August 31 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Margaret Legum has published a very insightful article on the risks of collapse of the American economy in Sane Views. Her perspective takes into account the effects of the current glitch in the markets on ordinary people, a focus almost completely passed-over in mainstream media coverage.

“What about the millions of non-wealthy people, not only in the States, now dispossessed of their homes: imagine that process for yourself. They were persuaded by lending institutions to take out loans and bonds that can be repaid only over decades - and on only the most optimistic assumptions, including no interest rate rises? Now their loans are ‘junk’, and they are homeless. To add insult to injury it is they who get skelled-out by governments for irresponsible borrowing – not the institutions which in effect misled them about the safety of their loans. Those institutions are financially protected by the collateral on the loans; the borrowers are stripped.

And what about the solid citizens who have saved for a pension and/or put savings into stock exchange assets only to find they have plummeted in value, contrary to what was promised. The managers who invested those funds have done their best, in good conscience, and covered themselves in the small print about how the value can go down as well as up. They are not personally to blame. But the victims are the deluded savers.

In any case, is it true that this is simply a temporary blip? The financial experts say the world’s underlying economies are ‘strong’, so no need to worry in the long term. They are referring principally to company profits – not to growth, employment or average incomes. In all developed countries growth rates are down there at 1% or 2%., and unemployment and high rates of working poor are problems everywhere.

What keeps company profits up is two very different things: people buying their products: and asset stripping through mergers and acquisitions, and the specialist version called private equity deals. Click here for more.”

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August 30 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Baltimore Sun reported that:

A Severn man was sentenced to more than six years in prison today and ordered to pay restitution of at least $120,000 for stealing people’s identities and gaining access to private and corporate credit counts, federal prosecutors said.

Ronald Steven Williams II, 32, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to engaging in the fraud from June 29, 2001, to July 14, 2006.

Convicting Williams is definitely on the right track to curtailing identity fraud. The damages he was ordered to pay suggest straight forward restitution of monetary losses. It is difficult to assign a value to the other damages incurred in having one’s identity stolen, however, a precedence will have to be set eventually if we are to continue to rely upon and have faith in an identity based social structure.

Posted in Identity, Cyber Crime | No Comments »

August 29 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

This is interesting, the UK government is reportedly ensuring a guaranteed supply will be available of a vaccine that doesn’t even exist yet for a human flu strain that hasn’t been identified.

Advanced supply contracts to provide the vaccine for a possible ‘flu pandemic have been awarded by the UK Department of Health to pharmaceutical company GSK and Baxter Healthcare.

The contracts, worth £155.4 million over four years, are part of the government’s continued work to prepare for and reduce the impact of a possible ‘flu pandemic. Under these contracts GSK and Baxter are committed to supply a pandemic influenza vaccine as soon as the pandemic strain is identified and made available by the World Health Organization. Click here for more.”

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August 28 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The BBC ran the following article on an attack on the Monster website, of which everyone should be made aware. In addition to Trojan attacks on such online services, criminal rings are sending unsolicited e-mails purportedly affiliated with job postings on Workopolis.ca, which appear to be part of a money laundering operation.

A computer program was used to access the employers’ section of the website using stolen log-in credentials.

Symantec said the log-ins were used to harvest user names, e-mail addresses, home addresses and phone numbers, which were uploaded to a remote web server.

The stolen data could be used to send phishing and spam e-mails.

“This remote server held over 1.6 million entries with personal information belonging to several hundred thousands of candidates, mainly based in the US, who had posted their resumes to the Monster.com website,” reported Symantec.

The firm has contacted Monster.com to inform them of the security breach. Click here for more.

Posted in Identity, Cyber Crime | No Comments »

August 27 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Humans have developed such wonderful technology. Now, if we could just develop humans a little more perhaps the technology would be safe to use…

Wired has published an interesting interview with Lieutenant Colonel John Velliquette, the biometrics manager in Iraq for the “Coalition Police Assistance Training Team.” The interview covers a growing biometric system in Iraq that has been compared with the Rwandan identification card system left behind by the Belgians. The now infamous Rwandan system was used by the Hutus to easily determine Tutsis for extermination during the genocide in 1994. The concern with the Iraqi system stems from the degree to which personal names might denote religious or tribal affiliations and how such information might be used in an already unstable region teetering on the brink of (if not already in) civil war should the system fall into the “wrong hands”.

This seems to be a perfect case of how a tool may help one group of people in the short-term and, as a result, is implemented with little thought (or perhaps care) as to what the long-term implications might be.

Posted in Identity, Biometrics | No Comments »

August 24 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting editorial by Harvey Silverglate published in The Phoenix’s “Free For All” section.

