Clark Thought Leadership ®

What's All The Fuss About HTML5? And Why You Should Care

2011-12-29T01:00:00.001-08:00

HTML5 is the hot new programming language that is quickly becoming a new standard in web development. HTML5 matters because it will allow developers to develop code once and then distribute that same code on desktops, tablets and smartphones; the OS platform or hardware won't matter anymore. Below is a graphic describing built-in functionality that HTLM5 has which will free up developers from finding work arounds to previous problems with compatibility depending on what platform they were building on:

Audio
Video
3D
Motion
Type/ Fonts
Storage

Whato Does HTLM5 Do?

HTML5 development will also allow developers bypass Apple's App Store and Google's App Market. Native app stores have many standards and restrictions where many developers feel hinder their creative designs or their clients needs.

Below is a great video from PineheadTV describing all of the major components of HTLM5

EnJoy,

Julius

Cadillac's Re-Invention of the Car Instrument Panel

2011-12-18T18:50:00.001-08:00

I am speechless...

Introducing CUE = Cadillac User Experience technology | CUE

Unprecedented: Police Shut Down Cell Phone Service To Stop Peaceful Protest

2011-08-12T22:54:00.001-07:00

Never in the history of the United States has law enforcement stopped free flowing channel of communication of American citizens.

But in the Bay Area of California, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police disrupted cell phone service for all cell phone carriers on their underground transit system to stop coordination of a scheduled protest regarding a police shooting.

The Federal communication law spells it out explicitly and prohibits cell phone jamming, but BART police officials went around the Federal Communication law by turning off the power to the cell phone antennas.

The protest was peaceful so its bewildering why BART would take such measures. Americans recently have witnessed dictators on TV in Middle Eastern countries disrupt their citizens communications; but now in America?

Above ground cell phone service was not interrupted, but this was a very bad idea and one that is probably unconstitutional; even though BART did not jam cell phone signals, they deliberately killed cell phone signals to keep protesters from organizing their event. A BART director said that he did not feel comfortable with the decision, but they wanted to keep people from possibly getting pushed in front of trains if many people showed up for the protest.

It makes me say what the heck is going on in California, because on January 3, 2011, the California State Supreme Court ruled that police can seize and search your cell phone without a warrant. See link One can password protect their cell phone and the police have the right to ask for it; and you have the right to refuse.

A BART transit spokesperson stated the following: "Free speech happens outside the fare gates. That is the free speech zone,"

This is another situation where laws have to catch up to technology.

It’s interesting that 30 years ago this week, IBM marketed the personal computer. Since the inception of the original idea of the personal computer, Handheld Smartphones which are much many times more powerful than the first IBM PC, and is in the hands of billions of people all over the world. This year we have seen Smartphones help oust dictators in real-time.

Cost to own the first IBM PC: Under $3,000.

Cost to own a much more powerful smartphone: under $100; with a 2 year wireless contract of course :-).

I wonder what technology will be like in another 30 years to make the iPad look so ancient like the first personal computer does.

All I can say is that technology evolution and innovation by mankind is relentless and breathtaking.

Reference:

BART: 'We Were Within Our Legal Right' to Shut Down Cell Service

http://www.1up.com/news/ibm-personal-computer-thirty-years-old

12 Dumb User Mistakes That Will Get You Hacked

2011-06-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, I had to write this blog for those people who just won’t learn until its too late and one day they get hacked.

Not having Anti-Virus Software installed which does not get automatically updated.
Not having your computer automatically downloading and installing operating system patch updates.
Turning off your computer’s firewall.
Not using a strong password at least 8 characters or longer that uses upper & lower case alpha, numeric and special characters.
Clicking on unfamiliar email and web site links.
Allowing other people to use your computer; especially little kids who visit game sites.
Installing unfamiliar applications, games and utilities that you have not researched.
Being tricked to enter your login and ID into an email or website that says they need your login credentials.
Using a public computer and not logging off after you finish using it.
Doing on-line financial transactions on a public computer; you can still use a phone you know to do this with much less risk.
Sharing your login ID and Passwords with other people.
Installing a new device and software and not changing the default out of the box or install login information. Example: login ID: Administrator, admin, 0000 and password.

If you have done any of the above, stop it immediately!

Enjoy and be safe!

Julius Clark, MBA, CISSP, CISA

Information Security Professional

How Google Increased Your Gmail Security

2011-05-29T20:12:00.001-07:00

In January of 2010, Google made HTTPS encryption a default security setting for Gmail users email session via a webpage. (See Link Below)

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/default-https-access-for-gmail.html

This was a positive move, because it greatly reduces the risk of someone eavesdropping on your communications with Gmail. Gmail users privacy was increased significantly, which will cause a reduction in personal information breaches.
Note: Now this enhanced security can be defeated if you are using a computer that has malware that can steal your keystrokes or clicking on unfamiliar links on websites and in email that can hijack your computer and use the HTTPS security to protect their misdeeds.

