Tag Archive for Michigan

| May 28, 2011
Comments Off on Michigan Troopers Downloading Phone Data Without Warrants?

Michigan Troopers Downloading Phone Data Without Warrants?

Think about this while you are driving around this Memorial Day weekend. – The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan claims that for several years now Michigan State Police have been using portable devices that allow them to secretly extract personal information from cell phones In an article on Help Net Security the ACLU says that the troopers have used the devices on cell phones of people pulled over for minor traffic infractions as well as people suspected of a crime.

The article says most of the devices used are from CelleBrite and can extract a great number of data from most cell phones, including contacts, text messages, deleted text messages, call history, pictures, audio and video recordings, memory file dumps, and more. GeekOSystems says the Cellebrite UFED Physical Pro Scanner (cut-sheet), were tested by the U.S Department of Justice. The DOJ reported the device was capable of pulling all photos and video from an Apple (AAPL) iPhone in under a minute and a half. Cellebrite says their devices also can extract, “existing, hidden, and deleted phone data, including call history, text messages, contacts, images, and geotags.” It can also extract your highly incriminating ringtones. These devices can also get around password protection, and work on over 3,000 cellphone models according to the website.

Cellebrite UFED Physical Pro ScannerThe ACLU is concerned that the MSP is using these devices to conduct warrantless searches without consent or a search warrant in violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Help Net Security reports that the ACLU of Michigan has been requesting information about MSP’s use of these devices for nearly three years by filing Freedom of Information Act requests to the Michigan State Police. The ACLU wants the troopers to reveal the data it collected, but it has had no luck so far. The article indicates that the MSP is stonewalling the ACLU’s Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests resulting in possible court action.

Following those accusations, the Michigan State Police posted their side of the story in an official statement published on its website according to another Help Net Security article. The MSP says it has, “fulfilled at least one ACLU FOIA request on this issue …” The web-posting also claims that devices that the MSP has in its possession can’t extract data without the officer actually having the owner’s mobile device in his hand and they claim the scanners are properly used, “The DEDs (data extraction devices) are not being used to extract citizens’ personal information during routine traffic stops,” it explains. “The MSP only uses the DEDs if a search warrant is obtained or if the person possessing the mobile device gives consent.”

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Wonder why the government keeps trying to make talking on a cell phone while driving a primary offense? Could it be so the government has an excuse to stop people and collect their personal data? The last sentence from the MSP is particularly chilling since people are strongly encouraged to cooperate with the police even when they know they did nothing criminal. Warrantless searches violate the protection against unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Secure motoring in Michigan!

What do you think?

Does anyone care about privacy anymore?

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| May 25, 2011
Comments Off on Michigan Disaster Recovery Test Turns Into Disaster

Michigan Disaster Recovery Test Turns Into Disaster

MichiganState of Michigan IT officials are probably happy for a new week. The State of Michigan IT infrastructure took two big hits last week. The folks in Lansing had a failure on Monday 05-16-11 were nearly 25,000 employees were unable to use the state’s IT network for about three and a half hours, Kurt Weiss, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB), said in a phone interview with InformationWeek. Apparently, an upgrade over the weekend to patch security holes had gone wrong somewhere, Mr. Weiss said. Access to the network was restored by 10:30 a.m.

ESCON cableOn Wednesday 05-18-11 a disaster recovery test at the Michigan DTMB turned into a disaster when a link to a mainframe computer was broken reports MiTechNews. Around noon Wednesday, a link between the test environment and production environment was severed by human error, taking out a mainframe computer. Mr. Weiss told MiTechNews

A fiber link was broken by a state employee … We were working on a disaster recovery test, performing a test on the mainframe. During the test we went from test to real life disaster. The cord between testing and real life was severed. Corrupted files got loaded on the mainframe, and we crashed the mainframe.

