CSI Facebook

Greater Manchester Police in the UK have become the first UK police force to exploit social networking. Rather than reporting crimes via the police station, citizens can submit crime-reports via the GMP Facebook account. Appealing for information will also take place via Facebook. As will updating the public on live investigations. Possibly LinkedIn might see this as an opportunity to hook criminals up with law enforcers. And what about PropertyReunited where victims of theft get back in touch with their belongings?

 

Bullish CIOs

According to Merrill Lynch’s quarterly survey of CIOs, despite a slight dip most CIOs remain positive about the future. The credit crunch does not seem to have dented their plans, but half believe a recession is on the cards. German and English respondents were less positive than their CIO colleagues in France and Spain. Given the former are homes to major banks this might in fact have something to do with the credit crunch.

 

Women pose security risk

According to an Infosecurity survey women were four times more likely than men to give away their passwords. When people masquerading as researchers asked members of the public to complete a survey, which included revealing their password in return for a bar of chocolate, they discovered that 45% of women were happy to comply as opposed to 10% of men.  Companies are encouraged to develop desensitisation programmes to help wean vulnerable staff off this potentially compromising addiction. Or alternatively provide free chocolate so that criminals are unable to capitalise on vulnerable staff during their cold turkey periods.

 

Gartner’s vision

Research firm Gartner has ‘pinpointed’ six areas of focus that will be the grand challenges over the next 25 years. These include self-recharging devices, parallel programming, long-term storage, the user interface, reusable software and improved value visibility in respect of IT investment. Given that 25 years in the IT industry is likely to span several ‘geological eras’, such a prediction is at best guesswork. Many of these are issues today and are being addressed today. Organisations that wait 25 years to get a handle on the return on their IT investment are unlikely to be in business in 2033. In my view the value in these findings are questionable, but given the influence Gartner has on the IT industry these are worth noting.

 

Is Microsoft good for your health?

Microsoft has moved into the European healthcare market with the European launch of Microsoft Amalga, its new unified intelligence system for medical centres. The software will enable hospitals and clinics to access financial, clinical and administrative data. Let’s hope that Amalga is more robust than say Vista or Internet Explorer. The thought that some hacking prankster updates my records such that an ingrown toenail operation is now detailed as a leg amputation is a cause for concern.

 

Lock stock and two smoking processors

The US has developed a new found interest in the UK’s IT capability. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Centre in the US, 15.3% of all cyber threats came from the UK. Nigeria was put in the shade at 5.7%. Romania scored 1.5%. The bulk of the crime is US based. Nonetheless these findings must be uplifting news for UK criminals. Sawn off shootas, stockings and swag bags are so old school.