(ISC)² Blog

PPI Scams in the UK and Ireland

PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) has been a hot potato in the UK for some years. There has long been widespread concern that the insurance, frequently added on to loans, mortgages and overdrafts, was frequently sold in circumstances inappropriate to the needs of the customer, while offering disproportionately large benefits to the lender/insurance provider (especially banks). In consequence, there has in recent years been pressure on financial institutions to review their sales practice and repay customers for mis-sold PPI services. In the last year or so, I've noticed an upsurge of nuisance messages relating to PPI rebates: these range from automated... Read more →

The PC is dead, long live the PC

If you have read news lately, you couldn’t have missed hearing how well the tablets, smart phones and smart TVs are selling, and how badly the PC market (excluding laptops) is doing. Many so called “futurists” have predicted the passing of the PC era. But is it really gone? Is the Personal Computer really dead, or are these just marketing gags? Being curious, I asked some friends what they use for their “computing” activities and how they use their devices. First of all, it is important to clarify who are my friends and what they do. My circle of friends... Read more →

Vulnerability disclosure: a new business model?

We all see in the mass media every day that software is vulnerable and that this is bad. But, few know what is happening behind the scene, until the news get out. There are two ways to disclosure a vulnerability: the most common one is to make a “full disclosure”, but there is also the “limited disclosure”. A full disclosure means that the details of a security vulnerability are disclosed to the large public, including details of the vulnerability and how to detect and exploit it. [Wikipedia] A limited disclosure is an alternative approach where full details of the vulnerability... Read more →

Safe & Secure Volunteer Presentation Tips

Happy New Year to all. As promised in my Dec 21 blog, here are some tips that I would like to pass on, from my experience presenting to four different middle school groups in October last year, from grades 5 through 8. Videos: Tailor your videos to the age group. The 5th grade group will relate much better to animation or more light hearted videos that still get the message acrosss, whereas 8th graders will relate better to more serious videos that relay messages in a more mature manner that does not make them feel that they are being approached... Read more →