/PRNewswire/ -- Retail Decisions (ReD), a payment card issuer and world leader in payment card fraud prevention and payment processing, predicts a bustling Black Friday on November 28 with 10.00 am - 11.00 am being the busiest online shopping hour of the year, with the peak shopping moment at 10.25 am. December 1, Cyber Monday's busiest hour will be between 9.00 am - 10.00 am. This will be the second busiest online shopping hour of the year with a peak shopping moment at 9.49 am.
ReD is forecasting that volumes will rise by 18% on a like-for-like basis vs. 2007. The Average Transaction Value in the United States will fall by 9%.
"A change in consumer behavior is evident with more and more consumers spending their dollars on 'stay at home' items such as fast food and "Pay As You Go" TV, as vacations are replaced by staycation. The recession has brought a new found frugality that is causing people to shop smarter, budget better and exploit sales," said Carl Clump, CEO of Retail Decisions.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Major Spam Botnets Yet to Recover After Host Shut-Down
/PRNewswire/ -- One week after the world's most significant breakthrough in the fight against spam, spam levels are yet to return to their previous levels, according to security experts from the Marshal8e6 TRACE Team. However, it is likely that spam levels will eventually return to their previous high levels in the future.
On November 11, the volume of spam around the world fell by as much as 70 percent due to the shutdown of a major spam hosting network, McColo.
McColo was shut down by its Internet Service Provider after an investigative journalist made inquiries about the Web hosting company's illicit activities. McColo was hosting the command and control infrastructure for three of the world's most prolific spam botnets: Srizbi, Mega-D and Rustock. When McColo was shut down, the spammers were disconnected from the networks of spam-sending bot computers under their control.
Throughout 2008, the TRACE team has published reports showing that just a handful of major spamming botnets are responsible for as much as 90 percent of spam. The TRACE Team has been campaigning within the IT security community for a coordinated effort against the top spamming botnets.
"This is the most significant single event in the fight against spam we have ever seen," said Phil Hay, lead threat analyst with the TRACE Team. "It shows that a coordinated effort against spammers by security researchers can have a positive and meaningful impact on global spam levels. It is something that we have been working towards for a long time and it is fantastic to see the flow-on effects on spam levels as a result of targeting the bigger botnets."
"Unfortunately we do not expect this situation to last," he continued. "The spammers are no doubt already setting up new command and control servers. The challenge for them is to re-establish connections with the thousands of zombie computers still infected with their bot code. We fully expect spam will resume in large volumes eventually. However, almost a week later, the spammers haven't managed to do that yet."
Marshal8e6 says that the command and control servers play a critical part in managing the hundreds of thousands of infected bot computers, also referred to as 'zombies'.
"An infected bot computer typically 'phones home' to the control servers periodically to get updated instructions and spamming templates. By shutting down McColo, the link between the zombie computers and their control servers has effectively been cut off for now," explained Hay.
The events that led to McColo's shut down involved months of collaboration and research by a variety of security professionals.
"Last week's events have proven that by drawing attention to the worst spam offenders, security researchers and law enforcement have the capability to focus their energies on the key players and take action," said Hay. "Five years ago when spam was dominated by numerous small-scale spammers it was extremely difficult to target an individual spammer and have any real effect on spam. Now, because botnets have enabled a handful of major spam players to dominate, the targeted actions of the IT security and law enforcement communities can have an immediate and palpable effect on spam."
Marshal8e6 says the command and control servers for the Srizbi, Mega-D and Rustock botnets were affected by the McColo shut down. According to Marshal8e6's statistics, just prior to McColo's shut down, these three botnets were ranked first, second and fifth respectively as the world's most prolific sources of spam, together responsible for nearly 70 percent of spam.
"It is a cliche, but the fight against spam is a game of cat and mouse," said Hay. "Over the longer term, the spammers will learn from this incident and will probably evolve their botnet control systems. They may adopt a more resilient peer-to-peer or layered model where control servers are harder to access and spread among many hosts. Only time will tell if these botnets recover. The key thing is that the IT security and law enforcement communities learn from last week's events as well. We have to work together to maintain the pressure on the key spam players."
-----
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On November 11, the volume of spam around the world fell by as much as 70 percent due to the shutdown of a major spam hosting network, McColo.
McColo was shut down by its Internet Service Provider after an investigative journalist made inquiries about the Web hosting company's illicit activities. McColo was hosting the command and control infrastructure for three of the world's most prolific spam botnets: Srizbi, Mega-D and Rustock. When McColo was shut down, the spammers were disconnected from the networks of spam-sending bot computers under their control.
Throughout 2008, the TRACE team has published reports showing that just a handful of major spamming botnets are responsible for as much as 90 percent of spam. The TRACE Team has been campaigning within the IT security community for a coordinated effort against the top spamming botnets.
"This is the most significant single event in the fight against spam we have ever seen," said Phil Hay, lead threat analyst with the TRACE Team. "It shows that a coordinated effort against spammers by security researchers can have a positive and meaningful impact on global spam levels. It is something that we have been working towards for a long time and it is fantastic to see the flow-on effects on spam levels as a result of targeting the bigger botnets."
"Unfortunately we do not expect this situation to last," he continued. "The spammers are no doubt already setting up new command and control servers. The challenge for them is to re-establish connections with the thousands of zombie computers still infected with their bot code. We fully expect spam will resume in large volumes eventually. However, almost a week later, the spammers haven't managed to do that yet."
Marshal8e6 says that the command and control servers play a critical part in managing the hundreds of thousands of infected bot computers, also referred to as 'zombies'.
"An infected bot computer typically 'phones home' to the control servers periodically to get updated instructions and spamming templates. By shutting down McColo, the link between the zombie computers and their control servers has effectively been cut off for now," explained Hay.
The events that led to McColo's shut down involved months of collaboration and research by a variety of security professionals.
"Last week's events have proven that by drawing attention to the worst spam offenders, security researchers and law enforcement have the capability to focus their energies on the key players and take action," said Hay. "Five years ago when spam was dominated by numerous small-scale spammers it was extremely difficult to target an individual spammer and have any real effect on spam. Now, because botnets have enabled a handful of major spam players to dominate, the targeted actions of the IT security and law enforcement communities can have an immediate and palpable effect on spam."
Marshal8e6 says the command and control servers for the Srizbi, Mega-D and Rustock botnets were affected by the McColo shut down. According to Marshal8e6's statistics, just prior to McColo's shut down, these three botnets were ranked first, second and fifth respectively as the world's most prolific sources of spam, together responsible for nearly 70 percent of spam.
"It is a cliche, but the fight against spam is a game of cat and mouse," said Hay. "Over the longer term, the spammers will learn from this incident and will probably evolve their botnet control systems. They may adopt a more resilient peer-to-peer or layered model where control servers are harder to access and spread among many hosts. Only time will tell if these botnets recover. The key thing is that the IT security and law enforcement communities learn from last week's events as well. We have to work together to maintain the pressure on the key spam players."
-----
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Howcast, Columbia Law School and the U.S. Department of State Convene the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit
PRNewswire/ -- Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Howcast, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media are bringing leaders of 17 pioneering organizations from 15 countries together with technology experts next month in New York for the first-ever conclave to empower youth against violence and oppression through the use of the latest online tools.
These young leaders will form a new group, the Alliance of Youth Movements, which will produce a field manual for youth empowerment. The field manual will stand in stark contrast to the Al-Qaeda manual on the basics of terrorism, found by Coalition Forces in Iraq.
The gathering was inspired by the success of the One Million Voices Against the FARC, a group started on Facebook.com by young people in Colombia. Aided by social networking technologies, the organization inspired 12 million people in 190 cities around the world to take to the streets in protest against the FARC, an extremist group that has been terrorizing Colombia for more than 40 years. The magnitude of the marches illustrated once and for all that the FARC lacked a strong support base. Within days of the protests, the FARC witnessed massive desertions from their ranks. The Colombian group will share their ideas with leaders of other groups that use social and mobile technologies to promote freedom and justice and oppose violence, extremism and oppression.
The New York summit will bring together such organizations as One Million Voices Against the FARC, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Burma Global Action Network and Invisible Children.
The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit will take place December 3 to 5 at the Columbia Law School in Manhattan. "We at Columbia are excited about helping, designing, and studying innovative public-private partnerships that leverage new technologies to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. This summit is a great opportunity to do this," said Matthew Waxman, associate professor of law. The event will also be streamed live online by Howcast.com and on ThinkMTV.com. Howcast Media is organizing the Summit with additional support from Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the Summit will include:
-- Whoopi Goldberg, Host of ABC's "The View"
-- Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Facebook
-- James K. Glassman, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
-- Oscar Morales, Founder, One Million Voices Against the FARC
-- Luke Russert, MSNBC
-- Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Panels will discuss a variety of practical topics, including How To Build Transnational Social Movements Using New Technology, How To Use New Mobile Technologies and How To Preserve Group Safety And Security.
