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Endpoint security is one of the hottest markets in technology right now. Here's a look at 15 of the top legacy and next-generation endpoint security players, according to Forrester's Wave Endpoint Security Suites report.

10 Things To Know About The Insight Enterprises-Datalink Deal

Here are 10 things the channel community should know about Datalink's business, how it will fit into Insight's existing data center investments, and the details of the $258 million megadeal.

8 New Cisco Channel Incentives Unleashed At Partner Summit

Here are eight new incentives Cisco partners can now obtain around security, Unified Computing System, SaaS and Digital Network Architecture.

FireEye CEO And CFO On Election Cybersecurity, A Renewed Channel Push And Company Restructuring

FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia and CFO Michael Berry talk to CRN after the company's Q3 earnings about the security vendor's recent restructuring, new releases for the channel and what impact cybersecurity might have on this year's election.

Faces Of The 2016 Next-Gen 250

Here we present 25 companies on CRN's 2016 Next-Gen 250 list, a spotlight shined on 250 solution providers born since 2000.

Across The Telecom Spectrum: 6 Moves That Made Waves In The Channel In October

Here are six newsworthy things that happened in the telecom industry last month that solution providers should know.

Creative Thinking? 5 Laptop Alternatives To Apple's MacBook Pro 2016

The CRN Test Center has looked at five new laptops that could be a better value for creative professionals than the new MacBook Pro.

The Best And Worst Technology Company Stocks In The Third Quarter Of 2016

IT companies with stock price increases in the third quarter far outnumber those with stock price declines. Take a look at who was up and who was down.

30 Notable IT Executive Moves: October 2016

IT vendors and solution providers made some significant executive moves in October, especially in their CFO and CMO offices. Here's a look at who landed new roles in the channel last month.

5 Companies That Had A Rough Week

For the week ending Nov. 4, CRN looks at IT companies that were unfortunate, unsuccessful or just didn't make good decisions.

5 Companies That Came To Win This Week

For the week ending Nov. 4, CRN takes a look at the companies that brought their 'A' game to the channel.

Q&A: Future McAfee CEO Chris Young On New Products, Spinout From Intel And Cybersecurity In The Election

At Focus 16, Intel Security's Chris Young -- soon to be McAfee CEO -- talks with CRN about transforming the company's strategy and road map to drive better security outcomes.

Which Of One These Security Companies Will Cisco Buy Next?

Cisco buys what it knows and we've identified 10 security companies that Cisco has backed financially and could potentially acquire.

Here's Who Made Gartner's 2016 Magic Quadrant For Distributed File Systems And Object Storage

Gartner has established a new Magic Quadrant for distributed file systems and object storage due to the rapid growth of unstructured data. Here are the vendors that are leading the way.

17 Things CEO Chuck Robbins Said About Cloud, Cisco's Future Technology Bets And The Channel's Monster Infrastructure Modernization Opportunity

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins spoke to 2,200 solution providers about the key trends he sees driving Cisco's future sales and where channel partners should be placing their bets.

5 Top IoT Gateways Solution Providers Should Check Out

Behind the analytics tools, software and data in Internet of Things offerings lies a gateway. Here are five key gateways solution providers should know.

How We Got Here: CenturyLink's Blockbuster Bid For Level 3 Has Enterprise, Cloud Focus

CenturyLink's proposed $34 billion buy of Level 3 is the latest in an acquisition binge, and Level 3 has made its share of big buys as well. Here's a rundown.

10 Things You Need To Know About Microsoft Teams

Microsoft's new addition to Office 365 for team collaboration is stirring up several comparisons to Slack. Here are the key things you need to know about Microsoft Teams.

5 New Cisco Collaboration Plays Aimed At Driving Sales, Recurring Revenue For Partners

Here are the five new unified communications and collaboration offerings Cisco unleashed at Cisco Partner Summit in San Francisco this week.

CRN Exclusive: HP CEO Weisler On The HP Split Anniversary, The Acquisition of Samsung's Printer Business And 2017 Outlook

HP Inc. CEO Dion Weisler spoke with CRN about his company's one-year anniversary split from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and what he's looking forward to in 2017.

6 Hot New Intel Security Products From Focus 16 Event

Intel Security rolls out six new security offerings and partnerships at Focus 16 in Las Vegas, saying it is laying the groundwork for its road map going forward as an independent company.

Cisco Data Center VP Talks Cloud Infrastructure Strategy, 'Taking Share' From Dell, HPE

Satinder Sethi discusses the networking giant's cloud future, the increasing role of larger service providers, and growing 'at the expense' of Dell and HPE.

5 New Offerings From Cisco Partner Summit That Solution Providers Should Have On Their Radar

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As it closes its spinout from Dell, SonicWall named security industry veteran Bill Conner as CEO. Take a look at his plans for technology investments, the channel, and more.


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Eagles Club makes request.

Around seven years after the Crookston City Council - with Mayor Dave Genereux breaking the tie with a vote against – narrowly defeated a push to give Crookston bars the option of remaining open until 2 a.m., the council's Ways & Means Committee Monday evening voted 6-2 in favor of giving local drinking establishments the option to remain open an hour later than they currently do.

The change will go through the ordinance process, meaning the modified ordinance will likely get its first and second readings at council meetings two weeks apart later this summer. Once it gets its second reading, the council will vote on it.

The vote Monday evening had council members Tom Jorgens, Dana Johnson, Hector Santellanes, Dale Stainbrook and Wayne Melbye in favor, along with Mayor Genereux. Council members Tom Vedbraaten and Bob Quanrud voted against. There was no council vote from ward 3; Keith Mykleseth has resigned and, although Gary Willhite was officially appointed by the council Monday evening, he won't officially take his seat on the council until July. He attended the committee meeting and participated in the discussion, but did not vote.

So what's changed in the past seven years or so? Not much, really. Making the request this time around for a later bar closing option was Jake Fee, manager of the Crookston Eagles. In need of additional revenue, he said the club would like the option of remaining open on nights when there are dances and other events that bring in large numbers.

As he did seven years ago, Police Chief Tim Motherway researched other area cities with a 2 a.m. bar closing and, similar to his report seven years ago, he said Monday that police chiefs in those cities report no significant problems. He did say he was told that in many cities who approved the 2 a.m. option very soon after the Minnesota law changed in 2004 to allow it, the vast majority of drinking establishments in those cities are rarely, if ever open until 2 a.m.

A bar wanting the 2 a.m. closing option will have to pay a fee to the state ranging from $300 a year to $1,000, depending on its gross on-sale alcohol sales the previous year. Finance Director Angel Hoeffner said a $100 fee to the city would also likely be required.

Vedbraaten, citing binge drinking in Grand Forks that's made "national news," questioned the wisdom of giving people in Crookston more time to drink. He also expressed concern over Crookston being a "college town" and college students who work at bars not getting home from work until very late when they have class in the morning. To that, Vedbraaten was told by some around the table, it's highly unlikely that any bar in Crookston would be open until 2 a.m. on any night during the work week. Public Works Director Pat Kelly added that it's not the council's mission to delve into how businesses are managed. "I don't think the council should be legislating how long people work," Kelly said. "Ampride is open 24 hours a day; I bet there are some young people who have to work pretty late because of that."

"There's a lot of things that if your self-righteous you don't think people should do," Melbye added. "But that's not our position here."

Quanrud said he was still on the police force when the issue arose the last time, and that he didn't see the benefit of a later bar closing time then, and he still doesn't. Citing the lack of an outcry from other drinking establishments, he said a 1 a.m. bar closing works just fine.

Crookston resident Dennis Koch attended the meeting and sided with giving businesses the option. "If they want to pay the fee, whatever it may be, let them do it," he said.

Stainbrook made the motion and Santellanes seconded it.

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Hoops Creating Hope

tl_files/academy-2015/Crossover Academy Students 20.jpgCrossover's Academy

Hoops Creating Hope is a two-week program for marginalized students in Chennai, India to create and develop the link between leadership, character, teamwork, and communication with academic success and future goals. By using basketball as the vehicle of change, students are able to learn on the court and in the classroom through play and guided experiential learning rather than more hours in a traditional classroom. The students learn about Crossover's four pillars by connceting lessons in the program through sessions connecting academics, individual skills, teamwork, and yoga.

Crossover welcomes over 400 students to the academy held at the The American International School in Chennai. Thought leaders, student voices, coaches, and educators from the US and India discussed the positive role sport can play in a students overall education. Indian-American Hollywood Actor Utkarsh Ambudkar joined the Team Crossover as a volunteer faculty member - teaching the four pillars of Crossover on the court, through conditioning workouts, and using BeatBoxing to convey communication.

Crossover continues its outreach to students through out the year. Recently, Crossover volunteers from Phillips Academy's basketball team visited with our students.

To read about the impact of the program from an educator's perspective - Ram Sundaram - a Teach For India Teaching Fellow wrote this letter to Crossover.

