Australian Technology and IP Business

Live Web, Social Media or Web 2.0?

According to Doc Searls: "First, the business world now runs on the Net, pretty much. Second, the business world knows that it can't get along without the Net, which helps. Third, the biz world is *beginning* to realize the Net brings, as we said in Cluetrain, a revolution in demand at least as big as the one in supply...

The more useful distinction is between the Live Web and the Static Web. The Live Web today is branching off of the Static Web. Much of what we call "social" happens there..."

From responses to a survey by Shel Israel. Read it.

ACCC alleges Google adwords misleading

Further to a previous complaint against Trading Post, the ACCC has issued proceedings against Google and Trading Post over their use of adwords.

UPDATE 5 October 2007: Directions hearing

Version 3 GNU General Public License issued

Version 3 of the GNU General Public License has been issued.

FAQ's here.

Choicepoint data breach lessons

Loss of customer data is a major risk for businesses.

In 2005, the records of 163,000 consumers were compromised after criminals pretending to be legitimate ChoicePoint customers sought details about individuals listed in the company's database of personal information. (more here)

In this article from PC World the organization's CIO explained how it recovered and offered lessons other enterprises that handle sensitive data can learn from ChoicePoint.

He offered a five-step plan to CIOs looking to shore up their data security and privacy systems, based on what ChoicePoint has done.

The first step is governance. ChoicePoint has a chief privacy officer who reports directly to a board that governs privacy and public responsibility, bypassing the rest of the corporate structure.

The second step is to clearly define expected behavior and provide tools to employees to simplify compliance. ChoicePoint instituted a number of practices to monitor potentially fraudulent customer behavior, such as investigating companies that suddenly increase the number of background checks they run by a large margin.

Third, a company should write information security breach response policies and procedures, spelling out who should be notified in case of a breach and what the company should do for affected customers.

After ChoicePoint's breach, the company offered free credit monitoring, credit reports and identity-theft insurance to the victims.

Fourth, determine the credentials of people you work with and who work for you.

The last step he recommended is embracing openness. ChoicePoint developed a Web site detailing the steps it takes to protect privacy, and developed another site that lets consumers find out what information ChoicePoint maintains about them in its files -- if they can sufficiently authenticate their identities, of course.