*IBM Corp. has worked with the City of Cambridge inOntario to introduce new intelligence systems for infrastructure managementthat will help municipal workers monitor infrastructure projects across thecity in real time, making Cambridge the first municipality in Canada to berecognized by IBM as a smarter city. The technology allows staff to identifysafety issues on roads and sidewalks and effectively organize and route thisinformation to crews to ensure timely and complete response. The new systemwill be mainly used by Transportation and Public Works staff with a view toexpanding it to other areas in the future. The Government of Canada contributedover $978,700 towards this project through the federal Gas Tax Fund. The Cityof Cambridge also invested approximately $703,000 towards the project, whichincluded training, work management systems and Global Information Systems (GIS)technology development.
*Kaspersky Lab reports an android SMS Trojan is nowbeing delivered to Android users via SEO techniques. Writing for the Russiansecurity software vendor, researcher Denis Maslennikov said Android userssearching for pornography on their smart phones could be in for a costlysurprise. During the course of researching the origin for the first SMS Trojanfor Android devices, Maslennikov found a new Android package masquerading as aporn media player but which instead sends SMS messages to premium rate numbers.The SMS messages cost $6 each and are sent silently in the background withoutthe user's knowledge. The latest Android malware (detected asTrojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.b) is being distributed via clever searchengine optimization (SEO) techniques, a clear sign that cyber-criminals aremaking every effort to infect mobile devices. Maslennikov said the use of SEOis a significant development that confirms Kaspersky’s belief that mobilemalware – especially on Android devices – is a potentially lucrative businessfor malicious hackers. The fake porn player does not have a user interface.Once installed, it simply drops an icon (an adult-themed photograph) on thesmart phone's screen and starts sending premium SMS messages without the user'sknowledge whenever the app is launched. The malware is not available in theofficial Android app store. It is being distributed via Web sites but, with thesearch engine optimization techniques being used, there is a likelihood this isinfecting a lot of users.
*No Panic Computing president and CEO Larry Keatinghas been recognized as a Privacy by Design (PbD) Ambassador by the Information& Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Ann Cavoukian. PbD Ambassadors advocate that privacy bebuilt directly into systems from the outset, making privacy protection anorganization's default mode of operation.Privacy by Design is a concept that was developed by Dr. Cavoukian toaddress the ever-growing and systemic effects of Information and CommunicationTechnologies, and of large-scale networked data systems. Privacy by Designasserts that the future of privacy cannot be assured solely by compliance withlegislation and regulatory frameworks; rather, the protection of individuals’personal information must become an organization’s default mode of operation. Aspresident and CEO of No Panic Computing, Larry has partnered with Intel, HP andIron Mountain to introduce an industry-first Notebooks-as-a-Service solutionwith a data centre professionally-managed laptop.
*01 Communique Laboratory Inc. has filed a lawsuitin the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, AlexandriaDivision, against LogMeIn Inc. and Dell Inc. 01 Communique is alleging that theinfringed products include, but aren’t limited to LogMeIn Free, LogMeIn Pro2and LogMeIn Ignition and for Dell, Dell Remote Access. The company is seekingpast and future damages, in addition to damages for willful infringement andinjunctive relief. In other related news, 01 Communique is also in the midst ofundergoing a patent litigation with Citrix Systems, which found thereaffirmation of the patentability of all of 01 Communique’s claims that weresubject to the re-examination process. Citrix has since filed its notice ofappeal for this decision.
