Foul Tech Sours

In a previous post titled " Gaps In the Fourth Amendment -- Exploited? ", I shared with you an assignment I did for my security class. The assignment briefly discusses electronic privacy and how the Federal Government takes advantage of loop holes within laws that are put in place to protect the privacy of American citizens. NSA's MUSCULAR has been in the news for a while now, and I believe it is a prime example of government exploitation of flaws in privacy laws. In case you do not know what MUSCULAR is, as far as we know it is a project that enables NSA and Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to copy "entire data flows across fiber-optic cables that carry information among the data centers of the Silicon Valley giants" ( http://www.washingtonpost.com ). This means that millions of records from internal networks belonging to large companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are sent back to data warehouses at NSA HQ. At the time of

Aside from the huge middle finger that the U.S. government has been giving it's citizens, there is other government news surfacing. It has been confirmed that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) are coming together to develop what is known as a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS). The suit is intended to "provide superhuman strength with greater ballistic protection" ( http://www.army.mil/ ), and therefore is being called the "Iron Man" suit by the public. The request from the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) was made back in May. Since then, RDECOM has been submitting proposals and looking for industry, government, and academic partners that could help develop such technology.  RDECOM and SOCOM understand that there is not a single industry or organization that can build the suit.  The suit is required to "bring together an exoskeleton wit

When you begin to think about technology and the people involved, it's hard to imagine what life would be like today without Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Tom Anderson. All leaders in technology and media, they have somehow made a contribution that has shaped the way we live life as we know it. It's hard to image life without these guys, but they all have a life cycle. With the passing of Steve Jobs and Myspace (RIP), it is clear that leaders come, leave their staple, and go, and life goes on. One day Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will die and we will on go on to the next big social media craze. While some things are truly meant to be fads, it's hard to image a world without Microsoft, right? This thought may not be a reality anytime soon, but we do need to start wrapping our minds around the idea that Bill Gates might get the boot sooner than later. A recent report was released on Tuesday from Reuters.com that made it clear that three of twenty top investors wa

For those that missed out on today's event at Apple HQ, out of boredom (and kindness) I have decided to provide a brief summary of the news announced at the apple event this afternoon. iPhone 5C The iPhone 5C, as mentioned in my previous blog entry , has the same functionality of the iPhone 5. The major difference between the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5 is how it looks physically.  Ideally, the phone is made of plastic, but technically, it is not a run of the mill, cheaply made, fragile, plastic phone.  Available in blue, green, yellow, red, and white, the solid plastic of the iPhone 5C is built around a steel reinforced frame. This phone will be released running iOS 7, which appears to have been designed to match the colors of this particular iPhone. Physically, the iPhone 5C is bold, clean, and sturdy. Although there was not a lot of discussion about battery life for the 5C model, the A6 chip is supposed to be energy efficient. According to Apple's website, the phone is

Any Apple fanatic has likely already heard rumors about the release of new iPhones. Though not an Apple fanatic, I do own an iPhone and have been excited to hear about an official announcement about the release of the newest series of Apple iPhones after hearing rumors of its development for several months now. Well, the time has come. Today, Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 1pm EST Apple is holding an event at it's headquarters in Cupertino, California that will "brighten everyone's day".  Although it is still technically a rumor, there have been several leaks that have lead sources to believe that during this event Apple will be officially announcing the release dates for the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. The iPhone 5S is pretty much an upgrade to the iPhone 4S, but it provides some additional capability.  Sources have leaked that the iPhone 5S will look like the iPhone 5, but might be available made available in gold in addition to the traditional black and white.  It

It is not uncommon in the United States to find that citizens like to keep abreast on the newest technology. Consumers constantly upgrade their gadgets to get the newest features, while businesses find it useful to upgrade systems to maintain security and support. When it comes to PC operating systems though, it appears that several consumers, both personal and business, are stuck in time. In April 2012 Microsoft confirmed that its support for Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will end on April 8, 2013.  Although two years seems like a pretty long time frame to allow users to migrate, it is important to take three major things into consideration. The first issue, and probably most obvious, is that people do not like change. Once people become comfortable and familiar, often times they do not steer away from it. For example, it most cases, an iPhone user will consistently purchase iPhone upgrades, while an Android user may consistently buy Android upgrades. The battle between "tea

Here is another essay that I wrote for my security class. This was actually my last time attending this class, as the semester is pretty much over with the exception of the final exam.  During this final class, we touched on laws concerning electronic privacy and the reality is that the Federal government does not protect it. This is an opinion essay, so please do not assume anything factual.  While I did do research on this particular topic, I am sure there are many that might disagree. --------------------------------------------------------------------- In most cases, individuals have the right to some expectation of privacy.   It is likely that the individual has some reasonable expectation of privacy depending on the circumstance.   The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is supposed to protect U.S. citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.   The purpose of this amendme

In one of my classes I was recently required to write a paper on a position that I plan to pursue. Anyone that knows me knows that I set very high goals for myself and I often times accomplish those goals. I decided to share my paper just in case any one happened to care, or is curious about the role of the Chief Information Officer of an enterprise. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The IT field has several positions and titles that may vary from company to company, but each is significant in its own way.   Although these positions hold some sort of significance, there are only a few that are meant to lead, use judgment, and make decisions for the better of the organization. It is common to consider a president, vice president or Chief Executive Officer, but the Chief Information Officer plays a heavy role in the success and well being of the company.             For years I have done research on what it takes to be a manager in t