L.
Taylor
-
July 13, 2000
Event
Summary
In the wake of the Los Alamos hard drive mishap, one wonders how one of
this nation's most purportedly secure and sophisticated technological
labs could "misplace" some hard drives containing nuclear secrets. Given
the fact that we are humans, let's say that we decide to lower our expectations
of security enough to expect the fact that such mishaps are bound to occur.
How do we recover and ensure that these sorts of errors will not lead
to devastating results?
Market
Impact
It's year 2000, and folks cannot get out of their public libraries if
they haven't checked a book or video out through proper procedures. Getting
out the front door of the Gap, Inc. with an unpaid for pair of khakis
sets off alarms. We can track dolphin migration patterns with under-water
electronic surveillance devices.
At
the MSCPA Animal Shelter in Methuen, Massachusetts, the first thing they
do when a new dog is brought in is scan it for a microchip in its neck
- the idea is that anyone who microchips their pet probably wants it back
(in the event that it is lost and then found). The Methuen shelter has
been scanning dogs for microchips for a couple years now. As of June 19th,
over 30,000 pets have been reunited with their owners through microchipping.
So
what about those hard drives at Los Alamos?
Is
it possible that we are taking better care of our pets, khakis, wildlife,
and Harry Potter books than we are of our nuclear secrets and hard drives?
In preparation for our next "Oops, we lost some hard drives," attaching
smart labels to our critical assets just might be a good thing to do.
 |
 |
| |
|
Figure
1.
A wafer type of smart label. |
Figure
2.
A roll of smart labels. |
Smart
labels contain an integrated circuit (IC) that can be programmed with
detailed information, such as origin, location, owner and other information.
Since smart labels use radio frequencies, they do not require a direct
line of sight to be triggered. As well, it is possible to put smart labels
in obscure places to prevent their removal. Smart labels can be embedded
in plastic. The smart label that is used on dogs is about the size of
a piece of rice and is injected with a syringe under the skin in their
neck.
Flexible
wafer smart labels are so thin that they can be embedded in paper or foil,
and are so flexible that they can be wrapped around a pencil, and still
transmit. Smart label wafers can be reduced to 10-15 micrometers, compared
to a piece of paper, which is 80 micrometers thick.
Smart
labels are part of a nascent market that will be experiencing tremendous
growth rates. Germany and the Netherlands are leading the way with smart
labels, and by 2004, the European market will reach $4.5 million. Philips
Semi-conductors based in Eindhoven is one of the leaders in smart label
development. Berlin University for Technology (TU Berlin) is another smart
label think-tank.
It
is possible to associate a smart label with an asset owner. The asset
owner could have a smart card that worked in conjunction with a smart
label. If the object left a building perimeter without being accompanied
by the smart card owner, alarms could go off, just like when you try to
walk out of the Gap without paying for khakis.
User
Recommendations
In New Mexico alone, where Los Alamos is located, 382 lost pets have been
returned to their owners since the smart label codes were entered in the
Companion Animal Recovery (CAR) database. How many hard drives with nuclear
secrets on them have been enrolled in a smart label database?
What
else can you use smart labels for? The possibilities are endless:
- Package
tracking
- Text
book tracking
- Pet tracking
- Hard
drive tracking
- People
tracking
- Luggage
tracking
- Mountain
climbing safety
- Identification
and authentication cards
- General
asset tracking
Savvy smart
label vendors will make sure they get on the GSA
schedule in order to get in the door as a Federal Agency customer.
Demystifying SAP Solution Manager | Cloud Assets: A Guide for SMBs—Part 3 | I Want My Private Cloud | The Sum of All Malware Fears: Siemens on Stuxnet | Managing the Overflow of E-mails | Security Risk Assessment and Management in Web Application Security | Are You Adequately Protecting Your IT Infrastructure Components Inside the Firewall? | Enterprise Resource Planning Giants Eye the Shop Floor | Who Else is Using Your Wireless Network? | Information Security Firewalls Market Report
Part Two: Current Market Trends and User Recommendations | Information Security Firewalls Market Report
Part One: Market Overview and Technology Background | Automated Enterprise: Many High-ROI Opportunities | Secure Transfers of Large Files Over the Internet Using YouSendIt | Fed Warms Up to ERP Spending, but Will Contractors and Their ERP Vendors Comply?
