Metrolink Accident: California Bans Text Messaging by Train Operators

September 20, 2008 – 7:34 am

The California Public Utility Commission passed an emergency order banning text messaging by anyone at the controls of a moving train following last week’s Metrolink accident.  Federal investigators have confirmed that the engineer of the Metrolink train involved in the deadly Metrolink accident in Chatsworth was sending text messages while on the job.  Amazingly there were no state or federal rules prohibiting the use of cellular devices while operating a train.

If you have been injured or have lost a loved one as the result of the Los Angeles Metrolink accident, please contact the Metrolink accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group.

Posted in Misc, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Los Angeles Metrolink Engineer May Have Been Texting

September 14, 2008 – 12:48 pm

News reports indicate that the train engineer in the Los Angeles Metrolink accident may have been texting on his cellphone in the moments before the train crash.  A teenage railfan reportly told a CBS2 news reporter that he received a text message from the Metrolink engineer about one minute before the train wreck.  Metrolink has confirmed that the engineer ran through a red signal which should have warned him that there was another train approaching.

If you have been injured in the Metrolink accident or have lost a loved-one, please contact the Los Angeles Metrolink accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group.

Posted in Misc | No Comments »

Massive ID Theft Linked to Wireless Networks and War Driving

August 9, 2008 – 4:36 am

On Tuesday, federal officials cracked the largest identity theft ring in history.  The group of 11 people was charged with stealing more than 41 millions credit and debit card numbers fom major retailers such as OfficeMax and Barnes & Noble.  How did they do it?  Wardriving.

Wardriving is the technique of driving around in a car with a laptop searching for unsecured wireless networks.  Have you ever been using your laptop in a new location and all of a sudden your laptop automatically connects to an unfamiliar network?  You just accidentally found an unsecured wireless network.  Some moron bought a wireless router and just plugged it into the wall without configuring any of the router’s security settings.  Mr. Moron is now providing free wireless internet to anyone within range and has just opened up his network to anyone who wants to use it.  A wardriver will hop in the car and seek out these unsecured networks, perhaps for nefarious purposes.

The crooks in this case apparently decided to wardrive down to their local strip mall and were probably pleasantly surprised to find that the computers used by retailers - those would be the one’s with all our debit and credit card information - were hooked up to wireless networks.  Why not just download all the information and go shopping?

To be fair, these retailers’ wireless networks were probably not completely unsecured - at least I hope not.  The crooks probably found ways to get around the security of these wireless networks.  Given enough time and computing power any wireless network can be cracked.  By definition a wireless network is constantly transmitting and receiving data over-the-air and anyone with the right equipment can receive it.

I have always been uncomfortable with the use of wireless networks in a business setting where confidentiality of information is an issue - and when is it not an issue?  Do you really want your competitors reading your email or seeing what websites you browse?  If you process thousands or millions of credit cards, security is paramount. 

Wireless networks have security and encryption settings and certainly they should always be used, but by their nature wireless networks are never totally secure.  I’m not sure I would ever trust them to keep my credit card information secret.  Several large retailers just learned this lesson the hard way - and 41 million consumers are paying the price.

Posted in Computer Crime, Computer Security | No Comments »

Taking Hacking to Heart

March 13, 2008 – 2:17 pm

According to a blog post on The Reeves Law Group Blog, we may now have to worry about hackers cracking pacemakers. Apparently, certain Medtronic pacemakers have wireless radios which allow doctors to easily monitor the device. A group of computer security researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Massachusetts claim they were able to access the devices.

While the researchers required sophisticated lab equipment which had to be placed within two inches of the device, they were able to reprogram the pacemaker to shut down or deliver potentially fatal jolts of electricity. According to the researchers, these tests demonstrate that too little attention is being paid to security in the growing number of medical devices being equipped with communications capabilities.

Hundreds of thousands of people currently have implanted defibrillators to regulate their hearts. Considering one of these patients is Vice President Dick Cheney, this could indeed be a cause for concern.

Posted in Computer Security | No Comments »

Happy 60th Birthday to the Transistor

December 17, 2007 – 5:46 am

December 16, 1947 is not a date in history that most of us celebrate, but perhaps we should.  On that date, three Bell Laboratories physicists invented the transistor.  The was an ugly affair made out of a paperclip and a couple of small pieces of metal, but it changed history.

Without the transistor, there would be no desktop computers, cellphones, PDAs or MP3 players.  The transistor continued to shrink through the decades.  Transistors shrunk to the size where many would fit on a single small integrated circuit.  This lead to the invention of the microprocessor - the conputer on a single chip we are familiar with today.  Modern advanced microprocessors can hold more than a billion transistors on a single chip.

All this can be traced back to three guys and a paperclip.  Thanks guys!

Posted in New Technology | No Comments »

Under House Bill the Feds May Take Your Computer

December 11, 2007 – 6:00 am

A new bill in Congress would drastically increase the civil and criminal penalties for copyright violations.  H.R. 4279 would also create a new intellectual property division within the Justice Department.  The proposed law would allow the Justice Department to seize and auction off any computer or network hardware used to facilitate a copyright crime.

