Daily News Archive

Please note that The Daily News is publishing (hopefully) twice a week for the foreseeable future due to time constraints.

Tuesday, June 27th

 "Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes.”  - Peter F. Drucker

 

The Picks of the Day

Audit Execs Cite Staff Shortages

“In a new survey of internal auditors, 70 percent said difficulty hiring competent staff was their biggest business challenge. Another 60 percent cited complex IT infrastructures.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7105188/c_7105252?f=alerts

 

Risk Management: More Talk Than Action

“A new survey of 230 financial executives says companies recognize the importance of enterprise risk management, but fall short when it comes to implementation.  A majority of executives — 58 percent — reported that their company has an enterprise risk management approach and philosophy that considers various interactions among different types of risk. And 68 percent of those polled said their CEO is placing greater emphasis on the management of all types of risk.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7104872/c_7105252?f=alerts

 

IT Process Improvement

Avoid Making a Nervous Change Detection System

“In the Visible Ops methodology, we stress the use of automatic change detection systems.  To accrue the benefits, it is important that the tools be implemented correctly.  The reason for this caveat is that the improper use of a change detection tool can result in a nervous system that generates a constant stream of alerts.”

http://www.itpi.org/cs/blogs/itpi/

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Live Webinar - A Review of Sarbanes-Oxley's Impact on IT in Year Three

“Now that we are entering our third year of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), what have we learned about information technology’s (IT’s) role? As time goes by, organizations, IT and the government are learning and evolving how to comply with section 404’s effective internal controls mandate. In preparing for the year’s efforts, there is much for IT to consider. The recent emphasis by the PCAOB on the use of a risk based approach should give IT organizations much to think about.”

http://www.complianceonline.com/ecommerce/control/webinarsdetail/~product_id=700111

[This is a $249 webinar from ComplianceOnline slated for Thursday, June 29^th and 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern.  An on-demand archive copy will be available at for later viewing.]

 

A Defeat for Government Meddling

“The unfortunate consequences of government meddling in capital markets cannot be overstated. The recent Sarbanes-Oxley law, for example, has done far more than just raise the accounting and auditing costs of publicly traded corporations in America.”

http://www.nysun.com/article/35010

 

Sarbanes-Oxley $10 Billion Word?

“Weighing in at just 168 words, Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley nevertheless costs the U.S. economy billions of dollars for each of its words”

http://www.globalservicesmedia.com/sections/sm/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189600444

 

Security and Risk Management

Underlying patterns can reveal information security targets

“As more electronic devices infiltrate our personal and professional lives -- everything from BlackBerrys to iPods to smart watches to GPS devices -- we are increasing the number of data points that can be extrapolated into uniquely identifiable patterns. By passively monitoring broadcast signatures generated by any given person's or group's devices, hitherto referred to as the "target," a statistical correlation can be drawn to not only infer the identity of the target, but also to track the target.”

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1193714,00.html?track=NL-358&ad=554956HOUSE

 

Insider Threat Email Group

“The insider threat group provides a forum to discuss techniques to mitigate the threat posed by authorized personnel. Those interested in learning more about insider threat will benefit from the exchange of resources and the opportunity to ask questions. The group is moderated to keep on topic.”

To join via email:  insider-threat-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To access via the web:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/insider-threat

[Thank you for the suggestion Gideon!]

 

Computer attackers increasingly target Web services

“As more people turn to Web applications for everyday tasks like e-mail, friendship and payments, cyber criminals are following them in search of bank account details and other valuable data, security researchers said.”

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/computersecurity/wormsviruses/2006-06-25-web-service-attacks_x.htm?csp=34

 

Human Error / Safety

Cheap Drinking Water from the Ocean

“A water desalination system using carbon nanotube-based membranes could significantly reduce the cost of purifying water from the ocean. The technology could potentially provide a solution to water shortages both in the United States, where populations are expected to soar in areas with few freshwater sources, and worldwide, where a lack of clean water is a major cause of disease.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=nanotech&sc=&id=16977&pg=1

 

When Fluffy Catches the Bird Flu

“As medical research links house pets to SARS and bird flu, public health officials have something new to worry about: the risk that poodles and parakeets will need to be quarantined during an outbreak. The worst-case scenario? A runaway epidemic that can only be stopped by dispatching pets to that big animal shelter in the sky.”