Summit participants will also be honored at a red-carpet event with entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and civil society figures at the former home of MTV's Total Request Live ("TRL") overlooking Times Square.
Howcast will use the field manual for youth empowerment developed at the Summit as the cornerstone of a much larger online "hub," where emerging youth organizations can access and share "how-to" guides and tips on how to use social-networking and other technologies to promote freedom and justice and counter violence, extremism and oppression. The hub (http://howcast.com/youthmovements) will include instructional videos and text guides, links to related online resources and discussion forums for sharing experiences, ideas and advice.
"The Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring these socially conscious groups together for the purpose of making real, positive change in the world," said Jason Liebman, Co-Founder and CEO of Howcast Media. "Howcast's mission has always been focused on making it easier for people to learn how to do just about anything, and I'm particularly proud to see Howcast being used to help people learn how to make a difference in improving the world that we all share."
"I'm thrilled and inspired to see how people, especially young people, are using Facebook and other technologies to work together to improve the lives of entire nations of people," said Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Platform Marketing, Facebook. "We often focus on the value technology brings to the individual but the true promise of technology is unlocked when it connects people and enables them to work with a common purpose."
"The State Department is proud to play a role in highlighting the new wave of civil-society empowerment that is happening online," said James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "What is so encouraging is that this effort is being led by public-spirited technology firms like Howcast and innovative educators like those at Columbia University."
"It's critical that young people continue to utilize the technological tools available to them to band together and rally around causes and movements that can make a difference in the world," said Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for MTV. "On Think.MTV.com, we encourage young people to engage in and take action on the issues that matter to them most. This Summit revolves around how young people can do this, through multiple technology platforms."
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These young leaders will form a new group, the Alliance of Youth Movements, which will produce a field manual for youth empowerment. The field manual will stand in stark contrast to the Al-Qaeda manual on the basics of terrorism, found by Coalition Forces in Iraq.
The gathering was inspired by the success of the One Million Voices Against the FARC, a group started on Facebook.com by young people in Colombia. Aided by social networking technologies, the organization inspired 12 million people in 190 cities around the world to take to the streets in protest against the FARC, an extremist group that has been terrorizing Colombia for more than 40 years. The magnitude of the marches illustrated once and for all that the FARC lacked a strong support base. Within days of the protests, the FARC witnessed massive desertions from their ranks. The Colombian group will share their ideas with leaders of other groups that use social and mobile technologies to promote freedom and justice and oppose violence, extremism and oppression.
The New York summit will bring together such organizations as One Million Voices Against the FARC, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Burma Global Action Network and Invisible Children.
The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit will take place December 3 to 5 at the Columbia Law School in Manhattan. "We at Columbia are excited about helping, designing, and studying innovative public-private partnerships that leverage new technologies to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. This summit is a great opportunity to do this," said Matthew Waxman, associate professor of law. The event will also be streamed live online by Howcast.com and on ThinkMTV.com. Howcast Media is organizing the Summit with additional support from Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the Summit will include:
-- Whoopi Goldberg, Host of ABC's "The View"
-- Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Facebook
-- James K. Glassman, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
-- Oscar Morales, Founder, One Million Voices Against the FARC
-- Luke Russert, MSNBC
-- Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Panels will discuss a variety of practical topics, including How To Build Transnational Social Movements Using New Technology, How To Use New Mobile Technologies and How To Preserve Group Safety And Security.
Summit participants will also be honored at a red-carpet event with entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and civil society figures at the former home of MTV's Total Request Live ("TRL") overlooking Times Square.
Howcast will use the field manual for youth empowerment developed at the Summit as the cornerstone of a much larger online "hub," where emerging youth organizations can access and share "how-to" guides and tips on how to use social-networking and other technologies to promote freedom and justice and counter violence, extremism and oppression. The hub (http://howcast.com/youthmovements) will include instructional videos and text guides, links to related online resources and discussion forums for sharing experiences, ideas and advice.
"The Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring these socially conscious groups together for the purpose of making real, positive change in the world," said Jason Liebman, Co-Founder and CEO of Howcast Media. "Howcast's mission has always been focused on making it easier for people to learn how to do just about anything, and I'm particularly proud to see Howcast being used to help people learn how to make a difference in improving the world that we all share."
"I'm thrilled and inspired to see how people, especially young people, are using Facebook and other technologies to work together to improve the lives of entire nations of people," said Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Platform Marketing, Facebook. "We often focus on the value technology brings to the individual but the true promise of technology is unlocked when it connects people and enables them to work with a common purpose."
"The State Department is proud to play a role in highlighting the new wave of civil-society empowerment that is happening online," said James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "What is so encouraging is that this effort is being led by public-spirited technology firms like Howcast and innovative educators like those at Columbia University."
"It's critical that young people continue to utilize the technological tools available to them to band together and rally around causes and movements that can make a difference in the world," said Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for MTV. "On Think.MTV.com, we encourage young people to engage in and take action on the issues that matter to them most. This Summit revolves around how young people can do this, through multiple technology platforms."
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Study Finds Both Students and Teachers Lack Basic Cyber Security Education
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Less than 25 percent of educators feel comfortable teaching students how to protect themselves from online cyber predators, cyber bullies and identity theft, according to a recent study by The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Educational Technology, Policy Research and Outreach (ETPRO).
At a time when children ages 10-to-14 spend more time on the Internet than watching television, the study found that only the Commonwealth of Virginia has education curriculum requirements that include information on how students can protect themselves online. Since completion of this study, several more states including Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee, have passed legislation requiring online safety education in the classroom. In addition, 90 percent of educators have received less than six hours of professional development on cyber security in the past year.
The 2008 National Cyberethics, Cybersafety, Cybersecurity Baseline Study was conducted to explore educational awareness policies, initiatives, curriculum, and practices currently taking place in the U.S. public and private K-12 educational settings. The survey was administered online. 1,569 public and private U.S. K-12 educators and 94 technology coordinators took the survey and local and state technology directors and 219 educators participated in focus groups for the survey.
"Children are integrating technology into their lives at lightning speed. Our schools need to find ways to introduce cyber security education as a fully integrated part of the K-12 curriculum," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "We take the time to teach our children how to safely cross the street. Given the amount of time children spend online, the continuously emerging role of the technology in everyday life, and the risks that young people face, we are obligated to ensure that every child learns about safety, security and responsible use of the internet; yet we are not yet to the point of teaching children how to 'look both ways' to avoid the 'accidents' that can occur online."
"Schools are not alone. Nonprofit groups, government, the private sector and parents all play critical roles in ensuring children's safety online. However, educators and school systems will need to make the issue a priority if we can expect to see widespread adoption of cyber safety curricula in the classroom."
As part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, all students are required to be digitally literate by the 8th grade but half of the survey's respondents said there were no clear methods chosen by their school or school district to convey information on cyber safety and cyber security to students. Despite feeling unprepared or uncomfortable discussing C3 topics with students, more than 60 percent of educators are interested in learning more about C3 issues in general and in many cases the percentage increased on specific topics such as cyber safety, which was rated their highest priority.
"Policies need to be updated regularly and reviewed to ensure that teachers, students and parents understand the basics of cyber security. We must ensure our teachers are given the training necessary for them to inform their students on these topics," said Davina Pruitt-Mentle, PhD, Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst for ETPRO. "However, the burden cannot be placed solely on our education system. From media to corporate America to our federal, state and local governments, a variety of partnerships need to be formed to protect our children."
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At a time when children ages 10-to-14 spend more time on the Internet than watching television, the study found that only the Commonwealth of Virginia has education curriculum requirements that include information on how students can protect themselves online. Since completion of this study, several more states including Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee, have passed legislation requiring online safety education in the classroom. In addition, 90 percent of educators have received less than six hours of professional development on cyber security in the past year.
The 2008 National Cyberethics, Cybersafety, Cybersecurity Baseline Study was conducted to explore educational awareness policies, initiatives, curriculum, and practices currently taking place in the U.S. public and private K-12 educational settings. The survey was administered online. 1,569 public and private U.S. K-12 educators and 94 technology coordinators took the survey and local and state technology directors and 219 educators participated in focus groups for the survey.
"Children are integrating technology into their lives at lightning speed. Our schools need to find ways to introduce cyber security education as a fully integrated part of the K-12 curriculum," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "We take the time to teach our children how to safely cross the street. Given the amount of time children spend online, the continuously emerging role of the technology in everyday life, and the risks that young people face, we are obligated to ensure that every child learns about safety, security and responsible use of the internet; yet we are not yet to the point of teaching children how to 'look both ways' to avoid the 'accidents' that can occur online."
