Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Yesterday, the following item appeared in the Daily Report: Attention DHS Daily Report readers: After five years, the production of the DHS Daily Report is transitioning to a new research team effective for the Tuesday, August 28, edition. The format of the DHS Daily Report will remain the same, but starting at the end of this week, it will be disseminated from a new email address: NICCREPORT@dhs.gov. Please stay tuned over the next few days for an announcement of the activation of the new email address and prepare to adjust your mail filters accordingly. Thank you for your support during this transition.

It appears that the new team will also be affecting the timeliness of delivery of the report. Normally the report arrives at my location shortly after midnight. Today, the new team's first day, the report has not yet arrived at 5:30AM nor has it been posted to the DHS website.

Well, it finally arrived at 07:48AM. My apologies for being busy and thus the report is just now being posted. Also, the format is slightly modified. Information Technology no longer includes Telecommunications which appears to now be included with Communications. Thus, this blog will include both of these sectors.

Daily Highlights

According to the Associated Press, in an attempt to reduce money counterfeiting, the U.S. $100 will feature a new security thread combining micro-printing with small lenses. (See item 8)

USA Today reports that a new airport shoe scanner, checking footwear while worn, did not pass the tests during high flows of passengers, and weapons and bomb parts went undetected. (See item 14)

Information Technology Sector

30. August 27, CondéNet, Inc — Server error labels Windows customers as software pirates. Microsoft is blaming a server error for inadvertently labeling legitimate copies of Windows XP and Vista as pirated software. Thousands of users found their purchased copies of Windows labeled as pirated software by Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage validation system over the weekend. Any Vista system fingered by the malfunctioning server was stripped of features, including the Aero graphical interface and DirectX support. After the issue cropped up, Microsoft’s WGA program manager posted a note to the WGA forums announcing a fix, though the cause of the issue remains a mystery.
Source: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/08/server-error-la.html

31. August 26, Reuters — China counters German hackers and spying reports. China rejected on Sunday a German magazine report that computer hackers believed to be linked to the Chinese army had infected German government ministries with spying programs. The Der Spiegel magazine, in a report ahead of a visit by the German Chancellor to China, said that top German government ministries, including The Chancellor’s office, had been infected by the attack. "The Chinese government consistently opposes and strictly prohibits all criminal activities that damage computer network performance, including "hackers" behavior," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in a statement.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070826/wr_nm/china_germany_dc;_ylt=Alc_x0K86t6eJ8STctO14dIjtBAF

Communications Sector

32. August 27, WebWire — Skype and Wal-Mart partner to bring Internet communications to the masses. Skype, the leading Internet communications company, has announced that it is teaming up with Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, to address the growing popularity and demand for Internet communications among U.S. consumers. Wal-Mart is offering Skype Certified hardware in the Internet and voice communications area of 1,800 of its stores throughout the country, providing more opportunity and accessibility for people looking for affordable calling options. The addition of Skype Internet communications products to Wal-Mart stores comes at a time when Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) adoption among U.S. households is growing rapidly.
Source: http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=45984
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Yesterday, the following item appeared in the Daily Report: Attention DHS Daily Report readers: After five years, the production of the DHS Daily Report is transitioning to a new research team effective for the Tuesday, August 28, edition. The format of the DHS Daily Report will remain the same, but starting at the end of this week, it will be disseminated from a new email address: NICCREPORT@dhs.gov. Please stay tuned over the next few days for an announcement of the activation of the new email address and prepare to adjust your mail filters accordingly. Thank you for your support during this transition.

It appears that the new team will also be affecting the timeliness of delivery of the report. Normally the report arrives at my location shortly after midnight. Today, the new team's first day, the report has not yet arrived at 5:30AM nor has it been posted to the DHS website.