On Mondays I offer comments on some   of the most interesting information technology stories that I have found on the web that week.  Please feel free to join in the discussion or suggest other stories.

Today’s comments were generated after I read not one, but two stories from The Economist about the threat, fear, and realities of CyberWar.  Great articles, both, that I recommend to you.  Give them a read below.

The Economist – War in the fifth domain: Are the mouse and keyboard the new weapons of conflict?

“After land, sea, air and space, warfare has entered the fifth domain: cyberspace. President Barack Obama has declared America’s digital infrastructure to be a “strategic national asset” and appointed Howard Schmidt, the former head of security at Microsoft, as his cyber-security tsar. In May the Pentagon set up its new Cyber Command (Cybercom) headed by General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA). His mandate is to conduct “full-spectrum” operations—to defend American military networks and attack other countries’ systems. Precisely how, and by what rules, is secret.”

The Economist – Cyberwar: It is time for countries to start talking about arms control on the internet

“As with nuclear bombs, the existence of cyber-weapons does not in itself mean they are about to be used. Moreover, an attacker cannot be sure what effect an assault will have on another country, making their deployment highly risky. That is a drawback for sophisticated military machines, but not necessarily for terrorists or the armies of rogue states. And it leaves the dangers of online crime and espionage. “

Seriously good writing about seriously complicated topics containing serious information, commentary, and consideration.  What is not to love here.  If you are an Information Professional then you need to read these stories.  Enjoy them.  I suspect that if The Economist is now writing about this weekly, the topic will be showing up everywhere!

OK, that is what I think of this topic. What do you think about this topic?  Do you agree or disagree with me? Do you have a recommended news story for next week? Please share your ideas below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for July 5, 2010  by Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Help Net Security at net-security.org

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The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals.  It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself. 

The place where I saw the reference is here:

The UK Register – 3 men charged in $100m scareware scam:

“Federal prosecutors have accused three men of running an operation that used fraudulent ads to dupe internet users around the world into buying more than $100m worth of bogus anti-virus software…

The scheme often tricked users into purchasing multiple sham products, which were sold under names including Malware Alarm, Antivirus 2008 and VirusRemover 2008.”

You can learn more about our new term at Wikipedia. Here is how they define it:

Scareware comprises several classes of scam software with malicious payloads, or of limited or no benefit, that are sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices. The selling approach uses social engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an unsuspecting user. Some forms of spyware and adware also use scareware tactics.

A tactic frequently used by criminals involves convincing users that a virus has infected their computer, then suggesting that they download (and pay for) fake antivirus software to remove it.

A couple of other web resources are available:

• The ultimate guide to scareware protection | ZDNet
• Security Fix – What To Do When Scareware Strikes

I guess IT Professionals can learn something new every day!

So how do you think that this relates to Information Technology?  How do you think that it could be important to Information Technology Professionals?

Do you know of any other new IT terms that should be discussed?

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for May 28, 2010  by Scott Coughlin.

Image credit: DHS

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I like Information Age quotations.  I find some of them very inspirational and like to carry a new one around about every week.  I thought that i could share mine with you from time to time.

Here is my quote of the day:

You can learn more about our quote source at Wikipedia.

So how do you think that this relates to Information Technology?  How do you think that it could be important to Information Technology Professionals?

Do you like quotations? Do you collect them, too?  What did you think of when you read this one?  Do you agree or disagree with it?  Please comment below.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 18, 2010  by Scott Coughlin.

Image credit: geocentrism.com

Quote Source: DevTopics

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The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals.  It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself.  

So, what exactly is a “Zero Day Attack”?

This is how Wikipedia defines it:

“A zero-day (or zero-hour or day zero) attack or threat is a computer threat that tries to exploit computer application vulnerabilities that are unknown to others, undisclosed to the software developer, or for which no security fix is available. Zero-day exploits (actual code that can use a security hole to carry out an attack) are used or shared by attackers before the software developer knows about the vulnerability.

The term derives from the age of the exploit. When a developer becomes aware of a security hole, there is a race to close it before attackers discover it or the vulnerability becomes public. A "zero day" attack occurs on or before the first or "zeroth" day of developer awareness, meaning the developer has not had any opportunity to distribute a security fix to users of the software.”

Please understand that I am not condoning, approving, or commenting on the morality of this issue, just pointing out a popular word that should be understood by all Information Technology Professionals.

Here are some other great sites that discuss this issue:

• WiseGeek.com – What is a Zero Day Attack?

• WatchGuard.com – Zero Day Protection

• FoxNews – PowerPoint Zero-Day Attack May Be Case of Corporate Espionage

I hope that helps you.  Enjoy the new word!

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 16, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: The Toilette Paper Entrepreneur

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I came upon the word, Hacktivism, today, and I honestly had never heard it used before outside of the news.  I surmised that it must be starting to be mainstreamed. 

This is how Wikipedia defines it:

“Hacktivism (a portmanteau of hack and activism) is "the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends. These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, virtual sabotage, and software development."^[1] It is often understood as the writing of code to promote political ideology – promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. Acts of hacktivism are carried out in the belief that proper use of code will be able to produce similar results to those produced by regular activism or civil disobedience.”

Please understand that I am not condoning, approving, or commenting on the morality of this issue, just pointing out a new word that should be understood by all Information Technology Professionals.

Here are some other great sites that discuss this issue:

• The Hacktivist

• Wired – Hacktivism and How It Got Here

• Info War – Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism

I hope that helps you.  Enjoy the new word!

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 12, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin.

Image Credit: Cafe Press

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