I just ran across a few quotes by Edith Wharton, all of which are quite good. This one seemed most appropriate to security:
Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one.
Oh, how we always used to talk about hardening boxes.
Pakistan has promulgated the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, 2008 (Ordinance No. IX of 2008). Note the death penalty is specifically mentioned for certain electronic crimes, such as terroristic acts, as explained here:
Explanation 2.- For the purposes of this section the expression “terroristic act” includes, but is not limited to,-
(a) altering by addition, deletion, or change or attempting to alter information that may result in the imminent injury, sickness, or death to any segment of the population;
(b) transmission or attempted transmission of a harmful program with the purpose of substantially disrupting or disabling any computer network operated by the Government or any public entity;
(c) aiding the commission of or attempting to aid the commission of an act of violence against the sovereignty of Pakistan, whether or not the commission of such act of violence is actually completed; or
(d) stealing or copying, or attempting to steal or copy, or secure classified information or data necessary to manufacture any form of chemical, biological or nuclear weapon, or any other weapon of mass destruction.
(2) Whoever commits the offence of cyber terrorism and causes death of anyperson shall be punishable with death or imprisonment for life, and with fine and in any other case he shall be punishable with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, or with fine not less than ten-million rupees, or with both.
This is the first time I have seen death as a penalty for committing electronic crime. One might think that the existing laws would cover maximum penalties for causing death, but apparently Pakistan wanted to write it into the text itself.
NYTimes.com highlights a secret mission authorized by Bush to attack Al Qaeda anywhere in the world:
These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States.
This immediately begs a question of why full-scale conventional war is still being pursued as the primary option if covert operations are more effective at eliminating the enemy. Even more to the point, this is exactly what many people (even Tom Clancy, if you follow Rogue Spear) advocated as the next natural order of international security.
Perhaps most interesting, however, is the obvious connection to the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. I speculated at the time that the US was destabilizing the Somali government specifically to ensure America would able to continue military operations there without requiring approval or facing political resistance (e.g. pesky laws and notions of sovereignty). This seemed eerily similar to French and South African military strategy in Africa. The NY Times has confirmed this:
For example, shortly after Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia in late 2006 to dislodge an Islamist regime in Mogadishu, the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command quietly sent operatives and AC-130 gunships to an airstrip near the Ethiopian town of Dire Dawa. From there, members of a classified unit called Task Force 88 crossed repeatedly into Somalia to hunt senior members of a Qaeda cell believed to be responsible for the 1998 American Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
At the time, American officials said Special Operations troops were operating under a classified directive authorizing the military to kill or capture Qaeda operatives if failure to act quickly would mean the United States had lost a “fleeting opportunity” to neutralize the enemy.
Occasionally, the officials said, Special Operations troops would land in Somalia to assess the strikes’ results. On Jan. 7, 2007, an AC-130 struck an isolated fishing village near the Kenyan border, and within hours, American commandos and Ethiopian troops were examining the rubble to determine whether any Qaeda operatives had been killed.
Although a stable Somalia would be good for the people living there, good for the stability of the Horn of Africa, and even good for the safety and security of the shipping trades along the coast including petroleum from the Gulf, the current US administration clearly preferred the option of extra-legal and covert control of the region to eliminate a few operatives.
I just found out I was mentioned in the Oct 22nd San Jose Mercury News:
Payment Card Industry Security Vendor Alliance
The Fremont company that assists members of the payment card industry appointed Davi Ottenheimer to its board of directors. Currently, he serves at ArcSight.