NOTE: Words of Power explores the interdependence of security, sustainability and spirit. It monitors global risks and threats including global warming, terrorism, national disasters and health emergencies, cybercrime, economic espionage, etc. It also analyses issues and trends in the struggle for geopolitical hegemony, the pursuit of energy security and environmental security, the cultivation of human rights, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. Words of Power champions security, sustainability and spirit, both at work and in the home. The site has four components: Words of Power, which delivers in-depth commentary, and GS(3) Intelligence Briefing, which provides global risk-related news, are posted on an alternating, bi-weekly basis. Hard Rain Journal is posted daily, and provides updates and insights on developing stories. GS(3) Thunderbolts are posted as appropriate to deliver timely news on developing stories that require urgent attention. For more information on Richard Power, Words of Power and GS(3) Intelligence, go to www.wordsofpower.net
GS(3) Intel Brief 8-20-06: Climate Change, the Great Game, Cyber War & Corruption from China, Bosnia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Iberia, US & Pipelinistan
By Richard Power
Here are highlights from 14 items, including both news stories and op-ed pieces, from 11 diverse, international news sources: Reuters, Inter Press Service, Axis News (Eurasian Secret Service Daily Review), Agence France Presse, Asia Times Der Spiegel, Eurasianet, BBC, Associated Press, USA Today, and Government Computer News. They provide insight on important global issues and trends. In this briefing, the interdependent issues of global warming, energy security, environmental security, sustainability, and the struggle for geopolitical hegemony are featured. But corruption in business and government, improving life in developing countries, racism, cyber war, and destabilization of emerging nations are also explored.
(NOTE: I will continue to monitor developments in the Mexican presidential election, and post GS(3) Thunderbolts as I have twice already since 7-8-06. Likewise, if there is a significant development in regard to bird flu, I will post a Thunderbolt.)
Here is a summary. Longer excerpts and links follow below. Customized analysis is provided for clients.
Europe, Middle East & Africa
Special forces slid down ropes from helicopters to rescue Ethiopians stranded by floods on Friday, as river waters in the south surged anew threatening more devastation. Nearly 900 people have been killed and almost 50,000 marooned as heavy rains since early August burst river banks and sent devastating flash floods across the Horn of Africa country (Reuters, 8-18-06)
In just two weeks of the northern hemisphere's hottest month, fires raged through 36,000 hectares of forest in Portugal and 89,000 in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia. And history keeps on repeating itself every August in these two lands with similar languages, customs and geography….During the fires, something over two percent of Galicia's total surface area of three million hectares were in flames. Five hundred villages and a thousand homes scattered in the countryside had to be protected from the fires. (Inter Press Service, 8-14-06)
On 11th August, in the early hours of the morning, the tomb of Bosnia's wartime President Alija Izetbegovic in Sarajevo's Old Town was blown up. Although authorities have not identified yet any suspects, this may not be a simple separate vandalism act. Whoever the perpetrators of this criminal act may be, their motive was definitely to provoke the Muslim Bosnians and thus destabilise the country. Why did they choose exactly this period of time? Is the reason the forthcoming elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina or something less obvious and deeper....(Axis News (Eurasian Secret Service Daily Review), 8-14-06)
ASIA PACIFIC
Russia and the United States, and to an increasing degree China, have been locked in a bitter struggle for control of both Central Asia’s energy resources and export routes….Over the past year-and-a-half – since Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution and Uzbekistan’s Andijan events – Russia has seen its political influence in Central Asia rise dramatically at the expense of the United States….This turn of events has brought Moscow substantial economic advantages, underscored by Kazakhstan’s commitment in early April to significantly raise its oil exports via a Russian-controlled pipeline….(Eurasianet, 8-17-06)
At least 18 million people have been affected by China's worst drought in 50 years….The south-western region of Chongqing has been worst hit, but areas of Sichuan and Liaoning are also affected. In Chongqing there has been no rain for more than 70 days, and two-thirds of the rivers have dried up, Xinhua said. Residents in some mountain villages are having to walk up to 2km (1.25 miles) to get water….and Xinhua estimates the drought has caused economic losses of 11.74bn yuan ($1.24bn)....(BBC, 8-18-06)
"In India, corruption is under the table. In China, it is over the table, while in Indonesia corruption includes the table," it has been said….Javanese kings always ruled through a combination of intrigue, superstition and selective rewards….The arrival of democracy has resulted in greater corruption as each successive ruler has sought to cement his or her grip on the populace. (Asia Times, 8-19-06)
Americas
The first mass exodus of people fleeing the disastrous effects of climate change is not happening in low-lying Pacific islands but in the world's richest country, a US study said. "The first massive movement of climate refugees has been that of people away from the Gulf Coast of the United States," said the Earth Policy Institute, which has warned for years that climate change demands action now. (Agence France Press, 8-17-06)