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,71199-0.html?tw=rss.technology

 

Scientists Aim To Thwart Use Of Flu As Bioweapon

“Flu is already a big killer, responsible for more than 35,000 deaths in the United States alone each year. And wild birds infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu are gradually broadening the scope of that disease. Last week in Rochester, scientists were discussing ways to better understand the flu and also how to prevent the possibility that terrorists could somehow modify flu as a bioweapon to make it even more lethal than it is already.”

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=45713&nfid=rssfeeds

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

Growth in China to accelerate

“Gross domestic product will probably rise 10.3 per cent in the first six months before slowing in the second half for full-year growth of 10 per cent, the People's Bank of China says in a report published today. China's economy grew 9.9 per cent last year, overtaking Britain as the world's fourth largest.”

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/06/25/1151174072266.html

 

Rising salaries threaten India's booming outsourcing industry

“Soaring salaries and poor quality of manpower are prompting foreign firms to shut their outsourcing operations in India although there is no cause for alarm yet, officials and analysts say.  US-based Apple Computer and software maker Pervasive have been joined by Powergen, a British subsidiary of German energy supplier E.ON, in announcing the closure of their centres in India's technology hub of Bangalore.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060625/bs_afp/indiatechnologyoutsourcing_060625200352

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

Coming soon -- mind-reading computers

“A raised eyebrow, quizzical look or a nod of the head are just a few of the facial expressions computers could soon be using to read people's minds.  An ‘emotionally aware’ computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings.”

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-06-25T232536Z_01_L23596655_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCIENCE-COMPUTERS.xml&archived=False

 

Web 2.0 sews grassroots collaboration

“Big companies have for years installed industrial-strength content management systems in the hope of sparking collaboration among workers. There was just one problem: People didn't use them.”

http://news.com.com/Web+2.0+sews+grassroots+collaboration/2100-1012_3-6087566.html?tag=html.alert

 

Thursday, June 29th

"Improving quality requires a culture change, not just a new diet.” – Philip Crosby

 

The Picks of the Day

ROI Trumps Innovation for Software Users

“The providers of complex software used in manufacturing industries may trumpet the high-level attributes of their applications, but ‘the users appear to be a little bit more down to earth.’”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7106491?f=alerts

[If you’ve never listened to Goldratt’s CD set called “Beyond the Goal”, I highly recommend it.  He says the same thing – instead of an endless stream of features, help the users be more productive.]

 

Protecting the Digital Assets – The 2006 TMT Security Survey from Deloitte

“…Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's  (DTT) TMT Industry Group, made up of DTT member firms' TMT practices, conducted an in-depth survey of security practices at TMT organizations around the world. The study finds the sector's security remains inadequate in general. Over half of all respondents suffered a security breach in the preceding 12 months, some causing millions of dollars in damages.”

http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/research/0,1015,sid=2245&cid=122226,00.html

 

New data security bill introduced

“A bill introduced yesterday [6/26/2006] by Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), both of whom serve on the Senate Banking Committee, joins a growing list of data security measures now pending before Congress.  The proposed Data Security Act of 2006 seeks to create a national data protection and breach notification standard.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=government&articleId=9001477&taxonomyId=13

[Thank you Deborah!]

 

IT Process Improvement

Webinar:  Linking IT Silos to Create Business Value

July 13, 2006 2pm Eastern

“The traditional method of building IT infrastructure specifically for new applications leads to disconnected silos of information and resources. Aligning these silos using ITIL processes and a Configuration Management Database to integrate data and workflow can help an IT organization achieve its goals by increasing the productivity of the IT organization, delivering IT services that meet the needs of the business more efficiently, and extracting greater value from existing investments.”

http://cp.jupiterweb.com/index.php/2656_default/8af540c98289179f24680acfd9a2ad53

 

Getting the edge with IT

“No one confuses surgery with pediatrics -- but most people perceive application development and infrastructure maintenance as one big fuzzy mass of undifferentiated IT activity.”

http://www.itworld.com/Man/060628itedge/

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Live Webinar - Sarbanes-Oxley, IT and Segregation of Duties

“Auditors are very concerned about the impacts of staff having excessive access to critical processes and cite the need for appropriate segregation of duties (SOD) in their Sarbanes-Oxley audits. In response, IT is forced to try and comply with a concept that is not very well understood.”

http://www.complianceonline.com/ecommerce/control/webinarsdetail/~product_id=700112

[This is a $249 webinar from ComplianceOnline slated for Thursday, July 6th at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern.  An on-demand archive copy will be available at for later viewing.]