Part Two: Challenges and User Recommendations | Feds Warms Up to ERP Spending, but Will Contractors and Their ERP Vendors Comply?
Part One: Event Summary and Market Impact |
Product Review: GFI's LANguard Network Security Scanner | The Best ACT! Is Still to Come | HIPAA-Watch for Security Speeds Up Compliance
Part Two: Phase III and IV, and Product and User Recommendations | HIPAA-Watch for Security Speeds Up Compliance
Part One: Vendor and Product Information | EAM Versus CMMS: What's Right for Your Company? Part One | Using PKI to Protect Your Business Information | The CyberAngel: Laptop Recovery and File Encryption All-in-One | Evaluating Enterprise Software-Business Process or Feature/Function-Based Approach? All the above, Perhaps?
Part Three: Knowledge Bases and User Recommendations | InsideOut Firewall Reporter Unravels the Mysteries of Your Firewall Logs | The Future of Secure Remote Password (SRP)
Part Two: Overcoming Obstacles to Success | The Future of Secure Remote Password (SRP) | Integrated Security: A New Network Approach
Part Two: The Shift Toward Integration | Integrated Security: A New Network Approach | Vendor Analysis: Kaspersky Anti-Virus Products Examined | 6 Immediate Business Improvements Offered by an Online SRM System:
Part 3: Other Points to Consider | Legacy Single Sign-On: Novell, Evidian, IBM, PassGo, or Computer Associates? | Fourth Shift's evolution Within SoftBrands' DemandStream | OKENA Brews Up a StormSystem that Secures All Applications | Incident Handling and Response Capability: An IT Security Safeguard
Part 2: Establishing the Capability | Incident Handling and Response Capability: An IT Security Safeguard
Part 1: Are You Ready to Support an Incident Response Capability? | Outsourcing Security
Part 3: Selecting a Managed Security Services Provider | Outsourcing Security
Part 2: Measuring the Cost | Outsourcing Security
Part 1: Noting the Benefits | Vendor Review: SecureWave Protects Microsoft Operating System Platforms | Thanks to a Smart Little Company called Lexias, CIOs Can Now Empower their Users to Assist in eBusiness Security | Feds Buckle Down on Customer Information Security | Identix Leads Biometric Authentication | Bootcamp for the Pros; Why Ernst & Young Will Lead Security Auditing Standards | Vendor Analysis: Interliant's Security Vulnerability Assessment | OKENA Pioneers Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention | Social Engineering Can Thwart the Best Laid Security Plans | Application Single-Sign On: Netegrity, Securant, or Evidian? | Lost Your Laptop? The CyberAngel® Brings It Back | InsideOut Makes Firewall Reporting Useful | The SOAP Opera Progresses - Helping XML to Rule the World | Talarian and NextSet Team for B2B Solutions | Tempest Creates a Secure Teapot | E*Trade Ignores Private Security Warning, But Public Hullaballoo Gets Response | My Network Engineers are Talking about Implementing Split DNS. What Does that Mean? | Human-Machine Interaction Company Ramps Up Firewall Product Line | Security Information Market Heading for Growth | Alibris Charged with Intercepting Email | Cart32 in Need of Duct Tape | Deutsche Telekom to Acquire VoiceStream Wireless | Study Shows: FBI Alienates Industry Security Experts | Firewall Cowboyz Set the Stage to Free Innocent Convict | Symantec Swallows AXENT; Takes on Network Associates | Novatel Wireless and Diversinet Team Up to Provide Security for Wireless Modems | Windows 2000 Bug Fixes Posted | Baltimore Technologies Doubles Revenues, Offers World-Class PKI Hosting | The Whys and Hows of a Security Vulnerability Assessment | Earthlink Leads the Way in DSL Security | PKI