In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, [New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin] said the hurricane "exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class." "And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response," the mayor said....(Associated Press, 8-18-06)
Brazil's new generation of cars and trucks adapted to run on alcohol has just hit the two-million mark, motor industry figures show. "Flex-fuel" vehicles, which run on any combination of ethanol and petrol, now make up 77% of the Brazilian market. (BBC News, 8-18-06)
Global
Oil and gas supplies are becoming scarcer and more expensive. The hunt for the world's remaining resources is creating new alliances and the danger of fresh conflicts. China is moving aggressively to sate its growing appetite for energy, potentially setting up a confrontation with the United States for the dwindling resources of the Middle East and Africa....(Der Spiegel, 8-18-06)
A global energy plan to be released by the World Bank next month risks squandering scarce resources on so-called clean coal technologies and misses bigger investments in renewable energy, but does address gaps in the energy needs of the poor, according to a new analysis by an environmental group. (Inter Press Service, 8-18-06)
The Netherlands is the rich nation that does the most to improve lives in developing countries, a Center for Global Development (CGD) report says.
The UK is 12th in the annual Commitment to Development Index of the world's 21 richest nations and Japan ranked last….(BBC News, 8-13-06)
Cyberspace
Maj. Gen. William Lord, director of information, services and integration in the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, today told an audience of civilian Air Force personnel attending the Air Force IT Conference that "China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from the NIPRNet. They're looking for your identity, so they can get into the network as you." (Government Computing News, 8-15-06)
Small, removable digital devices that can store massive amounts of sensitive data are becoming big headaches for companies and consumers. That is one of the conclusions of a survey released Tuesday. Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives, sometimes called thumb drives or flash drives, are major security concerns as more are lost or stolen, says security firm Vontu, which sponsored the survey. More than half of 484 tech professionals surveyed said USB drives contain confidential information that is unprotected. At least one USB drive with data is lost at work each month, according to 20% of those polled….(USA Today, 8-16-06)
Europe, Middle East & Africa
Special forces slid down ropes from helicopters to rescue Ethiopians stranded by floods on Friday, as river waters in the south surged anew threatening more devastation. Nearly 900 people have been killed and almost 50,000 marooned as heavy rains since early August burst river banks and sent devastating flash floods across the Horn of Africa country…."The death toll could run into thousands, because of the increasing flood waters that are surging from the river," Nakia Ankosia, a parliamentarian from the region, told Reuters. "It is impossible to look for dead bodies anymore. What we are trying to do is save the lives of people marooned.” Authorities say more rivers in the north, south, east and west have overflowed, and the country's major dams are filling to breaking point. Officials say heavy rains are likely to continue until September and spread flooding to other areas….Flash floods typically happen in the lowland areas when rains during the June-September rainy season drench Ethiopia's highlands. Flooding has been exacerbated by land cultivation, deforestation and overgrazing, aid agencies say.
Tsegaye Tadesse, Ethiopia struggles to aid 48,000 marooned by floods, Reuters, 8-18-06
In just two weeks of the northern hemisphere's hottest month, fires raged through 36,000 hectares of forest in Portugal and 89,000 in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia. And history keeps on repeating itself every August in these two lands with similar languages, customs and geography. From Jul. 31 to Aug. 14, fires in Portugal destroyed an area equivalent to four times the metropolitan area of Lisbon, and three times the 13,591 hectares consumed by fire from January through July. But the fires were far worse in Galicia, across the border in Spain, where at the end of the first fortnight of August the area reduced to ashes had gone from 2,241 hectares to 88,473 hectares -- in other words, 39 times more scorched land in two weeks than in the previous seven months….During the fires, something over two percent of Galicia's total surface area of three million hectares were in flames. Five hundred villages and a thousand homes scattered in the countryside had to be protected from the fires. Two women burned to death when they were trapped in their car by the fire, and 30 people have been arrested on suspicion of arson. So far this year, 50,000 hectares on mainland Portugal and her Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores have gone up in flames, according to figures released Thursday. In spite of this worrying information derived from the European Union's satellite-based European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the Portuguese government pointed out that the total burned area up to the end of July was less than one-sixth of the average for the same period in the last five years, when the area burned by fire averaged 90,000 hectares. Up to Jul. 31, the total area burned in the EU amounted to 64,500 hectares, "much less than" the 610,000 hectares which burned in the same period in 2005, said the EFFIS report, which did go on to say, however, that "the fire season is not yet over."
