SteveJ-restore-test

The 2005 Australian Computer Crime and Security Survey (PDF) reports that at the end of 2004 "the hackers turned pro". The ACCSS index may be easier for downloads. For 2-3 years now, most malware has satisfied the definition of Organised Crime - it's theft, it's purposeful, it's co-ordinated. In an August 2006 post , I reported the ACCSS comments and new comments from SANS . ZDNet now report that Rootkits becoming increasingly complex and operate by stealth. They say: Rootkits -- malicious software that operates in a stealth fashion by hiding its files, processes and registry keys--have grown over the past five years from 27 components to 2,400, according to McAfee's Rootkits Part 2: A Technical Primer (PDF). If you use a Microsoft system and connect to the Internet without extensive protection, you should be afraid, very afraid. And even large organisations who do everything right, are still open to targetted "zero day" attacks. The first Windo...

Follow up to a previous post on MSFT hitting a 'financial pot hole' by 2010. The numbers look very, very bad to me. The seeming lack of management response and apparent leadership would deeply disturb me as a shareholder... The Paul Graham piece Microsoft is Dead and the follow-up were a prompt for this post. What amazed me was: there are 4,500 MSFT employees (of 71,000) out there blogging. And it's a live campaign led by the MSFT management... Wired have a piece on this effort Channel 9 , and the text of an internal memo critical of the PR/Developer Relations effort (6,000 words!) accidentally leaked. This "radical transparency" is an amazing artifact. It should go down as one of the most innovative and successful acts of Microsoft. Many other companies could do well emulating this effort. And do better by listening to their staff... Blog the First From Mini Microsoft Blog, "Should you stay or go" . This from a self-described "senior" MSF...

A comment on Paul Grahams post Why to Not Not Start a Startup . Paul along with Robert T Morris (author of the 1988 Morris Worm, now MIT assoc. professor) run a Venture Capital firm. They run Startup School as well. An exceptional idea. At the end of this is a list of Paul's 16 points. My comments: 1. *the* best piece I've ever read on startups. 2. These ideas don't just apply to technology startups. They apply to new businesses generally. 3. Walt Disney couldn't make it on his own, knew this and got his brother Roy out of hospital (!) to work with him. Roy outlived Walt. Walt painted castles in the air, Roy built the (economic) foundations. => Co-founder good, Creative+Executor great :-) => There has to be real trust/loyalty between the founders. With enormous wealth on offer, enough people go crazy & try to take it all. A partner you don't know well can take you down easily. 4. 'Founders', a.k.a. entrepeneurs, are more willing to take *risk* th...

Why do we need fine products like Content Keeper , when the problem is one that should be solved at source? [11-Apr-2007 Addition] The "Kathy Sierra" affair caused Chris Locke, co-author of Cluetrain Manifeso to post his version/take . My take from reading about the affair. This whole affair unfolded because "Web 2.0" not just allows, but enforces, anonymity. Provable Identities don't exist. In an hour's scrolling through posts, I never saw this point [or anything like it] made. How far would this thing have gone if the police could've tracked the posters quickly and unequivocally? Presumably within a day or so the perpetrators would've been identifiedand action initiated, legal jurisdictions allowing. There are good reasons to allow & support anonymity on the Web -"Freedom of Speech" is part of it, along with denying Political suppression and enabling 'whistleblowing'. But the ugly human stuff of stalking, intimidation and co...

IBM got to be bigger, by turnover, than everyone else combined for nearly two decades, accounting for up to 60% of IT sales. One of the chief factors was they were good salesmen - they knew their audience: who to target and what things they wanted (and only sell to people that can sign the cheque!) IBM didn't sell to "techos" - but managers , the more senior the better. They talked their language (cheaper, better, faster) and gave solid "Dollars and Cents" Costs and Benefits. They got to come back because they generally made good on those promises. Selling I.T. Services Audits, Security and Continuity These functions are Goverance related and should be contolled and reported directly to Board Level - not even senior management or CEO. Board Pitch Can your Business run without Accounting?? No! Can it run without it's I.T. services? No! What part of your business isn't affected by I.T.? None! Why do you have Accounting Audits? "Have to" -...

In a previous post, Research Outline, 3 sets of metrics were proposed that, if applied consistently across large organisations, would change the face of our industry (IT&T), perhaps even support the transition to a Profession. "IT is done for a Business Benefit" After 50+ years of doing it, we are looking at the end of the Silicon Revolution by 2010. Already we've passed the end of Moore's Law for CPU speed [Q1-2003]. But more than that - Business & Government are getting hard-nosed about IT&T delivering 'value'. The IT recession we're just coming out of was a direct reaction against the perceived needless waste of Y2K. The other in 1991 was the marker that all the 'easy wins' in IT had been achieved and IT itself could be cut. Big Business and Government account for over 60% of the Australian GDP. Around 45% of GDP is influenced directly by IT&T - with an investment rate of around 10% - $45Bn/year for 'the majors'. Globally...