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Internet gambling downsized

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

CIOs should have no fears that employees will be diverted during the workday to online gambling from overseas. A new agreement between the United States, the European Union, Japan and Canada will keep the foreign Internet gambling market closed to U.S. residents. At the same time, the United States is keeping the door open a crack as it continues talks about the gambling market with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau, and Costa Rica.

"We are pleased to confirm that the United States has reached agreement... with Canada, the EU, and Japan," Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said in a statement several hours after the EU announced details of the deal it had reached with Washington last week. European gambling companies unsuccessfully argued that the EU was entitled to as much as $100 billion in compensation for being denied access to the U.S. market. But the idea never got off the ground and apparently has gone nowhere. There is a positive note in this development, too. The agreement "involves commitments to maintain our liberalized markets for warehousing services, technical testing services, research and development services, and postal services relating to outbound international letters," Hamel said.

For more on this ban on overseas Internet gambling
- Check out this Red Herring Article

Password security 101

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

You'd think that changing passwords frequently and coming up with hard-to-crack keys would be enough these days, but even with the stringent measures at many companies, the sheer number of passwords in organizations today--most users have more than six passwords and IT administrators can have up to 100--creates significant security risks. Often, IT managers don't enforce rigorous rules in password security, leaving networks vulnerable to hackers. Problems include password sharing, ineffective password tracking strategies and the unfortunate habit many employees have of assigning identical passwords to multiple accounts. All of these practices significantly increase network exposure. Fixing the problem means shoring up corporate policy by changing the frequency of required password changes and requiring that each password contains at least one special character. On the technology front, strategies like enterprise single sign-on (ESSO) can also help.

Learn more about protecting your organization through better password security:
- read the article at IT-Observer

Security diligence makes a difference

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Ironclad, well-formulated security and privacy policies are the single most important way that companies can protect their customers and their own assets, but it's far from a one-size-fits-all process. A comprehensive policy consists of four parts: Policy guidelines for employees should help managers identify what data is stored and where, which people and processes access the data, which channels it can be transmitted to, and acceptable destinations. The policy should also provide guidelines for creating hard-to-crack passwords and information on frequent password updating and how to keep passwords private. Physical security should be addressed by spelling out which physical assets are most important to the company, along with strict policies and control systems to monitor them. Finally, a comprehensive policy should stipulate that all patches and updates be automatically and immediately installed.

Read more about protecting your company and its customers:
- read the article at The ChronicleHerald.ca

The early bird is more productive

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:01:39 -0500

Managers who start their day early (5 am, anybody?) tend to be more productive. Starting your day at the crack of dawn gives you the chance to check your email, exercise and spend some alone time to think through difficult problems. To make sure you get up and at 'em, avoid hitting the snooze button and get into a morning routine.

Read more about getting an early start:
- read the blog post at WebWorkerDaily