Security expert Mark Lobel of PricewaterhouseCoopers talks with me about the common things employees do on the Internet to jeopardize company security.
July 2007 Archives
A new type of spam has been finding its way into inboxes by taking advantage of a well-worn technology: PDF files.
In recent weeks, spammers have been bypassing corporate email filters by hiding their content in PDF attachments instead of the body of messages. Like most junk email, the messages hawk things like penny stocks, prescription drugs and lotteries.
The so-called PDF spam is the latest volley in the cat-and-mouse game between spam senders and network defenders. Despite the federal Can-Spam Act of 2003 and heavy spending by corporations on antispam technologies, junk email remains a problem. It accounts for more than three-quarters of email transmitted over public networks, according to Ferris Research Inc., a San Francisco market-research firm. Spammer techniques have become increasingly sophisticated as filtering methods have improved, and spam fighters admit that they frequently play a reactive role.
A New Library in Arizona Fans a Heated Debate Over What Some Call the 'Googlization' of Libraries
By all accounts, patrons of the Perry Branch Library in Gilbert, Ariz., are happy with the new digs.
Since the doors opened last month, visitors have checked out about 900 items a day, far more than the 100 to 150 that typically circulate daily in nearby branches, said Harry Courtright, director of the Maricopa County library district. Part of the branch's appeal has come from the addition of bookstore-like features, including lower shelves, lounge furniture and displays of popular titles.
But it's what's missing from the library that has drawn the most attention: Perry abandoned the Dewey Decimal Classification System for its books, whose spines instead carry labels with plain-English subjects such as "history" and "weddings." Instead of locating books by the traditional numerical system, patrons use a computerized catalog to find out which subject a book has been filed under, and then follow signs posted throughout the library. Many visitors skip the catalog altogether, and just head for the aisles that interest them.
The opening of a Dewey-free facility has sparked heated debate in the library world. "The day that the Maricopa news hit, I just had to steel myself," said Karen Schneider, a moderator for PubLib, an online discussion list where comments blasting the move have been running about even with those praising the new library.
In defending Dewey, some have decried what they call the "Barnes & Nobling" and "Googlization" of libraries. On blogs and newsgroups, more than one commenter fumed "Have you ever tried finding something at a bookstore?" Some pointed out that Dewey is already essentially a list of subject headings, whose call numbers specify exactly where each book should be placed on the shelves. Many libraries print those subject headings on shelves under books.
Others, however, praised Perry's decision, saying doing away with the inscrutable codes makes libraries easier to browse and more approachable.
