The three agencies will between them oversee a soon-to-be revamped Privacy Act and the new FOI laws, shaped to deal with the challenges of information management, security and access in the digital age.

Cabinet Secretary Joe Ludwig said the government “has acted early in appointing Professor McMillan”, and he will be responsible for ensuring the new OIC is fully operational “as soon as practical after the passage of legislation”.

The government’s Freedom of Information law reform package is currently before the Senate. The agency was slated to start early this year, but the necessary legislation was only introduced in November.

However, the proposed model of three commissioners has been criticised in submissions to the Senate inquiry, and it is unclear whether the Bill will pass without amendments.

Last year, Senator Ludwig said $20 million had been allocated over four years to set up the OIC, which will operate independently to oversee the new FOI regime and include the separate appointment of an FOI Commissioner, as well as broader responsibilities for the Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis.

Senator Ludwig acknowledged the government was getting ahead of itself, saying the appointment was based on an assumption Parliament would support the Bill.

“As soon as the Information Commissioner Bill is enacted, I will recommend to the Governor-General that she appoint Professor McMillan as the Information Commissioner,” he said.

“As the commissioner-designate, Professor McMillan will have a significant role in implementing the government’s information policy reforms, and in leading a pro-disclosure culture across government.”

Professor McMillan has taken leave from his position as Commonwealth Ombudsman and will assume the new Information Commissioner Designate role from March 8.

“The combination of privacy and FOI in a new office headed by the Information Commissioner, supported by the Privacy and FOI Commissioners, will transform information management in Australian government,” Professor McMillan said. “This package is the most significant reform of administrative law in over 20 years.

“There will be an irreversible change in government culture. The ground rules for information disclosure and publication are being rewritten.”

2. Third party applications attacks (iTunes, Safari, Adobe)

3. Attacks through iPhone Jail broken. Data will be stolen for money especially with sms attacks. All financial data will be targeted.

4. ISPs will look closer how they can block infected users

5. Increasing growth in data breaches, loss especially targeted. The Cloud world will be the target.

1. More Scams:
The recession will lead to more scams. Whenever our nation has faced a difficult time, thieves have found a way to use the problem to their advantage. In my adult life, I’ve never seen more variations of old scams and the degree of sophistication in newer scams.

2. Job Scams:
Criminals will take advantage of increasing unemployment rates by tricking desperate people searching for job listings. These fake job listings and work-at-home scams will eventually end with the job seeker providing Social Security numbers to criminals. If the job description is not one that you would see printed on a business card or you are asked to front money, it’s a scam.

3. Newbie Low Tech “Desperate” Identity Theft:
Additionally, there will be an increase in the number of individuals – who have no criminal history – beginning to explore the crime of identity theft for financial gain. For these thieves, it will be about quick money. Once desperate people max out their credit limits and wreck their own credit histories; they will start to use Social Security Numbers that they can easily access.

These new identity thieves will take advantage of low tech methods – stealing credit card numbers, dumpster diving, making phone calls, or phishing for credit card numbers. These techniques may also include placing ads in auctions and Craigslist for phantom products for sale to get either credit card numbers or cash.

4. All-in-the-Family ID Theft:
Desperation will lead to more child identity theft and “all-in-the-family” cases, as well as the fraudulent use of numbers belonging to close friends, roommates and fellow workers. It has long been documented that a significant percentage of identity theft cases are perpetrated by people close to the victim. We predict that this number will increase during these tough economic times.

5. Child Identity Theft:
The ITRC has noted that nearly 10 percent of its case load, for the past six months, involved child identity theft issues. These cases often involve more varied components of identity theft than ever before. Some people have finally realized that a child’s SSN can be used for more than just opening a line of credit.

6. Medical Identity Theft:
While not a new crime, this will reflect the distress of those who have become unemployed. High COBRA premiums, growing individual medical insurance costs, or the inability to afford insurance or medical care will cause a spike in this area of identity theft. The Social Security Administration has noted an increase in uninsured people using the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get medical care.

7. Insider Identity Theft:
In the coming year, this will increase due to the failure to follow simple security protocols in the workplace. This will create opportunities for thieves to gain access to personal identifying information retained in databases or paper files. Additionally, the lack of computer security measures and the increasing skill levels of hackers will lead to larger and more financially harmful breaches. Although a few sophisticated hackers have been arrested recently, these large, extremely damaging hacking events will continue to occur. These thieves are educating young protégées on high tech methods to access “secured” information and will likely continue to coordinate malicious attacks from their jail cells.