Google's decision to make HTTPS the default setting was due to criticism from a group of computer scientists, law professors and security experts, who voiced their concerns in an open letter to their CEO Eric Schmitt. The group, claimed that the default unencrypted settings put customer and information at risk unnecessarily. (See Link Below)

An open letter to Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt

What is HTTPS? See Link Below

http://alexmillers.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/https-is-your-friend/

How to Disable and Enable Gmail's HTTPS security setting

http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=74765

Gmail is set to use the 'Always use https' setting by default, but you can change this setting anytime. Here's some background on why we default to this option: If you sign in to Gmail via a non-secure Internet connection, like a public wireless or non-encrypted network, your Google account may be more vulnerable to hijacking. Non-secure networks make it easier for someone to impersonate you and gain full access to your Google account, including any sensitive data it may contain like bank statements or online log-in credentials. HTTPS, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, is a secure protocol that provides authenticated and encrypted communication.
To disable or re-enable this feature in Gmail:

Sign in to Gmail.
Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner, and select Mail settings.
In the General tab, set 'Browser Connection' to 'Always use https' or 'Don't always use https.'
Click Save Changes.
Manually change the URL to http://mail.google.com to start accessing Gmail via http.

Please note that selecting 'Always use https' will prevent you from accessing Gmail via HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). If you trust the security of your network, you can turn this feature off at any time.
If you use a public computer to check your email, it's also important to sign out at the end each of your Gmail sessions. Just click the down-arrow next to your name in the upper right corner, and select Sign out. Also, make sure you close all Gmail browser windows.

Google's decision to make HTTPS a default security setting prompted Twitter and Facebook to follow suit and turn it on be default at well. (See Link Below)

http://techland.time.com/2011/03/16/twitter-follows-facebook-adds-default-https-support/

If you use Gmail, Facebook or Twitter, enjoy the enhanced privacy protection.

Enjoy,
Julius Clark, MBA, CISSP, CISA

How to Export Your Facebook Contacts To an Email Address Book.

2011-03-19T22:44:00.001-07:00

Export Your Facebook Contacts

Have you ever wished you had your Facebook Contacts in an easy to use email address book?

Well your wait is over! Follow my simple steps with ease and simplicity using Yahoo's email service.

1. First thing to do is go to www.yahoo.com

2. It is best to create a new Yahoo email account to perform the export and to manage your contacts in the future.

3. Log into your new Yahoo email account and click on Contacts.

4. Click on Tools from the pull down menu and select Import.

5.Click on the Facebook icon.

6. Click OK to share contacts with Yahoo.

7.Yahoo will start retrieving the contacts from Facebook and display the number of contacts found.

8. When Yahoo finishes importing your Facebook contacts it will display the number of countacts imported. Click View Contacts.

Note: You can only download those contacts of Facebook users who do not block their contact information from being shared.

9. From the Tools menue choose Export.

10. Choose the export format you would like to download your Facebook contacts in.

Thats it! You now have exported your Facebook contacts into your Yahoo email account.

Note: After you complete the final step to export your Facebook contacts from Yahoo, you may get an error message of page not found. If that happens a work around would be for you to go to the top of your browser menue and choose Edit, Select All, Click Edit again and choose copy. Open Notepad or Word and paste the contacts. You will then need to manually remove other items that got copied during the cut and paste step. Arrange your contacts in a manner that will work for you. Additionally, I recommend that you only use this yahoo account to manage your exported facebook contacts; this will make life easier for you.

If this becomes too much work then just use your new Yahoo email account to send your messages to your Facebook contact.

Enjoy,

Julius

Improve Yourself; Increase Your Value

2011-03-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Improve yourself; increase your value. I grew up with the most loving parents, but my parents did not possess certain types of knowledge to teach me how to really get ahead in life. I gained access to that knowledge by associating myself with positve individuals and groups who had that knowledge and a history of success themselves; which provided proof that with hard work, I too could attain what my heart desired; even though at the time I did not have those compentecies that I would eventually learn.

In closing, anyone working on improving themselves benefit even more when they help others who have these gaps in their circule of incluence.

Peace,

Julius.

12 Global Business Practices for Information Security Professionals

2011-01-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

I am very happy to announce that 12 Tenants by the premier Global Information Security professional organizations have been developed to advance the profession of Information Security. This is huge! Collaboration of this effort requires egos to be left at the door; We have some huge egos in IT Security, this demonstrates that they can all get along and work together to globally practice the tenants of IT Security, which are Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability.

Objective

These 12 principles were developed as a framework for IT Security professionals to influence and guide them in their career; they are a welcome sight for individuals new to the field. The principles are intended to affect behaviors, objectives, approaches and activities, which in return will lead to more success safeguarding privacy and technology infrastructure in organizations across the globe.

