GPS At Risk of Jamming… February 23, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in InfoSec & Privacy, weapons and tactics.Tags: Chris Mark, GPS, jamming, mark consulting group, privacy, security
add a comment
There is a good article on Foxnews about the risk of the GPS network. Our GPS network is a series of satellites that are geosynchronous orbit about 12,000 above Earth. Basically your GPS receiver receives a time code from three or more satellites and calculates the position by simple triangulation. The civilian satellites are ‘open’ and require not authentication and have no encryption although the military GPS can use encryption. According to Todd Humphries of the University of Texas: “The civil GPS signal’s completely open and vulnerable to a spoofing attack, because they have no authentication and no encryption,” … “It’s almost trivial to mimic those signals to imitate them and fool a GPS receiver into tracking your signals instead of the authentic ones.” If you consider how prevalent GPS has become it could clearly be a target for terrorists or others with bad intentions. In doing some basic research I found a number of GPS jammers on sale over the Internet for between $100US and $500US. It should be noted that GPS jammers are illegal in the US.
Playing in Mogadishu – The Dangers of False Security and the Value of Situational Awareness February 23, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Risk & Risk Management, weapons and tactics.Tags: Chris Mark, cybersecurity, mark consulting group, security, situational awareness, USMC, weapons
add a comment
UPDATE: This is a great video that shows the difficulty in reacting with a concealed weapon. Let me be clear, I am a proponent of the 2nd Amendment but I think that people place too much trust in their firearms without proper training.
Recently, I was discussing gun laws and other issues with some gentlemen with whom I used to work. I live in a state (Utah) that has very liberal gun laws and a LOT of people who carry concealed firearms. A short 4 hour class with no proficiency testing any adult that is a US Citizen without a felony can carry a concealed weapon in Utah. This is a scary proposition to many (including me). The men were talking with full confidence about how they feel more safe with their guns. They referenced a few situations in which some woman had been assaulted and stated with full confidence that if the women had been armed, the assault would not have occurred. I explained to them that it is more important to have situational awareness than it is to have a weapon. (more…)
Egypt States Position on Armed Guards and Weapons February 22, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security, weapons and tactics.Tags: armed security, Chris Mark, Egypt, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, markconsultinggroup.com, Piracy & Maritime Security, UK P&I
1 comment so far
UK P&I Club released a bulletin that outlines Egypt’s position on armed guards and weapons within Egypt and its waters. Below are the salient points of the letter received from the Egyptian Government:
“1) The Egyptian Government forbids the presence of any Weapons / Armed Guards on
board of commercial vessels as per the rules and regulations of the International Maritime Organization. (more…)
Armed Guards Kill Two Indian Fisherman- “…suspected to be pirates” February 21, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Industry News, Piracy & Maritime Security.Tags: Chris Mark, Enrica Lexie, italian navy, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, mark consulting group, Piracy & Maritime Security, pirates killed, pirates shot, security
2 comments
According to the Times of India, armed guard aboard an Italian merchant (Enrica Lexie) vessel shot and killed two Indian fisherman last night that they “…suspected to be pirates.” According to the Italian government, the vessel did not respond to warning lights. According to the Indian fisherman, no prior warning was given. Here is where it gets somewhat questionable: “Two fishermen in a boat were killed after guards onboard the Italian merchant vessel fired at them off Alapuzha coast last evening, suspecting them to be pirates.” While the facts are not yet public on what exactly happened, my personal view is that this particular episode is has serious issues. Based on other reports, the guards were members of the Italian navy and NOT private security. (more…)
With Privacy the Sum May Be Greater than the Parts February 17, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in InfoSec & Privacy, Risk & Risk Management.Tags: Chris Mark, data protection, mark consulting group, markconsultinggroup.com, privacy, Target
add a comment
Information Security can be described as the protection of data while privacy is defined as the appropriate use of data. Volumes of data is collected on all of us every day. Some of the data we voluntarily provide in exchange for additional benefits and services (airline mile programs, loyalty shopper programs, for example). Other data we unknowingly provide such as shopping history. Regardless, we expect the custodians of the data to use it appropriately and maintain privacy. Unfortunately, sometimes company’s pursuit of profits causes them to walk a very fine line as far as privacy is concerned. The following is an example of where a company arguably violated the tenets of privacy while possibly not violating any laws.
According to a story reported recently, Target figured out a teenage girl was pregnant from her shopping history and inadvertently told her family. The end result is that 1) Target knew (statistically they are right 90% of the time), and 2) Target, by sending pregnancy related coupons to the girl, informed her family that she was pregnant, without her knowledge or consent. Here is how it happened. (more…)
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 