Counterfeit and Fraud

The subjects of counterfeit and fraud have risen in popularity since the introduction of the Euro. While the notes are incredibly sophisticated, incorporating the most advanced technical features in the field of currency creation, the initial phase of unfamiliarity will raise the likelihood of people receiving and passing on counterfeits. Indeed, European Commissioner, Michaele Schreyer has warned that exceptional measures need to be taken to prevent 2002 becoming “the year of the counterfeiters”. In cooperation with the central banks of member states, the European Central Bank will coordinate a database on coin and note counterfeiting, to be used worldwide. The European Anti_Fraud Office (Olaf) will be the conduit of information exchange on the counterfeiting of the Euro. In addition, a European scientific and technical centre will be established to analyze every kind of fake Euro. Europol, the European police organization (www.europol.net), will serve as the coordinating anchor of all national anti_counterfeiting agencies, while Interpol will operate a special Euro file, which will register organized networks and independent counterfeiters operating in Europe, becoming the world reference in this field.     

Back to Basics

I have never met Wayne Summers of the Computer Science Faculty, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas. Working in the arid desert air, he runs an excellent website (http://jaring.nmhu.edu/) that could really be described as a community service to those of us trying to keep abreast of the subject.     

What’s in a Name?

It was a cold winter’s night in 1991. After a long, difficult day in work I decided to have an early night. ‘Yep’, I said to my husband Brian at about 9 pm, ‘I’m going to bed with Clifford Stoll.’ Only being a few months’ married I was quick to clarify this by adding, ‘His Cuckoo’s Egg, that is.’ Hence the fascination began. I wanted to catch Markus Hess just as badly as Clifford Stoll did. I became Clifford Stoll’s doppelganger. I was with him every step of the way, checking those printouts and examining those logs. I was on call, waiting for that bleeper to go off. (This temporary aberration only lasted whilst reading the book)! The interesting thing is that I never once thought of Markus Hess as being ingenious let alone clever. I was more enthralled by the ingenuity of the pursuer rather than the dogged persistence of the pursued.     

Why the Dickens is IP So Important?

Not only is the protection of intellectual property (IP) an important issue, but it is vitally important to security for all those involved in E-business. Tradition has it that the mogul emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal instructed his soldiers to chop off the hands of the craftsmen who built it, so that another monument like it could never be recreated. Many centuries have passed since this apparently extreme case of protecting ones creation and terms like ‘copyright’ and ‘intellectual property’ are well established.