From the category archives:

Current Affairs

H1N1: A case study in poor risk decisions

November 28, 2009

In security circles we often discuss why some individuals and businesses find themselves in a perpetual state of high risk. While there can be complex factors, the bottom line is that many of us make poor risk management decisions in our business and personal lives. Sometimes a high risk position results because we don’t correctly [...]

Read the full article →

20 years of freedom

November 9, 2009

  (The Berlin Wall, December 1985.  Photo by Eric Jacksch) Twenty years ago today the Berlin Wall fell, uniting East and West Germany. Celebrations today include fireworks, concerts, and the toppling of foam dominoes painted by school children. Spiegel Online International has a great collection of historic images and coverage of the 20th anniversary celebration.  [...]

Read the full article →

H1N1, bad information and scams

October 29, 2009

As H1N1 (swine flu) continues to spread, so does misinformation on the Internet. There are several emails in circulation that are simply wrong, and web sites with false information are popping up all over. And scams are starting to emerge. We share this planet with people who still believe the earth is flat, lunatic conspiracy [...]

Read the full article →

What would you do?

September 2, 2009

The events Monday night in Toronto have the media and net buzzing.  (If you haven’t read about it yet, this Toronto Star article will get you started). While facts, opinions, observations, and premature conclusions dribble out in response to seemingly insatiable public curiosity, there is a question few are asking: What would you do? Incidents like this are [...]

Read the full article →

2009: Social Media goes Mainstream

April 9, 2009

I remember watching the web go mainstream back in the mid 90’s.  Web servers and the Internet had existed for a few years, but URLs began appearing on billboards and product packaging literally overnight as a critical mass was reached. Today we’re approaching another critical mass.  Blogs and social networking sites have been around for [...]

Read the full article →

Adobe vulnerability — In perspective

March 11, 2009

I use a lot of Adobe products. Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere and Acrobat to name some. So, when blogs started buzzing about an Acrobat vulnerability, they grabbed my attention. And, when my distinguished colleague Larry Seltzer at eWeek.com wrote that “It May Be Time to Abandon Adobe”, I began to wonder if the sky was falling. [...]

Read the full article →

Evidence from a Black Box

February 9, 2009

A recent count case in Minnesota poses an interesting question. In summary, a man accused of impaired driving says he should be able to review the source code of the breathalyzer used to gather the evidence against him. On the surface, the man’s request seems reasonable. As I understand it, the primary evidence against him [...]

Read the full article →

Bus Strike? Bad Weather? Work at home!

February 2, 2009

Businesses, transit users and those of us who drive to work all suffered during Ottawa’s transit strike.  However, we can learn valuable lessons about business continuity planning that are equally applicable to an influenza pandemic, severe storm or even a terrorist attack. There is a segment of our population who simply must get to work: [...]

Read the full article →

Internet censorship

January 26, 2009

What would you think if you searched the Internet after the Canadian federal budget is presented tomorrow and every article you could find about it was positive? How would you feel if you attempted to visit the blog of an outspoken critic and the site was suddenly gone? More than 2000 years ago the ancient [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries