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Supreme Court Shoots down the FCC - What control do we have over the ISP's
By Ian Burke | April 06, 2010 at 10:16 PM EDT | No Comments

    What is security if our ISPs are controlling our access and use of the Internet. With Comcast other Internet providers monitoring and throttling data access we need to question who else is watching our Internet use. The FCC started to address this issue with their ruling against Comcast's and Verizon's practice of bandwidth throttling. Unfortunately the Supreme Court does not see how this practice is really these companies violating the security and rights of the users of their services.
    There is always a place for smaller government; a  place for capitalism and letting the consumer influence the movements of the providers. This is a situation where the ISP's have a power that the consumers have little leverage over. Here the government needs to look closely at the practices of those holding the access to the Internet and to ensure that the access is not limited or unfairly distributed.
    There is the other question about how these companies are choosing what data to throttle. Are they watching the packets? What level in the stack do they inspect? How much of the data do they view? Is there a question of these private companies inspecting our personal and corporate data? And who is ensuring the security of our data as it passes through their equipment? Comcast has shown us that they are willing to inspect the data stream to some level. If the FCC is not allowed to set constraints on these companies, what controls do we have to secure our access to the Internet and to secure our data?



"The court said a “variety of substantive and procedural reasons” precluded the FCC from having authority over Philadelphia-based Comcast’s Internet practices."
~from Business Week.

Netbook or not?
By Ian Burke | April 05, 2010 at 10:58 AM EDT | No Comments

    I have been looking at netbooks lately. There seems to be a debate developing around iPads, netbooks and cell phones. It is amazing how we have advanced the technologies today. With all of these new tools we can connect to the Internet, watch videos, play games, read books, write documents and more. The question to ask yourself is what it is you want to do. 
    A cell phone is nice as it provides a nice compact device to communicate with, check your email and keep track of your appointments. The new ones, like the Android phones and the iPhone even let you play games and watch movies. They serve as cameras and have other fun applications. The draw back of a phone is their compact size. They make typing and reading difficult. They also make viewing of images tedious. 
    The tablets, like the iPad, are new to the market. Thus far they apear to be e-readers on steroids. In fairness I have not truly worked with one to any great length but the reviews and specifications they provide and my limited exposure to them has shown that they offer little more than a cell phone for application options. Their expandability is also limited. Like the cell phone they offer document reading, video and image viewing. Unlike the cell phone they do not offer great options for communication. They come with WiFi connectivity but they do not come with Cell connection options. This is a great short fall as the market place is becoming increasingly more mobile and demands this mobility. Some tablets are coming with USB and other expansion ports which allow for the option of Cell cards to be added but their operating systems may not support the required driver sets. Others may not even offer the expansion ports.
    Netbooks offer the mobility of the tablet. They may not have the nice screens that the tablets offer thus they are not the great competitor for the e-reader. But, with all of the options that they offer, are they a better option then the cell or the tablet for a mobile device. Certainly for that call while you are walking to a meeting or driving, you need a cell phone. Or if you are looking for a device strictly to read the newspaper and periodicals with an e-reader is the way to go. But if you are looking for a tool to manage your calendar with, to run a conference call with, or to surf the internet with, all while maintaining the mobility of a small device, a tablet is your best option. These small form factor computers give you increasing computing power. More vendors are building in cell functionality giving these small computers increased mobility. Even those without built in cell functionality can add this mobility function to their WiFi capability through one of their many expansion ports. Comping with standard Windows or Linux operating systems  expansion with cell cards, external HDD and DVD-burners or other functionality is easy. And beyond expandability they have more functionality then any other mobile device on the market. With a Skype like application one could be used as a phone for a simple as a personal call or as complicated as a video conference. It can be used as a calendar for as simple as your personal organizer or as complicated as an online group planner. It can be used to manage documents and to type those documents. You can keep those documents on line or locally in the sizable hard drives that they are now coming with. A netbook can be used to manage media and to play that media from music to to videos. Beyond this the options keep growing with what every your mind can imagine. While these systems are not intended to replace a full computer and they do not yet contain the power to replace a full system, like a laptop offered a viable alternative to the desktop, the netbook now offers a more mobile, viable option to the laptop.
    So if you a simply looking for a phone, get a cell phone. If you are looking for an e-reader, get an e-reader. If you are looking for a mobile computing device, get a netbook.

