Risky Business -- Re: [IP] IBM to Continuously Protect Information Stored on Laptops and Servers ...

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: August 27, 2005 10:54:54 AM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Risky Business -- Re: [IP] IBM to Continuously Protect  
Information Stored on Laptops and Servers ...



Dave,

Hackers, law enforcement, and Homeland Security will love this one.
All that handy data from individuals' and organizations' computers,
all neatly stored in central facilities not directly under the
original users' control.  I wonder how many people using this
feature will have any idea how the legal third-party access
standards differ for data that is stored remotely on other entities'
facilities?  Or what the other vulnerabilities might be?

Oh sure, it will be encrypted.  Trust the encryption.  Trust that the
implementation isn't flawed.  Trust that there are no backdoors.

Hackers will go after the system en masse.  Everyone from DHS to
local police to divorce lawyers -- warrants, court orders, and
secret PATRIOT actions in hand -- will demand access to the
centrally stored data, in many cases without notification to the
persons involved.

All neat and tidy, and all legal.  There are other remote backup
systems already in use, of course.  Similar risk sets essentially
exist with all of them.  But IBM, by making this environment much
more widely available and used, will instantly become the target of
most interest.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com or lauren@eepi.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
  - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com


 - - -


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
> Date: August 27, 2005 1:39:33 AM EDT
> To: undisclosed-recipient:;
> Subject: IBM to Continuously Protect Information Stored on Laptops
> and Servers; New Technology Delivers Real-Time, On Demand Data
> Protection
>
>
>
>       IBM to Continuously Protect Information Stored on Laptops and
>       Servers; New Technology Delivers Real-Time, On Demand Data
>       Protection
>       - Aug 26, 2005 06:00 AM (BusinessWire)
>
> ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 2005--IBM today announced
> new software that continuously protects information -- on laptops,
> desktop PCs and file servers -- from viruses, file corruption, or
> accidental deletion. The software, IBM Tivoli Continuous Data
> Protection for Files, is a "data safety net" that provides real-time
> back up for important information such as Word documents, MP3 files,
> digital photos, presentations, and spreadsheets containing sales and
> tax records.
>
>
> With people today more likely to be connected to a network through
> high-bandwidth wireless connections in coffee shops, parks and even
> entire cities, continuous backup of data is now practical. Previously,
> users have had to back up data through a scheduled backup session.
> With IBM's new software, it happens continuously with one simple
> package that can be installed on laptops, desktop PCs or enterprise
> file servers.
>
> ...
>
>       - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=51392719


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