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**** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes **** NewsBytes ****
Firefox's phish foil
The latest beta test of Mozilla's Firefox is version 2 and by default it turns on an anti-phishing tool (similar to Microsoft's impending IE7) to check that pages about to be opened are not on a list of known phishing sites; potentially unsafe pages throw up a user prompt. Also featured is a better support for RSS news feeds and previews, plus the option to take a feed as a web service, via a news reader, or using Firefox's Live Bookmarks. Version 2 is intended for independent developers to input technical feedback and, while the official release date of Q3 2006 has passed, it's worth noting that the roadmap shows the current Firefox 1.5 series ends its 'life' in Q1 2007.
AOL bowls a googly
Imagine you could see all the searches made by Google visitors. Interesting stuff,
which Google do indeed record and store. Now imagine what marketers would do with all those search results and you're probably thinking it's fortunate that all the data is kept private. Until last month that is, when tens of millions of such queries were publicly released by AOL, which offers the Google engine to its own members. The inclusion of a user-id meant that potential researchers could more or less track searches down to an individual with a severe impact on the privacy of AOL users. The site was soon taken down following an outburst of complaints, but as with anything on the Internet, previous visitors had soon posted up the full dataset again. More on Google Blogoscoped
Free charity ads on Google
Search company Google is offering free advertising to UK registered charities through its commercially-successful Adwords programme. Yet another beta in the giant's current line-up, Adwords is available under the Google Grants UK beta programme and gives account owners great detail on where ad click-throughs are most efficient, allowing them to fine tune keywords and text to attract the most traffic to their sites. Google Grants applications are decided every quarter and take a maximum of 6 months to process. Applicants must be registered with the Charity Commission and should be familiar with the number of page views of impressions their site receives. It also helps to have an understanding of Adwords.
http://www.google.co.uk/grants/
Good time to update QuickTime
As a reminder that not all critical updates are served automatically, the latest security alert is for Apple's QuickTime player running on both Mac OS X and Windows systems. The multiple vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to run harmful programs on affected machines. Find more about the security content of the QuickTime 7.1.3 update which is the preferred solution. Don't forget to check other players and applications installed on your computer regularly.
Reaching the 'Notspots'
Those organisations with Flash-bedecked web sites or pages containing weighty graphics might spare a thought for their potential audience that are still on dial-up - an equally weighty 27.4% of all UK Internet connections, in fact, as recorded by the Office for national Statistics as of June 2006.
National Statistics: Internet connectivity June 2006. Also see Notspots: A study of Britain's broadband-free areas (executive summary only)
Top 10 IT mistakes
An excellent short article at ZDNet that highlights the mistakes made even by IT professionals, including clangers like no backup and disaster recovery plan, no IT documentation, not installing critical updates and, to cap it all, believing you are indispensable. Fortunately we have most of these covered for clients but the list highlights areas like "Save time and money by putting off upgrades" that only an end-user organisation can action. Check out the list:
10 most foolish mistakes of IT pros
Workshops tackle online fundraising
If you still have not dipped your toes in the waters of online fundraising, then the Charities Aid Foundation's offering of a series of Autumn workshops may be just the thing to get started with. Aimed at small and mid-sized charities, highlights are advice on recruiting online donors, how to promote on the web, case studies and performance analysis. The one-day workshops take place on:
at a VAT-exempt cost of £100 per delegate.
Details and booking
63% of VCOs held back by lack of IT funds
According to a survey by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Hub and the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (WCIT), a massive 88% of VCOs rated their planned IT spend as inadequate and 63% cited a funding shortfall as preventing them from making better use of IT, yet almost all were unanimous that IT was very important to their administration, finance or communications. WCIT’s operations director David Edwards, said: "The voluntary sector clearly recognises the need to invest more in IT in order to improve both internal efficiency and the quality of service delivery."
WCIT/ICT survey in full
IT hot topics free seminar
The well-known nfpSynergy seminars for charities kicks off with another stimulating free seminar on IT and Internet issues and hot topics relevant to voluntary and community organisations on Thursday 9th November. Check out previous seminars from 7th September which covered interactive fundraising and using sound to promote an organisation.