Mario de Queiroz, Summer Heat and Forest Fire Hell, Inter Press Service, 8-14-06
On 11th August, in the early hours of the morning, the tomb of Bosnia's wartime President Alija Izetbegovic in Sarajevo's Old Town was blown up. Although authorities have not identified yet any suspects, this may not be a simple separate vandalism act. Whoever the perpetrators of this criminal act may be, their motive was definitely to provoke the Muslim Bosnians and thus destabilise the country. Why did they choose exactly this period of time? Is the reason the forthcoming elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina or something less obvious and deeper....Throughout July, a series of different acts of intimidation occurred in Republika Srpska (RS). In Banja Luka, Trebinje and several other small towns in the east, shots were fired at a rebuilt mosque, hostile graffiti insulting Muslim Bosnians appeared on the walls of a sports stadium and a primary school, the house of famous Bosnian poet Nasiha Kapidzic was attacked, etc.
Whether there is a link between these events happened in the RS and the bomb attack on the grave of Alija Izetbegovic has not been proven. And to blame any members of either constituent nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina would be unfounded and illegal. However, all these events undeniably confirm the escalating tension in the country….The first and most obvious reason of the current tension in Bosnia-Herzegovina is the forthcoming elections on 1st October….However, to link every violent act in Bosnia-Herzegovina to the forthcoming elections would be a limited interpretation. The Serbian media has been trying hard to slander the Muslim Bosnians of having radical Islamist perspectives in the Balkans and being in touch with the Al-Qaeda….The main question is this: Are there some groups, who have the interest of turning the “Serbian Question” (definitely the most intriguing question after the “German Question” of the last century”) into an invented “Bosnian Question”?
Can Karpat, "Bosnian Question" or Re-Balkanisation of the Balkans, Axis News (Eurasian Secret Service Daily Review), 8-14-06
ASIA PACIFIC
The results of the August 15-17 Eurasian Economic Community summit have potentially profound ramifications for the geopolitical contest in Central Asia involving the region’s natural resources. The summiteers agreed to proceed with two projects – covering the creation of a customs union, as well as a common energy market – that could place Russia, the community’s dominant member, in a virtually unassailable economic position in Central Asia.
The summit brought together the leaders of the six EEC member states – Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – for discussions at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. Armenian and Ukrainian leaders attended the gathering as observers….it is the EEC’s energy intentions that would appear to have a greater, and more immediate potential impact on Central Asian geopolitics. Russia and the United States, and to an increasing degree China, have been locked in a bitter struggle for control of both Central Asia’s energy resources and export routes….Over the past year-and-a-half – since Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution and Uzbekistan’s Andijan events – Russia has seen its political influence in Central Asia rise dramatically at the expense of the United States….This turn of events has brought Moscow substantial economic advantages, underscored by Kazakhstan’s commitment in early April to significantly raise its oil exports via a Russian-controlled pipeline….The EEC energy initiative seems specifically designed to frustrate the US effort to reorient Central Asia toward South Asia. Details concerning the EEC initiative were scarce, however, as it was discussed behind closed doors at the summit. What is known is that Russia now seems intent on establishing control over the source of the region’s electricity-generating capacity – water.
Sergei Blagov and Igor Torbakov, EEC SUMMIT FOCUSES ON ENERGY, SECURITY AND FREE TRADE, Eurasianet, 8-17-06
At least 18 million people have been affected by China's worst drought in 50 years….The south-western region of Chongqing has been worst hit, but areas of Sichuan and Liaoning are also affected. In Chongqing there has been no rain for more than 70 days, and two-thirds of the rivers have dried up, Xinhua said. Residents in some mountain villages are having to walk up to 2km (1.25 miles) to get water. At least one person is said to have died from heatstroke, and Xinhua estimates the drought has caused economic losses of 11.74bn yuan ($1.24bn)....This drought is again affecting millions of people. According to Xinhua, 10m people in Sichuan, nearly 8m in Chongqing and 600,000 in Liaoning do not have enough access to drinking water at the moment. The problem has also affected huge areas of farmland, with crop failures and the death of cattle. The Sichuan meteorological bureau has forecast that the drought will continue, at least for the next few days.