"Schools are not alone. Nonprofit groups, government, the private sector and parents all play critical roles in ensuring children's safety online. However, educators and school systems will need to make the issue a priority if we can expect to see widespread adoption of cyber safety curricula in the classroom."
As part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, all students are required to be digitally literate by the 8th grade but half of the survey's respondents said there were no clear methods chosen by their school or school district to convey information on cyber safety and cyber security to students. Despite feeling unprepared or uncomfortable discussing C3 topics with students, more than 60 percent of educators are interested in learning more about C3 issues in general and in many cases the percentage increased on specific topics such as cyber safety, which was rated their highest priority.
"Policies need to be updated regularly and reviewed to ensure that teachers, students and parents understand the basics of cyber security. We must ensure our teachers are given the training necessary for them to inform their students on these topics," said Davina Pruitt-Mentle, PhD, Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst for ETPRO. "However, the burden cannot be placed solely on our education system. From media to corporate America to our federal, state and local governments, a variety of partnerships need to be formed to protect our children."
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Friday, November 14, 2008
Emory University Libraries, George Mason's Center for History & New Media, Announce Zotero Partnership
PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Emory University Libraries and The Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University have entered a cooperative partnership on Zotero (www.zotero.org), the free, open-source bibliographic manager. A team of librarians, information technologists and faculty members led by Connie Moon Sehat, Emory Libraries' new director of digital scholarship initiatives, will extend research capabilities of the software in collaboration with Zotero's main development team. Sehat is a former co-director of Zotero and CHNM.
For Dan Cohen, who is associate professor of history at George Mason University and director of CHNM, a relationship with Emory exemplifies the powerful opportunities for institutional cooperation offered by digital media.
"The Center for History and New Media and the Zotero Project are lucky to now have the resources and experience of Emory on their side," says Cohen, "and the continued insight and direction of Connie Sehat. We look forward to what will undoubtedly be a tremendously productive collaboration." Cohen oversees Zotero with Sean Takats, assistant professor of history at George Mason and CHNM's acting director of research projects.
At Emory, participation in the Zotero project represents a step toward the realization of larger transformations happening in the libraries as well as the university overall.
"Developing exciting and innovative tools and capabilities to support digital humanities research is a cornerstone of our strategic plan," says Rick Luce, Emory University vice provost and director of libraries. "Partnering on the development of open source software with CHNM, an established center of excellence in the digital humanities, allows the Emory Libraries to create value for the research community while sharing the risks in developing innovative software."
Already a powerful research tool, Zotero allows users to gather, organize and analyze sources such as citations, full texts, Web pages, images and other objects. It meshes the functionality of older reference manager applications with modern software and Web applications, such as del.icio.us and YouTube, to amass large amounts of data in easy ways.
Over the next two years, Zotero will allow researchers--and their data--to interact with one another in Web 2.0 communities, help scholars archive information with the Internet Archive and offer text-mining capabilities. Zotero also will expand educational offerings to provide more support for its growing national and international communities of users, many located in university settings. Working in conjunction with the Zotero team at CHNM, Emory's Zotero team will take advantage of local research environments and library expertise to contribute to Zotero's anticipated growth.
Since its introduction in 2006, Zotero has earned significant accolades for its facilitation of online research. It was named a PC Magazine's "Best Free Software" in 2007 and again this year, as well as "Best Instructional Software" of 2007 as determined by the Information Technology and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.
The Emory University Libraries (http://web.library.emory.edu/) in Atlanta and Oxford, Ga., are an intellectual commons for Emory University, Atlanta and the world. The nine libraries' holdings include more than 3.1 million print and electronic volumes, 40,000-plus electronic journals, and internationally renowned special collections.
The Center for History and New Media (http://chnm.gmu.edu/) at George Mason University uses digital media and computer technology to democratize history. Since its founding in 1994 by Roy Rosenzweig, CHNM has used these tools to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. Each year CHNM's many project websites receive over 16 million visitors. More than one million people rely on its digital tools to teach, learn and conduct research.
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For Dan Cohen, who is associate professor of history at George Mason University and director of CHNM, a relationship with Emory exemplifies the powerful opportunities for institutional cooperation offered by digital media.
"The Center for History and New Media and the Zotero Project are lucky to now have the resources and experience of Emory on their side," says Cohen, "and the continued insight and direction of Connie Sehat. We look forward to what will undoubtedly be a tremendously productive collaboration." Cohen oversees Zotero with Sean Takats, assistant professor of history at George Mason and CHNM's acting director of research projects.
At Emory, participation in the Zotero project represents a step toward the realization of larger transformations happening in the libraries as well as the university overall.
"Developing exciting and innovative tools and capabilities to support digital humanities research is a cornerstone of our strategic plan," says Rick Luce, Emory University vice provost and director of libraries. "Partnering on the development of open source software with CHNM, an established center of excellence in the digital humanities, allows the Emory Libraries to create value for the research community while sharing the risks in developing innovative software."
Already a powerful research tool, Zotero allows users to gather, organize and analyze sources such as citations, full texts, Web pages, images and other objects. It meshes the functionality of older reference manager applications with modern software and Web applications, such as del.icio.us and YouTube, to amass large amounts of data in easy ways.
Over the next two years, Zotero will allow researchers--and their data--to interact with one another in Web 2.0 communities, help scholars archive information with the Internet Archive and offer text-mining capabilities. Zotero also will expand educational offerings to provide more support for its growing national and international communities of users, many located in university settings. Working in conjunction with the Zotero team at CHNM, Emory's Zotero team will take advantage of local research environments and library expertise to contribute to Zotero's anticipated growth.
Since its introduction in 2006, Zotero has earned significant accolades for its facilitation of online research. It was named a PC Magazine's "Best Free Software" in 2007 and again this year, as well as "Best Instructional Software" of 2007 as determined by the Information Technology and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.
The Emory University Libraries (http://web.library.emory.edu/) in Atlanta and Oxford, Ga., are an intellectual commons for Emory University, Atlanta and the world. The nine libraries' holdings include more than 3.1 million print and electronic volumes, 40,000-plus electronic journals, and internationally renowned special collections.
The Center for History and New Media (http://chnm.gmu.edu/) at George Mason University uses digital media and computer technology to democratize history. Since its founding in 1994 by Roy Rosenzweig, CHNM has used these tools to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. Each year CHNM's many project websites receive over 16 million visitors. More than one million people rely on its digital tools to teach, learn and conduct research.
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Thursday, November 13, 2008
Chuck Leavell, Keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, Announces the Opportunity for College Students to Become Correspondents for Mother Nature Network
PRNewswire/ -- Today, The Mother Nature Network announces its College Correspondent initiative. One student from each major U.S. college will be selected to be the Mother Nature Network correspondent for 2009. MNN is running the contest in partnership with YouTube to find the country's best college environmental journalists. ( http://www.youtube.com/mnn )
With a new President waiting in the wings, 2009 is going to be a year of extraordinary environmental coverage. Mother Nature Network's college reporters will be at the forefront of this transformational change. Each of the winning correspondents will become a highlighted contributor at MNN for 2009 with his or her own video program or blog that will provide access to a nationwide audience. In addition, winners will receive a "Flip Ultra" video camcorder, and the top five correspondents will be selected to participate in an exclusive, all-expense paid summit where they will share ideas with top environmentalists, business leaders, scientists and entertainers.
MNN was co-founded by former environmental marketing executive Joel Babbit and Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, and one of the world's most respected environmentalists. Its mission is to provide the most reliable and comprehensive environmental news and information available and to do so in a voice and design that is engaging and easily understood by the mainstream business and consumer audience.
"Providing environmental news coverage on a local level is a major component of the Mother Nature Network," says Joel Babbit, CEO and President of MNN. "Today's college students are so knowledgeable and involved in environmental issues -- we are hoping they will inspire others in their communities to become more informed as well. Those students who are selected as our correspondents will have the opportunity to report on important issues in their community, improve their skills as aspiring journalists, and gain an important addition to their resume."
Entry Submission Process
Participants will be chosen in two categories -- online and video. Students can audition by submitting a two-to-four minute video to http://www.youtube.com/mnn or a 500-word blog to http://mothernaturenetwork.blogspot.com/2008/10/announcing-mnns-college- contest.html . (Due to Length of URL please copy and paste into your Browser). People 18 years or older, and currently enrolled in college, are eligible to submit content. All entries must be in by January 15, 2009.
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With a new President waiting in the wings, 2009 is going to be a year of extraordinary environmental coverage. Mother Nature Network's college reporters will be at the forefront of this transformational change. Each of the winning correspondents will become a highlighted contributor at MNN for 2009 with his or her own video program or blog that will provide access to a nationwide audience. In addition, winners will receive a "Flip Ultra" video camcorder, and the top five correspondents will be selected to participate in an exclusive, all-expense paid summit where they will share ideas with top environmentalists, business leaders, scientists and entertainers.