Target audience

The principles for information security practitioners are aimed at all individuals working in the information security community, including
those who:

are employed as part of a security function
provide security services in local environments (eg local security co-ordinators)
are responsible for developing systems securely
supply security products and services (eg vendors and consultants)
influence legal / regulatory requirements for information security
are aspiring to become security practitioners (eg students).

Benefits to Business

Organizations that have not had a real security framework for their IT Security professionals to follow will see an immediate benefit, which can add value and become a marketable asset.

A - Support the Business
B - Defend the Business
C - Promote Responsible Security Behavior

Background

Information security practitioners need to respond to the changing requirements of organisations in today’s complex, interconnected world.
For example,

corporate, IT and information security governance have promoted information security higher up on the board’s agenda

the information security profession is not fully mature, traditionally has a bias towards technology and needs to be more risk focused

rapidly evolving threats require information security practitioners to stay ahead of the game

co-ordinated efforts are needed to maintain the adaptability of information security practitioners, particularly in changing business environments. Over the years there have been a number of offerings related to individual information security practitioners that cover behaviour, actions or ethics. However, there is a requirement for an independent, non-proprietary set of principles, which are:

more generic and complete, with less focus on professional qualifications
relevant to the business world – and kept up to date
agreed throughout the security profession, rather than being proprietary to one organization
able to map easily to different security standards and guidelines.

The principles for information security practitioners have been designed to meet these needs. They have been jointly developed by three
of the worlds leading global security organizations, the ISF, ISACA and (ISC)².

A. Support the business

A1. Focus on the business: The business is the reason that you have your job! Your goal is to help your organization make money or meet your organizations mission or vision statement.

A2. Deliver quality and value to stakeholders: The solutions you implement as an IT security professional in the form of technology, process and people can add value and become a marketable asset for your organization.

A3. Comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements: The law and Information Security go hand and hand. The IT security professional must adhere and comply to all laws and help your organization meet or exceed required compliance objectives.

A4. Provide timely and accurate information on security performance: You won't know if your IT Security objectives are working if you have no way to measure the outcome of your IT security implementations; are you receiving the desired results?

A5. Evaluate current and future information threats: Information Security threats are forever changing and criminals are always ahead, so the IT security professional must be proactive by studying trends and defending the business from threats before they become a problem.

A6. Promote continuous improvement in information security: Once you implement your security solutions go back and review to see if there are opportunities to improve your security solutions currently in production.

B. Defend the business

B1 Adopt a risk-based approach: Protect the most critical business applications and information.

B2. Protect classified information: Always limit access on a need to know basis to information like the following: social security numbers, customer account information, health records, credit card numbers and proprietary business information; and don't let unauthorized individuals to access your network.

B3. Concentrate on critical business applications: Information or systems that are VITAL for the business to stay up and running need the most security; think defense in layers; defense in depth; Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA).

B4. Develop systems securely: Implement security at the beginning of your Information Technology projects. It much easier and cost effective to do so, than try to fit in after a system or data base has been implemented.

C. Promote responsible security behaviour

C1. Act in a professional and ethical manner: You are held to a high standard as one appointed to safeguard an organizations system and data assets. Read ethics/ code of conduct from the premier IT Security organizations: ISF, (ISC)2, and ISACA,
C2. Foster a security-positive culture:

Download the 12 Principles Poster

I applaud the premier IT Security organizations for working together to create the 12 principles, which will be of great value to new IT Security professionals entering the field.

Enjoy,

Julius Clark, MBA, CISSP, CISA

References:

ISF, (ISC)2 and ISACA Release Information Security Principles
http://blog.isc2.org/isc2_blog/2011/01/isf-isc2-and-isaca-release-information-security-principles.html

12 Principles
https://www.isc2.org/uploadedFiles/(ISC)2_Public_Content/About_ISC2/Industry_Initiatives/Principles%20for%20Info%20Sec%20Practitioners_overview.pdf

12 Principles Poster Download
https://www.isc2.org/uploadedFiles/(ISC)2_Public_Content/About_ISC2/Industry_Initiatives/Principles%20for%20Info%20Sec%20Practitioners_poster.pdf

Google Releases a Preview of its Honeycomb Android 3.0 Tablet Operating System

2011-01-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Google Released a Preview of its Honeycomb Android 3.0 tablet operating system designed specifically for tablets.

I love tablets that run on the Android platform! I bought a very cheap one generic from China just to play with over the holidays; the potential with Android tablets is amazing. The biggest reason for me liking Android tablets over Apple iPads is the cost. Tablets running the Android OS will be in the price range of $100 - $400 dollars. Compared to iPads in the range of $500 - $650 dollars.

Additionally, Android tablets will allow the owner to configure it more to their liking, so you won't have to worry about being locked into the default options as with the iPad. The Android version of Apples App store is the App Market that has thousands of application, which developers say is more developer friendly that Apple is.

The future is here with Android tablets and I predict that these devices will be the hottest item on many peoples Christmas list this year.

