.
Stephen Arnold, May 2, 2009
Cyberwarfare Shoots Down an Aircraft
April 21, 2009
Short honk: Everyone from the Wall Street Journal to Slashdot is reacting to the reality of cyberwarfare. You can read the Wall Street Journal’s tabloidesque coverage here. For those of you with a more scholarly approach to what’s been going on for many years, click here to buy and then read Information Warfare by Winn Schwartau. Although more than 15 years old, you may as well start with one of the best discussions I have examined. Put the energies and hand waving into practices that close security loopholes. The barn, the horse—you know the aphorism. Search is an important function in these escapades. Unlike some enterprise search vendors, some bad guys use sophisticated findability methods.
Stephen Arnold, April 21, 2009
Google Health: Two New Deals
April 6, 2009
Googzilla has revealed some new tie ups in its Google Health initiative. At my lecture a couple of weeks ago in Houston, a big medical center with a city wrapped around it, there was quite a bit of interest in electronic medical records. The real issue, however, was consistency. I thought privacy and security were the cat’s pajamas. I was wrong. The medical types kept circling around the issue of data management, data transformation, and moving bits from Point A to Point B with the people at Point B able to use the information.
Google announced two interesting tie ups. The first is a partnership with CVS, a retail chain. You can get the details here. The Reuters’ story provides a few details. But the big point to me was that the GOOG is thinking retail and retail pharmacies.
The second tie up is with the giant Medco Health Solutions Inc. outfit. You can read this Reuters’ story here. Same deal: some facts but not much on the way the tie up will affect customers. The news story asserts that Google has more than 100 million people who can get access to prescription data. For me, the point is that the GOOG is thinking consumers via a partnership.
Microsoft thinks the same types of thoughts for HealthVault. The appearance of the two stories is either a coincidence or part of a health push. With the Obama Administration’s support of electronic medical records, the Google may be shifting gears. If so, the company will accelerate its surround and seep strategy in an effort to capture the market sector.
Can Google do this? Right now I think it is a wide open sector. Google’s chances are neither better nor worse than the other companies fighting for a handhold.
Stephen Arnold, April 6, 2009
Passwords List
April 1, 2009
Short honk: you can get three lists of common passwords here. These lists often come in handy when filtering government information prior to putting documents online. ArnoldIT.com has used this method for years. If you are indexing an organization’s documents, you might want to filter test your corpus. Might be helpful.
Stephen Arnold, April 1, 2009
Google Go Back and Managerial Guidance
March 30, 2009
If I were a Google top dog, I think I would want my suggestions followed. Well, I was in for a surprise when I read “Hacking Google: Retro Links Revives Old Google Feature” here. The addled goose knows that he is creeping close to April Fool’s Day. You read this post and decide for yourself. The main point is that allegedly a Googler can allegedly work around a Google function that has allegedly been terminated. “Allegedly” is important when writing about Googlers who hack. For me, the most interesting comment in the post was:
Why not recreate this search feature on Google with modern search engines and Web sites? Because of the pain of maintaining an “official” list, we probably couldn’t turn this on for every user (plus not every user wants a lot of extra links added to their search results). But why not provide a completely unofficial option that people could install? Thus was born Retro Links, which is a Greasemonkey script to add new search options to Google’s search results page.
Let’s think about this, hypothetically, of course. Please, note the “hypothetical” nature of this thought experiment.
If Googlers can create unofficial work arounds, what does this imply for assurances that certain data are scrubbed on a cycle, available only to certain Googlers, and other points where privacy intersect with human Googlers?
If a feature is disabled, presumably by an alleged manager, and we have this alleged informal and fun hack, what happens when a manager says, “This information is confidential” or “This personnel information about an employee must not be discussed”?
Make up your own mind. I don’t work for a real company any more. I recall a couple of outfits such as Halliburton’s Nuclear Utilities Services unit where hacking around a company action could produce some interesting visits from non Googley people.
Times are indeed different. I’m glad I am here in the mine drainage pond with my un Googley goslings. These folks follow guidelines, suggestions, and policies in my experience.
Check out this “hack” or April Fool’s Day levity. Oh, something struck me. What if this alleged hack is not a joke at all. Yikes!
Stephen Arnold, March 30, 2009
Independent Not Googley
March 26, 2009
I find this story difficult to process. On one side is the adorable Google. On the other is the dead tree outfit, The Independent. The bone of contention is expressed in “Google ‘Trying to Smear Street View Critic’”. You may be able to read here. The argument was:
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, believes Google is trying to discredit the complaints he has registered about Street View by briefing against him to journalists.
The article mentions a couple of firms who might be pounding the salt shaker. Interesting turn of events for Google’s implementation of the A9 store front service, which seems to have disappeared.
Stephen Arnold, March 27, 2009
Google on the Hot Seat
March 18, 2009
Google got some good news. President Obama’s chief technical officer was back on the job. The sudden step down was as surprising as the allegations against two of Vivek Kundra’s assistants. Mr. Kundra was, in my opinion, one of the supporters of Google-type thinking in information technology. You can read about the return of Mr. Kundra here. Now Telecommunications Online reported here that:
An online privacy group called on Tuesday for government regulators to investigate the adequacy of Google Inc’s security safeguards after the company inadvertently released consumers’ private information this month.
The FTC is now holding this fresh hot potato. Coincidences? I don’t think this is the case. Google is the lucky recipient of interesting attention.
Stephen Arnold, March 19, 2009
Facebook and a Canadian Court
March 17, 2009
Put this in the “risks of social networking” bucket. TheStar.com reported “Facebook User Poked by the Courts. Judge Rules Man Must Divulge What He’s Posted on Private Social Web site” here. TheStar.com said:
In a precedent-setting decision, a Toronto judge has ordered a man suing over injuries from a car accident to answer questions about content on his Facebook page that is off limits to the public.
For me the most important comment in the write up was:
A court can infer that Leduc’s Facebook site “likely contains some content relevant to the issue of how Mr. Leduc has been able to lead his life since the accident,” Brown [attorney] said. Brown said Leduc [defendant] can’t “hide behind self-set privacy controls” on a Web site that’s all about telling others about one’s life.
Interesting.
Stephen Arnold, March 17, 2009
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
