Scott Wright’s Security Views

Bandaids are supposed to be used for first aid, not preventative maintenance. Here’s a good example of why you need to make security a priority early in the system design cycle.

Today I spent 45 minutes on my handsfree cell-phone while driving (and another 20 minutes on my home phone), helping a friend configure his new laptop PC to work with his wireless network. In the end, I don’t think Vista was actually the root of the connection problem, but it certainly didn’t help. I still don’t know why Vista can’t just recognize the wireless card, recognize the network and ask for the encryption key; then make the connection. It shouldn’t take more than a minute. As Bulldog Briscoe would say on the old “Frasier” sitcom, “This is crap! This is total BS!” Then he would thwak Bill Gates in the forehead with his knuckles… Continue Reading »

It was a small session, but was jam-packed with thought-provoking discussion, with everything from futuristic toilets that will be able to send data on your stool samples directly to your doctor, to smart dust (maybe as an allergen desensitizer? who knows?)….

But seriously, Bill Pascal of the Canadian Medical Association and Mark Dermer of the Canadian Health Infoway provided a great tag-team summary of the economic landscape (both global and Canadian), as well as a view of political and technological challenges in Canadian e-Health. Not surprisingly, security and privacy were considered to be key issues that must be built in (with privacy being highlighted as the major concern - they aren’t trying to stop foreign espionage, just misuse of personal health information). Continue Reading »

My mind generates the most creative ideas when it is supposed to be working on important Client problems. Most of them are so far out, you’re not missing much if I don’t write about them. But this one intrigues me with its possibilities… and maybe some downside risks.

Imagine that you are a single parent of a teenager, and she has to work the late shift at a fast-food restaurant. She doesn’t want to bother anyone for a ride, because she only lives a mile away. She disappears somewhere between work and home. The parents’ worst nightmare happened, in just this way, on September 8, 2005 in Ottawa. Continue Reading »