MNN was co-founded by former environmental marketing executive Joel Babbit and Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, and one of the world's most respected environmentalists. Its mission is to provide the most reliable and comprehensive environmental news and information available and to do so in a voice and design that is engaging and easily understood by the mainstream business and consumer audience.
"Providing environmental news coverage on a local level is a major component of the Mother Nature Network," says Joel Babbit, CEO and President of MNN. "Today's college students are so knowledgeable and involved in environmental issues -- we are hoping they will inspire others in their communities to become more informed as well. Those students who are selected as our correspondents will have the opportunity to report on important issues in their community, improve their skills as aspiring journalists, and gain an important addition to their resume."
Entry Submission Process
Participants will be chosen in two categories -- online and video. Students can audition by submitting a two-to-four minute video to http://www.youtube.com/mnn or a 500-word blog to http://mothernaturenetwork.blogspot.com/2008/10/announcing-mnns-college- contest.html . (Due to Length of URL please copy and paste into your Browser). People 18 years or older, and currently enrolled in college, are eligible to submit content. All entries must be in by January 15, 2009.
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Sunday, November 9, 2008
Reinventing the Way People Learn to Play the Piano
Georgia Tech researchers are using technology to make learning to play instruments a little easier. Piano touch is a light-weight glove that is outfitted with electronics that cue the musician with vibrations on each finger that lets them know which finger they need use to play the next note.
The technology doesn’t stop there. The glove is wireless and can actually be synchronized with an iPod, cell phone or other music playing device so that musicians can hear the music as they are being cued to play it.
Kevin Huang, a second year master’s student majoring in Human-Computer Interaction, created the device and has been collaborating with Thad Starner and Ellen Do, two of his professors, to improve the invention.
“Adults today are so busy that they have a hard time finding the time to practice,” said Huang. “With this glove you can learn to play music while you’re at your desk or on the move.”
“Every once in a while, you have a project that comes along with relevance in two different domains,” said Thad Starner, professor in the College of Computing. “In this case, we have something very useful for learning the piano, but also may have applications for rehabilitation for people who have hand trauma or dexterity issues.”
During the initial round of research, Piano Touch was successful.
“Our pilot study showed that students learned the songs that they were practicing with the Piano Touch glove better than the songs that they were practicing without the glove,” said Huang.
The new device isn’t ready for prime time just yet, but Huang is preparing the next round of research to see how effective the device is. Part of the new study will include adding another component to the Piano Touch by synchronizing lights on a keyboard with the Piano Touch glove to also give musicians a visual cue for when and where to play. He is currently recruiting adults to be a part of the study.
“It is so exciting to see how we can enhance human life with music and technology,” said Ellen Yi-Luen Do, professor with joint appointments in the College of Architecture and College of Computing. “Whether the research can be applied for education, entertainment, rehabilitation or just the enjoyment of music, I think it is a wonderful opportunity to combine disciplines and knowledge.”
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The technology doesn’t stop there. The glove is wireless and can actually be synchronized with an iPod, cell phone or other music playing device so that musicians can hear the music as they are being cued to play it.
Kevin Huang, a second year master’s student majoring in Human-Computer Interaction, created the device and has been collaborating with Thad Starner and Ellen Do, two of his professors, to improve the invention.
“Adults today are so busy that they have a hard time finding the time to practice,” said Huang. “With this glove you can learn to play music while you’re at your desk or on the move.”
“Every once in a while, you have a project that comes along with relevance in two different domains,” said Thad Starner, professor in the College of Computing. “In this case, we have something very useful for learning the piano, but also may have applications for rehabilitation for people who have hand trauma or dexterity issues.”
During the initial round of research, Piano Touch was successful.
“Our pilot study showed that students learned the songs that they were practicing with the Piano Touch glove better than the songs that they were practicing without the glove,” said Huang.
The new device isn’t ready for prime time just yet, but Huang is preparing the next round of research to see how effective the device is. Part of the new study will include adding another component to the Piano Touch by synchronizing lights on a keyboard with the Piano Touch glove to also give musicians a visual cue for when and where to play. He is currently recruiting adults to be a part of the study.
“It is so exciting to see how we can enhance human life with music and technology,” said Ellen Yi-Luen Do, professor with joint appointments in the College of Architecture and College of Computing. “Whether the research can be applied for education, entertainment, rehabilitation or just the enjoyment of music, I think it is a wonderful opportunity to combine disciplines and knowledge.”
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Friday, November 7, 2008
Creating Music with Your Cell Phone
If you own a cell phone, then new software created by Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology director Gil Weinberg and his students will allow you to be the next composer and performer of your own original music.
The new software, called ZooZ Beat, allows the user to play and record a variety of instrumental sounds by shaking and tilting the phone. It also allows entering and transforming voice recordings and sharing the music in a group. The software interprets the movements and manipulates the music accordingly.
Weinberg says he created the software after realizing how his previous research on musical expression and creativity for novices could be applied to cell phones, which have become much more ubiquitous and powerful than in years past.
“My research focuses on developing algorhythms that would allow musical instruments to analyze and interpret a player’s intention,” said Weinberg. “With this technology, you don’t have to have a lot of skill or know a lot of music theory to become musically creative. You can just use your own expressive, intuitive gestures to create music that you can relate to.”
The new software, called ZooZ Beat, allows the user to play and record a variety of instrumental sounds by shaking and tilting the phone. It also allows entering and transforming voice recordings and sharing the music in a group. The software interprets the movements and manipulates the music accordingly.
Weinberg says he created the software after realizing how his previous research on musical expression and creativity for novices could be applied to cell phones, which have become much more ubiquitous and powerful than in years past.
“My research focuses on developing algorhythms that would allow musical instruments to analyze and interpret a player’s intention,” said Weinberg. “With this technology, you don’t have to have a lot of skill or know a lot of music theory to become musically creative. You can just use your own expressive, intuitive gestures to create music that you can relate to.”
Weinberg says that he always wanted to put this technology into the hands of everyone, but his previous instruments were too expensive and difficult to maintain.
“Cell phones have become so powerful as far as their capabilities, which led me to think that I could bring some of my research ideas into this realm,” says Weinberg. “I don’t have to develop the hardware, and everyone already has a cell phone. By making the software easily accessible, people will be able to create, manipulate and share music in a very intuitive and expressive manner.”
Weinberg has also applied the software technology to gaming by using the cell phone device as a game controller for PC games.
Georgia Tech Venture Lab has supported the commercialization of Weinberg’s technology, and he has a number of patents pending. The software will be available to the general public at http://www.zoozmobile.com.
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The new software, called ZooZ Beat, allows the user to play and record a variety of instrumental sounds by shaking and tilting the phone. It also allows entering and transforming voice recordings and sharing the music in a group. The software interprets the movements and manipulates the music accordingly.
Weinberg says he created the software after realizing how his previous research on musical expression and creativity for novices could be applied to cell phones, which have become much more ubiquitous and powerful than in years past.
“My research focuses on developing algorhythms that would allow musical instruments to analyze and interpret a player’s intention,” said Weinberg. “With this technology, you don’t have to have a lot of skill or know a lot of music theory to become musically creative. You can just use your own expressive, intuitive gestures to create music that you can relate to.”
The new software, called ZooZ Beat, allows the user to play and record a variety of instrumental sounds by shaking and tilting the phone. It also allows entering and transforming voice recordings and sharing the music in a group. The software interprets the movements and manipulates the music accordingly.
Weinberg says he created the software after realizing how his previous research on musical expression and creativity for novices could be applied to cell phones, which have become much more ubiquitous and powerful than in years past.
“My research focuses on developing algorhythms that would allow musical instruments to analyze and interpret a player’s intention,” said Weinberg. “With this technology, you don’t have to have a lot of skill or know a lot of music theory to become musically creative. You can just use your own expressive, intuitive gestures to create music that you can relate to.”
Weinberg says that he always wanted to put this technology into the hands of everyone, but his previous instruments were too expensive and difficult to maintain.
“Cell phones have become so powerful as far as their capabilities, which led me to think that I could bring some of my research ideas into this realm,” says Weinberg. “I don’t have to develop the hardware, and everyone already has a cell phone. By making the software easily accessible, people will be able to create, manipulate and share music in a very intuitive and expressive manner.”
Weinberg has also applied the software technology to gaming by using the cell phone device as a game controller for PC games.