Don’t be fooled by all of the partisan bickering. Congress’ recent debate over enacting a new federal wiretapping statute boiled down to one very simple question: should Congress transfer the authority to approve wiretaps from judges, whom the constitution specifically entrusts with this power, to the intelligence agencies and the Department of Justice, who conduct the surveillance?

For most of the last century, prior to the Bush gang’s exploitation of the post-9/11 hysteria, the courts approved individual wiretap applications. This reasoning was crystal clear: The whole intent of the Fourth Amendment is thwarted by having the very people doing the snooping be the ones to approve their own snooping! Permission (“warrants”) to search (or eavesdrop) has to be given by a judge in the form of a search (or wiretap) warrant. In this way, the judicial branch of government keeps some check on the executive branch’s law enforcement and intelligence operations. Click here for more.

The issue with most wiretapping legislation is not that surveillance is being facilitated, but how it is being facilitated. If the public is to trust in the system, security measures must be based on sound logic supported by accurate data illustrating the need for and usefulness of a measure. Above all else, reliable and consistent oversight must be implemented in conjunction with all security measures.

In a “Wiki” age of openness in solving problems, increasing secrecy might just be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

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August 23 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is a chilling article by Paul Craig Roberts:

Should the US proceed with sanctions intended to cause the Chinese currency to appreciate, “the Chinese central bank will be forced to sell dollars, which might lead to a mass depreciation of the dollar.”

The precarious position of the US dollar as reserve currency has been thoroughly ignored and denied. The delusion that the US is “the world’s sole superpower,” whose currency is desirable regardless of its excess supply, reflects American hubris, not reality…

…If China ceased to buy US Treasuries, Bush’s wars would end. The savings rate of US consumers is essentially zero, and several million are afflicted with mortgages that they cannot afford. With Bush’s budget in deficit and with no room in the US consumer’s budget for a tax increase, Bush’s wars can only be financed by foreigners…It is China’s decision whether it calls in the US ambassador, and delivers the message that there will be…no further war unless the US is prepared to buy back $900 billion in US Treasury bonds and other dollar assets.

The US, of course, has no foreign reserves with which to make the purchase. The impact of such a large sale on US interest rates would wreck the US economy and effectively end Bush’s war-making capability. Moreover, other governments would likely follow the Chinese lead, as the main support for the US dollar has been China’s willingness to accumulate them. If the largest holder dumped the dollar, other countries would dump dollars, too. Click here for more.

If the above articles contains even a grain of truth, the U.S. economy (and many others as a result) will witness some turbulent times ahead. One has to wonder at the audacity of decision makers to even put so many people in such a perilous position.

Paul Craig Roberts was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration. He is the author of Supply-Side Revolution : An Insider’s Account of Policymaking in Washington; Alienation and the Soviet Economy and Meltdown: Inside the Soviet Economy, and is the co-author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice.

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August 22 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Sophos Research has published a telling study on the changing end-user outlook of protecting personal information.

“During the study, a fake profile was created using the name ‘Freddi Staur’ — a play on the word “fraudster” — and using a picture of a plastic frog who revealed little personal information about himself.

The company then sent out 200 random friend requests through Facebook, and found that 41 per cent of those queried accepted Freddi as a friend.

In total, 87 of those who were sent requests accepted, with 82 of them providing their personal information.” Click here for more.

Although, education is key in preventing such personal disclosure, it might not be enough to stem the tide. If the current trends in individuals protecting, or simply not protecting, their private information continue, security professionals may have to begin approaching security differently as a result of the openness of end-users. Telling people that social disclosure of personal information is poor security practice might not be enough. Forcibly restricting users to prevent disclosure might be seen as an imposition or worse, draconian, having long lasting negative implications. The only alternative might become to rethink security approaches with the prevailing end-user perspective of openness in mind.

Posted in Identity, Cyber Crime | No Comments »

August 21 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Voice of America recently reported that:

“Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe…signed into law the controversial Interception of Communications Bill, which gives his government the authority to eavesdrop on phone and Internet communications and read physical mail…Human rights lawyer Otto Saki told VOA that the law interferes and undermines the enjoyment of rights enshrined in the constitution and is a sign Mr. Mugabe wants to consolidate his power by “any means necessary or unnecessary.”

But Communications Minister Christopher Mushowe said Zimbabwe is not unique in the world in passing such legislation, citing electronic eavesdropping programs in the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa, among other countries.

The claims of Mr. Mushowe would almost be funny if they weren’t so close to the truth. The U.S., in particular, should be hard pressed to denounce the similarity given the latest piece of legislation passed there regarding wiretapping.

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August 20 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association recently suggested that non-pharmaceutical interventions during the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918-1919 curbed fatality rates.

Reaction is everything when facing a disaster.

For more information on the study, written jointly by the University of Michigan Medical School and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, please click here.

Posted in Health Preparedness | No Comments »