"I am no longer witnessing simple behavioural changes and a lack of values by my kids in the classroom. I bear testimony to widespread impact across the spectrum of influence in education. From parents to teachers to students to staff to myself; we can't thank you (Crossover) enough for empowering us to do more. Will keep you posted as we build on our collective learnings and move ahead with determination like never before." - Ram Sundaram, Teach for India Fellow

"A big thank you from me and my class kids to your whole team for organising this amazing camp. Just 2 days into the camp and I am already witnessing many positive changes in the kids. The kids are also having so much fun and are getting exposed to so many new things. I cannot wait to see the other possibilities the camp is going to open up for all the kids who are attending." - Prabhakaran K, Teach for India Fellow

View Crossover through our Vine videos.

Experience an academy day in photos here.

tl_files/Academy 2013/Crossover Coach Guides a Small Group - Photo by Crossover Volunteer Hannah Bitzer.jpg

tl_files/Academy 2013/Huddle.jpg

Photos by Crossover Volunteer, Hannah Bitzer


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Intersection of Life and Faith

<< Powered by 4

Powered by 4 - December 14, 2011

  • 2011 Dec 14

Reverse Approach

today's reading.
Proverbs 18    Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment...

the blog.
There are a lot of good words that tell us about being wise in Proverbs 18. But did you notice how much of this chapter touched on speech and our tongues? But what I liked was there was example after example of how foolish people use their speech. Now I like this reverse approach of looking at foolish behavior instead of always reading about what is right because it lets me see the full picture.

So what did you learn about being wise with your tongue? Was there a specific verse that was meaningful to you? (Mine was verse 21). Tami W.

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Get more on this topic with Back to the Bible

Powered by 4 is all about engaging God's Word and living it out--in community. So if it's encouragement you want or motivation you need, join the discussion on the P4 Blog--a place to weigh in on the daily scripture as well as share thoughts & questions. And, for a more in-depth look at the Powered by 4 readings, tune in to the daily Back to the Bible radio program with Woodrow Kroll.


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Intersection of Life and Faith

<< The Connection Devotional with Skip Heitzig

"An Ocean of Lies" - The Connection Devotional - Week of February 25

  • 2011 Feb 25

Week of February 25

An Ocean of Lies
By Skip Heitzig

I heard a cute story about a man who took his little daughter camping by the ocean. He tried to get her to go into the water, but when she found out how cold it was, she refused. Then he got an idea. He built a fire, heated some water in a teakettle, and poured it into the ocean. The little girl figured her daddy had fixed it, and she ran into the water without any hesitation!

That was a harmless trick, but it illustrates how Satan works. He mixes a small amount of truth with an ocean of lies. Satan is called "the accuser of the brethren" (Revelation 12:20). He's the ultimate critic of God's creation, and accusation is one of his most effective tactics. When you sin, he's right there to condemn you. "You call yourself a Christian? Do you think God will hear your prayer after that? You shouldn't even be in a church!" He's such a hypocrite. When he is tempting us, he whispers, "Do it! No one will know!" And then after we sin he shouts, "You'll never get away with that!"

When Satan talks to you about God, he lies. That's why it's important to get the truth about God from the Bible. But when Satan talks to God about you, he doesn't need to lie, he just uses your sin against you. He is constantly studying humanity, looking for evidence to bring before the throne of God, trying to cause God to turn His back on us. For that reason, you must learn to distinguish between the conviction of the Holy Spirit that comes from God, and the accusations and condemnation of Satan. Those are two very different things.

A lot of people say, "Guilt is wrong!" No, it isn't. It can be very, very good, if it comes from the Holy Spirit, if God imposes it to bring us back to Him. But guilt can be very bad, if it drives us to despair and hopelessness. Then we've listened to the wrong voice.

When the Holy Spirit convicts you, He uses the Word of God in love and seeks to bring you back into fellowship with your heavenly Father. When Satan accuses you, he uses your own sin in a hateful way to drive a wedge between you and God. He seeks to make you feel helpless and hopeless.

Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, and he listened to the devil and went out and hanged himself. Peter also betrayed Christ but he looked into Jesus' face, and it brought conviction. Later, he came back into fellowship.

So stay out of that "ocean of lies." The Holy Spirit, the "Spirit of truth" (John 16:13), will always lead you back toward God.

Copyright © 2011 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

For more from Skip Heitzig, visit,
and listen to today's broadcast of The Connection with Skip Heitzig at


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Liberty of the Seas Cruise Review by andnickali: Liberty of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean

Liberty of the Seas 5
Member Since 2006
695 Forum Posts

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Liberty of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean

Sail Date: August 2007
Destination: Eastern Caribbean
Embarkation: Miami

I am by no means a seasoned cruiser (although I am doing all I can to become one) and this is my third cruise with RC and seventh overall. I traveled with my DH and three children (6, 10 and 12). This is the third cruise for my kids (2nd on RC).

We flew down to Miami from DC the day prior and stayed at the Sofitel Hotel. I booked directly through their website and for $100 the room was unbelievable. The bedding was very nice, hotel and room decor was sophisticated, and the pool was large- although the water was cool. The hotel does charge for daily parking (I think $10 a day). We rented a car from Dollar since they provide both airport and port transfers. I had read reviews on the hotel's restaurant being pricey and to upscale for me to want to traipse my kids into for a pre-cruise dinner. The car worked out nicely since there is nothing around the hotel in walking distance. We ended up driving around for quite a while before we found a chain restaurant to eat- so in More hindsight I would have asked for directions!!!!!!

The morning of the cruise we returned the rental car and Dollar had a shuttle waiting to take people to the port. We were at the port within 15 minutes and boarding the ship within 30 minutes upon arrival. There were no lines and we breezed right through. The only "wait" was just prior to boarding when they hand out the group number cards but that was maybe 10 minutes.

The ship itself is a souped up version of the Voyager class. Since we have been on Explorer it was nice to know where we were going on Liberty. The expanded promenade allows for the eating areas to be broken up and spaced out. On Explorer the cafe would get crowded because it serves the pizza, sandwiches, coffee, and Ben/Jerrys Ice Cream. But on Liberty they each have their own store front which spreads out the crowds. The seating in the Cafe was very nice- leather chairs- and we spent a good amount of time sitting a watching the people walk by while we ate.

The upper pool deck has the H2O Zone which we made our pool zone. DH and I did not even set toe in the other main pool- which I am sure would not have been the case had it not been for the fact that we had kids with us. Having the H2O Zone seems to have cut down on the kids being in the main pool area. Now they have their own fun place to run and get wet.

The flowrider was not what we anticipated. The lines are long, the ride time is short, and there were quite a few people I saw holding a body part as they exited the wave. Myself included- I guess that is why we sign our life away on all of the waivers. I tried the stand up surfing and the boarding. I could get the hand of the surfing (although took a pretty good hit in the shoulder when I fell off) but the boarding is for the truly talented- otherwise known as kids- I just could not keep the board in the wave zone and was immediately shot to the back wall. Upon my second attempt my ankle took a direct hit which put me out of walking commission for the next day. My kids said they would rather have had the roller blading in place of the flowrider- and I second that suggestion. But, I'm sure there are the fans out there that would not- maybe had I not hurt myself I'd be one of them.

The kids spent a lot of time in Adventure Ocean. On the Explorer they rarely were asking to go- but not this time- there were a few days when we were planning on spending time at the pool and the boys opted to go to AO. Every night they were begging to stay for the after-hours "party" so they could play longer. We were pleased to see that RC allowed my older son to move down to his brother's age group. He technically was to be in the "teen" zone- but after DH and I looked at it we felt he would have more fun with structured activities- he is not into the hanging out and talking phase of being a teen. This AO has the "GPS" tags for all of the kids- which I thought was cool- they are a bracelet that is worn while in AO and if the kid gets out of the club area they can be tracked throughout the ship. I'm sure it provides peace of mind for the parents of the youngest group.

Our room was a big upgrade for us- we had the family promenade room and LOVED IT! The space was amazing- we had so much storage that we did not use it all. And for those that have traveled with 4 in a room they know what it is like to bump their heads in the middle of the night. The kids had their own bunk area and the pull out sofa. The room can be divided with a full curtain for some privacy between kids and adults. I know for a fact that in the future we will look to book this room again, it made the trip so much more enjoyable.

The staff is wonderful. Dorothy from Jamaica was our room attendant and she always had the room done before we returned from our breakfast outing. Our dining room waiter was Ivan and assistant was Ainsley. Ainsley was excellent- in our opinion was the best we have had on our seven cruises. Our glasses were always filled and bread plates were never empty. He cleared the table promptly and kept the kids entertained. I am sure he will be on his way to a waiter soon. Ivan was prompt with delivering the food and keeping us all happy- he cut up the kids meat (which they can do themselves but like to take advantage when they can) and brought special requests for us- specifically the banana bread on a daily basis.