Georgia Tech Venture Lab has supported the commercialization of Weinberg’s technology, and he has a number of patents pending. The software will be available to the general public at http://www.zoozmobile.com.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
National Cyber Security Survey Finds Americans More Wary of Cyber Crime
PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More and more Americans are conducting online banking, stock trading and health management, but nearly 60 percent of Americans say that the risks of identity theft have changed their online behaviors, according to a recent survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).
More than 40 percent of Americans said that they only visit Web sites that they are familiar with and 20 percent said that they have stopped or limited their online purchases. The change in behaviors is perhaps not so surprising when you consider that, of those surveyed, 22 percent claimed they had their identity misused to compromise a bank account, steal a credit card number or take out an unauthorized loan.
More than 73 percent of those surveyed said they use the Internet to bank, trade stocks or review personal medical information so the violation of trust that an online security breach can cause is massive. When Americans were asked if having their bank account or credit card account robbed of $5,000 was worse than having their home broken into and robbed of $5,000, 51% said online fraud was worse. Only 37% said the home break-in was worse and 12% were not sure.
"The convenience of conducting part of our lives online has transformed the way we live, but it's not without risk," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "Only visiting Web sites that you trust is one aspect of good online security. In addition, home users should be vigilant about keeping their anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall up-to-date and use unique passwords that contain numbers, letters and symbols. These tools combined with good online behavior equal good cyber security."
The survey also found that:
-- 53 percent of Americans use the same online password for multiple
accounts.
-- 68 percent surveyed store more than a quarter of their photographs
digitally.
-- 63 percent for respondents said that they back up sensitive
information from their computers
For the survey, NCSA commissioned a Zogby online poll of more than 3,000 Americans. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 1.6%.
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More than 40 percent of Americans said that they only visit Web sites that they are familiar with and 20 percent said that they have stopped or limited their online purchases. The change in behaviors is perhaps not so surprising when you consider that, of those surveyed, 22 percent claimed they had their identity misused to compromise a bank account, steal a credit card number or take out an unauthorized loan.
More than 73 percent of those surveyed said they use the Internet to bank, trade stocks or review personal medical information so the violation of trust that an online security breach can cause is massive. When Americans were asked if having their bank account or credit card account robbed of $5,000 was worse than having their home broken into and robbed of $5,000, 51% said online fraud was worse. Only 37% said the home break-in was worse and 12% were not sure.
"The convenience of conducting part of our lives online has transformed the way we live, but it's not without risk," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the NCSA. "Only visiting Web sites that you trust is one aspect of good online security. In addition, home users should be vigilant about keeping their anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall up-to-date and use unique passwords that contain numbers, letters and symbols. These tools combined with good online behavior equal good cyber security."
The survey also found that:
-- 53 percent of Americans use the same online password for multiple
accounts.
-- 68 percent surveyed store more than a quarter of their photographs
digitally.
-- 63 percent for respondents said that they back up sensitive
information from their computers
For the survey, NCSA commissioned a Zogby online poll of more than 3,000 Americans. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 1.6%.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
'Dark Market' Takedown
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market. And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry
Last week the FBI and its global partners wrapped up a two-year undercover cyber operation that resulted in 56 arrests worldwide, the prevention of $70 million in potential losses, and the confirmation that while there might be honor among thieves, in the end, they are still just thieves.
Here’s what happened:
...A discerning group of cyber criminals established a forum on the Internet called “Dark Market,” where they bought and sold stolen financial information such as credit card data, login credentials (user names and passwords), and even electronic equipment for carrying out financial crimes.
...At its peak, this vast criminal network had over 2,500 registered members, who all believed they were operating in a protected cyber environment because they went to great lengths to vet members and to weed out undesirable elements.
...What they didn’t know was that one of the site’s administrators and most respected members, who called himself Master Splyntr, was one of us—an undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the site posing as a cyber crook.
“It was a group of people who trusted each other,” said the undercover agent after the arrests. He explained that there are two types of cyber criminals: those who steal, but not from one another, and “rippers,” who steal from anyone.
Keeping the rippers off the Dark Market site, the agent explained, gave the other members a false sense of confidence. “They did a good job of trying to be secure, and they felt secure. There was honor among thieves, so to speak.”
Master Splyntr was on the site nearly every day, anywhere from one hour to 15 hours a day. Dark Market was like an exclusive club for cyber crooks, a meeting place for getting advice and brokering deals. During his time online, the undercover agent said, “we saw millions of dollars being exchanged.” At the same time, the operation prevented the millions of dollars in losses by tipping off potential cyber crime targets.
From the outset, our agent pointed out, “the goal was to infiltrate the organization.” The operation was extremely successful in developing intelligence on Dark Market’s leading members and the ways in which they conducted their far-flung crimes.
Throughout the operation, we worked closely with our international law enforcement partners, including the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Turkish National Police, and the German Federal Criminal Police.
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market,” said our Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry. “And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
As for our undercover agent who became a trusted member of the forum, he explained that he often had to think like a crook when signing on as Master Splyntr. “But at the same time,” he added, “you remember what your job is—to get the criminals.”
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FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry
Last week the FBI and its global partners wrapped up a two-year undercover cyber operation that resulted in 56 arrests worldwide, the prevention of $70 million in potential losses, and the confirmation that while there might be honor among thieves, in the end, they are still just thieves.
Here’s what happened:
...A discerning group of cyber criminals established a forum on the Internet called “Dark Market,” where they bought and sold stolen financial information such as credit card data, login credentials (user names and passwords), and even electronic equipment for carrying out financial crimes.
...At its peak, this vast criminal network had over 2,500 registered members, who all believed they were operating in a protected cyber environment because they went to great lengths to vet members and to weed out undesirable elements.
...What they didn’t know was that one of the site’s administrators and most respected members, who called himself Master Splyntr, was one of us—an undercover FBI agent who had infiltrated the site posing as a cyber crook.
“It was a group of people who trusted each other,” said the undercover agent after the arrests. He explained that there are two types of cyber criminals: those who steal, but not from one another, and “rippers,” who steal from anyone.
Keeping the rippers off the Dark Market site, the agent explained, gave the other members a false sense of confidence. “They did a good job of trying to be secure, and they felt secure. There was honor among thieves, so to speak.”
Master Splyntr was on the site nearly every day, anywhere from one hour to 15 hours a day. Dark Market was like an exclusive club for cyber crooks, a meeting place for getting advice and brokering deals. During his time online, the undercover agent said, “we saw millions of dollars being exchanged.” At the same time, the operation prevented the millions of dollars in losses by tipping off potential cyber crime targets.
From the outset, our agent pointed out, “the goal was to infiltrate the organization.” The operation was extremely successful in developing intelligence on Dark Market’s leading members and the ways in which they conducted their far-flung crimes.
Throughout the operation, we worked closely with our international law enforcement partners, including the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Turkish National Police, and the German Federal Criminal Police.
“What’s worked for us in taking down spy rings and entire mob families over the years—embedding an undercover agent deep within a criminal organization—worked beautifully in taking down Dark Market,” said our Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry. “And once again, our global partnerships paid off.”
As for our undercover agent who became a trusted member of the forum, he explained that he often had to think like a crook when signing on as Master Splyntr. “But at the same time,” he added, “you remember what your job is—to get the criminals.”
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Saturday, October 18, 2008
FBI: The Cyber Threat Today
Crooks and spies using the Internet to commit crimes against U.S. businesses and to attack government networks are getting more sophisticated, and the increasing number of such crimes not only impacts the economy but threatens national security.
That’s the message Shawn Henry, recently appointed head of the FBI Cyber Division, delivered to a group of reporters on Wednesday, revealing that we have thousands of open cases into cyber crimes and organized cyber attacks and detailing our strategy to protect the nation’s networks.
One case in point: We joined our international partners yesterday in announcing a major takedown of a transnational criminal network that was buying and selling stolen financial information through an online forum known as “Dark Market.”
“The business of the United States is done on the Internet,” said Henry, a veteran cyber crime investigator. And the information that flows electronically 24/7 is increasingly the target of not only identity thieves and scammers, but organized crime groups, terrorists, and overseas governments.
“There are a number of countries who have an interest in stealing information from the United States,” Henry said, explaining that as many as two dozen nations have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating our networks. In the past year, he added, “the malicious activity has become much more prevalent.”
Malicious activity could come in the form of attacks that deny access to websites, that compromise sensitive information, or that introduce “botnets” that spread viruses and covertly co-opt computers to carry out data theft.
“There are a number of countries who have an interest in stealing information from the United States,” Henry said, explaining that as many as two dozen nations have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating our networks.
New groups of hackers—virtual gangs—are a growing threat as well, banding together to pool their expertise and carry out coordinated cyber attacks. Henry pointed out that in years gone by, if a gang wanted to rob a bank, it needed crooks with various skills—safe cracker, get-away driver, look-out, etc. That’s essentially what we’re seeing in the cyber world today, only these virtual gang members have never met in the physical world. “There are organized groups that are very successful,” Henry said.