Chinese drought affects millions, BBC, 8-18-06
"In India, corruption is under the table. In China, it is over the table, while in Indonesia corruption includes the table," it has been said….In India corruption is almost entirely a post-'70s phenomenon, with the country's politicians at the epicenter. While bureaucrats are also corrupt, they have derived strength from their political masters - indeed those working for relatively honest politicians are demonstrably less corrupt than the average, as well as being unhappy, presumably….If India's plural democracy has pushed corruption ahead, China's one-party state has not done much better. Ever since Deng Xiaoping issued his "to get rich is glorious" edict, the party has seized on many opportunities to make money. Whether it is the People's Liberation Army (PLA), whose suite of businesses rivaled any Western conglomerate (until president Jiang Zemin cracked down late in the '90s) or local party officials whose fingers appear in every urban development, taxpayers' money has been illegally channeled into the hands of politically connected individuals….Javanese kings always ruled through a combination of intrigue, superstition and selective rewards. This placed them on the same level as a dalang (puppeteer) in a wayang kulit (shadow puppet show), carefully controlling the movements of various puppets and introducing surprise changes to the script depending on the audience reaction. The last of the great "dalangs" was Suharto, whose use of his country's talented Chinese community reflected a genuine marriage of convenience….The arrival of democracy has resulted in greater corruption as each successive ruler has sought to cement his or her grip on the populace.
Chan Akya , The wages of corruption, Asia Times, 8-19-06
Americas
The first mass exodus of people fleeing the disastrous effects of climate change is not happening in low-lying Pacific islands but in the world's richest country, a US study said. "The first massive movement of climate refugees has been that of people away from the Gulf Coast of the United States," said the Earth Policy Institute, which has warned for years that climate change demands action now.
Institute president Lester Brown said that about a quarter of a million people who fled the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina a year ago must now be classed as "refugees" "Interestingly, the country to suffer the most damage from a hurricane is also primarily responsible for global warming," he said. The United States is the world's largest consumer of energy, but has refused to sign up to the Kyoto pact aimed at reducing emissions of gases that scientists say are to blame for heating up the Earth…. The flow of climate refugees to date numbers in the thousands, but if we do not quickly reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, it could one day number in the millions," Brown said.
The institute's study classed "climate refugees" as part of a larger group of people who have been forced from their homes by man-made environmental change such as overgrazing. "Overgrazing destroys the vegetation which leads then to local sandstorms ... we are looking at growing flows of environmental refugees in Africa, for example in Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania or Kenya," Brown told reporters. Millions of people in northern and western China have abandoned their villages as the land turns semi-arid because of overgrazing, the study said.
China is also the second biggest greenhouse-gas polluter after the United States thanks to the voracious rise in coal, gas and oil consumption to power its economic growth. The booming port city of Shanghai could be at risk of flooding from more ferocious typhoons linked to global warming as it is only a metre (three feet) above sea level, Brown said.
Jitendra Joshi, US Suffers World's First Climate Change Exodus: Study, Agence France Press, 8-17-06
In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, [New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin] said the hurricane "exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class." "And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response," the mayor said....While tens of billions of dollars in federal aid have flowed to Louisiana and other states devastated by Katrina, much of it has gone to developers and contractors, Nagin said. "Very little of those dollars have gotten to the local governments or to the people themselves," Nagin said. Katrina dispersed three-quarters of New Orleans' pre-hurricane population of about 460,000. Today, it's a city of about 250,000 people. Nagin suggested that Louisiana and federal officials would prefer the city remain smaller….."We are being strangled, and they're using the money to set local policies to try to take control of the city to do things that they had in mind all along, and that's to shrink the footprint, get a bunch of developers in the city, and try to do things in a different way," Nagin said. "We're not going to let that happen. They're going to give us our money, and we're going to rebuild this city."
