DoD Inspector General Audit Report on Terrorism Information Awareness Program

Information Technology Management, Terrorism Information Awareness Program, December 12, 2003, Deparment of Defense, Office of the Inspector General. “This report completes our response addressing concerns of Senators Grassley, Nelson, and Hagel and discusses whether development of the DARPA TIA program included safeguards to ensure the technology was properly managed and controlled in an operational environment…DARPA …

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Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Privacy

Gov’t Warning Issued About Terrorists and Almanacs

FBI urges police to watch for people carrying almanacs: An FBI Intelligence Bulletin warning indicates that almanacs may be used by terrorists “to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning,” but acknowledges that use of such reference works may constitute “legitimate recreational or commercial activities.” The Register wonders if this includes the CIA World Factbook.

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Subjects: Civil Liberties, Libraries

Recent Research Report on Travel Websites

From ConsumerWeb Watch, a report issued December 8, Booking and Bidding in the Blind: An In-Depth Examination of Opaque Travel Web Sites From the Executive Summary: “Booking travel can be complicated, but the complexities increase tremendously when a consumer books through an “opaque” travel Web site such as Hotwire or Priceline that does not reveal …

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Subjects: E-Commerce, Internet

Robotic Book Scanning a Tool for Preservation and E-Commerce

This past May, I posted on a digital book scanning project underway at the Stanford University Libraries. As a follow-up, the USA Today reports on automated digital scanning hardware and software from Kirtas Technologies, Inc. that facilitates the “digitization of massive document libraries, fully automating the scanning of bound documents (emphasis added) at a capture …

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Subjects: Copyright, E-Commerce, Libraries

E-Voting Tech Company Hacked

This afternoon AP reported that VoteHere Inc., a company that provides “secure e-voting technology,” was the victim of hackers some months ago. Internal documents and blue prints were stolen, and the case is under investigation by the FBI. VoteHere contends the crime was committed in an effort to undermine e-voting technology, which has been assailed …

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Subjects: Cybercrime, E-Government

Marked Increase in Cybercrime in 2003

The federally funded Internet Fraud Complaint Center, last week renamed the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), reported a 60% increase in a range of cybercrimes from 2002 to 2003. According to the IC3, cybercrimes include: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) matters, Computer Intrusions (hacking), Economic Espionage (Theft of Trade Secrets), On-line Extortion, International Money Laundering, and …

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Subjects: Cybercrime, ID Theft

Real Time Video of Washington, DC Area Traffic

Traffic flow in the greater DC, Virginia and Maryland metro areas are now covered by almost 300 closed circuit video cameras whose live feeds can be viewed on the Internet via TrafficLand.com. Users simply chose specific areas by clicking on a map designating major highways and commuter routes to view real-time traffic patterns.

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Subjects: Internet
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