**** end of NewsBytes ****
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1. RIP opens in private communications
The six-year-old Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act rears its head again and may drive a horse and cart through attempts to keep your encrypted data private. | ||
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People using any sort of computing device us are increasingly turning to encryption of information in their communications with colleagues and friends. Gone is the once widely-held perception that plain text emails and files are only sent and stored exactly where the owner intends. Security is the problem, secrecy is becoming the solution. The drivers behind the move are:
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act is potentially about to steam roller that right to privacy in a fundamentally new way by requiring IT managers (and those responsible for IT) to produce encryption keys on demand; failure to comply would be illegal. Suspicion that some encrypted data might hold information pertinent to government investigations (defined as "serious crime") could lead to a demand by police officers to surrender not just the data but the encryption keys. Compare that to fetching documents out of a safe versus handing over the combination to all its contents and it's easy to see why human rights advocates are up in arms. LOTR or lottery?After all, few administrators employ a unique password to secure every new piece of information they come across, so the password key is often The Ring That Binds Them All. True, one can be asked merely to decrypt just the data under scrutiny but since the very nature of encrypted info is secrecy, it's hard to see how authorities would resist the temptation to demand the master key and then decrypt everything going. Further more, there are checks and balances in Part III of the RIP Act, involving consultation and approvals to met conducted before one gets to the stage of surrendering information, but considering that these scenarios will only be arrived at in cases of "serious crime", past experience tells us that speed is of the essence during investigations, so what chance that the particular authority representative on the day will follow all the bullet points in the Act? Dipping out of RIPThousands of people regularly forget the PIN for their bank card. We've all done it and, like good citizens, we've never written it down. Now imagine the bank asks you to prove you have forgotten the PIN. In terms of the oft-quoted maxim of "innocent until proved guilty", an IT manager is no longer at liberty to simply make excuses and politely leave the room. It's a case of having to prove that they cannot deliver the required encryption keys rather than they would not. Failing to supply a key or "I'll get around to having a look for it next Tuesday" constitutes an offence under section 53 of the Act and could qualify challengers for two years imprisonment - longer if terrorism is the suspected game. What's more, receiving a notice to deliver up key-protected data automatically contains a requirement to keep secret the serving of said notice, irrespective of any other consequences this might have, with infringement carrying up to 5-year prison sentence. More convoluted scenarios start to rear their ugly heads: "I'm responsible for the data but I've never had the key" (archivists). "Someone changed a password that automatically came up for renewal and I don't know what that is" (shared managers, a client). What guarantees do we have that seized confidential data won't make its way into the public domain, say through media releases or, as some privacy campaigners suspect, that RIPA's powers could be deliberately abused to obtain personal information? Are the powers enforceable?Tricky one. You'd think the Government are on the ball when it comes to enforcing the crucial part of the RIP strategy and certainly the Home Office is currently seeking views while emphasising that police and security services will use their new powers responsibly. In the meantime UK organisations are left wondering how to protect their information in a way that will still give them control over its security and confidentiality. Contacts
-IB-
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2. Exchange 2007: Inbox Junction
The MS-take on universal messaging arrives: click on your voice messages, listen to your calendar, schedule meetings from your mobile. | ||
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As the new Exchange Server 2007 (previously code-named Exchange "12") nears production, it is expected to be generally available to the public late this year or in early 2007 (the software name might give a clue here), but for the meanwhile it is entering the second phase (beta 2) for testers to get their hands on. What's on offer in the new version? 