Nagin: Racism, red tape slowed recovery, New Orleans mayor: Katrina response elsewhere would have been different, Associated Press, 8-18-06
Brazil's new generation of cars and trucks adapted to run on alcohol has just hit the two-million mark, motor industry figures show. "Flex-fuel" vehicles, which run on any combination of ethanol and petrol, now make up 77% of the Brazilian market. Brazil has pioneered the use of ethanol derived from sugar-cane as motor fuel Ethanol-driven cars have been on sale there for 25 years, but they have been enjoying a revival since flex-fuel models first appeared in March 2003. Just 48,200 flex-fuel cars were sold in Brazil in 2003, but the total had reached 1.2 million by the end of last year and had since topped two million, the Brazilian motor manufacturers' association Anfavea said.
Brazil's Alcohol Cars Hit 2 Million Mark, BBC News, 8-18-06
Global
Oil and gas supplies are becoming scarcer and more expensive. The hunt for the world's remaining resources is creating new alliances and the danger of fresh conflicts. China is moving aggressively to sate its growing appetite for energy, potentially setting up a confrontation with the United States for the dwindling resources of the Middle East and Africa....Obioku, a village in Nigeria, West Africa. At first glance, this is the end of the world -- and at second glance, even more so....It seems absurd that anyone should fight over this piece of the earth. But in recent months, hundreds have been killed here in the Niger delta. Rebels fight government troops and even demand the secession of the region from Lagos; they present ultimatums requesting billions from Shell, the Anglo-Dutch petroleum giant. Columns of smoke darken the sky where pipelines have been blown up. It's all about the petroleum that lies under the ground here in vast quantities -- petroleum of an especially light, sweetish, consumer-friendly variety....The Caucasian highlands, 70 kilometers (44 miles) southwest of the city of Vladikavkas in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia. Pipelines lie on the frozen ground in strangely twisted shapes, like modelling clay handled by an angry giant. Saboteurs destroyed the two gas pipelines that run through an almost deserted territory and towards Georgia at the end of January. The people in Georgia, whose energy supply is meagre anyhow, suffered the cold for more than a week, cut off from their most important energy source....Fatah, a giant petroleum refinery two hours northwest of Baghdad by car. After almost 20 major attacks in the past year, Iraq's largest oil production facility was closed for the entire month of December. Then, only three days after the re-opening of the complex in Beiji in January, insurgents attacked a convoy consisting of 60 oil trucks and engaged security forces in a firefight that lasted hours. Meanwhile, the number of attacks on oil installations and pipelines across the country continues to rise....Ideological trench fights over secure fuels aside, most reputable scientists agree that the historical "peak" of oil production will be reached in five to 10 years, despite improvements in drilling technology and the expansion of production to include oil shales and oil sands, which are difficult to process. From that point on, oil production will head downhill -- despite increasing worldwide demand....
Erich Follath, The Coming Conflict: Natural Resources are Fuelling a New Cold War, Der Spiegel, 8-18-06
A global energy plan to be released by the World Bank next month risks squandering scarce resources on so-called clean coal technologies and misses bigger investments in renewable energy, but does address gaps in the energy needs of the poor, according to a new analysis by an environmental group. World Bank officials will discuss the document, called the "Progress Report on the Investment Framework for Clean Energy and Development", later this month before it is placed on the agenda of the joint annual meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), next month in Singapore. A similar programme focusing on longer term country-level activities and global research will be completed by the Group of Eight most industrialised countries at their summit in Japan in 2008….When the first draft of the document came out at the spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, many observers said they were shocked by the lack of references to poor people. But analysts who have seen a leaked version of the latest report say that it now devotes considerable space to the needs of the 1.6 billion poor people, particularly in Africa and South Asia, who presently lack access to modern energy. The strategy's advocates inside the Bank say it goes a long way in dealing with environmental problems and climate change concerns….While acknowledging the improvements, the California-based watchdog group International Rivers Network (IRN) says that the plan misses "the double dividend of renewable energy" -- namely, combating climate change and reducing poverty. In a brief analysis of the document, IRN argues that clean technologies like wind, solar, modern biomass, geothermal and small hydropower are available locally, create jobs and have very low environmental impacts, and could better achieve this dividend. The group, which presses for wider adoption of renewable energy and fewer environmentally damaging mega-projects, faulted the Bank for prioritising "large regional hydro and thermal generation plants" as the appropriate way to provide energy access. "This recommendation mirrors the misguided priorities of the World Bank's energy sector lending, of which in 2005 only 10 percent was allocated to energy efficiency and new renewable energy projects," it said….The G8 are still promoting fossil fuel extraction in developing nations through international financial institutions such as the World Bank and export credit agencies. Environmental groups have often called on the G8 and the international institutions to phase in public finance for sustainable clean energy.