 

Executive Pay Prognosis: Marginal Change

“Despite the growing outcry from institutional investors about the size of senior management pay packages and the increased scrutiny from regulators worried about cloudy reporting, there won't be a sea-change in compensation structures any time soon, experts say.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7107117?f=alerts

 

U.S. Accuses BP Of Manipulating Price of Propane

“Traders at global energy giant BP PLC secretly and illegally cornered part of the U.S. propane market in early 2004, driving up heating and cooking costs for millions of mostly rural Americans, federal investigators charged.  In a civil complaint filed in federal court in Chicago, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission outlined what it said was a scheme to manipulate the price of propane, and it alleged that executives at a BP trading unit approved the effort.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115152494243093324.html?mod=djemTMB

 

Cardinal Refuses to Reinstate CFO

“In a widely watched whistleblower case, Cardinal Bankshares yesterday decided once again to refuse a Department of Labor judge's recommended order to reinstate the bank's former CFO, David Welch, the company's outside attorney Laura Effel told CFO.com. Instead, the bank holding company plans to wait and see whether the DoL or Welch brings an action against the company in U.S. District Court, she noted.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7108572?f=alerts

 

IT May Face New E-discovery Rules in December

“New rules for electronic discovery of documents in civil cases go into effect in December. Lack of compliance could result in significant penalties for companies, legal experts and executives said.  The new rules were created by an advisory committee to the Judicial Conference of the United States, which oversees administrative and policy issues for federal courts, and were adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 1, said Ron Hedges, magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court in Newark.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=13&articleId=111615

 

Security and Risk Management

Social engineering's new tricks present bigger dangers

“June 6, otherwise known as 6/6/06, received its proverbial 15 minutes of fame recently, as news reports playfully covered the symbolic Devil's date. Not so coincidentally, the IT world met the underworld of computer security.”

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1196327,00.html?track=NL-358&ad=555007

 

Data breaches may be new boon for mobile security

“According to The 451 Group's Nick Selby, not only will recent data breaches encourage more companies to implement mobile device security technologies, but a number of mobile security vendors are poised to reap big benefits.”

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/columnItem/0,294698,sid14_gci1196507,00.html?track=NL-358&ad=555007

 

Human Error / Safety

Economic impact of bird flu hinges on panic – experts

“The severity of a global economic slowdown caused by a bird flu pandemic, estimated to slash 1 to 12 percent off world output, largely depends on how people and governments react, economists said on Wednesday.”

http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/news.asp?id=257319

 

Switzerland ready to order 'pre-pandemic' bird flu vaccine

“Switzerland will order eight million doses of a new type of "pre-pandemic" vaccine designed to tackle the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu and other related variants, the government has said.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060628/hl_afp/healthfluswitzerland_060628155318

 

Australian bird flu trials to continue

“A vaccine against the deadly bird flu virus will be tested on Australians in larger doses after initial trials proved it was safe and effective.  Perth scientists have begun a trial of the human vaccine against the lethal H5N1 virus, developed by Melbourne pharmaceutical manufacturer CSL.”

http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Australian-bird-flu-trials-to-continue/2006/06/28/1151174261551.html

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

Bridging the Chinese Skills Gap

“Despite widely read reports of waves of IT talent graduating from Chinese universities, the picture on the ground is quite different, say businesspeople operating in the country. The truth is that in China, a good IT professional is hard to find, and good IT managers are even scarcer.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=10&articleId=111620

 

Managing Globalization: Economies Have a Stake in Where Companies Find Employees

“A growing interconnectedness of the global economy means companies will find skilled workers one way or another. The motives for companies to turn to outsourcing or the recruitment of immigrant labor are often similar: a domestic skills shortage, jobs that local workers will not take or the comparatively cheap cost of foreign labor. The forces driving companies’ choices to outsource or recruit immigrants may be similar – but the consequences for the domestic economy differ.”

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=7658

 

Globalization: When Cure Is Worse Than Malady

“From France to Poland to the US, the appeals to the extreme groups result in proposals of nativist immigration and trade policies that do little to assuage the economic uncertainty confronting increasing numbers of voters around the globe. Without leaders capable of national consensus-building anywhere in sight, journalist Richard Hornik warns that ‘the dislocations wrought by globalization’s creative destruction are nothing compared to the economic chaos unleashed when efforts are made to halt or reverse the process.’”

http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=7649

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

Frequent flier programs veer off course

“The first frequent flier program began in 1981 with American Airlines’ AAdvantage as a way to keep profitable business travelers flying the same airline. Other major airlines like Delta quickly followed.  Twenty-five years later, travelers and industry experts say the programs have flown far off course from their original purpose.”

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13597890/