Daily News Archive

Wednesday, March 14th

"If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.” – General George Patton

 

The Picks of the Day

Experts: No cure in sight for unpredictable hard drive loss

“When failures were correlated with SMART variables, the researchers found that only four SMART attributes have much relevance to the drive failure issue: scan errors, reallocation counts (when a drive remaps a bad sector to a "good" spare sector), offline reallocations (a subset of the previous variable), and probational counts (the number of sectors "on probation" and suspected of being bad).”

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070225-8917.html

[Bottom line - hard drives fail earlier than expected and this is a very good article.]

 

Disk failures in the real world:  What does an MTTF of 1,000,000 hours mean to you?

“We find that in the field, annual disk replacement rates typically exceed 1%, with 2-4% common and up to 13% observed on some systems. This suggests that field replacement is a fairly different process than one might predict based on datasheet MTTF.  We also find evidence, based on records of disk replacements in the field, that failure rate is not constant with age, and that, rather than a significant infant mortality effect, we see a significant early onset of wear-out degradation. That is, replacement rates in our data grew constantly with age, an effect often assumed not to set in until after a nominal lifetime of 5 years.”

http://www.usenix.org/events/fast07/tech/schroeder/schroeder_html/index.html

[Another must read.  You have to understand my concern – there’s the data at risk, the business at risk and then all the time lost replacing a drive.  Risks to storage are very concerning and highlights the need for layered defenses – RAID, clustering, backups, offsite storage, recovery testing, etc.]

 

Webinar:  The Butterfly Sanction:  Preventing Unwanted Change in Compliance Systems

March 27, 2007 at 10am Pacific

“To stay on top of guidance related to Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, FFIEC, Basel II and other standards, as well as shifting business needs and evolving technologies, companies must constantly tweak, integrate, and otherwise modify critical systems. But change introduces risk. Even small technical tweaks can have unintended, even disastrous compliance consequences- a proverbial "butterfly effect" of technological interconnection and dependency.”

http://www.itcinstitute.com/events/eventDetails.aspx?eventId=42

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Dirty Data

“According to new research by Gartner, a business intelligence firm, more than a quarter of Fortune 1000 companies are plagued by data that is duplicated, incomplete, or just wrong. Worse, companies don’t plan to make significant improvements before 2010.”

http://www.cfo.com/blogs/index.cfm/l_detail/8843774?f=alerts

 

ITIL Dreams

“You cannot adopt ITIL just by running a few finite implementation projects, Kenilian's Briscoe says. The simple fact is, ITIL is not an easy solution, whatever the myths and misconceptions surrounding it, he says.  Rather, the initial project is always just the starting point. Adoption will fail if you do not follow up with continuous improvement, the assignment of process owners and regular reviews.”

http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1574523398;pp;4

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit

IT Audit Checklist: Risk Management

“This document supports an internal audit of the organization's risk management program and processes. Providing guidance to improve your risk management program and to assess the robustness of your risk management efforts, the checklist is intended to help managers prepare for an audit of risk management, making the audit experience and results as productive as possible.”

http://www.itcinstitute.com/wp/WPContent.aspx?pID=137

 

Enterprise Spreadsheet Management

“There are a number of different solutions, from various vendors, available within the marketplace. These broadly break down into three categories, though some suppliers extend beyond a single set of capabilities. These categories can be classified as auditor's tools, control and compliance products, and automation offerings.”

http://www.it-director.com/business/compliance/content.php?cid=9315

 

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Internal Control Seminars

Several of my colleagues have been presenting compliance-related seminars across the country for the past five years:  Sarbanes-Oxley, Corporate Governance, Internal Controls, Fraud Prevention and Detection, and Information Security.  The next seminars are in March in New York, Atlanta and Houston:  SOX Compliance for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (“SOX for SMBs”).  They will discuss practical, cost-effective internal controls over financial reporting.  The seminars are as entertaining as they are informative.

http://www.compliance-seminars.com

 

United States: E-Discovery Survival Guide For Corporate Counsel

“Some articles in the popular press reported that the amendments require corporations to retain virtually every electronic document ever created. Fortunately, the situation is not nearly as dire as rumored.  While no one course of action is appropriate for all corporations, there are some basic steps to prepare for that first e-discovery challenge, none of which guarantee success. On the other hand, failure to recognize the challenges of complying with the e-discovery rules is more likely to lead to disaster.”

http://www.mondaq.com/i_article.asp_Q_articleid_E_46340

 

Paulson: Regs Need Cost-Benefit Analysis

“Regulators, said Paulson, tend to adapt to the changing market by expanding instead of focusing on efficiency — a trend that he obliquely suggested might be harming the global competitiveness of the U.S. capital markets. The U.S., he added, should consider moving to a more principles-based regulatory system ‘as we see working in other parts of the world.’

