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The News - November 16, 2008
"We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities.” – Bill Maher
Top Picks
Dr. Michel Kabay Reviews Visible Ops Security
He does a thorough review of VSS that both serves as an overview and offers up his perspectives on topics that Gene, Paul and I covered in the book. I think it’s a very well done review. He has the review on his website and then his newsletter will be doing the review in a number of installments.
Read his entire review at: http://www.mekabay.com/opsmgmt/vos.pdf
Mich’s newsletter – “Security Strategies Alert” is at: http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/
Amazon.com builds huge data center in rural Oregon
“A huge data center linked to Amazon.com is going up quietly at the end of a dirt road nearly a mile long in Eastern Oregon. It is the second data center to locate along the river in Oregon's part of the energy-rich Columbia Basin. Server farms typically use lots of electricity and water.”
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/387250_datacenter11.html
[What is very interesting in this article is that they identify the size of the power substation next to the property – 10 MW. Wow!]
Miniature Nuclear Reactors to be on Sale Within 5 Years
“Using technology licensed from the U.S. government, an Arizona-based company is planning to bring a new generation of miniature nuclear reactors to market. The Hyperion Hydride Reactor is not much larger than a hot tub, is totally sealed and self-operating, has no moving parts and, beyond refueling, requires no maintenance of any sort. The reactor will output 27MW, enough to power a community of 20,000 homes, says Hyperion Energy, makers of the new reactor. The first models will roll off the assembly line in five years.”
http://www.dailytech.com/Miniature+Nuclear+Reactors+to+be+on+Sale+Within+5+Years/article13389.htm
[This opens the door for a nuclear powered data center. At 27 MW, that’s 2.7x the 10MW feed to the new Amazon datacenter in Oregon. My one concern would be security and dirty bomb potential (the fuel itself isn’t weapons grade). Toshiba, Hyperion and NuScale are planning devices.]
Back up your online data. Now.
“The dark side of the cloud is the risk of financial failure at your provider. At the end of October, Digital Railroad, a photo archiving and commerce site used by over 1,500 professional photographers, shut down without warning. Users had just 48 hours to recover images stored on the site. Even if all of them had been in a position to log on and tried to download their data, it’s doubtful there would have been enough bandwidth to service the demand.”
http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=607
[There is a clear message in this article – you can’t outsource responsibility for your controls. Just because you are using a service provider doesn’t mean that your data is safe.]
IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance
Aligning COBIT® 4.1, ITIL® V3 and ISO/IEC 27002 for Business Benefit
“This project was developed with the Office for Government Commerce (OGC) to update the very popular management briefing first produced in 2005. The briefing applies generally to all IT best practices but focuses on three specific practices and standards that are becoming widely adopted around the world. It has been updated to reflect the latest versions:
· ITIL V3—Published by the UK government to provide a best practice framework for IT service management
· COBIT 4.1—Published by ITGI and positioned as a high-level governance and control framework over IT processes
· ISO/IEC 27002:2005—Published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to provide a framework of a standard for information security management”
http://www.isaca.org/Template.cfm?Section=home&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=45948
Presidential Agendas and the Fate of Sarbanes-Oxley
Various groups are trying to get Obama to rethink some of the financial regulations that are out there including Sox.
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/ssg/?p=417
GRC Salary Prognosis
This is an interview with Paul McDonald of Robert Half regarding the market for GRC professions. Demand should remain steady.
http://businessfinancemag.com/blogpost/grc-salary-prognosis-1112
IT Process Improvement / Quality Management
Why Does It Depend?
“I am repeatedly asked where a group should begin their ITSM journey. There are many ways to answer this question and doubtlessly if you ask a hundred seasoned ITSM “experts” you may get just as many different answers. There is, however, one answer that is always right – ‘it depends.’”
https://swarm.jupitermedia.com/itsmwatch/2008/11/why-does-it-depend.html
How Data Centers Can Save 1 Million Kilowatt Hours Using 11 Best Practices
“Data center managers can achieve substantial electrical savings annually if they implement a list of 11 best practices, according to IT analyst company Gartner. Most of these projects could be completed with little or no budget or effort, says Gartner researcher Paul McGuckin, and these green IT efforts can get formerly unconnected corporate departments together on the same page.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Green-IT/Gartner-Report-How-Data-Centers-Can-Save-1-Million-Kilowatt-Hours-Using-11-Best-Practices/
The 11 best practices are at: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Green-IT/Gartners-List-of-11-Best-Practices-to-Save-Data-Center-Power-Draw/
Going green: Social responsibility and data centers
“Green is in vogue. Recent newspapers and magazines are full of articles on eco-shopping, Wal-Mart’s new ‘green store,’ and the growing demand for building projects that use environmentally friendly and energy-efficient materials. A widely run television advertisement asks: ‘What is your carbon footprint?’ IT organizations are also embracing the green movement.”