Mainframe computerThe “big iron” failure affected many state offices, including 131 Secretary of State branch offices, which run 80,000 daily transactions. Other state operations also were affected, including the departments of corrections, treasury, and human services. Data stored on the mainframe that was affected included the bulk of information about driver’s license and motor vehicle registration in the state,  the ability for police officers to look up driver’s license information (LEIN), or for automobile dealerships to transfer license plates for vehicles that they sold, Mr. Weiss said.

The mainframe was up and running by Wednesday night, but computer applications were still inoperable due to file corruption. The system was finally restored after 5:00 PM on Thursday according to Government Technology. The delay was caused by the data-recovery operations that were necessary as the result of file corruption during the outage.  “We have had outages before, but not to this length or scale or duration,” Mr. Weiss said, “and actually not to this level of complexity. This one has been a much more difficult one to fix compared to the other outages.”

The mainframe that went down last week also is part of an old system that is in need of modernization, Weiss said, but Michigan’s budget woes have so far prevented the state from doing the upgrades it needs. “We do need to modernize all of those applications for the secretary of state,” he told InformationWeek.

Former Gateway Computers CEO and current republican governor Snyder, when asked about the outage, told MiTechNews it is another reason the state has to get the budget approved so the state can focus on upgrading the old computer equipment used by the Michigan government. Some of this equipment is more than 30 years old.

The DTMB IT department is doing a root cause analysis of both incidents and plans to publish a “lessons learned” review of them once that is complete, Weiss said. No data was lost in either incident, although some data files were corrupted during the second and had to be restored through tape backup, he said.

IT officials are re-evaluating how to do such tests in the future in light of the incident, and another test will not be performed until this study is complete, he said.

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snyder

Just put it back in the cow box

So now the boys and girls in Lansing know what it is like to work with ancient equipment because the Governor is cutting funding to everything to give a tax cut to businesses. I doubt that Snyder or his cronies have ever been in line for hours just to get new tabs. I have. Michigan needs to invest in its people and infrastructure not tax breaks for businesses.

What do you think?

Invest in people and infrastructure so people want to stay in Michigan?

or

Cut spending and raise taxes to give businesses more profits?

 

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
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| May 21, 2011
Comments Off on 2/3 K-12 Networks Breached Multiple Times

2/3 K-12 Networks Breached Multiple Times

2 of 3 K-12 Networks Breached Multiple Times a YearPanda Security, a provider of cloud-based security software, recently released a report that says 63 percent of K-12 schools experience malware outbreaks or unauthorized user access at least twice a year.  The report, Kindergarten-12 Education IT Security Report (PDF), had some other interesting infobits.

Personal devices on K-12 networks

The survey reports that eighty-two percent of schools allow students and staff to connect personal computers and laptops to the school network. Panda says schools recognize outside devices introduce external risks, but they struggle to fully integrate security policies for multiple devices. Only 74 percent of districts are monitoring the use of external devices. Fifteen percent fail to take any extra security measures, leaving those school systems more vulnerable to infection.Pamda Laptop chart Most schools have implemented IT security best practices, there is still room for improvement reports Panda. The report says ninety percent of schools install anti-virus and/or anti-malware on computers, but nearly 25 percent fail to use firewalls, block high-risk websites, or employ user authentication. 86% prevented the use of very risky websites; while 89% mandated users install security software on their systems. Further, 15% of respondents acknowledged that there weren’t any extra security measures in their districts if they wanted to use laptops.Panda Best Pratices

Social media threats

Social media is a top concern for schools, but the stringency of school policy varies greatly. Ninety-five percent of schools have a social media policy in place, citing the mitigation of malware-related risks as the main reason for implementation. Twenty-nine percent of schools allow students unlimited access to social media sites, while 32 percent deny students access altogether.

Panda Social MediaSchools lack the funding to be secure. I have always said that schools face attacks from the inside and the outside. Insiders in a K-12 school network range from technically unsavvy to damn good malicious attackers. Despite this, the report says 72% of schools reported that budget limitations were the main obstacle, to better security and 38% reported non-availability of staff, and 29% of the schools, reported their IT staff had to attend to other more important tasks than IT security.  IT administrative staff at 38 percent of schools report removing viruses or malware from IT systems a few times a week, and 21 percent are doing this daily according to Panda.