We knew two past crew members from Explorer would be on Liberty and we found our waitress Beverly and bartender Andre who both remembered us. I don't know if that is good or bad that we left an impression upon them!!!!

The shows were all excellent- as everybody says, don't miss the ice show- it is amazing that they can perform on a smaller than regular rink and do so with such flawless style.

We ate at Johnny Rockets once. We went late in the week and were there when they first opened and there was no line. But I noticed from then on out there were full tables and people waiting.

One last thing to mention was the fitness center. The fitness equipment was top of the line Life Fitness and the space was designed like a land-based gym. There are plenty of cardio machines, free weights, and weight machines. We only got to use the gym twice and did not have to wait for a cardio machine.

All in all this was a wonderful family vacation. I am in cruise withdrawal having to come home and cook and clean for myself now......I know the only cure will be to book another cruise with Royal Caribbean and have something to look forward to. Less

Published 08/28/07

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Malmo (Sweden)

Cruise Port schedule, map, terminals, news

Baltic - Norwegian Fjords - Russia

55.61243 N, 13.00034 E

  Port Map

The Malmo cruise port map is interactive. It shows the port's exact location, along with the real-time cruise ship traffic (if any) in its vicinity - today, and right now. By zooming-out you can see other cruise ship ports located near Malmo, Sweden.

If you lose the Malmo location on the map, simply reload the page (also with F5 button). This feature is integrated with the CruiseMapper's cruise ship tracker tracking the vessels' current positions at sea and in ports.

Port Malmo cruise ship schedule shows timetable calendars of all arrival and departure dates by month. The port's schedule lists all ships (in links) with cruises going to or leaving from Malmo, Sweden. To see the full itineraries (ports of call dates and arrival / departure times) and their lowest rates – just follow the corresponding ship-link.

  1. July, 2018
Day Ships in port
21 July, 2018
MS Deutschland(arriving at 07:00 - departing at 12:00)


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Old December 18th, 2002, 01:21 PM
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Default Compare Outdoor Pool areas

Mercury has a very large outdoor pool area with 2 pools, hot tubs etc & lots of space in shade & sun. Enjoyed the reggae band everyday. Can someone let me know how the millenium class outdoor pool areas compare. From the plans the area & pools seem smaller with much more space devoted to indoor areas of the ship. Thanks
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Old December 18th, 2002, 03:18 PM
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Default Re: Compare Outdoor Pool areas

I would say the pool areas are roughly the same, two pools with a stage for the band
and areas around the pool in sun and shade. Where ships like Mercury have a small pool at the stern (with moveable cover) millenium class have a large thelasotherapy area further forward that many people use as an indoor pool area.
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Old December 18th, 2002, 04:44 PM
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Default Re: Compare Outdoor Pool areas

The main pool areas on the M-Class ships are too small for the amount of passengers the ship carries. The Century class ships.. even Century without an aft pool are better designed for the amount of people cruising.
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Old May 4th, 2003, 09:25 AM
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Default Serenade Oct.30 out of Philly

How many here are going. Please visit us at the cruisecritic message board and sign up on the roll call for this cruise.. There is also a party hosted by cruisecritic and RCCL on the ship you can sign up for.

This is a very active message board site. Give it a try.
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Old May 5th, 2003, 07:38 AM
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Default Re: Serenade Oct.30 out of Philly

I will be there with my friend! Can't wait!!!!!!
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Old July 16th, 2007, 10:29 PM
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Default Dec. 2006 Serenade OTS videos

Just came across these posted elsewhere and thought if someone hadn't seen them might enjoy them.
These videos cover all the mishaps, the ambience, the rhythmn and the
FUN of cruising! Sit back and enjoy the music and share the joys of
this couple on a cruise!!!!!

Phil & Liz
The Original Phil & Liz

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money. Margaret Thatcher

Never take an idiot travelling, you can always pick one up when you get there. Billy Connolly

I Didn't Come here and I ain't Leaving.
Willie Nelson

9/01/2013 Carnival Legend
2/16/2014 BC 7

Bill Murray
20 years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.
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The Complexities of European Arms Control

How do you `bean count' tanks, planes, and other items when even the experts can't agree on how many there are?

THE complexities of conventional arms control far exceed those of strategic or intermediate-range missile negotiations. They confront a host of problems: Not just the nuclear superpowers but all members of the two opposed alliances must be factored in and their consent obtained to any agreements.

Not five or 10 weapons systems but hundreds of different kinds are at issue, including not just tanks and planes but their counterpoints: antitank and antiaircraft missiles.

Each item raises definitional problems. Force estimates made by the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO) include naval forces that the West prefers to sidestep. This helps explain why WTO estimates for NATO personnel and aircraft are higher than the West's. NATO contends that the naval forces should not be counted, because they might be redeployed elsewhere. But so long as they can hover within range of the Soviet Union, they are highly relevant to Warsaw Pact calculations.

Even the WTO numbers understate NATO's advantages at sea. The Western navies have far greater experience than the pact's. They are not boxed in by ``choke points,'' such as the Turkish Straits; they have true aircraft carriers vastly more powerful than the helicopter and vertical-takeoff carriers in the Soviet Navy; their technology is more dependable.

If the Warsaw Pact bargains hard, it will ask for quid-pro-quo reductions in Western naval strength to offset the asymmetrical cuts in WTO tanks and other land assets.

Asymmetries are anchored in geographical and other peculiarities of each side. Thus, the United States needs huge armadas to reach across oceans; the USSR needs large armies to defend its long borders. Washington has prosperous and stable allies; the Kremlin has impoverished and unstable vessels.

Indeed, the greatest imponderable in the whole equation is morale: Should East European forces be counted with or against the USSR? Romania has not permitted Warsaw Pact maneuvers on its soil since 1956. East German generals might be loyal to Moscow under some scenarios, but what of ordinary soldiers and citizens? Even the loyalty of the USSR's border republics is in doubt - certainly in the Baltic states and probably the Ukraine and Byelorussia as well. The USSR has only 40,000 troops in Poland, but they man vital logistical and communication routes. If communist rule falters in Poland, how many Soviet troops would be needed to intimidate the Polish people and armed forces?

Mikhail Gorbachev may reason that his policies make the East Europeans more dependable as they warm to the appeals of perestroika. But this is a risk. As Russia's imperial will slackens and Soviet forces recede, Eastern Europe will probably experience a tide of rising expectations eroding all communist institutions.

Mr. Gorbachev's glasnost has extended to the military sphere - opening the Krasnoyarsk radar and chemical warfare facilities to Western observers. In January it made another giant step: The WTO defense ministers published their estimates of the conventional balance of power in Europe - from the Atlantic to the Urals. The WTO data contained many surprises. For example, they showed higher numbers of tanks and multiple-launch rocket systems for both alliances than comparable Western studies. They also showed the importance - from an Eastern perspective - of naval strength. Most important, the WTO data put some numbers on the table to be compared with other estimates.

Comparison shows substantial disagreement not only between East and West, but also among various Western estimates. NATO's estimates of combat aircraft and helicopters, for example, differ substantially from those of the Pentagon, even though both proceed from the same data base. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a nongovernmental research agency in London, publishes quite different numbers from NATO and the Pentagon, even though the IISS depends heavily on Western intelligence estimates. The independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies in Boston also count things differently.

So long as the experts disagree on what is, they will have trouble negotiating what should be. Percentage cuts make no sense unless all parties agree on the base line. Even reductions to absolute levels are difficult without consensus on the starting point. Unless we know how many tanks or missiles are to be junked, verification will be impossible.

The issue of tanks illustrates the difficulties. Both alliances this year have endorsed a common ceiling of 20,000 tanks for each side. Even by WTO estimates, this entails a reduction of over half the pact's tanks - a tremendous concession. The New York Times published a chart on May 30 showing that the pact estimates NATO tank strength at 30,690, while the NATO count for its tanks is 22,224.

The Times chart actually uses the IISS estimate, for NATO calculates Western tanks at only 16,424 - below the 20,000 ceiling - and the Pentagon at 25,900. Which number is correct? If the pact is right, NATO must cut its tanks by one-third; if the Pentagon, a cut of one-fifth is required; if the IISS, one-tenth. But if NATO headquarters is correct, the West may increase its tanks by almost one-fourth and still comply with the 20,000 ceiling!

WHY do estimates range so broadly? Some differences are honest reflections of inherent complexities; some are deliberately deceptive, inflating one side and minimizing the other. For years, NATO has cried ``wolf'' (or ``bear'') to rally funds and enthusiasm for the common defense. It has understated Western assets even though this distortion added unnecessarily to East-bloc bargaining leverage. Such distortions could be seen as treasonous, since they wasted the enormous investments already made and promoted defeatism. Even today the Pentagon's estimates exclude France and Portugal from NATO totals, though France in the past decade has rejoined NATO planning and maneuvers.

