Volunteering Falls Short on Threat Information Sharing

This is strange, really. I'm surprised that companies don't share information with each other. Many participte in the MITRE progams, such as CVE.

I can understand why they don't want to share with government agencies whose attitude toward sharing is all one-way: you give to us and we'll horde it all.

For more on this, read Threat Intelligence: What to Share?

Half of U.S. adults said Internet service is the most important utility in their homes

A Harris Interactive survey for Verizon found that more than half of about 2,300 U.S. adults said Internet service is the most important utility in their homes.

So, neither fresh water, electricity, sewer systems, nor even television is important. Amazing. How's this set back Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Then, there is the earlier report that Internet access is more important than sex. Are these people all lreading candidates for a Darwin Award? I think we have to worry for the survival of the species.

Chinese firms draw fire in House Intelligence report; Cisco cuts ties to China's ZTE after Iran probe

Well, of course the Chinese firms would call the charges "baseless."

Seems like the House Intelligence Committee did something right. Reuters reports  that the committee is recommending that Huawai and ZTE be barred from buying US companies because of fears that they could be used for cyber-espionage. Of course, depending on who wins the Presidential election next month, the committee's recommendation has a good chance of being ignored. I'm suprised we allow them to sell kit into the US, or at least the defense establishment. As I said before, cyber-espionage is still esponiage. Is it any easier done over networks than by coopting employees of target companies or government agencies? I'd be more concerned about cyberwarfare. And didn't India ban Chinese telecom firms from selling into the country because of security concerns? Frankly, I'd be as worried about French and Israeli providers.

10/9/12 -- According to Reuters, Cisco cuts ties to China's ZTE after Iran probe. Shall I rest my case now?

Facebook, Twitter Begin Slide into Irrelevance

I don't always agree with Networkworld's Mark Gibbs, but he's seldom boring. This week he riffed on Facebook's and Twitter's dependance on advertising. Coming from magazine publishing, he's sure to know how fickle that proposition is.

Basically in exchange for free content and ads, users sell their souls, otherwise known as PII. Fair exchange? I think not. But users are selectively cheap. They're been conditioned to expect online content and services for free, although the cost of accessing the content and services isn't free. What ISP doesn't exact a monthly fee for access? If Google is so intent on free access information, why doesn't it supply ad-free search, and provide payments to content creators?

This perspective may be influenced by my role as a content creator, but it bothers me that users expect free online content, but these same freeloaders expect to pay for Starbucks and slacker chic.

Denny Hatch, a curmudgeonly DM commentator, and others have suggested that Facebook, Twitter, and their ilk charge $1/month for use. Do the math. That's billions a year, and for $12/year we won't have to provide PII and suffer invasive ads. Of course, there's a risk to building a paywall in that someone else can offer that service for free. It wasn't so long ago that mobile service providers tried to keep users in walled gardens. How Apple continues to do this is beyond my ken.

National Cyber Security Hall of Fame: Where's Hal Tipton?

First Inductees to National Cyber Security Hall of Fame Unveiled

While I'm certain that everyone named to the hall of fame is deserving, and knowing most of them either personally or by reputation, they are, I still can't believe that Hal Tipton wasn't included. Hal's history is like the history of information security. And, the number of people he's influenced has to be legions. Hal was a true pioneer, visionary, and doer.

"No Easy Day"

I finished the book last night. It was okay, and I'm sure the movie will be, too.

I'm still struggling to figure out what was "classified," and why the witch hunt. The story didn't seem too much different from the Time article published last Spring. You'd think, though, that the Pentagon would be looking at all the leaks about the operation in its aftermath. It didn't take long for details to emerge.

No Easy Day: Day 2

So now the Pentagon claims the book reveals classified information. There are also rumors reported in the NYTimes that the author wrote the book because he was pissed off at how he was treated. Is this the start of a slur campaign?

So far, there's been nothing exciting in the book. The usual stuff about how the auther was born to do this, complaints about too much training and too little action, anecodotes about missions in the Middle East, ...

I've heard the training complaint before. The son of a friend is in Delta now, and has been for five years or so. He's only deployed to Trashcanistan once. The other years were spent either as a trainee or a trainer, both here and overseas.

As I continue to read, maybe we'll get to the actual assault and take down of bin Laden.