The 3 Ps. To address the rising threat, the Cyber Division has a threefold strategic plan—“Prioritize, Proactive, Partnerships.”
By prioritizing our efforts, we can go after the most critical threats. Being proactive means adopting the same time-tested investigative techniques that have been so successful in our physical crime investigations—the use of informants, electronic surveillance, and placement of undercover agents to penetrate and dismantle virtual criminal operations.
The third “P”—partnerships—means building even stronger relationships with law enforcement agencies worldwide. He said we’ve worked with such countries as Great Britain, Canada, Russia, and Turkey to swap best practices and techniques. We’ve also sent agents to Romania to work with law enforcement there, leading to nearly 100 arrests in cyber crime cases representing “tens of millions of dollars” in losses, Henry said.
And the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3—a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center—continues to assist state and local law enforcement in fighting cyber crime. Since its establishment in 2000, IC3 has received more than a million complaints. In the last couple of years, there’s been an “uptick” in the number of reports, according to Henry. Lately, they’re coming in at the rate of nearly 20,000 per month.
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That’s the message Shawn Henry, recently appointed head of the FBI Cyber Division, delivered to a group of reporters on Wednesday, revealing that we have thousands of open cases into cyber crimes and organized cyber attacks and detailing our strategy to protect the nation’s networks.
One case in point: We joined our international partners yesterday in announcing a major takedown of a transnational criminal network that was buying and selling stolen financial information through an online forum known as “Dark Market.”
“The business of the United States is done on the Internet,” said Henry, a veteran cyber crime investigator. And the information that flows electronically 24/7 is increasingly the target of not only identity thieves and scammers, but organized crime groups, terrorists, and overseas governments.
“There are a number of countries who have an interest in stealing information from the United States,” Henry said, explaining that as many as two dozen nations have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating our networks. In the past year, he added, “the malicious activity has become much more prevalent.”
Malicious activity could come in the form of attacks that deny access to websites, that compromise sensitive information, or that introduce “botnets” that spread viruses and covertly co-opt computers to carry out data theft.
“There are a number of countries who have an interest in stealing information from the United States,” Henry said, explaining that as many as two dozen nations have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating our networks.
New groups of hackers—virtual gangs—are a growing threat as well, banding together to pool their expertise and carry out coordinated cyber attacks. Henry pointed out that in years gone by, if a gang wanted to rob a bank, it needed crooks with various skills—safe cracker, get-away driver, look-out, etc. That’s essentially what we’re seeing in the cyber world today, only these virtual gang members have never met in the physical world. “There are organized groups that are very successful,” Henry said.
The 3 Ps. To address the rising threat, the Cyber Division has a threefold strategic plan—“Prioritize, Proactive, Partnerships.”
By prioritizing our efforts, we can go after the most critical threats. Being proactive means adopting the same time-tested investigative techniques that have been so successful in our physical crime investigations—the use of informants, electronic surveillance, and placement of undercover agents to penetrate and dismantle virtual criminal operations.
The third “P”—partnerships—means building even stronger relationships with law enforcement agencies worldwide. He said we’ve worked with such countries as Great Britain, Canada, Russia, and Turkey to swap best practices and techniques. We’ve also sent agents to Romania to work with law enforcement there, leading to nearly 100 arrests in cyber crime cases representing “tens of millions of dollars” in losses, Henry said.
And the Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3—a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center—continues to assist state and local law enforcement in fighting cyber crime. Since its establishment in 2000, IC3 has received more than a million complaints. In the last couple of years, there’s been an “uptick” in the number of reports, according to Henry. Lately, they’re coming in at the rate of nearly 20,000 per month.
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Thursday, October 16, 2008
Fraudulent Spam E-mail Purported From FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole
A spam e-mail claiming to be from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole is currently being circulated. This attempt to defraud is the typical e-mail scam using the name and reputation
of an FBI official to create an air of authenticity.
As with many scams, the e-mail advises the recipient that they are the beneficiary of a large sum of money which they will be permitted to access once fees are paid and personal banking information is provided. The appearance of the e-mail leads the reader to believe that it is from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole.
This e-mail is a hoax. Do not respond.
The IC3 continues to receive and develop intelligence regarding fraud schemes misrepresenting
the FBI and/or FBI officials. The scam e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy through the use of pictures of FBI officials, seal, letter head, and/or banners.
These fraud schemes claim to be from domestic as well as international FBI offices. The typical types of schemes utilizing the names of FBI officials and/or the FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications but can cover a range of scams from threats and malicious computer program attachments (malware) to online auction scams.
These scams use the social engineering technique of employing the FBI's name to intimidate and convince the recipient the e-mail is legitimate.
Please be cautious of any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI, Director Mueller, Deputy Director Pistole or any other FBI official claiming that the FBI is endorsing any type of Internet activity.
Always be cautious when responding to requests or special offers delivered through
unsolicited e-mail:
* Guard your personal information as well as your account information carefully.
* You should never give any personal, credit, or banking information in response to
unsolicited e-mails.
Consumers always need to be alert to unsolicited e-mails. Do not open unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses or malware. Providing your PII will compromise your identity!
If you have received this e-mail, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
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of an FBI official to create an air of authenticity.
As with many scams, the e-mail advises the recipient that they are the beneficiary of a large sum of money which they will be permitted to access once fees are paid and personal banking information is provided. The appearance of the e-mail leads the reader to believe that it is from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole.
This e-mail is a hoax. Do not respond.
The IC3 continues to receive and develop intelligence regarding fraud schemes misrepresenting
the FBI and/or FBI officials. The scam e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy through the use of pictures of FBI officials, seal, letter head, and/or banners.
These fraud schemes claim to be from domestic as well as international FBI offices. The typical types of schemes utilizing the names of FBI officials and/or the FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications but can cover a range of scams from threats and malicious computer program attachments (malware) to online auction scams.
These scams use the social engineering technique of employing the FBI's name to intimidate and convince the recipient the e-mail is legitimate.
Please be cautious of any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI, Director Mueller, Deputy Director Pistole or any other FBI official claiming that the FBI is endorsing any type of Internet activity.
Always be cautious when responding to requests or special offers delivered through
unsolicited e-mail:
* Guard your personal information as well as your account information carefully.
* You should never give any personal, credit, or banking information in response to
unsolicited e-mails.
Consumers always need to be alert to unsolicited e-mails. Do not open unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses or malware. Providing your PII will compromise your identity!
If you have received this e-mail, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.
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Georgia Tech Information Security Center Releases Emerging Cyber Threats Forecast for 2009
(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC), a national leader in information security research and education, today announced the release of the GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2009, outlining the top five areas of security concern and risk for consumer and enterprise Internet users for the coming year. The report was released at the annual GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats – a gathering of leading industry and academic leaders from organizations with a stake in protecting the online user community.
For 2009, GTISC is forecasting five key cyber security areas where threats are expected to increase and evolve:
* Malware— specifically under the guise of benign social networking links
* Botnets – specifically the spread of botnet attacks to wireless and peer-to-peer networks
* Cyber warfare — including targets on the U.S. economy and infrastructure
* Threats to VoIP and Mobile Convergence—specifically voice fraud and cellular botnets
* The Evolving Cyber Crime Economy – including the rise of sophisticated malware-for-sale kits and programs
According to the report, data will continue to be the primary motive behind future cyber crime – whether targeting traditional fixed computing environments or mobile applications. Experts from across the IT security spectrum – from government to industry to academia – join GTISC’s call for closer coordination between the security industry, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), application developers and government regulators to safeguard the user community and hinder the spread of sophisticated cyber security threats.
“At GTISC, we strongly believe that a proactive approach to understanding emerging threats will help us develop more effective information security technologies and strategies,” said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. “The annual GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and this report seek to give us a better understanding of the increasingly sophisticated cyber security challenges we will face in the years ahead. We wish to thank the esteemed members of the IT security community who assisted us with the creation of this report.”
More than 300 corporate executives, industry leaders and technologists from across the country attended the GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats, keynoted by Lt. General Robert J. Elder, Jr., Commander Eighth Air Force of the Barksdale Air Force Base. Following Lt. Elder’s address on “Global Operations and Mission Assurance in a Contested Cyber Environment” in the morning, Summit panelists engaged in a lively discussion moderated by IT Security Entrepreneur, Thomas E. Noonan. This year’s panelists, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, IBM Internet Security Systems, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Cisco, Motorola and SecureWorks, helped to educate the audience on the proliferation of cyber threats, including those listed in the report, and highlighted possible countermeasures to safeguard the user and business communities.