Snow Day
By Ian Burke | February 23, 2010 at 12:51 PM EST | No Comments

It amazes me what some people call snow and other people don't. I sit here at work with cloudy skies and the threat of weather (rain and some snow) and most of my office (including mgmt) has bailed under the threat of bad roads. Perhaps it was the years of driving in snow and ice in the north country or it is just a strong work ethic. Maybe it is years of working in an industry where people have to get to work regardless of the weather. I don't know but I am not use to this s now day thing. Not even the schools close as often as some of my colleagues these days. Is it the company I am at or is this a trend spreading through the American work force? Are we as a work force becoming lazy? are are work days becoming shorter? are we resorting to the 40hrs and no more? Perhaps even a 35hr a week work force? What happened to the 45hrs and the get the job done attitude that made us the unbeatable force the world looked up to? the ethic that drove our R&D and manufacturing; that inspired innovation, start-ups and new capitol? Our drive looks to be subsiding under the weight of all that we have created. Perhaps it is time to tuck in our shirts, go back to the fields and get back to work.

This is the beginning
By Ian Burke | February 22, 2010 at 12:53 PM EST | No Comments

We all have a goal in life but seldom do we get a second chance at that goal. I have seen the light toward my path when I was young. I lost my chance and now have found my way toward where I want to go again. I am working my way down the road. I understand that running is my lot in life. I understand that now I must bring my cilluns with me on my path of fitness and health. But first I must figure out how to return myself to that life. I am still in the quagmire of glutinous living that I drifted into while I struggled to live with pain and discomfort. I found food and lazy living as a way to pass the days when I was in pain. I must find a way to will myself back to the structure and order that I found comfort in before. It was a rigid life that I worked in but there was great pleasure that I found in my order. It kept me sane. Perhaps it would be good to find it again. The trick is finding a way to integrate my order into the lives of the family I now have. One among the many I must live in the peace I find in my mind. with ritual and order I find in the assent of a structured life. I go with God.

Hello world!
By Ian Burke | February 22, 2010 at 12:33 PM EST | 1 comment

Welcome to your blog. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!



Security as a business model

            Every business has information that it needs to protect. Even public resources, such as libraries and schools, hold information which may be confidential or that they wish to protect from defacement. To this end there is a nee for security in the IT infrastructure. Unfortunately, with the advancement of hackers, worms, and botnets, the role of security has moved well past that of simple anti-virus software. Today, even the simplest organization needs to have a member of their IT team that can understand the fundamentals of security and what the appropriate safeguards are for the infrastructure. This is not to say that every company should have an elaborate IPS and SEIM structure with complete DLP and log management. But that someone should have the knowledge to assess what security is appropriate for the company and do manage that security. Whether it is keeping patches up to date or managing a complete security team, the need to protect the business and match the appropriate level of security to the business is fundamental to the success of the organization as every organization's dependence on technology pins their bottom line to one security breech.


Security as a resource

            As organizations grow and change their IT needs change. Security department are uniquely positioned to help best meet these needs. The security picture illustrates threats and vulnerabilities. It should show data resources and demands. This information will be essential in mapping a strong network architecture. Security teams are the best situated members of an IT organization to facilitate the discussion of resource demands and availability. Their knowledge of regulatory issues positions them well as business strategists available to help navigate the compliance process. Security as a discipline integrates with and supports all business functions.


Security as a discipline

            Security should be behind the scenes. Like most of IT, good security just happens. If you know it is happening then something is wrong. When it becomes a part of the routine culture and practice of an organization than security practices have been properly implemented. Web security should be affective without being intrusive. While users will know their drives are encrypted through a logon screen, it should not impact their working performance. Policy and compliance should be a business process built into design and development and life cycle management throughout the organization.

            When a security event does occur the well integrated and mature security process is able to respond: identifying, containing, and mitigating the event. A mature security program will have integrated throughout the organization, integrating every employee and every resource as a component to be used in the incident handling process. Security is education and support provided to bring an organization together as a unified business process.