Emad Mekay, World Bank Plan Still Favours "Clean" Fossil Fuels, Inter Press Service, 8-18-06
The Netherlands is the rich nation that does the most to improve lives in developing countries, a Center for Global Development (CGD) report says.
The UK is 12th in the annual Commitment to Development Index of the world's 21 richest nations and Japan ranked last….The CGD's measures a broad number of factors for the index, rather than merely the amount of aid countries provide. It also examines several policy areas - such as trade investment migration and environment - while aid is measured not only in terms of quantity but as a share of its income and the quality of aid given.
While the Netherlands led the pack on generous investment and aid as well as measures to curb greenhouse gases, the CGD added they could work harder.
By contrast Japan ranked in last place due to a combination of factors including its low aid and high barriers to imports and migrants from poorer nations.
Meanwhile, despite the US giving the largest amount of aid that donation was the smallest in relation to the size of its economy. The CGD added that a lot of the money was also contingent on the purchase of US goods, and so was in fact a "backdoor subsidy for American interests".
"The lives of a billion people could be improved in the next decade if rich countries reform their trade, migration and investment policies," David Roodman, CGD researcher and chief architect of the CDI.
"Politically, these changes are difficult. However, if rich countries are truly committed to development, they could easily bear the short-term costs of the reforms and the spread of prosperity would serve the interests of all countries."
Netherlands 'Does Most for Poor', BBC News, 8-13-06
Cyberspace
Maj. Gen. William Lord, director of information, services and integration in the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, today told an audience of civilian Air Force personnel attending the Air Force IT Conference that "China has downloaded 10 to 20 terabytes of data from the NIPRNet. They're looking for your identity, so they can get into the network as you." Lord said that this is in accordance with the Chinese doctrine about the use of cyberspace in conflict. "We don't think they've gotten into the SIPRNet yet," [the classified GIG network], he said, "though we know they have [penetrated] the NIPRNet. There is a nation-state threat by the Chinese."
Lord said that the Air Force Research Laboratories are undertaking projects to mitigate the threat, possibly to look at offensive actions that could be launched, but "the rules of engagement have to changed before we're fully engaged in cyberspace."
Patience Wait, Chinese Military Seek Military ID Info, Government Computing News, 8-15-06
Small, removable digital devices that can store massive amounts of sensitive data are becoming big headaches for companies and consumers. That is one of the conclusions of a survey released Tuesday. Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives, sometimes called thumb drives or flash drives, are major security concerns as more are lost or stolen, says security firm Vontu, which sponsored the survey. More than half of 484 tech professionals surveyed said USB drives contain confidential information that is unprotected. At least one USB drive with data is lost at work each month, according to 20% of those polled….
Among recent incidents:
•The personal information of 6,500 current and former University of entucky students, including names, grades and Social Security numbers, was reported stolen May 26 after the theft of a professor's flash drive. The drive has not been recovered, and the university is re-evaluating its use of flash drives, spokesman Jay Blanton says.
•Flash drives holding sensitive and classified military information turned up for sale at a bazaar outside Bagram, Afghanistan, earlier this year. The Army does not know how they were lost and has tightened security for flash drives, Lt. Col. Thomas Collins said in an e-mail from Afghanistan.
•In October, Wilcox Memorial Hospital in Lihue, Hawaii, informed 120,000 current and former patients that a flash drive containing their personal information — names, addresses, Social Security numbers and identifying medical record numbers — was lost. It has yet to be recovered.
Jon Swartz, Small drives cause big problems, USA Today, 8-16-06
Richard Power is the founder of GS(3) Intelligence and http://www.wordsofpower.net. His work focuses on the inter-related issues of security, sustainability and spirit, and how to overcome the challenges of terrorism, cyber crime, global warming, health emergencies, natural disasters, etc. You can reach him via e-mail: richardpower@wordsofpower.net. For more information, go to www.wordsofpower.net
Global Warming Bosnia Ethiopia Sustainability Rivers China Central Asia Climate Change Environmental Security Africa Europe India Geopolitics, Indonesia, Energy Security, Katrina, Netherlands, Cyber War, Information Warfare, Corruption, Portugal, Spain