To view the entire GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats for 2009 report or to watch a pre-recorded Web cast of the Summit, please visit http://www.gtiscsecuritysummit.com.
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For 2009, GTISC is forecasting five key cyber security areas where threats are expected to increase and evolve:
* Malware— specifically under the guise of benign social networking links
* Botnets – specifically the spread of botnet attacks to wireless and peer-to-peer networks
* Cyber warfare — including targets on the U.S. economy and infrastructure
* Threats to VoIP and Mobile Convergence—specifically voice fraud and cellular botnets
* The Evolving Cyber Crime Economy – including the rise of sophisticated malware-for-sale kits and programs
According to the report, data will continue to be the primary motive behind future cyber crime – whether targeting traditional fixed computing environments or mobile applications. Experts from across the IT security spectrum – from government to industry to academia – join GTISC’s call for closer coordination between the security industry, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), application developers and government regulators to safeguard the user community and hinder the spread of sophisticated cyber security threats.
“At GTISC, we strongly believe that a proactive approach to understanding emerging threats will help us develop more effective information security technologies and strategies,” said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. “The annual GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats and this report seek to give us a better understanding of the increasingly sophisticated cyber security challenges we will face in the years ahead. We wish to thank the esteemed members of the IT security community who assisted us with the creation of this report.”
More than 300 corporate executives, industry leaders and technologists from across the country attended the GTISC Security Summit on Emerging Cyber Security Threats, keynoted by Lt. General Robert J. Elder, Jr., Commander Eighth Air Force of the Barksdale Air Force Base. Following Lt. Elder’s address on “Global Operations and Mission Assurance in a Contested Cyber Environment” in the morning, Summit panelists engaged in a lively discussion moderated by IT Security Entrepreneur, Thomas E. Noonan. This year’s panelists, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, IBM Internet Security Systems, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Cisco, Motorola and SecureWorks, helped to educate the audience on the proliferation of cyber threats, including those listed in the report, and highlighted possible countermeasures to safeguard the user and business communities.
To view the entire GTISC Emerging Cyber Threats for 2009 report or to watch a pre-recorded Web cast of the Summit, please visit http://www.gtiscsecuritysummit.com.
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Teaching Consumers On-Line Safety Easiest When They Take the Bait
(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and Carnegie Mellon University’s Supporting Trust Decisions Project have established a phishing page redirect initiative that protects global online consumers who have been tricked into clicking links in scam emails by delivering them to Web pages that instruct them on the dangers of phishing – and how to avoid them. The program was announced today at the APWG conference in Atlanta.
The AWPG/Carnegie Mellon Phishing Education Landing Page program builds on the philosophy of using the “teachable moment” to warn users immediately after they’ve fallen for a phishing lure and then give them on-line safety instruction precisely at a time when they are receptive to it. Phishing sites are designed to resemble Web sites of legitimate businesses, such as banks and online retailers, to trick people into revealing credit card numbers, bank accounts or login names and passwords. Actionable messaging will help consumers to avoid falling victim to these scams a second time.
“We are excited about the opportunity to educate consumers as they are falling victim to a phishing site,” said Dr. Laura Mather, Managing Director of Operational Policy for the APWG and CEO of Silver Tail Systems. “We see this initiative as having real impact in helping people understand when they have received a phishing communication so that they can protect themselves going forward.”
This education-at-time-of-action is accomplished by leveraging the URLs of the phishing sites themselves after anti-phishing investigators have identified the sites and shut them down. Instead of leaving the URL file blank, returning a ‘PAGE NOT FOUND’ message to consumers following phishing links, they will be served a page of instruction on how to avoid phishing and reduce the risk of falling victim to electronic crime. (Redirect scripts placed at the sanitized phishing URL will automatically forward the advisory content.)
“Our research has shown that most Internet users don’t know very much about online scams and don’t realize that there are some simple things they can do to protect themselves,” said Dr. Lorrie Cranor, an associate professor of computer science and engineering & public policy at Carnegie Mellon and director of the Supporting Trust Decisions Project.
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, a computer science Ph.D. student who is leading the effort to design and evaluate anti-phishing training materials at Carnegie Mellon added, “Nobody wants to spend their time taking on-line safety courses. But we’ve demonstrated that users are receptive to on-line safety instruction immediately after they fall for a phishing attack and they tend to remember this instruction."
The phishing education landing page developed by APWG and Carnegie Mellon teaches would-be victims not to give out personal information upon email request and to use a skeptical eye in judging online communications.
The implementation of the program depends on the participation of both takedown service providers and the ISPs and other companies whose servers have been co-opted to host phishing sites. The APWG is already successfully recruiting companies that perform phishing site takedowns, victimized brandholders and trade associations to encourage ISPs and other organizations that remove phish sites to use the APWG’s education landing page program.
The program is based on a similar program initiated by Bank of America in 2007. The APWG/Carnegie Mellon program builds on Bank of America’s ideas by creating a page that can be used for phishing site against any brand. Bank of America has already implemented the APWG/Carnegie Mellon program.
“Bank of America is committed to providing its customers with industry leading security tools and advice to protect them and enhance their overall customer experience. Educating our customers about the risks of identity theft and fraud is critical,” says David Shroyer, SVP for eCommerce Online Security at Bank of America.
"We know from experience that an educated customer is the best defense against fraud, and with this program we are educating our customers at the point of incidence, and letting customers know that we are working to protect them,” Mr. Shroyer said.
The APWG/Carnegie Mellon scheme will augment the usual procedure for communicating to the hosting organization about phishing sites. Instead of asking that the site be disabled and file content associated with the phishing URL removed, the takedown provider or victimized brandholder would request that the URL be preserved and a redirect script send the duped user to a webpage hosted by the APWG.
The education landing page will automatically determine whether the user is using a PC or laptop or handheld device and vend the device-appropriate page. Users of PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones will receive a page exclusively of text. People using PCs and laptops will receive an enhanced page of text, graphics and a number of links to online resources.
The APWG/Carnegie Mellon scheme will augment the usual procedure for communicating to the hosting organization about phishing sites. Instead of asking that the site be disabled and file content associated with the phishing URL removed, the takedown provider or victimized brandholder would request that the URL be preserved and a redirect script send the duped user to a webpage hosted by the APWG.
The APWG page will automatically determine whether the user is using a PC or laptop or handheld device and vend the device-appropriate page. Users of PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones will receive a page exclusively of text. People using PCs and laptops will receive an enhanced page of text, graphics and a number of links to online resources.
“This initiative gives takedown teams, ISPs, registrars, and registries the opportunity to take one more step in protecting consumers against identity theft and the other crimes perpetrated by Phishers,” said Dr. Mather.
As a next step, the APWG will organize the translation of the pages into various languages to serve the larger international community of consumers, brandholders and ISPs who are confronting the threats of electronic crime and engaging questions of efficacious consumer education.
Links:
Redirect education page: http://education.apwg.org/r/en/
Text only redirect education page: http://education.apwg.org/r/index.html
About the redirect education page initiative: http://education.apwg.org/r/about.html
About the APWG: The APWG is an industry, founded as the Anti-Phishing Working Group in 2003, is an industry, law enforcement and government coalition focused on eliminating the identity theft and fraud that result from the growing problem of phishing, email spoofing, and crimeware. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs, the law enforcement community and solutions providers. There are more than 1,800 companies and government agencies worldwide participating in the APWG and more than 3,200 members. The APWG's Web site (www.antiphishing.org) offers the public and industry information about phishing and email fraud, including identification and promotion of pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate protection. APWG's corporate sponsors include: 8e6 Technologies, AT&T (T), Able NV, Afilias Ltd., AhnLab, BillMeLater, BBN Technologies, BlueStreak, BrandMail, BrandProtect, Bsecure Technologies, Cisco (CSCO), Clear Search, Cloudmark, Cydelity, Cyveillance, DigiCert, DigitalEnvoy, DigitalResolve, Digital River, Earthlink (ELNK), eBay/PayPal (EBAY), Entrust (ENTU), Experian, eEye, Fortinet, FraudWatch International, FrontPorch, F-Secure, Goodmail Systems, Grisoft, GeoTrust, GlobalSign, GoDaddy, Goodmail Systems, GuardID Systems, HomeAway, IronPort, HitachiJoHo, ING Bank, Iconix, Internet Identity, Internet Security Systems, IOvation, IS3, IT Matrix, Kaspersky Labs, Lenos Software, LightSpeed Systems, MailFrontier, MailShell, MarkMonitor, McAfee (MFE), MasterCard, MessageLevel, Microsoft (MSFT), MicroWorld, Mirapoint, MySpace (NWS), MyPW, MX Logic, NameProtect, National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) Netcraft, NetStar, Network Solutions, Panda Software, Phoenix Technologies Inc. (PTEC), Phorm, SalesForce, Radialpoint, RSA Security (EMC), SecureBrain, Secure Computing (SCUR), S21sec, Sigaba, SoftForum, SOPHOS, SquareTrade, SurfControl, Symantec (SYMC), TDS Telecom, Telefonica (TEF), Trend Micro (TMIC), Tricerion, TriCipher, TrustedID, Tumbleweed Communications (TMWD), SurfControl (SRF.L), Vasco (VDSI), VeriSign (VRSN), Visa, Websense Inc. (WBSN) and Yahoo! (YHOO)
About the Carnegie Mellon Supporting Trust Decisions Project. The Supporting Trust Decisions Project (http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/trust) is a research project affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab and the CMU Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory. The project has developed a number of approaches to end-user security education as well as automated tools for detecting phishing attacks. These user education tools and phishing filters are being commercialized by Wombat Security Technologies, Inc. This project is sponsored by the US National Science Foundation, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia Portugal under a grant from the Information and Communications Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon, and by the Army Research Office.