With malware on the rise and new threats propagated through social media every day, having the right security tools in schools has never been more important. Security issues consume staff time, diverting attention from the business of education. Help Net Security quotes Rick Carlson, president of Panda Security US, who has a great grasp of the obvious, “While the Internet is an invaluable tool for education, it can cause serious interruptions to day-to-day operations if schools fail to properly address security concerns.”

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Just to prove the point, the Oakland Press is reporting that 4 students at Romeo High School in Romeo, Michigan were caught allegedly intercepting 60 staff members’ emails, including the Superintendent after “something goofy” happened to the website. While I have no first-hand knowledge, the news did say the attackers went after people who read their emails on their cellphones. So more than likely it was some kind of Bluesnarfing attack, maybe including a Cain and Able payload to get at passwords.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| May 13, 2011
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Michigan Woman Busted for Selling $400K+ in Illegal Software

Michigan DarkReading reports that a Michigan woman pled guilty to selling more than $400,000 worth of counterfeit computer software. The conviction was announced by Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade for the Eastern District of Michigan. The report says Jacinda Jones, 31, of Ypsilanti, Mich., pled guilty to one count of willful copyright infringement before U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit.

IP TheftDarkreading cites court documents which say, between July 2008 and January 2010, Ms. Jones earned more than $400,000 by selling over 7,000 copies of pirated business software at discounted prices through the website www.cheapdl.com (which no longer appears active). The Business Software Alliance (BSA) says that Ms. Jones also used Cheapsoftwaredownloads.net, and JJ’s Discount Electronics (jjsdiscountelectronics.com) for her activities as well.

The software in question was from Microsoft (MSFT), Adobe (ADBE), Intuit (INTU) and Symantec (SYMC) had a retail value of more than $2 million. According to court documents cited by Darkreading,  Ms. Jones’ activities came to the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who made several undercover purchases of the pirated business and utility software.

At sentencing, Ms. Jones faces maximum penalties of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. During her guilty plea hearing, the article says Ms. Jones also agreed to forfeit any illegal proceeds from her criminal activity and pay restitution to the victims. Sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 15, 2011, at 9 a.m.

The post says Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and Trial Attorney Thomas Dougherty of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case. The Field Support Unit of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and by ICE’s Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit conducted the investigation.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| April 23, 2011
Comments Off on Car Tech

Car Tech

Car TechThe self-interests of the auto industry and the electronics industry have aligned. The car has become the ultimate mobile computing platform. The carmakers and OEMs have begun competing to add better Internet-computing applications. These are some of the most interesting to me.

Ford Seeks to Make Cars That Talk to Each Other

Ford logoXconomy Detroit reports that Ford Motor Company (F) based in Dearborn, MI is designing vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems designed to prevent accidents. Ford’s “intelligent” vehicles can wirelessly transmit data between each other, such as location, speed, proximity, and brake status. Guided by sensors and cameras, the system can alert drivers to nearby accidents, or signal if they risk colliding with another vehicle at an intersection. “It’s like having a 360-degree pair of eyes,” says Mike Shulman, technical leader for Ford Research and Advanced Engineering.

Ford’s goal is to have intelligent cars on the road by 2016. “We kind of like to get it out as soon as we can,” Mr. Shulman says. CBS News reports that Ford’s demonstration vehicles will hit the road this spring, starting at major technology hubs across the country.

Ford’s work is part of an effort spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Transportation called IntelliDrive (Which I first wrote about in 2009). IntelliDrive’s goal is to develop a common communications platform for all vehicles to talk to each other, using 3G and 4G broadband technologies. IntelliDrive also envisions building infrastructure across the country that allows cars to “communicate” with roads, highways, and bridges, exchanging information on traffic patterns, road conditions, and weather. “IntelliDrive will help drivers bypass congestion, and it will cut crashes by providing advanced safety warnings,” according to a report by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), a research group based in Ann Arbor, MI. “It will even be able to take over the vehicle when there is not enough time for the driver to react.”

