Hectic Eclectic

Microsoft Licensing... Government scraps £80m deal with NHS

Just picked this out on over ComputerWeekly.com

Wow - If that isn't a sore enough one for everyone involved in it...  read down to see MS still able to recoup £50m from unlicensed software proliferation, and that is before they have been upset by an early contract cancellation.

Those EA true-ups don't half cost.

Project Liberate anyone?

Like browsing? Thought you were annonymous?... Think again.

Really interesting article by Robert McMillan on just how private your private online sessions happen to be.  Well actually if you are paraniod it isn't perhaps even as bad as you might have thought but it isn't good.  Without stealing Robert's thunder it would be fair to say that on average it is 94% bad (i.e., they can ID your browser - through some combo of browser, fonts, time zones, plug-ins etc... ) which would mean there is room for improvement...

I certainly would start applying some randomness to all those variables if I were some naughty Serbian or other sort about to embark on the cyber-naughtiness (I'm alluding to fraud rather than filth here).  Move, counter, counter to the counter and so the game goes on: Cops and robbers... cops and robbers!

Anyway - check out Robert's article here. 

IBM could reduce its workforce by 299,000 in seven years

IBM has told Personnel Today that it could reduce its workforce from 399,000 today to 100,000 in 2017.2017 is the planned completion date of the completion of its its HR transformation programme.Tim Ringo, head of IBM Human Capital Management, told Personnel Today IBM would re-hire the workers as contractors for specific projects and when necessary use crowdsourcing. He said it was only being considered at present."There would be no buildings costs, no pensions  and no healthcare costs, making huge savings," he said.Sounds like what in India is known as "The Bench."

via www.computerweekly.com

Don't be evil...?? Cyber attack on Google hit password system, says insider - 20/04/2010 - Computer Weekly

Cyber attack on Google hit password system, says insider - 20/04/2010 - Computer Weekly.

Bummer - looks like the old gmail account needs a password refresh!  And not 3 months too soon...

Don't be evil ... might that include full and open disclosure on information breech?  Thank goodness failure to disclose will most likely carry a fine in the UK from April 2011... but what if the server isn't UK hosted (like most of google tax avoiding UK business) will they be subject to the legislature...

#verymessycloudness

£500k Data loss fines come into Law

Hi, I mentioned earlier that some fines were likely to come in to law - well they just have.  So if you haven't got your house in order you probably should be thinking about it.

Whether you are governed by PCI, FSA or anything else this is the catchall - so make sure you are on top of it. 

Oh, and it lok like a few guys

Zurich Insurance

(who lost 46,000 unencrypted records)

Royal London

(who had over 2,000 stolen)

just missed out on being the first big fine... good old post ex-facto...  ;-(

Watch out all you data protection guys...  call us if you need a hand...