
 |
|
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
July 7, 2006
/ 11 Tamuz, 5766
Notebook Data May Not Be Safe, Expert Warns
By
Mark Kellner
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It's entirely possible, computer security expert Paul Henry said Jun. 30,
that the data on a laptop stolen May 3 from the Montgomery County,
Maryland ,home of a Veteran's Administration employee was compromised -
and the federal government may not know the data was taken until all
you-know-what breaks loose.
Here's what might have happened according to Mr. Henry, a senior vice
president of Secure Computing Corp., who is based in Ocala, Florida. The
thieves could have hooked up the hard drive to a Linux machine or other
system and made a bit-by-bit image - a digital "photocopy" - of the data,
without the trouble of copying specific files from the hard drive,
something that would have shown up as part of the disc's MAC time
records, the times of latest modification, access and change of status or
creation of a file.
"The statement that the data had not been accessed on the [hard disc] from
the recovered stolen laptop is a very 'convenient' [one]," Mr. Henry said
Friday. " There are multiple ways to have create an image of the HD
without modifying a single bit on it; further there is freely downloadable
software that can modify the MAC times for a file such that it appears not
to have been accessed even though it had been... it is a trivial matter to
have copied and accessed this data without leaving a trace."
Though there is no way - yet - to know whether or not the thief or thieves
have actually done this, my chat with Mr. Henry revealed a bunch of ways
the bad guys can try to get away with sensitive data. Yes, the pros know
about most of them, but with so many notebook computers around out there -
not to mention older computers and their less-than-perfectly-if-at-all
erased hard discs available secondhand or at scrap prices - there's more
than enough reason to worry.
The portability of laptop computers is one factor: what's easy for us to
carry to work is also easy for a thief to steal. Many notebooks offer
easily removed hard discs; almost every notebook has a Universal Serial
Bus, or USB, port.
"We have enough trouble alone with the fact that laptops automatically
come with multiple USB ports," Mr. Henry said. "While it may be
convenient, it's also an inherently insecure way for a malicious person to
gain access to that information."
His answer: IT managers can either password-protect or disable the USB
ports by reprogramming the portable's basic input/output, or BIOS, chip.
Some KrazyGlue in a USB port - carefully applied - might also be a
good idea.
If there's "any corporate intellectual property, health care records or
personal data" on a notebook, it should be encrypted using software that
isn't easy to break or hack. Forget about PrettyGoodPrivacy , or PGP
as it's known. Use the full-disc encryption found in Microsoft Windows
Vista, due later this year, or PointSec, a Windows full-disc encryption
program from the firm of the same name (http://www.pointsec.com), is
another good choice, Mr. Henry said.
"When you're home, you're not protected by a corporate firewall. Be
careful about where you go on the public Internet," Mr. Henry warns.
Looking for illicit "keys" to unlock major software programs such as
Microsoft Word, or downloading "free" music and other programs, can leave
a computer open to "malware" such as keystroke loggers, which are great
for figuring out network destinations, IDs and passwords.
Mr. Henry's firm sells software to protect corporate systems, not laptops.
But his advice seems very sound, and may let you sleep more easily. More
on physical laptop security next week.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Mark Kellner has reported on technology for industry newspapers and magazines since 1983, and has been the computer columnist for The Washington Times since 1991.Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2006, News World Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of The Washington Times. Visit the paper at http://www.washingtontimes.com
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|