http://www.emqus.com/index.php?/emq/article/going_green_social_responsibility_and_data_centers_778
Security and Risk Management
How to Ensure Your Call Center Security
“Information security has emerged as a significant concern for businesses that use call centers and Interactive Voice Response or voice portal systems for customer service, which include financial services institutions, insurance agencies and health care companies. Here, Knowledge Center contributor Ron Settele explains how companies can safeguard against a contact center security breach, while meeting new regulatory demands to prevent identity theft.”
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/How-to-Ensure-Your-Call-Center-Security/
Cyber-Hackers Break Into IMF Computer System
“The discovery of the assault last week threw into crisis the Washington, D.C. based International Monetary Fund (IMF), which offers emergency financial aid to countries faced with balance-of-payments problems, and provoked a shutdown of IMF computers that lasted for several days.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,452348,00.html
As economy melts down, Internet scammers ramp up
“The economic meltdown is not devoid of opportunities. There's one group of folks who might do just fine: scammers. Security experts have spotted an increase in phishing, the scam that uses fake e-mails to get people to hand over personal financial information that could be used to drain bank accounts or for identity theft.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-ym-scams-1116nov16,0,7713977.story
Outsourcing/Offshoring: An IT Security Expert's View
“Ensuring that people, processes and technology are properly managed to address this risk is a challenge faced by information security professionals. There are, however, some unique risks associated with outsourcing that need to be addressed by various organizational stakeholders to avoid pitfalls.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153747/outsourcingoffshoring_an_it_security_experts_view.html
Security, Virtualization Top Tech Efforts for 2009
“IT organizations consider security, server virtualization and business-related technologies a top priority for 2009, according to research released by The Society for Information Management. SIM surveyed 300 member organizations in June and learned that the top five application and technology developments for the coming year include antivirus protection, business intelligence, business process management (BPM), continuity planning and disaster recovery, and server virtualization.”
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153953/security_virtualization_top_tech_efforts_for_2009.html?tk=rl_noinform
Healthcare / Bio-Informatics / Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs)
Intel Corp. releases home medical monitor
“Semiconductor giant Intel Corp. took a bold step into health care Monday when it started selling a medical monitor for patients with chronic problems.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/11/10/daily25.html
General Motors Cuts Healthcare for Retirees
“General Motors plans to eliminate retiree healthcare coverage for approximately 100,000 white-collar retirees at the end of this year. Former factory workers, however, have union contracts that prevent the company from revoking coverage.”
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/planning-to-retire/2008/11/10/general-motors-cuts-healthcare-for-retirees.html
Another Whack At Health-Care Security Standards
“While federal law requires health-care providers to secure all their patient data, there's no specific rule on exactly how that data needs to be secured organization to organization. The Health Information Trust Alliance LLC -- Hitrust for short -- is the most recent group of allied health-care provider organizations to take a whack at creating a single set of security standards.”
http://www.crn.com/healthcare/212002368;jsessionid=HPMCSSIQUIH0IQSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN
Hospital Flooded in Storm to Cut Its Staff by a Third
“The university’s board of regents voted unanimously on Wednesday to dismiss the 3,800 people, a third of the work force at the hospital, the University of Texas Medical Branch. The goal is to staunch losses of almost $40 million a month since the hurricane flooded the school’s buildings and shut down most of the John Sealey Hospital, the main hospital of the branch, which has for decades provided care for indigent patients from across the region.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/us/15hospital.html?ref=health
Leavitt warns against losing health IT momentum
“The post-election political tide sweeping through Washington, D.C. threatens to wash out a newly-formed foundation for promoting health IT, Mike Leavitt, outgoing secretary of Health and Human Services, warned. In their zeal to reform health care, the incoming administration and the next Congress could abandon progress made in recent years in adopting interoperable health IT standards, suggested the secretary.”
http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350682-1.html
IT shortages hamper health crisis response, say DHS execs
“Top Department of Homeland Security officials said this week that local communities are in dire need of additional information technologies to support them during public health emergencies.”