Enjoy,

Julius

How To Download Your Facebook Data Easily

2010-12-31T18:42:00.001-08:00

My last blog for 2010! Have a Happy New Year Everyone!

Facebook in October of 2010 made it very easy to download the majority of your messages, photo's. videos and other content data that you input in to it.

1. Go to Account and choose Account Settings.

2. From the Download Your Information Section Choose "Learn More"

3. A dialog box will appear with a link for you to download your information. Click Download Now.

4. After clicking on Download Now the Request My Download will appear. Click Download.

5. After this step is complete you will need to wait for Facebook to send you an email with a link to a zip file containing all your personal data is ready for download. See below.

Facebook to me

You recently requested a download of your information on Facebook.

Your download has been generated and is now ready. Please follow the link below to download it. Remember that this file contains sensitive information. Because this download contains your profile information, you should keep it secure and take precautions when storing, sending or uploading it to any other services.

https://register.facebook.com/download/?h=XXXXXX8d2454667XXXXXb9180

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

6. After you click on the link Facebook send to you a download dialog box will appear. Save to a folder on your computer.

7. Once the download is complete extract the files. You will find the following file structure created, which is pretty cool, because this will allow you to view your content using a web browser like you would on Facebook, but directly being read from your computer.

That's it! Pretty simple. Now please safegaurd your Facebook data because once you download it you are 100% responsible for securing the content and making sure its backed up.

Enjoy,

Julius

Using VoIP with a Credit Card Processing Terminal is Risky Business

2010-10-23T23:50:00.001-07:00

Processing Credit Card Payments Using Credit Card Terminals with VoIP / Digital Phone Lines Is Not PCI Complaint

Millions of people running small businesses; especially home based businesses, also have VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) / Digital Phone Line services from their Internet Service Provider (ISP) in their homes and businesses. Many also use Point-of-Sale Terminals made initally for old fashion phone lines; not Digital Lines. If you are a merchant and use a card processing terminal which connects via VoIP or Digital Phone Lines to transmit and process credit card payments, then you are not PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant; you are at risk of losing your credit card processing privileges or can be sued by your customers whose data is stolen. Credit Card data that is processed over VoIP services are transmitted in the clear over Public Networks (The Internet) and their is no way to encrypt the data.

Excellent article on this topic can be found at The Merchant Account Blog:

VoIP + Credit Card Terminal = Bad Idea

Note: Most VoIP providers do not utilize encryption

When these terminals are connected to a true analog phone line the merchant is operating within PCI Compliance. This is so because it is very unlikely that data can be stolen over an old fashion telephone line while processing credit card payments. An attacker would have to tap into your home or business phone line to steal credit card data and that is highly unlikely to happen so this is rated as very low risk.

VoIP is very susceptible to Man-in-the-middle attacks, where an attacker can eavesdrop or alter the originating message by anyone on the internet; in this case capturing your customers sensitive credit card information. Most credit card phone line processing terminals won't work over VoIP services because of dropped packets, but even failed attempts to try and process credit cards over VoIP could lead to an attacker stealing customer credit card data. See diagram below.

Man In The Middle Attack

Work Around To Be PCI Compliant

Many of these credit card terminals also have an Ethernet Port (RS232) and can easily process customer credit card payments via an encrypted connection over the internet. You may need to contact your credit card processing provider to help you get it setup; usually at no additional cost! See picture below.

Another work around is to switch to a Wireless Credit Card Terminal. Note, these terminals incurre higher business expenses as compared to a dial-up phone line terminal. These terminals use GPRS/ Cell phone technology just like moble phones do to securely connect and encrypt the credit card transaction, which is PCI compliant. A wireless credit card processing terminal is great for businesses who sell goods or services on the road. See Wireless Credit Card Terminal below.

More Secure and Convenient Credit Card Processing Method

Wireless Credit Card Processing Terminal

19 Year Old Demonstrates VoIP Hacking - Scary Stuff!

Be careful out there!

Julius, MBA, CISSP, CISA

WikiLeaks Discloses over 400,000+ War Reports From Iraq - WSJ.com

2010-10-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

WikiLeaks Discloses Reports From Iraq - WSJ.com

Largest U.S. Military Breach in History!

Hip Hop Can Influence Kids To Pursue STEM Careers

2010-10-13T20:28:00.001-07:00

Dr. Dre who is one of the best music producers in Hip Hop history is making his mark these days as an Engineering and Technology innovator. Dr. Dre has the hottest selling brand of High-Tech headphones on the market, and everyone from the B-Boy to the corporate executive wants a pair.

Time Magazine - The Beats by Dre Headphones are state of the art because they incorporate High-Tech Noise Canceling circuitry.

though they have some noise-canceling tech built in to them — the Beats are designed to enhance the listener's enjoyment of music rather than drown out the snores of your seatmate. Dre, who for three years collaborated with Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, and audio "connectivity" company Monster® to create the Beats, says his goal was to give people a way to "hear what the artists hear and listen to the music the way they should — the way I do."