In essence, the 2007 breed continues to exhibit the multi-faceted roles for which Exchange has become known (more than just a mail server) by:
Remote reachOf the 5 integrated roles it can fulfil, the Client Access server role will have the most everyday impact, as it provides a new Outlook Web Access (OWA), Outlook Mobile synchronisation for remote users, Outlook Anywhere (desktop), revision 1 of IMAP4 (remote access to mail folders) and POP3 for traditional email, Outlook calendar Web services, and more programmable Web services all published to the Internet if needed. The traditional mailbox server is now scaled up and speeded up with 70% less I/O throughput (fewer transactions) over its 2003 predecessor, and supports continuous replication, which will mean better availability to users and fewer tape backups for admins. The Unified Messaging server role will interest those in moving to integrated computing and telephony, as it provides a universal inbox interface for users, supporting voice mail and fax, as well as Outlook Voice Access with speech recognition. Tightened securityWith this plethora of communication available through one server, Microsoft has been careful to provide lockdown on those channels that an organisation may not require just yet and new tools allow system administrators to do their tasks remotely and efficiently to reduce administration overheads. To comply with regulatory requirements, rules-based control over routing, encryption and retention has been implemented for message transport and storage. Thus one can require encrypted delivery of any message containing confidential information, add disclaimers automatically or force message-archiving to save space, all via rule-based policies. Combating malwareFor those channels that are used heavily, notably email, a new product called Forefront Security for Exchange Server allows up to 5 anti-virus engines to scan messages across edge, hub and mail servers. Some may recognise this as Microsoft's acquisition of the Antigen product, which can be remotely installed, monitored and updated. It seems Microsoft will be bundling its own-brand AV engine for free, a long-circulating rumour that will create more than a few ripples in the protection market when anti-spam, anti-phishing and anti-virus are all handled in one server. Press "1" for robot, or "2" for humanPerhaps the most exciting departure for Exchange 2007 is the ability to create one's own automated telephone exchange, with simultaneous potential for pragmatic caller-handling and prat-faced podcasting. A Speech-Enabled Automated Attendant answers calls using an automated operator while the provision of customisable menus suddenly catapults PBX (Private Branch Exchange) novices into the world of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu! What shall we say? Who's going to record the menus? The unwary should familiarise themselves with steps to avert a possible backlash if IVR is employed on public-facing lines, a movement which has spawned campaigns like Get Human in the US, a site which gives tips on how to work round annoying automated telephone menus and get in touch with a real person. Having turned on this Pandora's box of new gizmos, the fun doesn't stop there. Outlook Voice Access allows remote users with a touch-tone phone to listen to their email messages and calendar, or call anyone in their contacts and address book. Turning the scenario on its head, users can also receive voice messages to their Exchange inbox, admittedly not a new technique; however the Play on Phone feature allows them to have those messages played back over a designated phone, a measure designed specifically with mobile folk in mind who may not wish to have voice mail broadcast from computer speakers in a public place like an Internet cafe.
New hardware?Will your existing server hardware that currently hosts Exchange Server 2003 run Exchange 2007? The answer is "quite possibly" but key things to look out for are the need to run an x64-based version of Windows Server 2003, because Exchange 2007 has now shifted to a 64-bit platform. This implies a hardware processor that supports both 32-bit and x64-based versions of Windows 2003, for instance AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon with EM64 Technology. It is also worth noting that a minimum of 2 GigaBytes of RAM per server is needed. In this way, a current Exchange 2003 mail server can be supported with the possibility of Exchange 2007 in future. Contacts
-IB-
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3. 802.11n: Wi-Fi to go faster and further
The lack of ratification for a new wireless transmission standard has not stopped manufacturers from producing new routers which meet those theoretical standards. | ||
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Over 18 months ago, the IEEE put together a working group that would develop a new improved standard for wireless transmissions. The proposed standard, like others in the barely-differentiated, all-sounds-the-same 802.11 series, is called 802.11n. 
Upon hearing this, most people will readily get confused with the old, but popular 802.11b (ah, we remember it well), or the more recent and faster 802.11g (perhaps a selling feature of your latest laptop acquisition). Well the new 802.11n, at a theoretical 540 Mbit/s, promises to be faster than both "b" (11 Mbit/s) and the current "g" (54 Mbit/s) by a staggering margin of 10 times! To gain an impression, this is also over 5 times the speed of prevalent 100 Mbit/s network cards found in many computers today and just half that of the latest 1 Gbit/s cards. That means Wi-Fi connected laptop owners are catching up with their desktop-bound colleagues on the in-house LAN. 
As if that were not enough to chew on, "n" looks forward to allowing Access Points to project their signals over 50% further than the 30 metres or 100 feet of "b" and "g", namely 50 metres or 160 feet. While these equate to approximate ranges indoors, 802.11n is also reported to have reached up to 1/4 of a mile outdoors, which translates to a smaller outlay in the number of Access Points required to cover a given building or site area. 
For those already in chop-smacking, when-do-we-get-it mode, the hypothetical answer was originally not until July 2007 (a date which has now been postponed further), which is the date by when the working was supposed to agree the standard. However, as with 802.11g in 2003, manufacturers have jumped the gun in the race to produce 802.11n-ready Access Points and routers, on sale as we write! 
