"Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem.  That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily. ” – Thomas Szasz

 

Top Picks

Leveraging IT Controls to Improve IT Operating Performance

“This report studies how information technology (IT) controls impact operational performance. The study was designed to give IT audit and operations professionals empirical data about which IT controls have the biggest impact on operational performance, and about the effect of higher levels of IT control process maturity. The study did not look at how IT controls reduce risk, but instead focused on how IT controls that are often mandated by regulatory requirements also improve performance if implemented at sufficient levels of process maturity.”

http://www.theiia.org/research/research-reports/chronological-listing-research-reports/downloadable-research-reports/index.cfm?i=6751

[ Congratulations Dan and Kurt!!! Note – this is an 81 page PDF and is definitely worth your while to read.  There are lessons here for IT operations, security and audit professionals.]

 

Korean President Says Green Is the New Tech

“Its current weakness notwithstanding, Korea's economic growth has been miraculous. In a single generation, Korea has risen from one of the world's poorest countries to one of its wealthiest.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/48721/EXCLUSIVE-Korean-President-Says-Green-Is-the-New-Tech?tickers=KF,%5ESXK,%5EWWK,LPL,DELL,NOK

[Links to a brief five minute 40 second interview of Korea’s president discussing his views on Korea and it’s growth.  It’s interesting to hear him describe his country.  His mention of the importance of Green technologies is brief but he does do it three minutes into the interview.  He intends for Korea to be a leader in reducing environmental impact and climate change.  Thank you for sending this Scott! ]

 

U.S. at risk of cyberattacks, experts say

“The next large-scale military or terrorist attack on the United States, if and when it happens, may not involve airplanes or bombs or even intruders breaching American borders.  Instead, such an assault may be carried out in cyberspace by shadowy hackers half a world a way.”

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/18/cyber.warfare/index.html

 

Book Recommendation

The Dance of Change by Peter M. Senge                      

This follow on book to the Fifth Discipline is great.  I actually read this one first and was so impressed that I later went and bought the Fifth Discipline.

Learn more at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385493223?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385493223

The book has a website at:  http://www.fieldbook.com/DoC/DOC.html

The following is a review on LeadershipNow:  http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/9322-3.html

 

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter M. Senge

This book pre-dated The Dance of Change and was published in 1994.  It provides a additional perspective.

Learn more at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385472560?ie=UTF8&tag=georgespaffor-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385472560

The book has a web page at:  http://www.fieldbook.com/FDF/FDF.html

 

IT Audit / Internal Audit / Compliance

It Takes a Crisis

“Asked why an ethics problem inspired an IT solution, Kaeser says that ‘enforcement is key. It's not enough to fire people after something is detected; we must prevent it.’ Given that Siemens may process up to 40 million transactions a day during peak periods, even a beefed up internal auditing staff of 550 people can't be expected to catch everything.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11730452/c_11730537?f=insidecfo

 

Sarbanes-Oxley Upheld By Court as Constitutional

“An appeals court yesterday upheld the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, dismissing arguments that the government's attempt to protect investors from repeats of the scandals at Enron and WorldCom gave federal overseers unchecked power.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082202997.html?nav=rss_business

 

IT Process Improvement / Quality Management

Regarding Budget Cuts

“We are definitely in the midst of difficult economic times.  Corporations are being squeezed by higher increasing costs for commodities and transportation.  Consumers are being hit by rising food and fuel costs.  In reaction to these tough times businesses are taking their all-too-predictable short-term reaction – they are slashing IT budgets.”

https://swarm.jupitermedia.com/itsmwatch/2008/08/regarding-budget-cuts.html

 

Oracle looks to Utah for green data center

“Oracle Corp. plans to consolidate computing facilities from its many acquisitions in a remotely managed data center near Salt Lake City, partly to cut its second-largest data center cost: energy.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=knowledge_center&articleId=9112799&taxonomyId=1&intsrc=kc_feat

 

The Other Green

“For all the undeniable benefits of the information-technology revolution, it comes at a cost, or costs. The first is energy: U.S. data centers consumed 61 billion kilowatt hours in 2006, ten times the amount consumed by all residences and businesses in San Francisco. That in turn exacts an environmental price, with IT serving as an underappreciated but sizable contributor to Corporate America's collective carbon footprint.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11699435?f=FinancialSoftware081908

[This is a very interesting article.]

