Entries by Robert Siciliano

Preventing False Alarms

If you have a home security system, you know the pain associated with false alarms. I have set this thing off at least a 100 times and then I have to run like a gazelle to the keypad to shut it off then wait for alarm central to call me so I can give them…

Who Owns the Online Road?

“Net neutrality” refers to the idea that Internet service providers should treat all sources of data equally. There has been debate as to whether ISPs should be permitted to treat their own content preferentially, or allow certain content providers to pay for faster transmission, creating two tiers of web service. There is also a question…

Google Adds Security to Search

The Internet can be a dangerous neighborhood, and safety precautions are a necessity. . IBM Internet Security Systems blocked 5,000 SQL injections every day in the first two quarters of 2008. By midyear, the number had grown to 25,000 a day. By late fall, attacks climbed to 450,000 daily. The US government servers and sites…

Britain Scrapping National Identification Card

The Telegraph reports that UK National Identity Cards containing biometric details, including fingerprints, “were championed by the previous Labour government as a way of preventing terrorism and identity theft.” But the new administration immediately scrapped the initiative, introducing the Identity Documents Bill to Parliament in May, which provided for the cancellation of the UK National…

Managing A Digital Life: Teachers Friending Kids

Teachers in numerous Massachusetts cities and towns are not allowed to “friend’’ students on Facebook or other social networking sites, and a number of other school districts south of Boston are considering a similar ban. The Boston Globe reports that many communities are working on policies governing school staff’s use of Facebook, “inspired in part…