In other words Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ headphones produce the same sounds that studio engineers listen to on full size speakers. Additionally, a high end pair can range from $199 to $450 bucks.

The audio company Bose™ is the standard leader in premium priced headphones, and from many of the reviews I have read, Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ headphones are equal or far superior than Bose™ branded premium headphones--I bet they are not sleeping well at Bose these days, because they would of expected competition from a electronic giant like Sony™ not from a hardcore Hip Hop artist; you have got to love it!

Noise Canceling Diagram

As you can see from the figure above, there is some intricate expertise that needs to be known to design the Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ headphones. The cool thing is that anyone can learn to design electronic circuits at any two year community college with an Electronic Engineering or Technology program. Hip Hop has the star power to influence million s of kids; particularly minorities, to pursue STEM careers. A movement can be started if the right people work together and clearly paint a picture of superior opportunities for kids either as working professionals or as entrepreneurs like Dr. Dre; and even Snoop Dogg.

Technology makes magic happen and can turn your wildest ideas and fantasies in to fruition. Hip Hop has a fierce and powerful youthful force that has ears listening from neighborhood streets to Wall street. I feel that STEM education when fused with Hip Hop can ignite a sleeping giant in our country that will keep America innovating unbelievable new products and services, which will keep the U.S. as the number one economy in the world.

In closing, I have to leave you with this bad futuristic Hewlett Packard™ (HP) commercial showcasing a HP laptop integrated with Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ technology and Rapper NAS's video to the youth "I Can". Hip Hop Makes STEM Careers too cool!

NAS - I Can

Enjoy!

Julius

Google opens URL-shortener Goo.gl to public - CNN.com

2010-10-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Google opens URL-shortener Goo.gl to public - CNN.com

Congress Passes NASA Bill: New Heavy-Lift Rocket, More Commercial Spaceflight, and a Mandate for Mars | Popular Science

2010-10-01T13:15:00.001-07:00

Congress Passes NASA Bill: New Heavy-Lift Rocket, More Commercial Spaceflight, and a Mandate for Mars | Popular Science

25 Jobs That Pay Women Over $1,000 Per Week

2010-09-29T16:46:00.001-07:00

Blackcareers.com, a division of CareerBuilder.com, published an article titled: 25 Best-Paying Jobs for Women. As usual these jobs require advanced degrees, and as usual many of these jobs are in the Computer Science and Engineering arena.

With the loss of manufacturing jobs in America, our economy is steadily switching to a "College Economy"; which means that by 2010 most jobs will require at a minimum a two year college degree.

The article discussed the diparity in pay that still exists between men and women, but that gap is getting smaller.

Below you will find the top 12 best paying jobs from the article earning a nice $1,000 per week. The list is sorted in descending order by highest to lowest pay pay.

Pharmacists

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,647
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,914
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 86.1%

Chief executives

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,603
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,999
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 80.2%

Lawyers

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,509
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,875
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 80.5%

Computer software engineers

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,351
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,555
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 86.9%

Computer and information systems managers

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,260
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,641
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 76.8%

Physicians and surgeons

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,230
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,911
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 64.4%

Management analysts

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,139
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,391
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 81.9%

Human resources managers

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,137
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,433
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 79.3%

Speech-language pathologists

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,124
Men - Median weekly earnings: *
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: **

Computer and mathematical occupations

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,088
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,320
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 82.4%

Computer scientists and systems analysts

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,082
Men - Median weekly earnings: $1,240
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: 87.3%

Physician assistants

Women - Median weekly earnings: $1,077
Men - Median weekly earnings: **
Women's earnings as percent of men's in same occupation: **

The complete list can be found here: http://www.blackcareers.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=123

Enjoy,

Julius

Governments Who Request or Remove Data About Its Citizens

2010-09-22T20:41:00.001-07:00

The Google Transparency Tool

Site:
http://www.google.com/transparencyreport

Per Google:

Transparency is a core value at Google. As a company we feel it is our responsibility to ensure that we maximize transparency around the flow of information related to our tools and services. We believe that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual.
We’ve created an interactive map of Government Requests that shows the number of government inquiries for information about users and requests for Google to take down or censor content. We hope this step toward greater transparency will help in ongoing discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of government requests.
Our interactive Traffic graphs provide information about traffic to Google services around the world. Each graph shows historic traffic patterns for a given country/region and service. By illustrating outages, this tool visualizes disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it's a government blocking information or a cable being cut. We hope this raw data will help facilitate studies about service outages and disruptions.

Transparency Report: Government Requests

I used this tool to conduct some quick research and compared the first six months of 2010 data, to all of 2009 requests by governments to either collect information from Google on citizen posted data or to request data to be removed.

Should we be scared? Google's Transparency Tool makes it real and demonstrates that countries keep tabs on what their citizens are doing on the Internet.