Tank estimates also vary because it is difficult to know what forces to include and how to weigh them. Should old tanks be listed with new ones? Light tanks with heavy? Active duty tanks with those in storage? Similar questions buffet every category of forces: Should reserve units be counted even though they would take some time to mobilize? If US forces are located (or relocated) thousands of miles across the ocean, how to compare them with Soviet forces just beyond the Urals? How to evaluate antitank missiles against tanks if modern tanks acquire better armor or if missiles become more accurate?

Tradeoffs are an old problem. How many tanks to give up for how many planes or ships? Gorbachev is willing to cut back on tanks and other weapons that could be used for a blitzkrieg against the West. But the West retains its own weapons that could be used offensively. By WTO count the West has 50 percent more attack aircraft than the East; not only does NATO have more such planes, they have a longer range and can carry heavier payloads than Soviet models; even the nonnuclear members of NATO, such as Italy and Germany, have dual-capable planes able to carry nuclear arms. Only recently has George Bush offered to put these assets on the bargaining table.

Despite these and other complications, arms control in Europe looks more promising than at any time since NATO's founding 40 years ago. Preparedness has paid off. Because Europe has become the most heavily armed region of the world, no rational planner could even dream of attack. Now the trick is to maintain stability while reducing the explosive power and military outlays on which it has been built.

TECHNOLOGY and interdependence make arms verification easier as the world becomes more transparent. But it is the human factor - attitudinal change - that makes serious arms control more feasible than before. Soviet glasnost - openness - is both cause and result of changing perceptions. Moscow no longer wants to intimidate Europe and it no longer fears the West. Indeed, some Soviet arms specialists say they no longer object to German unification, because German militarism cannot rise again. Having mastered the scientific-technological revolution, Germany has no need to bully its neighbors or acquire more territory.

Fighting wars is more expensive than ever, but so is the cost of readiness. The Soviet bear has seen that every time it growls, the West steps up its arms and cohesion. The Gorbachev Politburo concludes that a tough line is counterproductive, because Russia needs friendly trading partners in the West - not frosty foes.

Gorbachev asserts that ``security must be mutual.'' He sees that the USSR cannot be secure if Soviet forces make others feel insecure. Gorbachev accepts symmetrical cuts reducing some Soviet advantages as in intermediate- and shorter-range missiles.

Old difficulties remain; new ones will probably emerge. Where there's a strong will, ways can be found to circumvent the complexities. Realism requires an appreciation of the obstacles as well as the advantages to arms limitation.

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Pentagon is left scrambling to pay for war

Secretary Robert Gates says Congress's failure to fund war operations means furloughs at US bases are likely.

Congress's failure last week to agree whether and how to fund the war puts the onus on the Pentagon, at least for now, to find a way to cover expenses in Iraq, potentially forcing the Defense Department to close dozens of domestic military bases and imperil the livelihoods of tens of thousands of defense workers.

The congressional inaction may trigger Secretary Robert Gates to carry out his threat last week to furlough as many as 200,000 civil servants and defense contractors this winter, raising the stakes for Democratic lawmakers determined to tie war funding to a drawdown of US troops from Iraq.

Before lawmakers left town Friday for their Thanksgiving recess, they did approve the Pentagon's $470 billion base budget, but not a supplemental funding request to pay for war operations. Democrats don't want to fund that $189 billion defense request from President Bush unless the money is tied to deadlines, or at least goals, to bring the bulk of troops home from Iraq by the end of 2008.

One Democratic measure, to provide $50 billion for war operations as long as the Pentagon aims to all but finish the redeployment of troops by December 2008, failed in the Senate on Friday. Another measure backed by Republicans, to provide $70 billion with no such deadline language, also failed, leaving the Pentagon uncertain about how to pay for the next several months of operations in Iraq.

That leaves the Pentagon with no choice, according to Secretary Gates, who said bluntly last week that the furloughs would be "the least undesirable" of the limited options if it runs out of money. The Defense Department would begin laying off nonuniformed defense workers, effectively shutting down all Army bases by February, followed by at least some Marine bases a month later.

The urgency stems from federal laws that require workers to be notified 60 days in advance that they might be furloughed in another month.

Though Gates is considered one of the least partisan members of the Bush Cabinet, some see his strategy as politically shrewd. It may well force congressional Democrats to back away, at least for now, from their strategy to tie war funding to a troop-withdrawal deadline, says Loren Thompson, a senior analyst at the Lexington Institute, a think tank near Washington. Otherwise, Democrats could be seen as not supporting troops in the field, even though the furloughs would not affect troops directly at first.

"If this is yet another cat-and-mouse game over war funding, people should be clear that Gates is the cat, because in the end the Democratic mice are not going to be able to have their way," he says.

At the Pentagon Thursday, Gates complained that an uncertain funding stream at best creates busy work for defense planners – and at worst negatively affects the troops.

"The high degree of uncertainty on funding for the war is immensely complicating this task and will have many real consequences for this department and for our men and women in uniform," he said.

Unlike during last year's budget showdown with Congress over war funding, the Pentagon this time has little wiggle room for moving money around, said Gates. The Pentagon currently can move only about $3.7 billion into accounts for war operations – roughly the equivalent of one week's worth of war funding.

That's largely true, says Rep. Joe Sestak (D) of Pennsylvania, a former Navy admiral who worked on the Pentagon's Joint Staff before retiring and running for Congress. "Money is only so fungible among various accounts," he says. "Congress makes it that way."

Representative Sestak voted in favor of the ultimately unsuccessful proposal to fund war operations at $50 billion as long as troops start leaving soon. But he says he doesn't want Congress to micromanage the war via its purse strings and says the better option for Democratic lawmakers is to put such goal-post language in an authorization bill instead of insisting that it be part of an appropriations bill. The distinction would give Pentagon planners a date to work toward, without directly affecting their ability to spend the money Congress appropriates for war operations.

"It makes Congress a less blunt instrument," Sestak says.

Only when lawmakers end their rancor over the war can the two parties come to an agreement about how to proceed, he says. "I don't think we sit down enough with the other side to work things out."

This is not the first time the Pentagon has threatened severe consequences for delayed or insufficient war funding. Earlier this year during budget negotiations for fiscal 2007, the Defense Department said it would have to curtail critical predeployment training for troops and other procurement programs if Congress didn't provide enough money for the war. But the situation was different then, because the Pentagon already had what's called "bridge supplemental" funding that allowed it more flexibility to get through budgetary dry spells. This year, no such supplemental funding exists – hence the Pentagon's threat to begin shutting down US bases.

Ultimately, gridlock over war funding may not end until after the '08 election, says think tank analyst Mr. Thompson.

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Championing stimulus and the economics of 'surprisingly normal'

The New York Times says the economy is "surprisingly normal."

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    The New York Times building is seen here in New York. The paper has reported that the economy is "surprisingly normal."
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If you don’t read the newspapers you run the risk of missing something. Of course, if you do read them, you run the risk of catching something.

Not much in the financial news worthy of comment this morning…

The Dow gained $13. Gold lost $13. Nothing much to say about it…

So we will comment on something beneath comment…something so low we have to dig down to find it…something so unworthy we hardly imagine we are mentioning it…something in the newspapers…

We’re talking, of course, about politics…

The love-fest with politics is heating up. The drugs have been passed around. Now, the clothes are coming off…

France keeps steady course in economic upheaval,” says a headline at the International Herald Tribune. Steady course? You bet. It kept subsidizing, bailing out, protecting, coddling and otherwise meddling in its economy – just like it did before the crisis began. Had it not done so, the story continues, France might not have been the first major economy out of the worldwide recession.

On the other hand, the French never went deeply into debt… So maybe they just didn’t have so much exposure to the worldwide debt crisis in the first place.

Never mind. The papers don’t know what the problem is, but they’re convinced that government interference is the solution.

Over at The Financial Times, Clive Crook is breathing hard, too. He reckons that the “downturn called for a big stimulus,” and that the US stimulus effort headed off a worse recession. He then explains that the feds’ stimulus really didn’t stimulate at all, it merely offset a decline in spending at the state level. State tax revenues fell; states spent less. State tax revenues declined $87 billion in the last 12 months, the biggest drop on record. The feds made up for it by spending big.

Meanwhile, The New York Times tells us that the whole downturn is now behind us. The economy is “surprisingly normal,” it says.

The US economy is some 11 million jobs short of full employment. Nothing very normal about that. But February saw an unexpected upturn in consumer credit, reports the Times. And unemployment seems to have bottomed out, adds The Wall Street Journal.

Surprisingly normal?

Well, there’s a big difference from something that looks surprisingly, reassuringly normal…and something that is actually working normally.

Which is it?

The New York Times is right; it is an economy that looks surprisingly normal…

Zombies can look surprisingly normal too. If you clean them up.

Add/view comments on this post.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.

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    Final Tally Released in The Pantry Board Vote

    Although being elected, CPS' nominees were not the top vote getters.

