In Germany, Parents Responsible For Children’s On-Line Actions

German parents can be held responsible for their children’s illegal acts on the internet.  It is the court’s opinion that parents have a duty to monitor what their children are doing.

The mother (since we’re talking parents and the story in the woman is a “she”) said that the children were forbidden from engaging in “ in copyright-infringing behaviour.” [sic]

Nevertheless, illegally donwloaded songs were found on their home computer, which is what prompted the lawsuit by record labels.

Pretty harsh.  Once upon a time, I was a child myself (duh, really?), and I can verify that I didn’t follow my parent’s wishes; furthermore, I made sure that I would hide my tracks when I did not follow my parent’s wishes.  I ask, aren’t most children this way?

I guess Germans are a special breed.  This type of law wouldn’t fly in other nations, apparently:

Both Scots law and English law state that a parent generally is not liable for the actions of their child, and that a civil judgment is as binding on a child as it is on an adult.

There are however, some circumstances in which a parent can become responsible for the child’s actions. That can happen when a child causes injury to others or where a parent has previously authorised or subsequently ratified the child’s unlawful act.

I imagine that this is the case for most nations worldwide.  I mean, can you imagine the ramifications if it weren’t?  Children are little terrors.

Croatian Cemetery Computer Stolen

Someone stole five computers and four computer monitors from a cemetery in Croatia:

City cemetery head Mijo Domitrovic said the thief had stolen a CD with 2009 business documents and data.

Domitrovic added that one stolen computer had contained a complete inventory of graves and information about grave fee payments.

A complete inventory of graves.  It sounds creepy as hello.

Commerce Dept. Delays Breach Alert Because of Backed Up Mail?

The washingtonpost.com has a little blurb on why the Commerce Department took seven weeks to alert employees that their personal information, including SSNs, were breached.

The reason?  It took four weeks for the department to write up the letter after an investigation took place.  The breach occurred on December 4, the letters were dated December 31.

But the letters weren’t received until this past Monday because

…apparently got caught in a backlog of mail to be sent to employees, including W-2 income tax forms.

That’s not the kind of explanation employees find comforting.

You’re telling me!  Apparently, the problem could have been avoided by using encryption software to secure files.

Texas Bank Sues Victim/Customer

PlainsCapital bank–based out of Lubbock, TX–is counter suing a customer who lost $800,000 in a hacking incident.

Essentially, hackers based out of Italy and Romania somehow gained access to the on-line banking username and password of Hillary Machinery, Inc.  This was used to legitimately access Hillary’s on-line banking accounts, and over $800,000 was wired to overseas accounts.  The bank recovered about $600,000 of the funds.

Hillary demanded that the bank pay the remaining amount, stating the bank didn’t have adequate security in place.  The bank counter sued asking for “the court to certify that its security procedures were ‘commercially reasonable,’” which is pretty weird.

I guess the bank’s in a position where they can’t sue for money, and don’t want to lose $200 grand, so they’re essentially asking the courts to state that their systems are secure.  It’s a pretty smooth move on the part of the bank, since such a ruling would mean that any of the bank’s other customers looking to sue the bank for similar incidents would be pre-empted.

Who would I side in this case?  I’d have to side with Hillary.  Hillary’s been negligent with protecting their password in some way (I’m guessing surreptitiously installed trojans that collect passwords), but in many cases there is no way for bank clients to know.

On the other hand, the bank had plenty of data to know about Hillary’s past banking activities, and could have placed a red flag for instances where wire transfers detract from said history.  I mean, credit card companies do it, so we know it’s possible to have such a system implemented.

Although, such a system cannot be cheap.  And, there’s the ill-effect of annoyed people who form part of the international set, if not the jetset.

Well, no one said that banking is supposed to be easy.

(Feb. 18, 2010: there’s more to the story now)

Starwood Hotel In Germany Alerts Clients Of Credit Card Fraud

Anyone who has stayed with Starwood Hotels in Germany–and only in Germany; I realize Starwood has an international presence–may have been a victim of credit card fraud.

The hotels include the Sheraton, Westin, and Le Méridien.  Of those, the Sheraton in Frankfurt definitely shows signs of being affected.

All of this may be related to the Europe-wide credit card fraud problems that were seen late last year in Germany and Spain, and not necessarily a breach of Starwood’s hotel booking database.

NARA Warns More People Affected By Breach

The National Archives is warning an additional 250,000 people that a breach from a year ago will affect them, in addition to the 26,000 already warned.  The information was related to the Clinton administration, it’s staff and visitors.

This is not the first time NARA is in the news due to a data breach.  Two months ago, it was embroiled in a “breach” that could affect 70 million US veterans.

US Oil Industry Targetted By On-Line Chinese Attacks?

The Christian Science Monitor is carrying a story on how US oil companies are being targeted for cyberattacks, most probably by the Chinese–but nothing is sure at this point (and may never be).

Why oil companies?  Because they have “bid data” for oil fields.  Such data requires millions of dollars to generate, with field expeditions, digging and drilling, analysis, etc.  And even then, it’s a touch-and-go situation.  So, if a company can get to such data without having to expend any resources, all the better.

According to the story, the attacks are coordinated, and seem to indicate that a government effort is behind it, based on the sophistication and tenacity that is displayed.

I guess this helps explain why the FBI is so paranoid about China. Last year (or the year before last?), they had announced that any C-Level executives visiting in China should have their laptop computers examined by experts as a precaution against industrial espionage.

And even before that, there was the counterfeit Cisco hardware calamity…

Of course, the problem is that there is no evidence that the Chinese are behind it.  As pointed out, it could be that the perpetrators are using Chinese servers as decoys.  On the other hand, it spells trouble for the Chinese government–it makes them look like fools that can’t secure their own servers.

My own personal question: we know that they’re technically advanced and well coordinated, so….I don’t see why they’re having such problems with securing their servers.  Meh.

Comment Spam I Received

Ok….someone really decided to go medieval with his thesaurus.  ”Exceptional lucidity?” “Notable topic?”  Like I’m supposed to believe there’s some ass out there that actually speaks like that.

Pfft…these spammers have become elitists….

DARPA Looking To Track All Documents

The Cyber Genome Project is being started by DARPA, the guys who brought you the internet.  If all goes accordingly, it will pinpoint the source of any digital “artifact”–documents, songs, videos, etc….any type of file.

Or in other words, any code you write, perhaps even any document you create, might one day be traceable back to you – just as your DNA could be if found at a crime scene, and just as it used to be possible to identify radio operators even on encrypted channels by the distinctive “fist” with which they operated their Morse keys. Or something like that, anyway.

There are to be workshops for interested industrial participants shortly, but it’s US citizens only.

US citizens only?  Why?  It will be leaked out anyway…maybe the restrictions will be lifted once they do have something in place to keep track of digital genomes?

BookBook: An Inspiration From The Past To Protect Your Laptops Today

Macintosh accessory maker Twelve South (Macintosh?  There was a time when such companies were called Apple accessory makers) has revealed the BookBook, a laptop case that looks like an old book, with leather binding and all.

The idea is that the covert laptop case will prevent thieves from targeting your laptop computer.  I guess they must have taken inspiration from this newspaper sleeve from last summer.