What is significant about the legislation is that there is no distinction between large-scale commercial video or software pirates and the home user.  Seizing the assets of a commercial piracy ring is one thing, but seizing the family computer because your teenager posts an MP3 on a peer-to-peer network or downloads a movie is something else entirely.  According to PCmag.com, a spokeswoman for the Judiciary Committee said she was looking into whether the law “would allow authorities to seize a family’s computer in a download case.”  Good idea, you should look into that. 

Is every file, program, MP3, movie, and video clip on your computer properly licensed?  Do you even know?  If not, and this bill becomes law, your computer would be subject to confiscation by the federal government.

Posted in Legislation | No Comments »

New NCIS Computer System and the NCIS Effect

December 7, 2007 – 5:57 am

The National Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) unveiled a new crime-fighting computer system last week, according the Btown Monitoring Post blog.  The Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX) will allow state and local agencies in the Washington D.C. area to exchange mug shots and crime reports.  Prior to the implementation of new system, departments had to retrieve such information manually.

Wait a minute.  The computer systems on the TV show NCIS have always had the ability to find any information about any person in the world in seconds, while in reality NCIS agents have actually had to make phone calls or drive to neighboring agencies just to get a mug shot?  The truth comes out.  I know it’s just a TV-show, but when many people see the magic that computers do on television, they actually believe that’s the current state of technology.

I used to think of this as part of the CSI Effect.  The CSI Effect is a problem often faced by prosecutors and law enforcement officials when juries and crime victims have unrealistic expectations of forensic science - DNA and toxicology tests in minutes or sharpening photos to show small details.  A similar phenomenon is faced by IT professionals - maybe we should call this the NCIS Effect. Television dramas show computers which are able to instantly locate any information on the planet and neatly compile all the data into glamorous visual presentations in milliseconds, without the need for human intervention or specialized software, and they do it for free.  All you need to do is think of a question, go to the nearest computer, type in two or three words and the work is done.  When real employees require hours, days or even weeks to replicate the same task - they are victims of the NCIS effect.

Posted in New Technology | 3 Comments »

State Officials’ Home Computers Subject to Discovery?

December 6, 2007 – 5:59 am

A lawsuit in Tennesee alleges that the state is failing to provide adequate health care to poor children.  A lawsuit filed by a Tennessee non-profit group claims that the state wrongly allowed records and computer files to be deleted from state computer systems.  The group sought - and received - a court order allowing the removal of computers from the homes of any state officials, including the governor, who have kept relevant information on them.  The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has put a temporary halt to the order and must now decide whether to make that halt permanant.

It will be interesting to see how the appeals court rules.  It is critical for plaintiffs to be able to discover relevant evidence to prove their case.  It should not matter what form that evidence takes, whether it is paper or electronic.  But should a lawsuit against the state subject a governor’s home computer to discovery?  Until we find out how far courts are willing to push electronic discovery rules - be careful what you save on your home computer.

Posted in Electronic Discovery | No Comments »

Wireless Keyboards a Security Threat?

December 5, 2007 – 5:58 am

ZDNet reports that researchers have cracked the protocol used to secure some of Microsoft’s wireless keyboards.  This opens up the possibility of logging all keystrokes typed on the keyboard, or even controlling the compromised computer remotely.

Users should always consider the security implications of using any wireless device.  If a device does not use wires to attach to a computer system, the data is normally sent via radio.  This means you have a small radio transmitter broadcasting everything you do.  You privacy and security is dependent upon the weakness of the signal and the strength of the encryption.  The radio signals are relatively weak, meaning the person examining your activities would have to be relatively close to you - say within 100 - 200 feet.  Most products encrypt the data in wireless devices, but this encryption is often weaker than other forms of encryption such as that used on the Internet.

How important is your privacy?  Do you really want to set up a mini radio station and transmit all your activities?

Posted in Computer Security | No Comments »

No Charges in Cyberbullying Case

December 4, 2007 – 6:21 am

Missouri prosecutors declined to press charges in the cyberbullying case in which a 13-year-old girl committed suicide.  The girl hanged herself after receiving cruel messages through MySpace.com.  St. Charles County prosecutor Jack Banas said he could not find any Missouri statutes allowing him to charge anyone in the case.  Federal authorities examined the case and found that no federal crime had been committed.  Undoubtedly lawmakers will look to creating new laws to cover cyberbullying. 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, two towns in Missouri have already passed cyberbullying ordinances.  Local ordinances are likely to be ineffective against an international medium like the Internet.  State or federal regulations are likely to be more effective, but face some of the same difficult issues.  Any cyberbully laws would have to be very carefully drafted to protect free speech.  It is also important to consider whether we want to differentiate conduct on the Internet from other conduct.  Is cyberbullying really that different from regular old-fashioned bullying?  Do we want to outlaw all bullying?  How do we define bullying or harrassment as opposed to say, just being a jerk?  Lawmakers need to proceed very cautiously.

Posted in Computer Crime | No Comments »

Previous Entries
Visit the California car accident lawyers at The Reeves Law Group. Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).