    CARY, N.C. -- Several surprises can be found in the final board of director vote tallies cast by The Pantry Inc. shareholders on March 13. Most notable were that the nominees proposed by dissident shareholder group Concerned Pantry Shareholders (CPS) did not garner the most votes, and Edwin J. Holman, former interim CEO of The Pantry, received the least number of votes.

    In a Form 8-K filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, The Pantry revealed how many shareholders voted for or withheld votes for each of the 12 board of director nominees, with the top nine receiving election. Not revealed in the filing was the tally of people who voted against each candidate.

    Kathleen R. Guion, former division president of store operation and development at Dollar General Corp., received the most votes to remain on the board (18,595,720). Guion joined The Pantry's board on May 3.

    Placing second was The Pantry's nominee for the board of directors this year, Thomas W. "Tad" Dickson, who was formerly CEO of Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. He received 18,592,900 votes.

    The Pantry's current CEO, Dennis G. Hatchell, followed, receiving exactly 300 votes less than Dickson. Terry L. McElroy, Wilfred A. Finnegan and Mark D. Miles placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, each receiving more than 18 million affirmative votes.

    Meanwhile, CPS' nominees were the last three to make the cut for one-year terms on the board of directors. Todd E. Diener, former executive officer of Brinker International Inc., where he served as president of Chili's Grill & Bar and On the Border restaurants, placed seventh with more than 17 million votes. James C. Pappas, managing member of JCP Investment Management LLC, who is also chairman of the board of the compensation and leadership committee of Morgan's Foods, operator of wholly owned KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants, placed eighth with more than 16 million votes. And Joshua A. Schechter, director of Adrenas Co. Ltd., a multinational company engaged in hair-related businesses, was the last nominee elected to the board of directors after receiving more than 9 million votes.

    Falling short in the number of votes needed for board election were Robert F. Bernstock, a Pantry board member since 2005 who formerly held executive positions at Campbell Soup Co.; Thomas M. Murnane, co-founder, co-owner and principal of ARC Business Advisors LLC; and Holman, who served as The Pantry's interim CEO from Oct. 5, 2011 to March 5, 2012. All three received more than 3 million shareholder votes. Holman received the fewest of all nominees with 3,090,342 shares voted in his favor.

    Concerned Pantry Shareholders, a dissident group led by Houston investment group JCP Investment Management and Connecticut investment group Lone Star Value Management LLC, owns approximately 2 percent of The Pantry's shares.

    Cary, N.C.-based The Pantry Inc. operates 1,537 Kangaroo Express stores in 13 states.

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Experts advise caution, information sharing in wake of alleged utility attacks

Experts in the security of critical infrastructure have had the weekend to digest news that a public utility water pump in Springfield, Ill. was destroyed at the hands of remote attackers who were able to gain access to the SCADA systems controlling it. Their initial advice: Share any information that can minimize or stop the next attack, but don't jump to conclusions.

Joseph Weiss, managing partner at Applied Control Systems LLC and author of the book Protecting Industrial Control Systems from Electronic Threat, initially broke the news on his blog, but the post has since been removed.

A spokesman from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did confirm the incident, but would not confirm whether it was an attack.

"At this point it seems the facts of the incident are still not known. My sources indicate hackers may have nothing to do with this event, but they also told me the investigation is just starting," says Richard Bejtlich, chief security officer at IT security firm MANDIANT. "It's important to differentiate between the threat to critical infrastructure (which is overestimated) and the vulnerability in critical infrastructure (which is underestimated)." A hacker known as "pr0f" would seem to agree with Bejtlich's assertion that the vulnerabilities within the critical infrastructure are underestimated. Pr0f took exception with the DHS' public response to the incident and published images to Pastebin as alleged proof that access was achieved at a SCADA system in South Houston.

"I dislike, immensely, how the DHS tend to downplay how absolutely the state of national infrastructure is," pr0f wrote in the Pastebin post. The hacker also noted that the point of the intrusion wasn't to harm any equipment. "I don't really like mindless vandalism. It's stupid and silly. On the other hand, so is connecting interfaces to your SCADA machinery to the Internet."

Few would argue the latter point. The state of industrial and critical control system security has been in question for some time as we've covered previously in " SCADA security arms race underway and " A botched fix, not legal demands, nixed SCADA security talk."

Scott Crawford, managing research director, Enterprise Management Associates, notes that the alleged Springfield attack was caused by an apparent exploit "of the software vendor, from which usernames and passwords were stolen (according to Joe Weiss' blog). Like the attack against RSA earlier this year, this highlights the exposure that customers have to the security of their vendors," he said. "Vendors need to stretch their thinking on risk management and consider how an incident can have a downstream impact on their customers that can be as great or greater than the impact on their own interests."

The incident also sparked discussion around the role of information sharing and disclosure. MANDIANT's Bejtlich argues that while mandatory reporting to a central critical infrastructure CIRT (Critical Incident Response Team) would be "a step in the right direction," he doesn't agree that public reporting will do much to improve critical infrastructure risk posture. "Public breach reporting isn't necessarily going to improve security within critical infrastructure. Since 2006 I've advocated creation of a National Digital Security Board to investigate important incidents. NDSB reports do not need to "name names" in order to have a positive impact on security."

Crawford says the concern still leans, in such incidents, to the PR damage that could be inflicted against the affected organization. "Overall, I think there is still far too much concern that disclosure will cost them the goodwill of the public, when in fact it would go far toward benefiting everyone by enabling many more who might be at risk to be better armed with valuable insight," says Crawford.

Not everyone agrees communication is a major part of the problem.

"The solution here is not better communications. There does need to be awareness amongst the critical infrastructure providers about the threat, but unless they've been living under a rock the last few years they know," says Anup Ghosh, CEO at security firm Invincea. "Providers need to upgrade their information systems and architecture to adequately address the threat from remote exploitation. In addition they need to understand conventional IT security defenses are no match for the threat, and the consequences of a hack demand much higher grade of security than the conventional."

Read more about critical infrastructure in CSOonline's Critical Infrastructure section.

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Tags Texassecurityphysical securityU.S. Department of Homeland SecurityProtecting Industrial Control SystemssoftwarePhysical Security | Critical InfrastructureRichard Bejtlichresearch directorUnited StatesSCADA

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The malware was updated to use FBI-themed alerts and encrypt backup files, researchers from ESET said

A ransomware threat that encrypts files stored on the SD memory cards of Android devices has been updated to target English-speaking users with FBI-themed alerts.

The malware app is called Simplocker and was first identified by security researchers from antivirus vendor ESET in early June. At the time it was the first malicious program for Android devices that used file encryption to extort money from victims.

The original variant was indicative of a work in progress and displayed ransom notes exclusively in Russian, but that has changed recently. Simplocker is now being sold on underground forums and actively distributed to users, so it's no longer just a proof of concept, the ESET security researchers said Tuesday in a blog post.

A new variant found recently displays a message to victims in English that masquerades as an alert from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation about illegal pornographic content being found on the device. The victims are instructed to pay a so-called fine of US$300 through a payment service called MoneyPak.

In addition to expanding the pool of potential victims by adding English language support, the new Simplocker version also has some other improvements, the ESET researchers said.

The previous list of file types encrypted by the malware included mostly images and documents. The new version also encrypts archive files with the .zip, .7z and .rar extensions.

"Many Android file backup tools (which we strongly recommend, by the way) store the backups as archive files," the ESET researchers said. "In case the user has become infected with Android/Simplocker.I, these backups will be encrypted as well."

So not only will users lose access to their documents and pictures, but they will be unable to restore them from backups stored on the same SD card.

The malware installer masquerades as a Flash video player application and requests to be granted device administrator permissions. This makes the new Simplocker much harder to remove once installed.

The good news is that Simplocker's authors haven't improved their encryption implementation, which relies on a hardcoded key and can therefore be undone. The new variant uses a different key than the original versions, but users are still able to recover their files without paying.

ESET has updated their free Simplocker Decryptor tool to add support for files encrypted by the new malware variant.

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Cybersecurity trends 2017: malicious machine learning, state-sponsored attacks, ransomware and malware

Vendors, hackers, banks, businesses, countries and shadowy state actors all seem locked in a perpetual game of cat and mouse

Cybersecurity was all over the news in 2016 - whether it was email breaches that compromised the Democrat campaign for the elections, or revelations towards the end of the year that planes were vulnerable to hacking through in-flight entertainment systems.

The British government boasted that it had the capabilities to launch cybersecurity offensives and was committing a huge chunk of its budget to developing these further. Yahoo suffered from an attack that potentially gained access to 1 billion accounts, the largest known breach of all time.

Vendors, hackers, banks, businesses, countries and shadowy state actors all seem locked in a perpetual game of cat and mouse - and highly sophisticated and organised malicious attackers seem to have the upper hand.

According to the experts, here are some of the cybersecurity nightmares organisations will have to wrangle with in 2017.