The United States leads the list with over 4287 data requests from Google between January 2010 - June 2010.

Google Transparency Report For Government Data Requests on Their Citizens: For the First Six Months of 2010 Compared To All of 2009

The first 6 months of 2010 for 4 of the 5 top governments who request data on their citizens has already exceeded the total number requests they made for the entire year of 2009. See below.

Country	2010 Government Data Requests	2009 Government Data Requests	Change
United States	4287	3580	707
Brazil	2435	3663	-1228
India	1430	1061	136
United Kingdom	1343	1166	177
France	1017	846	171

Google Transparency Report For Government Data Removal Requests of Their Citizens Data: For the First Six Months of 2010 Compared To All of 2009

The number of requests to Google by governments to remove data is also increasing sharply. The United States is due to double the number of requests to remove information by the end of 2009

Country	2009 Data Removal Requests	2010 Data Removal Requests	Change
Brazil	291	398	107
Libya		149	149
United States	123	128	5
Germany	188	124	124
Italy	57	69	12
United Kingdom	123	48	-75

Complete list of government who request data from Google or Request that Google remove data.

Country	Data	Removal
China	?
United States	4287	128
Brazil	2435	398
India	1430	30
United Kingdom	1343	48
France	1017	25
Germany	668	124
Italy	651	69
Spain	372	16
Australia	200	14
South Korea	170	38
Argentina	134	12
Taiwan	130	11
Chile	115
Singapore	106
Portugal	73	<10
Belgium	71	<10
Japan	56	7
Turkey	51	5
Hong Kong	50	<10
Switzerland	35	5
Israel	30	4
Austria		2
Canada		<10
Cyprus		<10
Greece		<10
Kazakhstan		<10
Libya		149
Macedonia [FYROM]		<10
Malta		<10
Mexico		<10
Netherlands		<10
New Zealand		<10
Norway		<10
Puerto Rico		<10
Russia		<10
Solomon Islands		<10
Sweden		<10

I applaud Google for providing this tool for transparency purposes. It makes you wonder about the information being gathered or censored. Hmmm.

Enjoy,

Julius

Country	Data	Removal
China	?
United States	4287	128
Brazil	2435	398
India	1430	30
United Kingdom	1343	48
France	1017	25
Germany	668	124
Italy	651	69
Spain	372	16
Australia	200	14
South Korea	170	38
Argentina	134	12
Taiwan	130	11
Chile	115
Singapore	106
Portugal	73	<10
Belgium	71	<10
Japan	56	7
Turkey	51	5
Hong Kong	50	<10
Switzerland	35	5
Israel	30	4
Austria		2
Canada		<10
Cyprus		<10
Greece		<10
Kazakhstan		<10
Libya		149
Macedonia [FYROM]		<10
Malta		<10
Mexico		<10
Netherlands		<10
New Zealand		<10
Norway		<10
Puerto Rico		<10
Russia		<10
Solomon Islands		<10
Sweden		<10

How To Become A CISSP ®

2010-09-03T21:39:00.001-07:00

(ISC)2 put of a new video titled:

How To Become A CISSP

I like this video because it is simple to follow and encouraging for the individual who is considering studying for the CISSP exam.

Additionally, if you are seriously considering taking the CISSP exam, visit my top internet ranking blog article:

How to Pass the CISSP Exam

Enjoy and good luck!

Julius Clark, MBA, MSIS, CISSP, CISA, MCSE

Why I AM A Member of ISACA

2010-08-23T21:41:00.001-07:00

After you watch the following videos you will understand why as an Information Security professional I attained an ISACA certification.

I am a CISA!

Download:
FLV MP4 3GP

FLV MP4 3GP

How an ISACA Certification
Can Help Your

Information Security
Career

FLV MP4 3GP

Download:
FLV MP4 3GP

Enjoy and Study!

Julius

Credit Card Surcharges & Checkout fees in the Hood

2010-08-15T23:12:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I went to a different barbershop to get a haircut; my regular barber was booked up and I really needed a haircut, so I went to one close to my home. After the nice stylish haircut I got, I pulled out my debit card to pay and to my surprise the cashier at the barbershop told me that I would have to pay an additional $2 dollars if I used a credit or debit card. I had no cash on me and had to use my debit card. I was pretty pissed off and swore that I would never do business with that barbershop again, which happens to be a very popular barbershop in Charlotte, NC. For this blog I will leave them nameless.

It was not until I went to another merchant months later; in which they also tacked on an extra surcharge to my purchase that I said enough with this! I am personally going to find out what my rights are as a consumer.

I did a little research and boy was I very pleased to find that these practices are prohibited by most credit card companies. If you fall victim to credit or debit card checkout fees or surcharges you have rights and you should use them. The credit card issuers like VISA, MasterCard and American Express are our allies and will help you.

