“I Drive Your Truck” – Medal of Honor Recipient; Jared C. Monti November 7, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Army, AT&T, I Drive Your Truck, Jared Monti, Lee Bice, Medal of Honor, MOH, USMC
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Last night I was watching the Country Music Awards and they referenced one of my favorite songs; “I drive your truck” sung by Lee Bice. I always thought it was the work of fiction about a man’s brother or best friend. I was shocked when I learned that the song was actually written about a Soldier that died trying to save his men and who was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor. Jared C. Monti is a true American Hero. (more…)
Dr. Janina Dallas Bans Army Vet Parent from Daughter’s School November 5, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: 2nd amendment, Army Vet, Concealed Weapons Permit, Dr. Dallas, Foxnews, Janina Dallas, McBean
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As a Marine and Navy veteran who supports the 2nd Amendment, I am particularly disturbed by this story. Dr. Janina Dallas, who is principal McBean Elementary School in Georgia, has banned a student’s mother from the school because the mother is 1) an Army vet and 2) has a concealed weapons permit. According to news reports, the Principal said that she was ‘scared’ of the parent for the reasons above and actually had a ‘no trespassing order’ filed against the mother. It is beyond the pale to believe that a principal who was named the “high performance principal” by the Georgia DOE would take such actions against a law abiding citizen and a veteran. SHAME on the school and SHAME on Ms. Dallas! You can email Ms. Dallas directly here: dallaja@rcboe.org or call the school and voice your opinion by calling this number: 706-592-3723
How to choose a VPN that will protect your privacy (Guest Post by IVPN) June 2, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: cybercrime, cybersecurity, data protection, data security, online privacy, privacy, VPN
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This article is written by Christopher Reynolds, head of business development at IVPN – a VPN service, and EFF member, dedicated to protecting users’ online privacy. I don’t often allow guest posts but Mr. Reynolds and IVPN have done a great job of providing valuable info. Certainly worth taking a look!
Online privacy is coming under increasing attack from governments around the world. Legislation such as CISPA in the US, the CCDP in the UK and Australia’s data retention proposals, have generated real worry among privacy-conscious internet users over our law enforcement’s desire to increase their powers of surveillance to unprecedented levels. This culture of fear is driving more and more people toward commercial Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which promise to protect user data and offer online anonymity. But choosing a VPN that actually protects privacy is not straightforward. In this blog post I will go over the key issues you must consider before signing up to any VPN service.
Data retention
The biggest issue when it comes to using a VPN in order to protect your privacy is data retention. Government surveillance is primarily facilitated by the data retention policies of your ISP. In Europe your ISP’s data retention policy is mandated by the EU Data Retention Directive, which forces all European ISPs to retain users’ personal information for between 6 months and 2 years after the user leaves the ISP’s service. This data includes web logs, which essentially means a record of every website you’ve visited and the times you visited them. The data your ISP holds won’t typically contain email logs – despite popular perception- unless you use your ISPs own email service. But it will include which third party email services you use and when you’ve used them. (more…)
Article on Force Reconnaissance by Major Brad Carr May 27, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: brad carr, force reconnaissance, MAGTAF, Marine Recon, MARSOC, SOTG, USMC
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An old friend, and Marine I served with, has recently published an article in the Marine Corps Gazette on Force Reconnaissance. The article gives a great overview of the value of Force Reconnaissance to the commander. You can read the article here.
On this Memorial Day please don’t forget to remember those who have paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
“Do as I say, Not as I do”…General Services Administration (GSA) Exposes Personal Data March 16, 2013
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: cyber security directive 23, cybersecurity, data breach, data security, GSA, InfoSec, SAM
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The infamous GSA, who in 2012, was identified for gross fraud, waste, and abuse, sent an email today disclosing to me, and every other company that has participated in Government contracting that the System for Award Management (SAM) system had a vulnerability that exposed sensitive data. Here is a copy of the email I recieved today: (bold is my emphasis)..Before I go into more detail, I would personally like to thank the GSA for exposing my bank account data and SS# through their blind incompetence. At least they “apologized” in their email.
Dear SAM user
The General Services Administration (GSA) recently has identified a security vulnerability in the System for Award Management (SAM), which is part of the cross-government Integrated Award Environment (IAE) managed by GSA. Registered SAM users with entity administrator rights and delegated entity registration rights had the ability to view any entity’s registration information, including both public and non-public data at all sensitivity levels.
Immediately after the vulnerability was identified, GSA implemented a software patch to close this exposure. As a precaution, GSA is taking proactive steps to protect and inform SAM users.
The data contained identifying information including names, taxpayer identification numbers (TINs), marketing partner information numbers and bank account information. As a result, information identifiable with your entity registered in SAM was potentially viewable to others.
Registrants using their social security numbers instead of a TIN for purposes of doing business with the federal government may be at greater risk for potential identity theft. These registrants will receive a separate email communication regarding credit monitoring resources available to them at no charge.
In the meantime, we wanted you to be aware of certain steps that all SAM users may want to take to protect against identity theft and financial loss. Specific information is available at www.gsa.gov/samsecurity. If you would like additional background or have questions, you may call 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636), from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (ET), Monday-Friday starting Monday, March 18. We recommend that you monitor your bank accounts and notify your financial institution immediately if you find any discrepancies.
We apologize for any inconvenience or concern this situation may cause. We believe it is important for you to be fully informed of any potential risk resulting from this situation. The security of your information is a critical priority to this agency and we are working to ensure the system remains secure. We will keep you apprised of any further developments.”
Interestingly, the FAQ posted on their website does not indicate how long the data was exposed. Since SAM went into effect over a year ago, I am guessing that the vulnerability had been in place for at least a year.
Maybe, just maybe, instead of sending GSA employees to ‘cooking class’, and funding parties in Hawaii, the Federal Government should focus on protecting the data to which it is entrusted. The Federal Government recently passed a CyberSecurity directive…again, maybe they should focus on cleaning their own house.
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 