Read a review of five 802.11n routers and you'll see that manufacturers still have some way to go before all adapters can connect universally to all routers! With every silver lining there comes a cloud, or in this case two clouds, if that doesn't completely ruin the metaphor. The first being technical, in that there are reports that "n" interferes with "b" and "g", which could be a crushing blow in its development, otherwise resulting in disruption of existing wireless networks. The second, more of a lightning strike than a mere cloud, is a human setback in that insufficient numbers of the standard's working group voted to accept the proposal as it stands, failing to reach the magical 75% majority. Perhaps arising out of the first technical hitch, this lack of consensus has stopped 802.11n dead in its tracks, at least on the standards front. The IEEE is now currently aiming at Quarter 1 of 2008 for the final 802.11n approval, but it will be interesting to see the public take-up of pre-ratification Wi-Fi products already available on the street. Contacts-IB-
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4. Charity IT Conference 2006
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Co-Operative Systems is sponsoring The 2006 Charity IT Conference. If you want to exploit the full potential of Information Technology within your organisation, this one day event is for you, with 9 real-life case studies to help you move forward. You will also learn key strategies such as:
Is it for me?If you are a chief executive, trustee, director or and senior manager in finance, IT, fundraising, membership or HR in the not-for-profit sector, you will benefit from the Charity IT Conference 2006 forum, plenary sessions, streamed presentations from charities and IT experts on offer ContactsThe conference takes place on 14 November at Café Royal, London. Full details of the agenda and speakers in the brochure or available at www.itconference.co.uk or by phoning 020 7819 1200. -IB-
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5. Ofcom goes off duty
BT is let off its long-standing price controls leash. | ||
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Whilst away on your holidays, many of you may have missed the news that Ofcom ended formal controls on the cost of phone line rentals and calls from BT. As a backstop, Ofcom followed with a short but anonymous notification letter, headed simply "Office of Communications", with their address and the relevant web site for further information. The upshot of this cessation of 22 years of monitoring is that BT, and all other phone companies too, are free to set their own retail prices for consumers. The justification for letting go of the BT leash is that consumers have seen on average a 60% price drop over the last ten years due, in part, to regulation; effectively Ofcom's job is done. There are promises to review the market again in 2007 in the event that prices start to rise significantly, presumably a possibility should the telecoms giant want to flex its marketing muscle, however BT is not the monopoly it once was in the 1980s. Ofcom is keen to stress that important safeguards are in place including those for vulnerable groups. Part of this includes an agreement by BT to offer special line rental pricing for people whose call expenditure is only a small proportion of the bill, which seems to centre largely around the existing BT Light User Scheme. Given that earlier this year only just over half of Great Britain's population could access the Internet from home and that over a quarter of UK Internet connections are still via dialup, it is a little ironic that the notification letter provided further information only a via web site address and not even a phone number. Ofcom Contacts-IB-
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6. Q&A: Are they shortcuts or actual files?
Question 
Hi Mark, I've always accessed my committee minutes and proceedings documents via the desktop. I know it's a strange question, but is the desktop icon a shortcut to where the actual file is, or is the file on the desktop? | ||
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Only one of these 4 icons represents a shortcut Rather confusingly, it could be either! Windows tries to make it clear (but sometimes breaks its own rules) by putting a little black-on-white arrow in the left-hand corner of the icon image. The way to tell unequivocally is to right-click the icon, choose Properties, click the General tab. If the "Type of File" is anything other than Shortcut, be careful if you want to move or copy it. Copying will make a copy of the file content, not the shortcut pointer. Don't forget that the "desktop" is just another folder. The one that holds your unique icons is in fact Although Internet downloads are often saved to the desktop by default, be wary of doing this - it's a bad idea. Not only does it clutter the space, it is obviously also the real file that's saved, not a pointer, which means a hard-won download can easily get dumped when you do a desktop Spring clean! The same applies to documents. It's fine to make pointer shortcuts to your documents held on the server, but keeping actual documents on your desktop will mean they are only backed up if your system has Windows profiles implemented. Even then, this practice will slow up logons and logoffs while your weighty docs are copied back and forth to the PC your are sitting at. In general, a 'heavy' desktop makes the PC less efficient too - just like a real desk! -IB-
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Clicks of the Trade - Outlook 2003 mail pop-ups
--- Quick tips for happier clicks! --- | |||
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-IB-
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