1/19/2010With business and individuals increasingly storing emails and other information in databases on-line, questions of expectations of privacy are inevitable. Columnist James Urquhart at CNET News breaks down the Fourth Amendment implications of internet "cloud" storage at: http://news.cnet.com/8301-19413_3-10436425-240.html 12/30/2009
- There will be more web-based attacks, especially as the use of social networking sites and email will allow attacks directed against specific individuals, companies, governments, or causes. The use of these avenues for attack tends to make it more likely that the victim will believe that a malicious link or file actually came from a trusted friend.
- Malware will also take advantage of HTML5, which creates a more interactive web experience for users.
- Adobe products such as Reader and Flash will be more popular avenues for attack than Microsoft products such as Office.
- Trojan horses designed to hijack banking transactions will become more sophisticated. Already, they use complex means to hide on computers, collect information, alter transactions, and notify the criminal of the victim's activities.
- Law enforcement will take a greater role in stopping cybercrime, and there will be greater international cooperation.
- Botnet controllers will switch to peer-to-peer setups in response to the success that law enforcement agencies have had in shutting down centralized botnet servers.
12/14/2009The Washington Post has reported that the five North Virginia men who traveled to Pakistan allegedly seeking entry into Al Qaeda were recruited via YouTube. The article reports that the organization, believed to be headed by Osama bin Laden and responsible for the 9/11 attacks, has been increasingly using the Internet as a recruitment tool. The article speculates that this is because Al Qaeda's traditional recruitment venues (mosques and community centers) have been placed under increased scrutiny by US intelligence agencies. The five men apparently commented positively on YouTube videos showing attacks on US troops, and then exchanged coded emails with Al Qaeda recruiters, who directed the men to travel to Pakistan. However, they were ultimately rejected by Al Qaeda because they were believed to be US spies. Intelligence agencies have a difficult time monitoring YouTube because of its extreme popularity (it is currently the fourth most popular site in the world according to Alexa's web rankings). 9/16/2008
Federal Rule of Evidence 502 finally passed the House and is now awaiting the President’s signature. FRE 502 provides that inadvertent disclosure of privileged information in federal proceedings does not operate as a waiver in other federal or state proceedings IF the disclosure is inadvertent, the holder took reasonable precautions, and the holder took reasonable steps to rectify error, including the procedures listed in 26(b)(5)(B), if applicable. If the court holds the privilege is waived, the waiver will extend to undisclosed information only if the disclosure was intentional, the disclosed and undisclosed information concern the same matter, and fairness requires disclosed and undisclosed information ought to be considered together. An important point to remember, however, is that a court order that a privilege or protection is not waived by disclosure “binds all persons or entities in all federal and state proceedings whether or not they were parties to the litigation,” BUT, an agreement on the effect of disclosure between litigants is binding on ONLY the parties to the agreement.
7/17/2008
The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan recently denied a motion for cost shifting in Cason-Merenda v. Detroit Med. Ctr., 2008 WL 2714239 (E.D. Mich. July 7, 2008) and held that the request was not timely. The Electronic Discovery Law Blog has an interesting post about the case and points out the Detroit Medical requested the cost shifting under FRCP 26(b)(2)(B) after it had already produced the requested information. The court asserted that FRCP 26(b)(2)(B) was intended to provide protective relief before the party bears the undue burden or cost. 7/11/2008
Attorneys have been concerned about sanctions since e-discovery first started becoming prevalent and especially after the Morgan Stanley case. In a recent article on Law.com, Minimizing the Risk That E-Discovery Failures Will Create Corporate Liability, Kirby Behre and Mark Koehn assert that judges are becoming less patient with counsel and “e-discovery mishaps.” The authors use two cases to demonstrate how liability can arise in e-discovery cases and also provide some advice for how to minimize the potential for liability. 7/2/2008
Computerworld tested three ultrathin laptops on their usability with nine everyday tasks. This isn't your usual computer test focusing on graphics and processor speed. Instead, they tested how well average users could type an e-mail and play an MP3 file. One of the tasks was to connect the laptop to a projector and display to a screen while another was to simply it turn off.
For more information, visit:
Computerworld
7/1/2008
Have you ever been in this situation: You are standing in line at the airport security checkpoint, rolling bag in one hand, purse or briefcase on the shoulder and laptop bag balanced precariously on top of it all, wondering how you would take off your shoes, get your luggage on the belt, and take your laptop(s) out of the bag for inspection by the TSA without holding up the line?
Well, one worry may be taken care of for you now. According to a NYTimes article, the TSA has just approved a new laptop bag design that will be allowed through checkpoints without requiring the owner to take the laptop out of the bag. This new bag is a design chosen from a number of prototypes that allows the x-ray machine to easily see the computer, without it being obscured by other things we tend to carry in our laptop carrying cases. They are anticipated to sell for between $100-$200. To save yourself that millisecond of panic that ensues when you are trying to find your laptop as it is coming off the belt along with everyone else's travelling gear, it might be worth it.
6/18/2008
As referenced previously in this blog, keyword searches are not always the most efficient and effective way to decrease your data set in e-discovery or in an investigation. Technology is providing more sophisticated ways to address the complexity of language and ideas. In “Judging Content v. Keyword Search Strategies,” published in the New Jersey Law Journal and reprinted at Law.com, Jennifer Aira-Ventrella traces the emerging search technologies and illustrates their benefits and potential problems. 6/12/2008
There was an excellent entry about e-discovery problems in In re Intel Corp. Microprocessor Antitrust Litigation on the Electronic Discovery blog. The article describes Intel's efforts in the "largest electronic production in history," and its subsequent problems. Specifically, the article focuses on the district court's decision to uphold the finding of the special master that Intel had waived both attorney-client privilege and work product privilege in materials related to its attorneys' investigations into production errors related to ESI. |
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