8. Governmental Identity Theft:
More individuals will discover that they have become identity theft victims as they apply for government assistance and/or benefits. Not only will their own SSNs be used, but they may be temporarily denied benefits due to the use of their child’s SSN, which has been used fraudulently. This type of identity theft, identified as “Governmental Identity Theft,” may be associated with complications with the IRS, Social Security Administration, Departments of Motor Vehicles, Medicare and Welfare.

9. Criminal Identity Theft:
The number of cases of criminal identity theft will continue to grow. This type of crime is defined as the use of an individual’s personal information to avoid being tied to their own criminal record. In the current environment, the effects of criminal identity theft on the victims will be more apparent with the loss of employment, loss of benefits and the increased number of arrests of victims ranging from failure to appear warrants for traffic citations all the way to felony level crimes. Criminals will continue to exploit the weaknesses of the current system and revictimize the individual whose information has been used.

10. Social Media Identity Theft:
The meteoric rise in social media use has also created a launch pad for identity thieves. Social media identity theft happens when someone hacks an account via phishing, creates infected short URLs or creates a page using photos and the victims identifying information. My prediction for 2010 is that the increase in social networking activity, along with a user’s failure to implement security and privacy settings and protocols, will lead to an increased exposure of not only the user’s personal information but possibly that of their “friends.”

Bottom line, there will be an increase in identity theft crimes and the number of victims over the next two years unless significant changes are made in information security. Our most important asset is our identity. And we are functioning under a completely antiquated system of identification with wide open credit and few safeguards to protect the consumer. When state governments agree with federal agencies on effective identification and industry comes together, not to profit from the problem but to solve it, only then will we prevail.

Talk to SSI about protecting your identity.

Source: The New York Times (13 November)

Source: Reuters Africa (10 November)

Related articles:
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ARTICLE: Somalia’s Puntland region says committed to fighting piracy, China View (11 November)
REPORT: Pioneering for Solution to Somali Piracy: Facing the Challenge, Seizing the Opportunity, Clingendael Security and Conflict Programme (19 August)

SSI team members will be attending the conference, you will have the opportunity to meet them in person at SSI partner booths.
For more information on ISS 2009

It is Ericsson’s first major managed services deal with a broadcaster and marks the start of a concerted push into the sector by the world’s largest telecom equipment supplier.

“This is a strategic step for us as we see telecom, media and internet converge,” said Ericsson spokesperson Mikael Bäckström.

Ericsson in 2007 signed a smaller, unpublicized contract to provide playout services for the Canal+ group in northern Europe. Canal+ was acquired by TV4 in 2008.

The move is one more sign of the growing importance of services to telecom vendors in the face of declining margins on equipment sales.

The most prominent example this year was Ericsson’s July signing of a seven-year, $5 billion network outsourcing deal with US fixed and wireless operator Sprint.

Professional services accounted for 12.8 billion kronor ($1.86 billion) - around 28% -of Ericsson’s revenue last quarter. Managed services contributed 3.6 billion kronor to this total.

Professional service sales grew by 9% year-on-year during the period, even while network equipment sales slumped 8%.

Ericsson and TV4 will establish a joint technology and business development forum. As part of the agreement, 40 TV4 employees will be transferred to Ericsson

Source: telecomasia.net

And so it is true of broadband services. With about 65 percent of the U.S. population now subscribing to broadband, cable operators and telephone companies are duking it out for new customers. The companies are offering cut-throat prices and new promotions to win over new subscribers.

For consumers in areas of the country where competition is heating up, the savings can be huge. For example, Verizon Communications, which has been losing DSL customers to competitors, this week announced aggressive new promotional deals for its high-speed DSL and Fios, fiber-to-the-home Internet services, as it tries to tempt new subscribers.

New Verizon DSL customers can get six months of free Internet service if they commit to a one-year contract. The company also announced a slew of deals for Fios customers, including one that offers new Fios TV subscribers who sign up for service as part of a bundle, free multiroom DVR capability for three months.

These deals sound terrific to consumers, like me, who live in markets with at least two broadband competitors. But for millions of Americans living in rural regions of the country and for people living in some urban areas, where carriers don’t find it profitable to offer service, only one choice of Internet provider exists today.

And as a general rule of thumb, these consumers aren’t usually offered enticing promotional deals or discounts on service. In fact, on average they pay much more for their services than people living in more competitive markets.

by Marguerite Reardon
Thu, Nov 19 04:00:00 PST 2009 | Read full story
Source Cnet.net

Source: Reuters (23 October)