Computer Support Blog

Those who lived through the late 1960s laugh at the absurdity of protest today.  Protests since the late 1990s, like when protests erupted against NAFTA or the World Trade Organization, have become highly choreographed events that usually involve getting permits, inviting the media and the like.  They are also remarkably ineffective.  The fact that Occupy Wall Street does not actually feature tents and human chains physically blocking access to the critical financial buildings there illustrates the differences between protest then and protest now.  Protesters of days of yore fought for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly (Constitutionally-protected rights) using means that were frequently illegal (trespassing).  Today’s protestors seem very pale by comparison. Read more »

Recently, restricted data was the target of cyber crime.  Hacker groups such as Anonymous and Lulz Security have hit government targets, breaking through Internet security, and releasing classified documents to the public.  NATO, a military coalition heavily backed by the United States, was the most recent victim of cyber crime.  Hacker group Anonymous claimed credit for violating the Internet security of a NATO database and reported swiping 1GB of data.  The current discussion about American Internet security is timely, as politicians and government personnel seek greater cyber crime protection against attacks on important systems.

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