An Existential Threat
In a fascinating read, via Defense One's Molly O'Toole, comes an apocryphal description - by John Kelly, GEN USMC - targeting our southern border, now known as an 'Existential Threat'. Probably too close to the truth for most of Congress to admit.
"In spring hearings before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Kelly said that budgets cuts are “severely degrading” the military’s ability to defend southern approaches to the U.S border. Last year, he said, his task force was unable to act on nearly 75 percent of illicit trafficking events. “I simply sit and watch it go by,” he said. But the potential threats are even greater. Kelly warned that neglect has created vulnerabilities that can be exploited by terrorist groups, describing a “crime-terror convergence” already seen in Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement in the region.' - via Defense One's Molly O'Toole
XKCD, Clumsy Foreshadowing
via the sultan of sarcasm - Randall Munroe at XKCD.
Triaged
News, via Jordan Valinsky, writing at Gizmodo, detailing the use by some health care facilities - of big data extracts- and focusing on the credit card data contained therein. Perhaps you may be wondering why and how credit card data may be relevant to determining health payment statistics... Stay tuned and examine the Bloomberg Businessweek article where clarity may be provided in regards the use of spending information and illness in homo sapiens spendthriftus.
"According to Bloomberg Businessweek, it's currently being used by Carolinas HealthCare System, which is using that type of data to survey the health of its two million members." - via Jordan Valinsky at Gizmodo
XKCD, People are Stupid
via the phenom of sarcasm, Randall Munroe, at XKCD.
Ex-Parte Praedictum, IV Decies Centena Milia
This is what we need more of... via the inimitable Brian Krebs, at Krebs On Security, comes the astounding story of Microsoft Corporations' (NasdaqGS: MSFT) Big Stick, as it were; and why, in a highly orchestrated chain of events fraught (in this case, predicated upon an ex-parte restraining order) with technical errors, nearly 4,000,000 web sites have been neutralized.
Android Cryptography Woes
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.* Apparently all the makings [crypto flaws] of an extraordinary breach of sensitive data, this time contained within an enormous number of Android devices, has been discovered. Astonishingly, upwards of eighty-six percentile of all Android devices may be vulnerable.
*[Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' speech of Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598., evidently all the more relevant today...]
XKCD, Throwing Rocks
via the astonishingly erudite sarcasm of Randall Munroe at XKCD.
Facebookery, Psychological Experimentation Without Consent
via Kirk McElhearn, a Senior Contributor focusing on iTunes automation and break-fix over at Macworld] comes a smattering of bad news for Facebook users. Apparently, large numbers of users were subjected to psychological testing [without prior consent]. Ooops...
Norse, Angrepet
Too well-crafted to ignore, the Vikings arrive...
XKCD, Krypton
via the astonishingly erudite sarcasm of Randall Munroe at XKCD.
Watershed Numbers, Tech Extortion Grows
Evidence of extortion racketeering bubbles up through the flotsam of crime targeting tech sector entities , worldwide. Bad tidings, yet hardly surprising.
Requiescat in Pace, Frank Schirrmacher
"We are apparently now in a situation where modern technology is changing the way people behave, people talk, people react, people think, and people remember. And you encounter this not only in a theoretical way, but when you meet people, when suddenly people start forgetting things, when suddenly people depend on their gadgets, and other stuff, to remember certain things. This is the beginning, its just an experience. But if you think about it and you think about your own behavior, you suddenly realize that something fundamental is going on." -Frank Schirrmacher, 2009
XKCD, Rocket Packs
via the eponymous Randall Munroe at XKCD.