and Biometrics Ready for Take-Off | Secure Transport of EDI and XML for Trading Exchanges | Can You Trust Entrust? | Standard & Poor's Announces Security Certification | Check Point Leads Firewall Market | Fighting Cybercrime on the Internet | NetWare for Small Business – NetWhy? | E&Y Spins-Off eSecurity Online and Unveils Security Vulnerability Assessment Services | With Record Revenues, AXENT Puts Down a Solid Fist | NAI Will Pay Trend $12.5 Million Resulting from Law Suit | Sub7 Tells Chat Rooms All Your Stuff; F-Secure Leads the Battle | E-Cash Rollout Replaces Amex | GSA Schedule Partnership Gets Network-1 in the Door | Los Alamos Loses Top-Secret Information, Again! | Standard & Poor's Exposes Customers' Security | The AS/400 Takes You Securely Where You Want to Go | Trend Micro Steps into PDA/Wireless AntiVirus Information Market | CryptoSwift Takes Rainbow Revenues Up 620% | Smart Shoppers Go Abroad for Affordable Information Security Programs | Anti-Virus Advisories: Rating Them | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Security | Fischer’s Prio! SecureSync ~ A Solution to Enterprise Directory Chaos | Abandon All Insecurity, Ye Who Enter Here | Top 10 Excuses For Not Securing Your Website or Network | Ernst & Young Leads Big 5 in Security | 6 Days After Advisory Posted, AboveNet Gets Hit | A Firewall is Cheaper Than a Lawyer | Fixing Security Backdoors:
Red Hat 1, Microsoft 0 | WAP Forum Specifies RSA’s RC5 Encryption For Wireless | Netpliance Responds Quickly to Hardware Hack | Security Stocks Burn Rubber | DSL Provider Scoops up Netscreen Firewall Goldmine | Cyclone Untangles Digital Partnerships | Security Begins on Your Desktop | Network Associates Hopes to Rekindle the Flame | Hacker Publication Gets Top Defense Attorney | Saudi Arabian Network Security Provokes Local Considerations | Gosh, There’s a Bug in Windows 98 | Robust Systems are Built from the Bottom Up | DOJ Keeps Low Profile on Curador; Protect Your IIS Server Today! | Security Breach: Now What? | Sendmail, Inc. and Disappearing, Inc. Team Up to Add Enhanced Security | Is Your Financial Transaction Secure? | Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft Create New PC Security Alliance | Expect Boom in Electronic Signatures | Secure Your Search Engine | President Proposes Security of Medical Records | Sendmail Takes Security to the Next Level with Version 3.0 for NT | CheckPoint & Nokia Team Up to Unleash a Rockin' Security Appliance | Trend Micro Anti-Virus Server for Microsoft Exchange ~ A Secure Choice For Enterprise Wide Anti Virus Protection. | Security Snafu at NetBank | Freeware Vendor's Web Tracking Draws Curses | The "S" in SAP Doesn't Stand for Security (that goes for PeopleSoft too) | Content Technologies releases MIMEsweeper PolicyPlus | Hackers Will Be Out in Full Force On New Year's Eve | Analysis of Virgin Net's Hacker Scare | Network Associates RePositions Itself as a Security E-Village | Lexiguard™: The Coming "Adobe Acrobat" of Encryption | CyberPeepers from Korean Sites Peek at U.S. Networks | Would You Hire a Hacker? What Would Your Mother Say? | @Home Scans Own Customers | CIOs Need to Be Held Accountable for Security | New Market for Security Insurance | At Least Your Boss Can't Read Your Home E-mail, Right? Wrong! | PrettyPark Virus Litters Cyberspace | Packard Bell / NEC Leads Secure Etoken Deployment | Congress Acknowledges Outdated Banking Laws | How Secure is Your E-Mail? | Trend Virus Control System - A Centralized Approach to Protection | VPNs Are Hot, but What Are They? | ATM Machines Hacked in Moscow | How To Mitigate Holiday Cybercrime | Surf's Up at Akamai |