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/8844244/c_8844702?f=alerts

 

Security and Risk Management

Cyberwar - A Threat to Business

“It is only a matter of time before military and terrorist organizations target commercial organizations. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security recently warned of potential Internet attacks on the U.S. stock market and banking Web sites. Large businesses offer an attractive target and the potential impact is very high.”

http://www.gideonrasmussen.com/article-14.html

 

Insider Risk Management Guide

“The threat posed by authorized personnel is well documented by research and court cases. According to ACFE, U.S. organizations lose an estimated $652 billion to fraud annually. Unfortunately, insider threat is not limited to fraud. There is also sabotage, negligence, human error and exploitation by outsiders to consider. If you have not taken a hard look at insider threat controls in your organization, now is the time.”

http://www.gideonrasmussen.com/article-13.html

[Gideon’s site in general is very good – be sure to check it out.  http://www.gideonrasmussen.com]

 

Your new ID-theft worry? Photocopiers

“Now, experts are warning that photocopiers could be a culprit as well.  That's because most digital copiers manufactured in the past five years have disk drives — the same kind of data-storage mechanism found in computers — to reproduce documents. As a result, the seemingly innocuous machines that are commonly used to spit out copies of tax returns for millions of Americans can retain the data being scanned.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/photocopier_risks;_ylt=AkVIOg_Ka86Hh8nAWjw7w7EjtBAF

 

Nuclear Nonproliferation: DOE's International Radiological Threat Reduction Program Needs to Focus Future Efforts on Securing the Highest Priority Radiological Sources, GAO 07-282

“This report (1) assesses the progress the Department of Energy (DOE) has made in implementing its program to help other countries secure their sealed radiological sources, (2) identifies DOE's current and planned program costs, and (3) describes DOE's coordination with other U.S. agencies and international organizations to secure radiological sources in other countries.”

Abstract:  http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-282

Full Report:  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07282.pdf

 

Healthcare / Bio-Informatics / Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs)

Using technology to cure paperwork

“Arnett HealthSystem and Greater Lafayette Health Systems have joined the crowd of medical facilities across the country implementing comprehensive electronic medical records and an internal messaging system -- which are designed to streamline patient care while providing better oversight.”

http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/LIFE03/703120329

 

First report of the Indiana Medical Error Reporting System

“On Tuesday [March 6^th], the Indiana Department of Health released its first report on medical errors, listing 77 adverse medical errors in Indiana hospitals.”

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/16868499.htm

 

Hospitals can learn from errors

“There is something good about mistakes: the opportunity to learn from them. It was with that in mind that we commended Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2005 when he issued an executive order that hospitals in Indiana disclose their serious medical errors to the Indiana Department of Health.”

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070313/Opinion02/703130395/-1/OPINION/CAT=Opinion02

 

Indiana businesses commit to national initiative for improving quality and value in health care

“The Indiana Health Information Exchange was recognized as a pilot site to provide better quality information (BQI) to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries. There are six collaboratives in the country that have been chosen as pilots to pioneer new methods of reporting on quality of care, especially through the use of Medicare data. The techniques proven by these pilot sites will be used by other collaboratives in the future as we build a national network of organizations for providing information to help compare the performance and costs of health care providers.”

http://www.lafayette-online.com/news/business/newsfiles/1173282571.shtml

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Indonesia's bird flu cases rise to 85

“Indonesia has recorded 85 bird flu cases, after a 20-year old woman was positively infected by avian influenza, the country's Health Ministry said here on Monday.  The woman from East Java province had history contact with chicken, an anti-bird flu official of the ministry, Joko Sugiyono,said.”