 

Security and Risk Management

We have the technology, but no security

“There is something deeply disquieting about the loss of the confidential records of tens of thousands of Britain's most prolific criminals, taken from the Police National Computer and put on to a memory stick.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4592322.ece

 

Criminals have now gone 'vishing'

“There are several variations of vishing scams. In one attack, a criminal calls via VoIP, spoofing the phone number so your caller ID displays the name and number of a reputable organization, such as a bank, store, government agency or website.”

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2008-08-21-vishing-criminal-attacks_N.htm?csp=34

FBI Posting on Vishing (02/23/2007):  http://www.fbi.gov/page2/feb07/vishing022307.htm

The Anatomy of a Vishing Scam:  http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/03/the_anatomy_of_a_vishing_scam_1.html

 

Survey: Mid-Sized Firms Shape Up for Security

“Most mid-sized U.S. firms rate information security as a higher priority than reducing business costs, according to research released this week by services specialist Arrow Electronics Inc.  The survey of 200 U.S. companies revealed that almost 80 percent of firms rate security as a top business issue, compared to 69 percent who cited ‘cost reduction,’ and 64 percent who listed improving customer service as their major concern.”

http://www.byteandswitch.com/document.asp?doc_id=162164&WT.svl=news2_1

 

FEMA Gets a Lesson in Security

“The attackers got in through a vulnerability in the Private Branch Exchange (PBX) (define) installed by FEMA's contractor during a recent phone system upgrade. They made calls to several countries, including Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and India. “

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3767316/FEMA+Gets+a+Lesson+in+Security.htm

[ Yet another great example of how change can introduce risks.  In this case, a change resulting in a security hole that was identified and exploited by hackers. The dollar cost is as high as the resulting embarrassment to FEMA considering this is their training center and one of the things they cover is security. ]

 

3 takeaways from security-flaw legal flap between MBTA, MIT students

“The case reignited the debate over responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities, sparking outrage within some parts of the security community that saw the gag order as a violation of the students' First Amendment rights, while other people said they thought the students should have given the MBTA more time to address the flaws before going public with them.  This week's ruling is likely to quiet that debate, at least temporarily. But there are some takeaways for IT and security managers from the entire episode.”

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9113284&intsrc=news_ts_head

[ This is a great article.  I really like the author’s three lessons learned. ]

 

Healthcare / Bio-Informatics / Care Delivery Organizations (CDOs)

Health IT Provision Added to Democratic Health Platform

“The Democratic Party has added a provision calling for widespread health IT adoption to its official health care platform, Modern Healthcare reports.”

http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2008/8/19/Health-IT-Provision-Added-to-Democratic-Health-Platform.aspx?topicID=54

 

Reduce Focus on Standards To Increase IT Adoption, Article Says

“Federal health IT efforts are too focused on standards and do not consider long-term medical outcome goals, according to an article published Tuesday on the Health Affairs Web site, Modern Healthcare reports.”

http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2008/8/19/Reduce-Focus-on-Standards-To-Increase-IT-Adoption-Article-Says.aspx?topicID=54

 

The Multi-Generational Healthcare IT Workforce

This CSC study identifies concerns that a significant amount of healthcare’s IT resources are approach retirement and many of them trailblazed the adoption of IT.  In other words, there is about to be a serious departure of knowledge and management needs to prepare for it.

http://www.csc.com/industries/healthservices/knowledgelibrary/5315.shtml?ref=feed

 

Human Error / Safety / Environment

Why US must invest against climate change

“Eight scientific organisations have urged the next US president to help protect the country from climate change by pushing for increased funding for research and forecasting. The organisations say about $2 trillion of US economic output could be hurt by storms, floods and droughts.”