Eventually, the technology could lead to cars that drive themselves, Mr. Shulman says. Google (GOOG) is already testing such a car.

Microsoft Wants to Be in Your Car

Microsoft logoRon Miller at Internet Evolution recently posted an article that shows how Microsoft‘s (MSFT) reputation in the auto industry has changed. Several years ago, there was a joke being emailed around about what would happen if Microsoft built cars the way it built Windows. At the 2011 CeBIT technology fair, there were examples of Microsoft in cars according to Mr. Miller.

The author points out that MSFT was showing off a Microsoft-centric, fully electric Smart Car with its control center as an app on your Windows 7 phone and not on the dash. The WP7 devices would display metrics such as the amount of power left in your battery, the expected distance you can travel for the amount of power on your battery, even the distances based on current battery life that are safe to reach, possible to reach, and questionable — all color-coded on a Bing map. Since it’s a phone the car can be monitored from anywhere there is a cell signal.

The Internet Evolution article points out a second example of bringing Microsoft to the car. At CeBIT, Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally was touting Ford SYNC, powered by Microsoft, the communications solution now being installed in Ford cars. Mr. Mulally wants to see the Ford automobiles be the “ultimate mobile device” according to the article.

Mr. Mulally described a system based on Microsoft’s next-gen unified communications product Lync using Nuance (NUAN) voice recognition to enable users to interact with the car and the mobile telephone sitting in the car’s cradle via voice commands, letting drivers keep both hands on the wheel while accessing features. It will also eventually offer direct access to emergency services, not a call center as with GM’s (GM) OnStar service.

Mr. Mulally says Ford made a conscious decision not to embed the Microsoft Lync system with the car’s other systems. He was careful to point out that the systems that run the car are separated from Lync by a firewall. The author says that most of us who have used Microsoft software appreciate that separation continues I don’t think we are ready to go there just yet.

Automakers Want Vehicles Talk to Each Other

Talking carsThe Detroit Bureau reports that a consortium of eight manufacturers has set up shop in Farmington Hills, MI to work on car-to-car “Intelligent Vehicle” communications systems that would help stave off accidents. “If every car had it, it would be like another pair of eyes,” Ford Motor Co.’s (F) Mike Shulman, a technical research leader, stated.

The technology consortium would work to supplement, not replace, other high-tech safety systems. While Ford and others have worked on car-to-car communications systems for a number of years, the consortium reflects the fact that vehicles from different brands must be able to speak the same digital language. “We need to get messages from Hondas, Hyundais, Kias and send them all messages,” said Mr. Shulman.

Each of the eight makers will build eight new vehicles each equipped with the latest technology. Another 2,000 vehicles on the road will be retrofitted with the gear as part of a test program partly funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Transportation experts suggest Intelligent Vehicle systems could also move cars closer to an era of autonomous driving, where motorists would simply plug in a destination and settle back and text or make calls or reading the paper, on put on makeup since the vehicle itself would handle the driving duties.

Autonomous Road Trains

Road trainTraffic Technology Today, reported in January 2011 that the EU-financed SARTRE project has carried out the first successful demonstration of its vehicle platooning technology at the Volvo Proving Ground in Sweden. Vehicle platooning is a convoy of vehicles, where a driver in a lead vehicle drives a line of other vehicles.

SARTRE will use a forward-looking camera and 76 GHz radar. Each vehicle must also be equipped with a local control system. To achieve global control over the platoon, a communication system, probably using the 5.9 GHz radio channel would interconnect the vehicles.

Project backers say that platooning is designed to improve and cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions while it reduces traffic congestion.

The technology development is underway but public acceptance of the system and legislation by 25 EU governments will likely hinder acceptance for a while.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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