State-sponsored attacks

2016 saw plenty of allegations about political actors involved in assisting attacks - but the complication is when these are "state-sponsored". A state-sponsored attack could involve the government of any given country simply allowing attacks to occur with their knowledge, but doing nothing to stop them - or it could mean actively encouraging hacking groups or cybercriminals to launch attacks, but indirectly.

To complicate matters further, tracing the origin of most cyber attacks is extremely complicated - for example, the allegations against Russian president Vladimir Putin being involved in the Podesta email leaks, or other alleged interferences in the US election, are extremely difficult to prove.

Read more: Ex-CIA CTO: don't believe everything you hear about hacking

For example, the list of cited evidence in proving that Russia hacked the DNC is somewhat tenuous, according to some reports.

Adam Vincent, CEO for security company ThreatConnect, believes that a precedent was set in 2016 for the open involvement in state-sponsored cyber-offensive capabilities. He thinks this will spill over into 2017 - and could very well damage any businesses holding sensitive information that could be useful to governments.

"2017 will be a period of unfettered hacking activity," Vincent says. "Organisations with any strategically useful information, whether in the public or the private sector, must prepare themselves to deal with highly sophisticated phishing, infiltration, and data leaking campaigns."

Vincent also believes the British government's £1.9 billion cybersecurity budget announcement signifies a change in how governments publicly relate to cyber threats.

"We will see governments moving to block the negative effects of these attacks more proactively in 2017," Vincent says. "[In the UK] we are likely to see not just a reinforced 'national firewall' of defence mechanisms, but also a redoubled effort in terms of retaliation and retribution. We'll also see more collaboration between public and private organisations, as government bodies and enterprises look to benefit from shared information against mutual adversaries."

"We will begin to move towards a more unified national approach to cybersecurity based on information sharing communities", Vincent says, "rather than a fragmented, secretive, organisation-by-organisation approach."

Kaspersky Labs agrees that attribution will be a central issue to cyber threats in 2017.

"The pursuit of attribution could result in the risk of more criminal dumping infrastructure or proprietary tools on the open market," says Juan Andrs Guerrero-Saade, senior security expert for the global research and analysis team. "Or, opting for open-source and commercial malware - not to mention the widespread use of misdirection, generally known as false flags, to muddy the waters of attribution."

'Internet of Threats'

The things that we typically associate with cybersecurity are changing too - it's no longer just our computers and smartphones or other devices that provide potential access points for an attacker. As cities over the world embrace the internet of things - to create smart cities or other connected infrastructure projects - there are possible access points not just on our devices but in our homes and streets, and it takes just one weak link in a chain to compromise an entire network.

According to Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender, 2017 will see a "marked rise" in attacks on the internet of things for both individuals and organisations.

"As penetration of IoT devices in industry grows, so will the threats posed to security by their uncontrolled deployment and use," Cosoi says. "Personal IoT devices will also increasingly get carried across physical and logical security boundaries by employees, compounding the issues."

A particular problem is that many IoT devices are built with affordability in mind rather than with security baked in.

"As the market penetration of smart devices grows, the population of legacy devices which remain unpatched and thus vulnerable 'forever' will only grow," Cosoi explains. "This creates the possibility of crossover threats - as 60 percent of those surveyed keep private files in their PCs or laptops, which share the home network with smart devices."

Data integrity

According to the CTO for data protection at security company Gemalto, Jason Hart, 'data integrity' will continue to be a serious issue for businesses. The premise behind data integrity is that information can be accessed or modified only by authorised users - so a data integrity attack involves manipulating that data for other ends.

"Data integrity attacks are nothing new," Hart says. "But they remain under the radar of businesses who have an ever-increasing reliance on data, and make huge business decisions based on its analysis.

"The first generation of cyberattacks focused on stopping access to the data, which quickly moved on to stealing it," he explains. "Today we're seeing more evidence that the stolen data is being altered before transition, affecting all elements of operations. Data integrity attacks have the power to bring down an entire company - stock markets could be poisoned and collapsed by faulty data, the power grid and other IoT systems could be severely disrupted, and perhaps the greatest danger is that many of these could go undetected for years before the true damage reveals itself."

Machine learning

Intel Security's McAfee Threat Predictions for 2017 (PDF) notes that advances in technology are a neutral tool, and so while incredible developments in emerging technologies like machine learning should be welcomed, increasing accessibility will also make them available to cybercriminals. And for machine learning in particular,

Intel Security's Eric Peterson cites the Business Email Compromise scam - where individuals in companies are targeted through social engineering, and directed to fraudulently transfer money to bank accounts. There have been instances where the attacks have coincided with business travel dates for executives to increase the odds of the scam's success, Peterson says. Combine reams of publicly available data with already-available complex analysis tools and it is entirely possible, the company warns, that criminals could build malicious machine learning algorithms to pick targets more precisely and with greater levels of success.

"Looking to 2017 and beyond, we might even see purveyors of data theft offering 'Target Acquisition as a Service' built on machine learning algorithms," Peterson says. "We expect that the accessibility of machine learning will accelerate and sharpen social engineering attacks in 2017."

One strain of attack organisations have struggled to deal with over the last few years is ransomware - that hackers gain access to a business or individual's servers and encrypt the data. The hackers demand a ransom, typically something affordable enough for it to be less of a headache that an organisation pays, rather than going through the potentially arduous and more expensive processes of recovering the data through infrastructure safeguards.

Most security vendors say that the only way these attacks will stop is when organisations refuse to pay - but it's easy to understand from a company's perspective why coughing up the change might be the more appealing option. There are no guarantees, of course, that they will actually get the data back after the ransoms are paid - and there have been recorded incidents where law enforcement has permanently removed data dumps online, meaning it's lost forever,

Intel Security expects that ransomware will increasingly move into mobile.

"In 2017, we expect that mobile ransomware will continue to grow but the focus of malware authors will change," says Intel Security's Fernando Ruiz. "Because mobile devices are usually backed up to the cloud, the success of direct ransom payments to unlock devices is often limited."

This means that malware authors are likely to combine mobile device locks with other attacks, like credential theft. Android/Svpeng, for example, targeted banking credentials - and in 2017, trojans will probably turn towards mobile devices, mixing up device locks and other ransomware attacks with more typical man in the middle attacks, to steal primary and secondary authentication factors, Ruiz says, enabling access to bank accounts and credit cards.

Next steps

A report issued by Gartner in August 2016 found that there is a tendency to throw money at security - but this does not necessarily boost the effectiveness of an organisation's security.

In 'Identifying the Real Information Security Budget', Gartner found that spending analysis was often imprecise for more mature organisations, and although CISOs might feel compelled to check their budgets against industry standards, each organisation will have very different security needs - and so will define their budgets differently.

Gartner recommends that understanding and managing risk is at the core of delivering a successful security budget - spending might dip or swell depending on these risks, and that is to be expected when the threat landscape is naturally so volatile.

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January 24, 2017

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The Common Good Enterprise: An Alternative Name for an Emerging Sector

The for- and not-for-profit worlds are shifting. Then why not their operating models?

Submitted by: Jim Epstein and Alicia Epstein Korten

Posted: Dec 14, 2011 – 12:22 PM EST

Tags: csr, philanthropy, nonprofit, social enterprise, impact investing

 By Jim Epstein and Alicia Epstein Korten

As an investment manager and a member of the Gamble family that founded Procter & Gamble, I (Jim) am often asked to sit on nonprofit boards. Increasingly, I’ve grown more uncomfortable with the term not-for-profit to describe these organizations, some of which embrace business principles in their operations and outlook.

One such operation is Dance Place based in Washington, D.C., that is partly funded through the dance classes and performances they offer. Another is DC Greenworks, substantially funded through government contracts and fee-based installations of green roofs, rain gardens and rain barrels around the city.

A couple of years ago, I (Alicia) attended Net Impact’s annual conference. I knew going in that the majority of the audience would be young but was not prepared for the roughly 2,000 MBA students that crammed themselves into Cornell’s auditorium on that cold November weekend in upstate New York.

Only ten years earlier, I’d looked at getting an MBA—I remember picking through the slim offerings that blended business and social values in the curriculum. When one of the conference attendees told me that his girlfriend had been complaining that she had been assigned David Korten’s—my father—book When Corporations Rule the World, a tome on the pitfalls of companies that grow too large, yet again as part of her MBA program, I knew the world was indeed, changing.

While these may seem anecdotal, there are many signs that point to the birth of a new sector—one in which distinctions between the for-profit and the not-for-profit worlds are blurring.  Once upon a time business was about creating jobs and making a profit while civil society organizations were avenues to gave back to society beyond the simplicity of job creation and products.

In this new world, however, more and more businesses are championing social good values as part of their brand identity. They are talking openly about building healthy communities, providing workers with living wages, and producing sustainable products.  Conversely, civil society organizations are building business values into their operations and busy finding ways to generate revenue by selling goods and services.

