THE MAGAZINE

Defacements of Web sites hit a new peak in December 2004, according to statistics compiled by zone-h.org, which has a database of what it calls “Web server cybercrimes.”

If your organization has a wireless network, it must be regularly assessed to ensure that it remains secure from malicious outsiders.

Hard-core technophiles might see those same robots, which come equipped with software brains and are fully mobile, as tools to help them learn about genomes by programming them to “mate” (that is, combine their software, including some chance of mutations, to create “robot progeny”). This kind of technique—or hack, as it’s commonly known—is one example of the type of high-tech content that can be found on hack a day, a blog dedicated to technotinkerers.

Rom viruses to spyware to Trojan horses, there’s an abundance of ways for your computer to be rendered unusable or for its data to be corrupted. If you’re lucky enough to have the help of IT professionals, you might be able to get things back to normal without too much trouble. But if you’re on your own, you might wish that you could somehow turn back the clock to the days when the computer was working properly.

“bot” is a small software program that is often used on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels to gather information or interact with human users. Some bots on IRC are used by hackers to control “botnets,” or a series of tens of thousands of compromised computers, according to Know Your Enemy: Tracking Botnets, a paper from The Honeynet Project & Research Alliance.

If you want to try some of the recommended hacks from Windows XP Hacks: Tips & Tools for Optimizing Your OS, however, you’ll have to put aside any compunction you might have about tweaking the registry. You’ll also have to change your idea about what a “hack” is; in its nonpejorative form, as meant here, it simply refers to an innovative solution (and perhaps one that was never considered by the original creators) to a programming problem.

Not all Web sites are designed to be protected against changes being made by visitors. In fact, one type of Web site is set up specifically to allow visitors to add or edit its content.

The Cyber Incident Detection Data Analysis Center (CIDDAC), a service to share real-time cyberthreat information, recently launched its National Operations Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

The problem with blogs, the threat posed by bots, and a system backup tool.

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that an airport authority did not violate a prospective security officer’s privacy rights when it conducted two background checks on him and then terminated him for a 30-year-old arrest. (Barr v. Great Falls International Airport Authority, Montana Supreme Court, No. 03-536, 2005).

The House Judiciary Committee has held several hearings on the expanded police powers included in the Patriot Act, which will be expiring at the end of this year. The first (S. 318), introduced by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI), would amend and make permanent the expiring computer trespass provision of the Patriot Act. Another bill (S. 737), introduced by Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), would limit the use of the surveillance powers more so than is the case currently in the Patriot Act.

Mall security adopts software to view floor plans for safety purposes.

Many an executive on a business trip abroad has suffered the embarrassment of making an error in protocol or local custom. The “thumbs up” or “V for victory” gestures that are symbols of approval in the United States may have derogatory meanings elsewhere, for example. By brushing up on local culture in advance, these executives could have saved themselves heartache, embarrassment, and lost business.

Charles Nemeth has released the third edition of his highly acclaimed Private Security and the Law. For years, it has proved to be an indispensable guide to civil and criminal liability stemming from acts or omissions committed by the security function. This newest edition updates the principles with new case law.

Paul Markel, a former U.S. marine, ex-police officer, and current executive protection agent, has written an advice book for fledgling bodyguards. The book covers critical topics such as communications, confrontation, defensive tools, professionalism, legal issues, intelligence gathering, and foreign travel. It is not detailed enough to be considered a textbook on executive protection, but it probably was not meant to be.

Aimed at the experienced content-security professional, the book begins with a brief introduction to the types and uses of steganography. Remaining sections and chapters take the reader, step by mathematical step, through data-hiding applications such as the use of hidden watermarks in images and video to verify ownership. Also discussed are intellectual property attacks and detection and response measures for thwarting those attacks.

Kirschenbaum will make readers question their own motivations and choices. With that in mind, he leads readers down an avenue of constant exploration, probing the considerations of various stakeholders, the plethora of constraints on effective disaster management, and the bureaucratic inertia that can all too quickly subsume disaster management.

To some extent, everyone zealously guards his or her own privacy and fights to preserve it. But what are the chances we are fighting to secure the wrong thing? What if greater openness and transparency could protect our society better than fighting to preserve privacy at all costs? This is the thesis of The Open Society Paradox, in which author Dennis Bailey argues forcefully for a homeland identification card, openness in government and society, and the use of sophisticated information analysis as a powerful triple play to reduce the risk of cybercrime and terrorism.