Spotlight

It is doomsday for Sony?

Is it me or is this Playstation Network outage getting ridiculous?  More than 2 weeks of the Playstation Network shutdown is, undoubtedly, testing the patience of Playstation Network gamers worldwide.

In my earlier article about information security, I indicated that consumers must decide on how to deal with a company that clearly is not doing enough to safeguard your personal information.  In the final analysis, consumers have a choice of who they deal with.  Security of personal data must be a large factor in determining who earns your business.  This leads us to the question of Sony.  Does Sony earn your business given what we already know about their data breach?  Of course, the data breach experienced by the Playstation Network is already considered the largest security breach of all time in technology.  77 million accounts is a very large number no matter how you slice and dice it.

On the flipside, this was a hack and certainly Sony did not expect this to happen.  Or did they?  CNET and other technology bloggers are already saying that Sony knew about their own software flaws and firewall absences.

If it were me, I would say that Sony does not earn my business given that basic, fundamental technology flaws were already apparent by Sony and experts.  In addition, Sony was completely negligent until now (apparently) to fix the flaws.  This is irresponsible.  Sony should have called outside experts before the network was corrupted by hackers which would have reduced or eliminated a network shutdown for consumers.

While it is true that Microsoft Xbox Live network did have a similar incident with their network in 2008, however it gives no excuse to Sony to completely disregard its own security flaws in the process.  Sony should have learned a lesson from Microsoft’s incident in 2008 and improved upon its own network, which would have proven more cost effective than a 2 week struggle and eliminated the now abundant supply of lawsuits and government probes.  

It is time for Sony Playstation Network users to determine where they go from here.

The Triumph (and Test) of America

What a difference a day makes!

America and most of her allies rejoiced over the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death.  The days of Bin Laden’s reign of terror has concluded. 

Definitely, President Obama deserves a great deal of credit for ordering the capture or elimination of Bin Laden.  President George W. Bush also deserves credit for laying the foundation in connection with the hunt for Bin Laden.  Of course, President Obama did also credit President Bush with emphasizing that America is not at war with Islam but rather Islam radical terrorists.  This distinction was very important.  It shows that we value freedom of religion but also that we do not support radicalism, especially those that promote violence and terror.

The initial news media reports had told the world that there was a very important speech from the President.  A Presidential speech so late in the evening, after all, is very unusual.  As such, I was quite intrigued by the mystery.  As I was watching Fox News, Geraldo Rivera suddenly has an epiphany and began to speculate that maybe Osama Bin Laden had been killed but of course it was pure speculation at the time.  Ironically, Geraldo was right.  All the news networks, including Fox News, shortly thereafter confirmed that Bin Laden had been killed in an operation.  Clearly, the news was very monumental and extremely significant in our ongoing war on terror.

I grew amazed on the swift reaction in New York and Washington, D.C.  It was a clear display of American pride and a relentless resolve to seek justice for a clear wrong brought upon us against our will on September 11.

Equally amazing was how Twitter and Facebook has changed the entire face of reporting news.  Earlier today, we learned from the news media that one of Osama Bin Laden’s neighbors actually posted information live on Twitter.  He did not even know Osama Bin Laden was his neighbor!  One example, he wrote about helicopters hovering around his immediate which was strange to him.  As a result of his observation, Twitter is technically the first one to break the news of activities surrounding Osama Bin Laden.  After the rest of the world found out about Bin Laden’s demise, the social media networks were abuzz with congratulations and tributes to our armed forces and the victims of September 11.  It is these two components of this event that has made social networking very important for the future.  The social networks have, undoubtedly, created an outlet of expression and, coincidentally, substantial news.  So, social networks are definitely here to stay.

While today we are celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden, tomorrow and going forward we must realize that we cannot let our guard down.  We cannot let our resolve fade on the war on terror.  In many ways, the death of Bin Laden has only closed a chapter but has definitely opened a new one.  Not surprisingly, many of the radical terrorist organizations have already dubbed Bin Laden as a “martyr” and has undoubtedly given support for revenge attacks upon the United States and her interests.  Some U.S. intelligence officials and analysts have told the media that the war on terror is complete.  This is clearly reckless! 

We have already forgotten about the role of Iran in the terrorist organizations.  It has been a widely held belief that Iran has continued to funnel money to the world’s terrorists.  It is this clear fact that we cannot declare that the war on terror is over.  Iran still wants Israel eliminated.  Iran still aspires to eliminate all religious beliefs (excluding their own, of course).  Iran is still advancing its quest on weaponizing nuclear material.  Iran cannot be overlooked in the equation to eliminate the world of all terrorists.  Of course, Iran is certainly a very large obstacle for the United States and there are no easy solutions concerning their involvement.

Despite the clear victory of this day for America, there are still unanswered questions about this event.  Here is a list of some unanswered questions:

·         Why are the photographs of the Bin Laden’s body still not released?

·         How much involvement did Congress have?

·         Why was the body disposed so quickly?

Aside from these unanswered questions, we should all realize that the world is continually changing and most of these changes are not beneficial to the United States.  As a result of these changes, the United States must adapt to these changes on every level such as:

• government spending reforms.
• eliminating dependence on foreign oil.
• finding ways for businesses to create jobs.
• being more proactive on preserving interests and values that define the United States.

Just to name a few!

The United States is the greatest country on earth. It is time to remain serious on the war on terror.  It is also time to get serious about our economic condition and to ensure that our government is playing the right role in our society.

Information Security or Insecurity?

In the last few months, the issue of customer information security has been a topic of some discussion. More importantly, it is also telling of our current technological state today.

The major information security deficiencies from well respected companies such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and several state governments across the country is a clear trend.

The information technology industry (specifically, the information security sector) has subscribed to the long held belief that no system is ever 100% secure. Most companies undergo a security assessment on their technology systems to ensure that sensitive information is well protected.

On the same token, the software industry, especially Microsoft, has undergone dramatic changes to how information is processed on business and consumer devices. Such changes, logically, result in further vulnerabilities not expected prior to such launches. In the case of Microsoft, the seemingly epidemic of updates to its operating systems is usually to correct such vulnerabilities not previously known.

What does this mean for the average person (the consumer)? Well, some operating systems require the frequent updates, while other operating systems do not require frequent updates, and, amazingly, some do not require updates at all, for the most part.

The various security vulnerabilities, unfortunately, will continue to rear its ugly head in society. Luckily, programmers, designers, and computer experts continue to work together to protect consumers and businesses alike. From viruses, malware, and loop holes, there are clearly many more elements to the story than just the information vulnerability issues. However, none of these are of lesser importance.

Consumers are caught in the middle, however. Unfortunately, no real recourse is available for information security breaches. Perhaps, the most important issue in our day in age is how to address or, perhaps, hold accountable companies with such breaches including software manufacturers.

Let the debate begin!