The Private Sector is Going Social

Within the private sector, for example, there are now 476 companies generating $2.27 billion in revenue that are certified as benefit corporations, a designation given to businesses that meet specific environmental, social and governance criteria. B Lab is a not-for-profit organization that is aggressively leading the charge by creating a certification and auditing program that ensures companies maintain rigorous standards of social, environmental and economic accountability.

In fact, certification is now being followed by a tidal wave of state legislation giving such businesses legal jurisdiction as well as incentives.

Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Virginia are frontrunners, with each having recently passed legislation giving benefit corporations legal status.

Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan will likely follow in 2012. The passing of these bills is significant because they upend a body of law that states that corporations must consider shareholder value first before attending to the interests of other stakeholders, including communities, employees and the planet.

While the Nonprofit Sector is Adopting Business Principles

Changes are afoot among the civil society organizations as well, spurred in part by technology entrepreneurs who are grounding their philanthropy in business values. The Skoll Foundation funded by eBay mogul Jeffrey Skoll, for example, provides grantees flexible funding to develop aggressive engines of growth. Called resource engines, some grantees use the money to strengthen traditional models of fundraising.

Others yet are using the funding to build for-profit affiliates that help fund their work. “We can play on the entire keyboard,” explained Larry Brilliant, formerly Google.org’s CEO and now with the Skoll Global Threats Fund.

Intersection: Philanthropy … and Missions-Based Investing

Philanthropy, consequently, is increasingly turning to the investment world to strengthen its mission.  Confluence, a special project started by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, was started in August 2009 to build interest in mission-related investing. Already the group has 150 member foundations worth several billions in assets.

Interest in mission related investing among foundations spiked after the 2008 economic downturn.

While many foundations lost almost 40 percent of their endowment that year, those engaged in mission-related investing decreased in value by only 20 percent, according to Head of Confluence Dana Lanza.

"They had their money in mission-related investments off Wallstreet.  Some of the folks that were considered crackpots are being seen as innovators. Now, in 2011, foundations are truly embracing this strategy. People are saying, 'If I'm not doing some mission-related investing, I'm putting my portfolio at risk.'"

A Movement…

 There are a myriad of terms that capture elements of this new sector. Social enterprise, mission-driven business and social venture are but a few that aim to capture the blending of business principles with a mission.

While all these terms have value, we believe that it’s possible to better capture the richness of the emerging field, and communicate the power of these changes more effectively .

…. Or a New Operating System: The Common Good Enterprise

In our search for better vocabulary, Jim came across a largely neglected phrase that we would like to lift up from the shadows and bring center stage, i.e.: Common good enterprise.

We define common good enterprise as:

A for-profit or not-for-profit organization whose primary purpose is to promote the well-being of people, the planet and/or other living creatures.  The organization generates a percentage of its revenue through the sale of goods and services, and may receive grants and donations.

In part two, we will discuss why the term common good intuitively makes sense and discuss some of the emerging faces of this sector.

Readers: Is it time for a rejuvenated nomenclature?

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by CSRwire contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of CSRwire.

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Issuers of news releases and not csrwire are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content


text:
WATERBURY -- The Board of Regents for Higher Education agreed Thursday to borrow $118.5 million to fund 13 longstanding projects across its state universities, but not before asking lots of questions.

Board members, many not involved when the projects were made part of the defunct Connecticut State University system's master plan, expressed concern about the new 17-campus organization's ability to pay back so much debt if enrollment were to unexpectedly drop.

The projects include building what was described as a desperately needed 500-space parking garage at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, some repairs and upgrades to Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic and a new $82 million residence hall at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

More Information

On the list Capitol projects approved by the Board of Regents for Higher Education onThursday: At Western Connecticut State University: Westside Parking garage, $1.2 million; Litchfield Hall renovations, $9.1 million; minor capital projects, $1.4 million At Southern Connecticut State University: Brownell Hall Renovations, $3.2 million; atudent parking lot resurfacing, $494,000; North Campus Residence Hall upgrades, $3.3 million; minor capital projects, $1.1 million At Central Connecticut State University: New residence Hall, $81.9 million; new food service facility, $9.2 million; minor capitol projects, $800,000, At Eastern Connecticut State University: Minor capitol projects, $515,000; Occum Hall upgrades, $2 million; Shafer hall renovation design funds, $ $4.1 million.

All have been in the pipeline for some time and would be funded through the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority.

With Thursday's approval, some of the projects could get under way after the first of the year. In the case of the Western parking garage, the funds represent only design and planning, not construction. The new garage will replace a 171-space temporary gravel lot and another 125-space lot lost when the Visual and Performing Arts Center was built.

The four universities can't borrow the money on their own. They need approval of the Board of Regents, which came into existence a year ago and which met Thursday at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

William Bowes, chief financial officer for the board, told the panel that student fees and student housing rents are used to pay the loans back. The current practice is for fees charged at the campus level to cover 80 percent of a project cost. A separate system fee charged to students covers the remaining 20 percent.

Across the four universities, all full-time in-state students pay a system fee of $1,000 a year to retire debt costs.

That would go up 3 percent next year to fund the projects. The campus-specific fees range from $2,896 at Central, to $3,446 at Eastern. It is unclear how much they will go up.

Catherine Smith, a member of the board, called the capital list and the price tag substantial.

"Is all this critical?" she asked, noting that the price tag will essentially increase the board's debt by 50 percent.

Smith also wondered what other projects are coming up.

"The list gets longer every year," said Jack Miller, president at Central, who has been waiting seven-and-a-half years for a new dorm. He described it as critical to handling existing students. He said there are about 2,300 students living on campus now. The new dorm will add 670 beds.

Miller said the student population estimates used in determining the payback are conservative and largely based on students who already exist, not additional students.

"I think we are fine," Bowes assured the board.

Board member Michael Pollard said moving forward, he would like the regents board to draw up its own master plan and asked for information sessions to be held on future projects. The board was told that the staff is still in the process of inventorying all facilities on its campuses, which include not only the state universities, but 12 community colleges and the on-line Charter Oak College.

Only brief mention was made at the meeting of a pay raise scandal that caused two top regent officials to resign last week and forced a harsh spotlight on an agency that was formed last year by the Legislature at the urging of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy before an infrastructure for it could be built.

Lewis Robinson, the board chairman, said he feels as if the new organization is "drinking out of the fire hose as the water comes out fast and furious."

"What we're trying to do is sort out by priorities the things that must be addressed and deal with them not on an ad hoc basis, but thoughtfully in an approach that ends up with a policy and procedure that can be used with the next incident," Robinson said.

He said that a contract with former University of Connecticut President Philip Austin, tapped as interim president of the board, is still being negotiated. "We're both committed to getting it done properly, " Robinson said.

He expects Austin will begin by the end of next week, hit the ground running and help the new system regain ground in terms of trust. Robinson hopes the board can have a new permanent president in place this summer.

"It is a tight time frame but ... we need permanence and a steady hand to help us move forward," said Robinson. The agenda, to help students and strengthen the state work force, has not changed, he added.


text:
MILFORD -- A man who had been ordered by the court to stay away from his Bird Lane home was arrested there early Monday after he allegedly refused to leave and struck a police officer.

Jason Jacobs, 41, was arrested at 1:15 a.m. after a 911 call was placed from the home. He was held overnight on a $15,000 bond and is expected to be arraigned later today on charges of violating a protective order, disorderly conduct, assault on an officer and interfering with police.


text:
No iPad 3, No iPad HD. Just ‘The New iPad’ [iPad 3 Event]

The 'New iPad.' Photo Engadget
The 'New iPad.' Photo Engadget

Apple will no longer diffeentiate between the various iPad models, not by name at least. Starting today and going forward, iPads will be plain iPads, with no “1”, or “2”, or even “HD” suffix. When Tim Cook introduced the new iPad at today’s press event, he just called it “The new iPad.”

This makes a lot of sense. All of Apple’s other lines have only one name, with the exception of the iPhone. When you dig a little further you find that each model has its own code name for repair and other purposes, but it’s always something like “Late 2011 iMac 27 inch.” The most you’ll get out of Apple now is “third-generation iPad” when mentioned in promo videos. Expect that to fade away soon.

Numbers make some kind of sense for the iPhone. Most people are on a two-year contract cycle with their carriers. If they head to the AT&T store looking for a new phone, and all they see is a “iPhone,” then they may assume it’s the same they already have. Adding in the numbers — iPhone 4, iPhone 4S — tells them that something has changed.

For the iPad, though, sold without carrier subsidies or contracts, the numbers were always a little weird. Better to position the iPad as the computer it really is. And if you want further evidence that Tim Cook thinks of the iPad as a computer, and as the real future of Apple, note how he presented iPad sales at the start of the event. Cook showed a slide comparing iPad sales to PC sales. The iPad sold 15 million units last quarter. HP sold 15.1 PCs.

So that’s it. The iPad is finally a computer. Let’s just see if the PC tech press can stomach that.

Deals of the Day

  • Tallest_Skil

    Hopefully the iPhone 6 will just be the iPhone.

    Then the ‘iPhone 5’ nonsense will shut up once and for all.

