Outsourcing Security: The Need,the Risks,the Providers,and the Process

Abstract

The securing of data and networks is vital for any organization, yet not all organizations have the resources to keep up with the latest security issues and threats. One option is to outsource the professionals needed to get the work done. Outsourcing is defined as contracting professionals from the outside to do services that are core or non-core to the business. Yet, outsourcing does have its risks. Allowing non-employees to manage key security operations can be scary. The decision is not an easy one, which is discussed here to allow security managers to make a more informed decision. This article discusses the need for outsourcing security, determining the risks, choosing a provider. and managing the process. The premise is that outsourcing can be used as a successful tool for saving an organization money by allowing outside providers to perform non-core competencies.     

The Farmer, the Fairies, and the Computers

Using a temporary substitution of format, the author offers a fairy tale to demonstrate that we can’t expect understanding when computers take the place of humans in our interactions with service providers.     

The Internet, the Web, and the Chaos

Dissecting the digital networking world into usefully distinct major components will benefit both the computing profession and the public.     

Jobs, trades, skills, and the profession

Is the reputed shortage of IT skills a political scam or is the computing profession itself at fault? The author considers IT professional responsibility and training issues.     

Optimal Algorithms for the Coverability, the Subword, the Containment, and the Equivalence Problems for Commutative Semigroups

In this paper, we present decision procedures for the coverability, the subword, the containment, and the equivalence problems for commutative semigroups. These procedures require at most space 2^c·n, where n is the size of the problem instance, and c is some problem independent constant. Furthermore, we show that the exponential space hardness of the above problems follows from the work of Mayr and Meyer. Thus, the presented algorithms are space optimal. Our results close the gap between the 2^{c′·n·log n} space upper bound, shown by Rackoff for the coverability problem and shown by Huynh for the containment and the equivalence problems, and the exponential space lower bound resulting from the corresponding bound for the uniform word problem established by Mayr and Meyer.     

Text-encoding, Theories of the Text, and the 'Work-Site'

This essay emerges from the recent debates in editorial theoryand, on the practical level, from a project for producing electronicscholarly editions. It reflects on the nature of text, exploresthe implications for text encoding in relation to recent debate,and outlines a methodology using stand-off markup within whichtext encoding can respond to the theoretically enunciated problems.     

Iterative rework: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Iterative development can take many forms, depending on the project's goals: iterative prototyping can help evolve a user interface. Agile development is a way to closely involve a prototypical customer in a process that might repeat daily. Incremental build lets developers produce weekly builds of an evolving product. A spiral model can help the team confront and mitigate risk in an evolving product. Each iteration involves a certain amount of rework to enhance and fix existing capabilities (the good). However, excessive rework could indicate problems in the requirements, the developers' skills and motivation, the development processes or technology used, or all of the above (the bad). Exorbitant levels of rework result in truly untenable situations (the ugly). On the other hand, too little rework could indicate insufficient review and testing or too little anticipation of the product features needed to support the next version (bad that can turn ugly). Understanding and correcting the root causes of problems that result from too much or too little rework can significantly increase productivity, quality, developer morale, and customer satisfaction.     

Uncertainty, prediction, and the unexpected

There is a common (and I think, accurate) perception that today's high-technology markets contain an irreducible amount of uncertainty. It's easy to explain part of this uncertainty. Few people are considered experts on many technologies. Thus, most high-tech watchers are frequently surprised, disappointed, and delighted by commercial developments in fields about which they know almost nothing. That said, more than just lack of expertise affects uncertainty. Uncertainty has comprised the industry zeitgeist for decades. Many young programmers living on Internet time may not believe that, but it's no less true today than it was in the past. Only the sources of uncertainty change in each era-the presence of uncertainty does not. Previously observers associated disruption and instability with the introduction of, for example, notebook computers, PDAs, networked computers, laser printers, PCs, minicomputers, or a range of other technologies     

At twenty years of age,the will reigns,at thirty,the wit; and at forty,the judgement

Abstract

To assess the subjective health status of day- and shift-working police officers, a questionnaire-based study was carried out All the day-workers had previous shift experience. To control the age factor the total population of 2659 shift-working and 1303 day-working police officers was divided into four ten-year age classes. Factor analysis revealed that all the symptoms included in the questionnaire could be grouped into six factors. The prevalence rates of complaints showed that four of these factors )autonomous symptoms, musculoskeletal symptoms, disturbance of appetite and indigestion, respiratory infections) were influenced by the main effects of age and shift work. Across all age classes the age-related changes in prevalence rates were strengthened by shift-work. In the other two factors (nervous symptoms, gastro-intestinal symptoms) an additional interaction effect could be observed. While the prevalence rates of the day-workers increased with age, those of the shift-workers decreased in the oldest age class. This drop of prevalence rates may be attributed to the influence of selection processes.     

从物到形——点、线、面、色彩和肌理的游戏

在传统构成课的基础上,探索和实践更具有趣味性、操作性和时代性的设计基础教学。通过一系列整合的课题设计,让同学们在自我探索与创造的空间里,打破传统思维方式,尝试用点、线、面、色彩和肌理,将一个真实物体从常态衍变到非常态的视觉形象。     

Security, wiretapping, and the Internet

In a move that is dangerous to network security, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking to extend the Communications for Law Enforcement Act to voice over IP. Such an extension poses national security risks.