http://www.govhealthit.com/online/news/350680-1.html
Human Error / Safety / Environment
Poor training behind Russian sub deaths: ex-officer
“Alexander Nikitin, a former navy captain who worked as a chief engineer on Russian nuclear submarines, said civilian technicians on board the vessel to take part in sea trials may have not known how to react when the gas was released.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4A93EB20081110
Sunspots spell end of climate myth
“The evidence is unequivocal. Measurable, let alone dangerous, manmade global warming is not happening, and is not likely to happen in the future. The major cause for concern is the possibility of severe cooling.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4757411a1865.html
[Interesting … the author says man made global warming is a fiction and that we should really be worried about the potential for super cooling of the earth due to sunspots.]
A climate change conversion
“Tackling climate change is, therefore, a matter of finding a new moral framework from within which to envisage life. Jamison believes that the Benedictine way of life, which he and his brethren follow, has some resources for doing that. He also believes they are accessible to all, regardless of vocation or faith.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2008/nov/11/religion-worth-abbey
Global News / Business / Economics
Global investors urge action on climate change
“Global institutional investors holding more than $6 trillion in assets pushed policymakers Tuesday to quickly hash out a binding agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean technology. More than 130 big investors, including London Pensions Fund Authority, want countries to agree to reduce the climate- warming emissions by 50 percent to 80 percent by 2050.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AA1CM20081111
Centers of Attention
“Downsizing is the undisputed global management trend of the moment. This week Nortel, a Canadian telecoms-equipment company, Britain’s BT, and DHL, a logistics giant owned by Germany’s Deutsche Post World Net, were among a host of firms announcing thousands of job cuts. As well as pruning heads in business units, some chief executives are trimming their headquarters (HQs), too.”
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12623849?f=alerts
China's noxious coal fires add to global warming
“China has the worst underground coal fires of any country on Earth. The fires destroy as much as 20 million tons of coal annually, nearly the equivalent of Germany's entire annual production. The costs go beyond the waste of a valuable fuel, however. Scientists blame uncontrolled coal fires as a significant source of greenhouse gases, which lead to global warming.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/6113768.html
Russia the next climate recalcitrant
“The melting of the Arctic ice cap has created an awkward new threat to international climate change talks by convincing senior officials in Moscow that Russia stands to reap an economic bonanza from ice-free northern oceans.”
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24659919-2703,00.html
US News / Business / Economics
Stuck on tarmac? Airlines not required to help passengers
“A federal task force that spent nearly a year wrestling with ways to assist people delayed for hours aboard planes parked on tarmacs has finalized its recommendations -- none of which requires airlines and airports to do anything.”
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/11/12/airline.delays.ap/index.html
Rethinking Capital
“In this operating environment, CFOs must now wrestle with issues that required much less attention during the last few years: cost of capital, optimum leverage, debt maturities, even sheer liquidity. It's time, in short, for finance chiefs to reassess their companies' capital structures and manage them more tightly.”
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/12465250
Technology & Science
Mars Lander Succumbs to Winter
“The Phoenix Mars lander is dead. Mission managers said Monday that they had not heard from the NASA spacecraft for a week and that they thought it had probably fallen quiet for good.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/science/space/11mars.html?ref=us
Super Chimneys
Michael Poschinsky advocates the building of 10 super chimneys to offset global warming. He has created a website to outline his ideas around the devices and how they can generate 330 BW of electricity, induce rain and other benefits.
http://www.superchimney.org/
DARPA: Self-repairing, learning kill-robot tech is go
“Once again the observant techbeat watcher finds his or her lower-torso garments endampened by fear, as news emerges that heavyweight US military nerds believe that they have developed IT tech which can ‘regenerate’ autonomously, allowing it to self-repair in the face of shutdown attempts - and even to learn and develop its capabilities. More terrifyingly still, plans are afoot to put this technology into the US forces' next generation of robotic weaponry.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/13/darpa_aware_ware_srs_go/
Heat Wheel Could Cut Data Center Cooling Bills
This technology has been used for years in industrial settings. It could be applied to data centers in cooler climates and allow for cooling akin to air economization with minimal actual air exchange so particulates and humidity differences aren’t introduced.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/11/14/heat-wheel-could-cut-data-center-cooling-bills/
Kyoto Cooling’s website is: http://www.kyotocooling.com/
If you want to read up more on the concept, google “rotary heat exchangers” and a variety of articles and white papers are out there: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4WZPA_enUS292US292&q=rotary+heat+exchanger
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