  • Sean Shamus McCabe

    I’m still calling it the iPad 3

  • Skywaytraffic

    Coming from an Apple fanboy, this was a fucking idiotic decision. Are they going to start calling the iPad 2 “The Old iPad”? What happens when the next model comes out? How will they easily differentiate for the people who aren’t tech-inclined (aka the majority of consumers)? Bad, bad move. Man. I must admit, it might seem like a silly thing to gripe about, but this makes me pretty concerned about Apples future. Such a small thing could have a hugely negative impact.

  • xnickitynickx

    The entire computer line doesn’t differentiate like that.  Theres no MacBook 5 is there?  Not to mention, the iPods don’t do it either.  I think it’ll just shift to being differentiated by year.  So this is iPad (2012), much like MacBook Airs are MacBook Air (Early 2012)

  • Skywaytraffic

    Agreed, but no matter how much us techies want to make it so, tablets are NOT PCs (yet). I’ll give ya the iPod argument though. Fair enough. But iPods aren’t responsible for 76% of Apples revenue. iPads are. I think it’s dangerous to fool around with the ease of the average dumb-dumb consumer being able to pick which model they like best. That’s just an opinion though!

  • thenetizens

    The name “The New iPad” doesnt make sense at all. When you go to a store to buy a latest version, you would like to boast of it… imagine how would it be if it was iPad3 or iPad4G ?

    the new ipad name would have been better if all other older iPad versions have been discontinued atleast.

    Customer 1: I bought a new iPad for $499.
    Customer 2: I bought a new iPad for $399 only!! (a new ipad2) :P

  • Mike Rathjen

     Well I’m calling mine the iPad 4, so take that!

  • thenetizens

    atleast the naming system should be a marketing trick… something like iPhone3G and 3GS …

  • MacGoo

    But think about it: how can you “dumb” it down anymore than making it simply “iPad”? “Dumb” people are going to come in asking for the iPad. They won’t know which one they want. So giving the most current version that name makes sense.

  • MacHead84

    Im holding off for the New iPad 2, or maybe I can wait til the Newer iPad comes out

  • MacHead84

    Im holding off for the New iPad 2, or maybe I can wait til the Newer iPad comes out

  • Skywaytraffic

    I guess I just disagree. Having two “iPad”s that are different I think will confuse a lot of people. I think most people would find it easier just being asked “Oh well do you want an iPad 2 or 3”. Their brains will automatically know the higher number is better and they wouldn’t have to waste the employees time asking the differences and being concerned that they’re getting ripped off, etc. Again, just an opinion, but I see it causing major problems.

  • shoobe01

    It has always been stupid how they didn’t differentiate PCs, or iPods either. Oh, there’s a tediously long model number, which correlates to model “names” like “unibody, late 2005” descriptions, but it’s not productive. You don’t have to stamp it on the front or advertise, but give it a useful model name, somewhere.

  • Skywaytraffic

    I’ll wait until The Super Maximum New iPad comes out

  • 5?

    New iPad?  When I heard the new name or no name, I just realize the Steve Jobs era is really  gone….

  • Eduard Tiesto

    I totally agree with Netizens and  Erik before me. As long as they didn’t
    discontinue the iPad 2, calling the newer one just iPad is misleading
    and silly. From this
    point of view, the argument about iPad being a computer and all that also doesn’t
    stand. The reason they don’t call an MBP “MBP 1/2/3” is because they DISCONTINUE their
    current gen to make room for the next one. It’s just stupid to call “the old one the second” and have them both in production. Very un-Apple.

  • Mike Rathjen

    What’s wrong with “iPad MD369LL/A”? It practically rolls right off the tongue!

  • Laer Carroll

    It should be called an iPad 2.5 – NOT an iPad 3!

  • Jordan Clay

     This is exactly what I was thinking. I think the iPad 3 4G (but not all of them) would confuse even the tetchiest of people

  • Jordan Clay

     goes to show,  You can’t make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time.  It was a big update,

  • Crccomputer Brooklyn

    Excellent Product

  • Crccomputer Brooklyn

    Excellent Product

  • Daniel O Reilly

    agree…have to say, i was shocked by ‘the new iPad’ name and was waiting for a ‘Just one more thing moment….’. It just doesn’t seem to have been really thought through. Even the updated website doesn’t feel right. the clean cut, clear webpages have gone, replaced with ‘wordy’ pictures that take away from the usual stunning visuals. Then the new videos, all titled in “quote marks”….”Learn” etc.   Makes you realise how much control SJ really must have had! I hope they got it together and don’t become just another company!

  • Rachel Wynkoop

    Then what are they going to call the next iPad?

  • Todd Hensley

    I don’t care as long as they make it easier to figure out what version/generation you do have.  I have an older iPod touch, and I couldn’t remember what generation it was.  The etching is pretty much rubbed off of the back (not that it was ever very readable to begin with).  So determining it based off the etched serial/model number or whatever was out of the question.  The “about” screen isn’t as much help as you’d think it is.

  • James White

     That will simply be called the Maxi Pad.
    …hang on. No it won’t.

  • Sadie Heldberg

    As of tomorrow, Apple will be launching the iPad3 and I hope
    everyone pre-ordered the beautiful new step in innovation. I’m anxious to see
    the retina display in action and I’m sure many of you are as well, I can
    understand the debate that iPads are not laptops but I don’t think they are
    designed to be. More like the motor-vehicles version of the in-between known as
    the crossover. I have a few friends I work with at Dish who pre-ordered their
    iPad3s already while I am still using my iPad2 due to finances. The HD retina
    display and other features are insane from what I have read but seeing will be
    the true divine test. I travel for work so my iPad is my constant companion
    helping me to be on my toes with business and pleasure. The apps available are
    fantastic no matter which Pad; I’ve been using Dish Remote Access for my escape
    app. It live streams all my HD programming from my Dish Sling Adapter that connects
    to my DVR to my iPad2 with no limitations so movies are awesome for a delayed
    flight. With the release of the iPad3 happening tomorrow an excitement burns
    inside me just knowing the new technology has launched. New technology means
    advancement in the innovative world and that is constantly moving at a speed of
    light pace.


text:
Publicações científicas

Statistical parametric maps of (18)F-FDG PET and 3-D autoradiography in the rat brain: a cross-validation study

Prieto E [ES], Collantes M, Delgado M, Juri C, García-García L, Molinet F, Fernández-Valle ME, Pozo MA, Gago B, Martí-Climent JM [ES], Obeso JA, Peñuelas I. [ES]
Nuclear Medicine Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Av. Pío XII 36, 31008, Pamplona, Spain.

Revisão:European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

Data: 27/Ago/2011

Neurologia [ES] Medicina Nuclear [ES]

Although specific positron emission tomography (PET) scanners have been developed for small animals, spatial resolution remains one of the most critical technical limitations, particularly in the evaluation of the rodent brain. The purpose of the present study was to examine the reliability of voxel-based statistical analysis (Statistical Parametric Mapping, SPM) applied to (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET images of the rat brain, acquired on a small animal PET not specifically designed for rodents. The gold standard for the validation of the PET results was the autoradiography of the same animals acquired under the same physiological conditions, reconstructed as a 3-D volume and analysed using SPM.

Eleven rats were studied under two different conditions: conscious or under inhalatory anaesthesia during (18)F-FDG uptake. All animals were studied in vivo under both conditions in a dedicated small animal Philips MOSAIC PET scanner and magnetic resonance images were obtained for subsequent spatial processing. Then, rats were randomly assigned to a conscious or anaesthetized group for postmortem autoradiography, and slices from each animal were aligned and stacked to create a 3-D autoradiographic volume. Finally, differences in (18)F-FDG uptake between conscious and anaesthetized states were assessed from PET and autoradiography data by SPM analysis and results were compared.

SPM results of PET and 3-D autoradiography are in good agreement and led to the detection of consistent cortical differences between the conscious and anaesthetized groups, particularly in the bilateral somatosensory cortices. However, SPM analysis of 3-D autoradiography also highlighted differences in the thalamus that were not detected with PET.

This study demonstrates that any difference detected with SPM analysis of MOSAIC PET images of rat brain is detected also by the gold standard autoradiographic technique, confirming that this methodology provides reliable results, although partial volume effects might make it difficult to detect slight differences in small regions.

CITAÇÃO DO ARTIGO  Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2011 Aug 27

talvezlhe interesse

A Clínica é o hospital privado com maiores recursos tecnológicos de Espanha, tudo num único centro.

Imagen de un PET, tecnología de vanguardia en la Clínica Universidad de Navarra

Os profissionais da Clínica realizam um trabalho contínuo de investigação e formação, sempre em benefício do paciente.

Imagen profesionales de la Clínica Universidad de Navarra

Conheça porque é que somos diferentes em relação a outros centros sanitários. Qualidade, rapidez, comodidade e resultados.

Imagen del edificio de la Clínica Universidad de Navarra