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn14586-why-us-must-invest-against-climate-change.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news1_head_dn14586

 

Science news in brief: Melting ice opens ocean for traffic

“Rapidly melting ice in Alaska's Arctic is opening up a new navigable ocean in the extreme north, allowing oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships to venture into a realm once trolled mostly by indigenous hunters.”

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080824/NEWS07/808240434/1009/NEWS07

 

New Orleans repeating deadly levee mistakes

“In a year-long review of levee work here, The Associated Press has tracked a pattern of public misperception, political jockeying and legal fighting, along with economic and engineering miscalculations since Katrina, that threaten to make New Orleans the scene of another devastating flood.  Dozens of interviews with engineers, historians, policymakers and flood zone residents confirmed many have not learned from public policy mistakes made after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, which set the stage for Katrina; many mistakes are being repeated.”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-08-24-new-orleans-levees_N.htm?csp=34

 

Global News / Business / Economics

View from China

“Has China, and particularly the factory-rich region of the Pearl River Delta in southern China, lost its edge as a low-cost manufacturing base? Local industry associations report that more than 10,000 factories have closed down. Equal numbers of Taiwanese and Hong Kong factory-owners have fled the area, leaving behind shuttered plants, unpaid workers, and plenty of debt.”

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11699419/c_11730537?f=insidecfo

 

Economic Malaise Threatens To Undermine European Unity

“Europe is joining the United States and Japan in what is turning into First World economic malaise, leaving the still-healthy emerging giants of Asia and Latin America to sustain global growth for the first time.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102406.html?nav=rss_business/economy

 

US News / Business / Economics

Wireless recharging one step closer to reality

“Building off work unveiled last year by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, Intel Corp. demonstrated Thursday how to make a 60-watt light bulb glow from an energy source 3 feet away. “

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/22/wireless.power.ap/index.html

 

Seeing Red: Buffett, Others Clash On Danger Posed by U.S. Debt

“Two long-term views of the U.S. economy were on vivid display at a town hall meeting here Thursday night, with the world's richest person on one side and pretty much everybody else on the other.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082201905.html?nav=rss_business

 

Flextime Has Green Appeal And Lures Younger Workers

“They have replaced incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, cut the number of cars in their fleets and embraced hybrids. They have planted native grasses to cut down on lawn maintenance and, with it, fuel consumption. Now a growing number of businesses and state and local governments from Fairfax to Detroit to Salt Lake City are pondering a strategy for saving on utility costs and being kind to the environment: telling their workers, stay home.“

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082203053.html?nav=rss_business

 

Energy Policy:  political courage or hypocrisy

“Energy policy is back as a key area for debate. The question is whether energy will be priced to build in its scarcity, cost of production and environmental impact.”

http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=147&storyCode=2050693

 

Technology & Science

Some solar flares may be caused by dark matter

“Solar flares are sudden changes in the Sun's brightness thought to be caused when twisted magnetic fields on the Sun snap and reconnect explosively.  But they could also be caused by dark matter, the mysterious entity that makes up most of the universe's mass – if it is made up of theoretical particles called axions.”

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14588-some-solar-flares-may-be-caused-by-dark-matter.html

 

Virtual Viewpoint

“Even if you've never been to the Notre Dame cathedral, chances are you've seen plenty of pictures. But looking at a snapshot or two, or even a dozen, doesn't come close to giving you the feeling that you've actually been there, that you've walked around the place. Photosynth—a free photo-sharing service launched Thursday by Microsoft Live Labs—may just change the way you look at Notre Dame or the rest of the world.”

http://www.newsweek.com/id/154552?from=rss

 

Carts Ahead Of Horses

This article reviews how technology can sometimes be ahead of customers and create products for which there isn’t a market.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/08/21/mitra-ocarina-storage-tech-enter-cx_sm_0822mitra.html?feed=rss_technology

 

End Notes

The News is brought to you by George Spafford, Principal Consultant at Pepperweed Consulting, LLC.  Pepperweed is nationally recognized as a leader in IT Management Consulting.  For more information, check out our website at www.pepperweed.com or call 888-229-0145. Please let us know if you see stories you think should be included in the next issue of The News, and feel free to forward this email on to others.

 

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