Sunday Intel Report, 12 June 2011
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Welcome to the 12 June 2011 edition of The GKO Sunday Intelligence Report, a weekly electronic intel magazine brought to you by Giant Killers Organization. To contribute, please send your submissions to gko@tpromo2.com. | |
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- Prostate cancer’s genetic code cracked by US scientists in treatment breakthrough
Scientists have unlocked the genetic secrets of prostate tumours in a breakthrough that could transform the treatment of the disease. It raises the possibility of patients having their own ‘mutation charts’, mapping the precise flaws behind their illness and indicating the best drugs to treat them. (click here)
- Big Brother May Be Watching…
If you’ve ever worried about Big Brother watching you, there’s one more reason to be suspicious. I was recently reading an article about TomTom, a GPS manufacturer, selling information gathered from their units regarding customers’ driving habits. The buyer? Local governments. (click here)
Comment: Given the blatant disregard for highway laws that I see out and about on a daily basis, I have no problem with police going after law breakers. However, I do have a qualm about doing it in this manner. The biggest problem I see daily is common people running red lights and stop signs. But of course, GPS won’t help law enforcement with that issue, will it? - Footage of Western Troops Confirms Criminality of War on Libya
Proof that armed western forces are on the ground in Libya advising rebels confirms that the entire legal premise behind the NATO-led intervention has been shattered and the campaign is now a criminal act of warfare that has nothing whatsoever to do with the original justification of protecting civilians. (click here)
Comment: Although this is clearly a politically-oriented article, it does show the power of technology over the people of a country such as Libya. War is fought with the latest technological weapons available and thus it’s technology in this case that will be used to bomb a regime into submission. Personally, I consider this a blatant misuse of technology. What do you say? - Japanese nuclear plants’ operator scrambles to avert meltdowns
Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the reactors damaged by Friday’s earthquake had failed, even as officials struggled to bring several other damaged reactors under control. (click here)
- The Professionalism Project: “Misuse of Technology”
The Professionalism Project, part of the Aspen Video Series. Produced and Directed by James Huffman. Director of Photography, Kingsley Opara. Edited by Josh Spiegel. Features Joy Sudduth, Sherry Shaoling, Isaac Cheung, Kyle Carter, Brian Cashen and Jen McAllsiter. Music by Lorne Norton. (click here)
Comment: This video clearly shows that when technology is taken to an extreme, when we become so obsessed by technology and the message it brings, we can lose control of our lives in a variety of ways. I found this video to be a valuable display of an obvious misuse of technology. - Tougher cyber-crime penalties proposed for EU
An executive panel of the European Union is recommending the confederation of nations get tougher on cyber crime. In a document released on June 10, the European Council proposed boosting jail terms for malcontents attacking the information systems of its members. (click here)
- NATO’s Newest Bombing Tool: Twitter
In the early days of the Libya war, U.S. commanders were adamant that they didn’t communicate with the Libyan rebels about what targets to bomb. As it turns out, they don’t need to. They’ve got Twitter.
NATO officials conducting air strikes on forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi don’t have soldiers on the ground to spot for the warplanes and armed drones overhead. (Well, at least not officially.) But they do have a barrage of tweets about Gadhafi’s troop movements in beleaguered cities like Benghazi and Tripoli, all of which come in handy when picking out targets. (click here)
- New York City, AT&T Bringing Free Wi-Fi to Public Parks
AT&T will offer free Wi-Fi hot spots in 20 New York City public parks in support of a new digital road map for the metropolitan area.
Free Wi-Fi service is now live at Battery Bosque in Battery Park, a playground in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, and around the recreation center at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem. More locations will be added to 17 more parks later this summer and fall across the five boroughs. AT&T has committed to the initiative for the next five years. (click here)
Comment: Those who use public WiFi hot spots need to beware of what may be lurking within it. Without an encrypted pipeline, your computer’s security must rely entirely on the security within it. - El Paso, Texas, IT Director Defends Video Phones
The city of El Paso, Texas, is finding out a technology upgrade isn’t always as simple as doing a pilot and rolling out a solution. (click here)
- IBM unveils new Intelligent Building Management software
IBM has released new software designed to cut energy costs by monitoring sensors inside of large buildings and flagging potential maintenance issues.
IBM’s Intelligent Building Management software is designed to collect data from sensors and building control systems from companies including Johnson Controls and Schneider Electric, the company said. Some large buildings have 80,000 points of data that the software can access, leading to millions of data points a week, IBM said. (click here)
- IMF cyber attack aimed to steal insider information: expert
A major cyber attack on the IMF aimed to steal sensitive insider information, a cyber security expert said on Sunday, as the race to lead the body which oversees global financial system heated up.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping to investigate the attack on the International Monetary Fund, the latest in a rash of cyber break-ins that have targeted high-profile companies and institutions. (click here)
Comment: This reads as though it’s a criminal act, but just as there is a Left hacking the Right, the Right might just be hacking the Left. - Two iPhones to hitch a ride on last shuttle mission
According to Odyssey Space Research, it has developed an iPhone app, called SpaceLab for iOS, that will be used on the International Space Station for several months this year to conduct space research. The iPhones will get to the ISS on the Atlantis space shuttle. (click here)
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