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-03/12/content_5836631.htm

 

Indonesia won't share bird flu samples

“Indonesia will not share bird flu samples with the World Health Organization without a legally binding agreement promising the virus won't be used to develop an expensive commercial vaccine, the health minister said Wednesday.  Siti Fadilah Supari, digging her heels in following a weeks long standoff with the global body, said a letter of guarantee from WHO's director general Margaret Chan late last month was not good enough.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070314/ap_on_he_me/indonesia_bird_flu;_ylt=AuT86655CrTg7w6fQTWdlbDVJRIF

 

WHO seeks smart technology to stop fake medicines

“The World Health Organization aims to harness smart technology to stop counterfeit medicines flooding developing world markets with sometimes-fatal results.  The U.N. body sat down with more than 20 technology companies at a conference in Prague on Tuesday to investigate ways to detect bogus drugs, which account for more than a quarter of sales in some poor countries”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070314/tc_nm/who_technology_dc;_ylt=AjybSyxfBQgDkWS24OQOGnkjtBAF

 

Corps placed faulty pumps in New Orleans

“The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070314/ap_on_re_us/katrina_faulty_pumps;_ylt=Aqd5gWOmwhWFSdgLVuvK9F8PLBIF

 

Outsourcing / Globalization / International

India Inc's hiring slows down

“India Inc' hiring is showing signs of slowing down marginally in the second quarter of 2007 with a study showing 58% of all employers surveyed expecting no change in staffing levels and 2% expecting a decrease.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/India_Incs_hiring_slows_down/articleshow/1759553.cms

 

Chinese spenders open their wallets wider

“China's retail sales in the first two months rose a strong 14.7 percent from a year earlier, reinforcing a trend of sturdy spending buoyed by rising incomes and government steps to spur consumption.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070314/bs_nm/china_economy_retail_dc;_ylt=AiU.lIWztXCYhpm3W29chuWyBhIF

 

Citi to boost China staff, small business lending

“Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C - news) plans to increase its China headcount by one-third in 2007, as it opens new branches and boosts its small and medium-sized enterprise business, the top U.S. bank said on Wednesday.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070314/bs_nm/citigroup_china_dc;_ylt=AqwLvkjbprlOokrGYJUMPLEjtBAF

 

China approves $2.5B Intel Corp. plant

“Intel Corp. has received approval to build a $2.5 billion chip plant in China amid booming Chinese demand for chips used in personal computers and mobile phones, the government said Tuesday.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_hi_te/china_intel;_ylt=AkaZrwW7GGyjCXKWTy8mZCv67rEF

 

Economics / Business / Misc.

It's the economy, stupid, all over again for the US

“How many more times: it's the economy, stupid. James Carville's phrase to help keep Bill Clinton focused while on the campaign trial against George Bush in 1992 is set to come back to haunt George W Bush's Republican party in 2008. How much more bad news do American voters need to realise the US is close to, if not already in, a recession?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/03/14/ccom14.xml

 

Software developer growth slows in North America

“New research shows that more software developer jobs will be created in Asia than in North America by 2010.  The worldwide software developer population is expected to grow to 19.5 million by 2010 from 14.5 million in 2007, but North America will account for only 18 percent of those jobs in 2010, down from 23 percent today, according to statistics from Evans Data presented at a conference the research firm is hosting Tuesday in Redwood City, Calif.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070313/tc_infoworld/86769;_ylt=Ao1OS5Ih9Xc6aI.D70ARuha63MMF

 

IT Think Tank Thinks IT Is Good For The Economy

“IT impacts five major areas, according to the study: productivity, employment, market efficiency, the quality of goods, and innovation in products and services. But the effects of IT are not always positive. The study identifies economic costs, risks to privacy, and IT-induced dislocations among the downsides of IT.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070314/tc_cmp/198000653;_ylt=Arp7u3V5WMbw8y1fwC7tYPM1k4gC

 

MIT To Put Its Entire Curriculum Online Free Of Charge

“On Tuesday [March 13th], school officials revealed plans to make available the university's entire 1,800-course curriculum by year's end. Currently, some 1.5 million online independent learners log on the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) site every month and more than 120 universities around the world have inaugurated their own sites for independent learners. MIT has more than 1,500 course curriculums available online to date.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070314/tc_cmp/198000568;_ylt=Ah3VY_LeoZC4K5NStFRugm81k4gC