What Can We Do To Stop This?
All we have to do is pick up the phone or get on the Internet and report them! If the merchant is found out to be violating the terms of using credit card issuers terms they could end up losing their credit and debit card processing privileges and/ or pay fines.

In a nutshell a merchant cannot charge you anymore for a product or service that you would pay with cash if you use a credit or debit card. Now a merchant can offer to give you a discount from normal prices if you pay with cash. I think that is fair.

You see technology has helped many businesses make more money and get sales they would normally loose because technology makes it easy to access your cash or credit 24 hours a day and not have to go to the bank and stand in line to get cash. Some business owners do not get it! Credit and debit cards make you more revenue. Merchants do this because the get charged a very small percentage or flat fee to process the credit or debit card so that the money gets safely transferred into their business bank account. Additionally, I see this happening much to often in urban cites; especially in Black communities. After reading my blog we can put an end to this ridiculousness!

What is a Checkout Fee?

Photo Credit: VISA.com

A checkout fee, or payment card surcharge, is an unfair surprise fee that a retailer tacks onto a consumer's bill when he or she uses a credit or debit card. Mastercard & Visa rules do not allow retailers to charge cardholders a checkout fee for using their cards, mirroring laws in 10 U.S. states. See below.

Learn more about Visa & MasterCard Checkout Fees & Rules:

Mastercard Merchant Manual

http://www.mastercard.com/us/merchant/pdf/BM-Entire_Manual_public.pdf

VISA Warns Consumers about Retailer Checkout Fees

http://usa.visa.com/merchants/operations/checkoutfees.html

A merchant must not directly or indirectly require any MasterCard cardholder to pay a surcharge or any part of any merchant discount or any contemporaneous finance charge in connection with a MasterCard card transaction. A merchant may provide a discount to its customers for cash payments. A merchant is permitted to charge a fee (such as a bona fide commission, postage, expedited service or convenience fees, and the life) if the fee is imposed on all like transactions regardless of the form of payment used.

* A surcharge is any fee charge in connection with a MasterCard transaction that is not charged if another payment method is used.

* The merchant discount fee is the fee the merchant pays to its acquirer to acquire transactions.

A merchant must not require, or post signs indicating that it requires, a minimum or maximum transaction amount to accept a valid MasterCard card.

What to Do if You Are Charged Checkout Fees?

If you run across a merchant who adds on extra charges to use your credit card report them!

Report MasterCard Merchants (See Section Titled: 9.12.3 Minimum/Maximum Transaction Amount Prohibited)

http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/contactus/merchantviolations.html

Report VISA Merchants

http://usa.visa.com/checkoutfees/contact.jsp

State No Surcharge Laws Protect Consumers
Consumers who are subjected to checkout fees in states where they are protected by law may report the retailer to their state attorney general's office.

10 States also Protect Consumers with No Surcharge Laws
In 10 states it is prohibited by law for retailers to charge consumers a fee for using a credit card (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas). Consumers who are subjected to checkout fees in states where they are protected by law may report the retailer to their state attorney general's office.
Click a state below to read the laws on surcharging and find out where you can go if you suspect a violation.
State Laws & Attorney General Contact InformationCalifornia

COLORADO
Connecticut
Florida
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
New York
Oklahoma
Texas

Stop the unfair merchant practices! The economy is already bad enough so saving money from unfair businesses practices is crucial!

Be safe out there being a consumer; peace!

Julius

NASA Turns to Amazon Cloud Services for Light Speed Processing

2010-08-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory had over 180,000 images from a Saturn mission that they tried to process on their own computer equipment. Well... According to JPL Chief Technology Officer, Soderstrom, it took:

"It took 15 days, straight 24-by-7 processing, and it still wasn't finished"

To test the hype of Cloud Computing, NASA pulled out a credit card and spun up 60 processors with Amazon Cloud Services.

The following Realization occurred for NASA:

Amazon's cloud finished processing it in five hours
Total cost of $200.
That breaks down to .66 cent per minute of use to process 180,000 images; and anybody can use Amazon Cloud Services if you don't want to own the hardware and just want to rent some computing power.

Since time is money for so many businesses and government agencies it only a matter of time before we see more uses of cloud computing involving critical, confidential or sensitive data.

"That was some real validation for sure."

Though the image processing didn't involve critical mission or sensitive information, Soderstrom says it showed what could be done with cloud computing. And, as JPL works closely with vendors, they developed a comfort level to place more sensitive data on the cloud.

"We have validated that it can be secure if you do it right, and it can certainly save a lot of time and money."

Time, Soderstrom says, is a huge deal:

"It's more than people anticipate, maybe the biggest benefit of all. You don't have to find space in the data center, but you can just rent time.

Blog Source:
http://blogs.bankinfosecurity.com/posts.php?postID=663

Enjoy,

Julius

Google & God's Algorithm

2010-08-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

God's algorithm is a notion originating in discussions of ways to solve the Rubik's Cube puzzle, but which can also be applied to other combinatorial puzzles and mathematical games. It refers to any algorithm which produces a solution having the least possible number of moves, the idea being that an omniscient being would know an optimal step from any given configuration.

As study using a powerful computers provided by Google and using a complex mathematical algorithm showed that a Rubik's Cube can be solve from any starting Pattern in 20 moves or less.

The computers crunched through billions of possible cube positions in just a few weeks to determine the maximum number of moves to solve the puzzle.

Research in this area has determined the Rubik's Cube God Number in the Past.

1981 - Researches showed 52 moves would be enough to solve the cube from any pattern.

1992 - Researches showed 37 moves would be enough to solve the cube from any pattern.

Note: The current world record to solve the Rubik's cube is held by Dutch Erik Akkersdijk, who solved the puzzle in 7.08 seconds.

Read Entire Story:

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/study-uncovers-every-possible-rubik-s-cube-solution/1407748

Peace!

Julius

Clark Thought Leadership Nominated for the 2010 Black Weblog Awards

2010-07-25T20:36:00.001-07:00

I voted to have my blog, Clark Thought Leadership nominated in the 2010 Black Weblog Awards

Nominate Me before Midnight July 25!

We will see how this thing goes!

A sincere thank you to those who nominated my blog!

Julius

BDPA Charlotte Fan Page Demographics & Metrics

2010-07-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

It will soon be a year since I created the BDPA Charlotte Facebook Fan Page and It has been a great experience for the BDPA Charlotte Chapter and especially for individuals who want to learn more about the BDPA or the Charlotte Chapter of the BDPA.

A Few Facts about the BDPA Charlotte Fan Page:

Its the Largest Facebook Fan Page of any BDPA Chapter - at the time of this blog post 217 Fans!
It aggregates the most BDPA News and Information Technology Topics Than any other BDPA Chapter.
Many individuals use the BDPA Charlotte Facebook Fan Page to keep up with National BDPA, BETF Foundation, BDPA Technology Bloggers and News from other BDPA Chapters around the country.

BDPA Charlotte Fan Page Metrics

The BDPA Charlotte Facebook Fan Page has experienced great organic growth since its inception on Saturday, August 15, 2009. See Graph Below.

BDPA Charlotte Fan Page Demographics by:

Gender
Age
Country
City

Follow BDPA Charlotte on Facebook!

Hopefully you will find the information and service that the BDPA Charlotte Fan Page Provides useful and hopefully makes you consider getting involved with a BDPA Chapter in your city; or reach out to create a BDPA Chapter in your city.

Sincerely,

Julius Clark, MBA, CISSP, CISA

2010 National BDPA Technology Conference & Job Fair Fact Sheet

2010-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

2010 National BDPA Technology Conference & Career Fair Fact Sheet

If your are an IT professional and in need of Technology training or a Job make sure you attend the 2010 National BDPA Technolgy Conference & Career Fair

Date: July 28- July 31
Philadelphia, PA

Clark Thought Leadership ®

What's All The Fuss About HTML5? And Why You Should Care

Cadillac's Re-Invention of the Car Instrument Panel

Unprecedented: Police Shut Down Cell Phone Service To Stop Peaceful Protest

12 Dumb User Mistakes That Will Get You Hacked

How Google Increased Your Gmail Security

How to Export Your Facebook Contacts To an Email Address Book.

Improve Yourself; Increase Your Value

12 Global Business Practices for Information Security Professionals

Google Releases a Preview of its Honeycomb Android 3.0 Tablet Operating System

How To Download Your Facebook Data Easily

Using VoIP with a Credit Card Processing Terminal is Risky Business

WikiLeaks Discloses over 400,000+ War Reports From Iraq - WSJ.com

Hip Hop Can Influence Kids To Pursue STEM Careers

Google opens URL-shortener Goo.gl to public - CNN.com

Congress Passes NASA Bill: New Heavy-Lift Rocket, More Commercial Spaceflight, and a Mandate for Mars | Popular Science

25 Jobs That Pay Women Over $1,000 Per Week

Governments Who Request or Remove Data About Its Citizens

The Google Transparency Tool

Transparency Report: Government Requests

How To Become A CISSP ®

Why I AM A Member of ISACA

Credit Card Surcharges & Checkout fees in the Hood

What is a Checkout Fee?

NASA Turns to Amazon Cloud Services for Light Speed Processing

Google & God's Algorithm

Clark Thought Leadership Nominated for the 2010 Black Weblog Awards

BDPA Charlotte Fan Page Demographics & Metrics

2010 National BDPA Technology Conference & Job Fair Fact Sheet

Follow all 2010 National BDPA Conference News Tweets with this #BDPA #Event trending tracker –Bookmark this! http://bit.ly/cNXo4Z #STEM

Register for Conference Now!

>>> Download Fact Sheet <<<

Conference Fact Sheet