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The AWPG/Carnegie Mellon Phishing Education Landing Page program builds on the philosophy of using the “teachable moment” to warn users immediately after they’ve fallen for a phishing lure and then give them on-line safety instruction precisely at a time when they are receptive to it. Phishing sites are designed to resemble Web sites of legitimate businesses, such as banks and online retailers, to trick people into revealing credit card numbers, bank accounts or login names and passwords. Actionable messaging will help consumers to avoid falling victim to these scams a second time.
“We are excited about the opportunity to educate consumers as they are falling victim to a phishing site,” said Dr. Laura Mather, Managing Director of Operational Policy for the APWG and CEO of Silver Tail Systems. “We see this initiative as having real impact in helping people understand when they have received a phishing communication so that they can protect themselves going forward.”
This education-at-time-of-action is accomplished by leveraging the URLs of the phishing sites themselves after anti-phishing investigators have identified the sites and shut them down. Instead of leaving the URL file blank, returning a ‘PAGE NOT FOUND’ message to consumers following phishing links, they will be served a page of instruction on how to avoid phishing and reduce the risk of falling victim to electronic crime. (Redirect scripts placed at the sanitized phishing URL will automatically forward the advisory content.)
“Our research has shown that most Internet users don’t know very much about online scams and don’t realize that there are some simple things they can do to protect themselves,” said Dr. Lorrie Cranor, an associate professor of computer science and engineering & public policy at Carnegie Mellon and director of the Supporting Trust Decisions Project.
Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, a computer science Ph.D. student who is leading the effort to design and evaluate anti-phishing training materials at Carnegie Mellon added, “Nobody wants to spend their time taking on-line safety courses. But we’ve demonstrated that users are receptive to on-line safety instruction immediately after they fall for a phishing attack and they tend to remember this instruction."
The phishing education landing page developed by APWG and Carnegie Mellon teaches would-be victims not to give out personal information upon email request and to use a skeptical eye in judging online communications.
The implementation of the program depends on the participation of both takedown service providers and the ISPs and other companies whose servers have been co-opted to host phishing sites. The APWG is already successfully recruiting companies that perform phishing site takedowns, victimized brandholders and trade associations to encourage ISPs and other organizations that remove phish sites to use the APWG’s education landing page program.
The program is based on a similar program initiated by Bank of America in 2007. The APWG/Carnegie Mellon program builds on Bank of America’s ideas by creating a page that can be used for phishing site against any brand. Bank of America has already implemented the APWG/Carnegie Mellon program.
“Bank of America is committed to providing its customers with industry leading security tools and advice to protect them and enhance their overall customer experience. Educating our customers about the risks of identity theft and fraud is critical,” says David Shroyer, SVP for eCommerce Online Security at Bank of America.
"We know from experience that an educated customer is the best defense against fraud, and with this program we are educating our customers at the point of incidence, and letting customers know that we are working to protect them,” Mr. Shroyer said.
The APWG/Carnegie Mellon scheme will augment the usual procedure for communicating to the hosting organization about phishing sites. Instead of asking that the site be disabled and file content associated with the phishing URL removed, the takedown provider or victimized brandholder would request that the URL be preserved and a redirect script send the duped user to a webpage hosted by the APWG.
The education landing page will automatically determine whether the user is using a PC or laptop or handheld device and vend the device-appropriate page. Users of PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones will receive a page exclusively of text. People using PCs and laptops will receive an enhanced page of text, graphics and a number of links to online resources.
The APWG/Carnegie Mellon scheme will augment the usual procedure for communicating to the hosting organization about phishing sites. Instead of asking that the site be disabled and file content associated with the phishing URL removed, the takedown provider or victimized brandholder would request that the URL be preserved and a redirect script send the duped user to a webpage hosted by the APWG.
The APWG page will automatically determine whether the user is using a PC or laptop or handheld device and vend the device-appropriate page. Users of PDAs and Web-enabled cell phones will receive a page exclusively of text. People using PCs and laptops will receive an enhanced page of text, graphics and a number of links to online resources.
“This initiative gives takedown teams, ISPs, registrars, and registries the opportunity to take one more step in protecting consumers against identity theft and the other crimes perpetrated by Phishers,” said Dr. Mather.
As a next step, the APWG will organize the translation of the pages into various languages to serve the larger international community of consumers, brandholders and ISPs who are confronting the threats of electronic crime and engaging questions of efficacious consumer education.
Links:
Redirect education page: http://education.apwg.org/r/en/
Text only redirect education page: http://education.apwg.org/r/index.html
About the redirect education page initiative: http://education.apwg.org/r/about.html
About the APWG: The APWG is an industry, founded as the Anti-Phishing Working Group in 2003, is an industry, law enforcement and government coalition focused on eliminating the identity theft and fraud that result from the growing problem of phishing, email spoofing, and crimeware. Membership is open to qualified financial institutions, online retailers, ISPs, the law enforcement community and solutions providers. There are more than 1,800 companies and government agencies worldwide participating in the APWG and more than 3,200 members. The APWG's Web site (www.antiphishing.org) offers the public and industry information about phishing and email fraud, including identification and promotion of pragmatic technical solutions that provide immediate protection. APWG's corporate sponsors include: 8e6 Technologies, AT&T (T), Able NV, Afilias Ltd., AhnLab, BillMeLater, BBN Technologies, BlueStreak, BrandMail, BrandProtect, Bsecure Technologies, Cisco (CSCO), Clear Search, Cloudmark, Cydelity, Cyveillance, DigiCert, DigitalEnvoy, DigitalResolve, Digital River, Earthlink (ELNK), eBay/PayPal (EBAY), Entrust (ENTU), Experian, eEye, Fortinet, FraudWatch International, FrontPorch, F-Secure, Goodmail Systems, Grisoft, GeoTrust, GlobalSign, GoDaddy, Goodmail Systems, GuardID Systems, HomeAway, IronPort, HitachiJoHo, ING Bank, Iconix, Internet Identity, Internet Security Systems, IOvation, IS3, IT Matrix, Kaspersky Labs, Lenos Software, LightSpeed Systems, MailFrontier, MailShell, MarkMonitor, McAfee (MFE), MasterCard, MessageLevel, Microsoft (MSFT), MicroWorld, Mirapoint, MySpace (NWS), MyPW, MX Logic, NameProtect, National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) Netcraft, NetStar, Network Solutions, Panda Software, Phoenix Technologies Inc. (PTEC), Phorm, SalesForce, Radialpoint, RSA Security (EMC), SecureBrain, Secure Computing (SCUR), S21sec, Sigaba, SoftForum, SOPHOS, SquareTrade, SurfControl, Symantec (SYMC), TDS Telecom, Telefonica (TEF), Trend Micro (TMIC), Tricerion, TriCipher, TrustedID, Tumbleweed Communications (TMWD), SurfControl (SRF.L), Vasco (VDSI), VeriSign (VRSN), Visa, Websense Inc. (WBSN) and Yahoo! (YHOO)
About the Carnegie Mellon Supporting Trust Decisions Project. The Supporting Trust Decisions Project (http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/trust) is a research project affiliated with Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab and the CMU Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory. The project has developed a number of approaches to end-user security education as well as automated tools for detecting phishing attacks. These user education tools and phishing filters are being commercialized by Wombat Security Technologies, Inc. This project is sponsored by the US National Science Foundation, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia Portugal under a grant from the Information and Communications Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon, and by the Army Research Office.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008
GT Models Predict the Remaining Life of Mechanical and Electronic Equipment
New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make predicting the degradation and remaining useful life of mechanical and electronic equipment easier and more accurate, while significantly improving maintenance operations and spare parts logistics.
Nagi Gebraeel, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has developed models that use data from real-time sensor measurements to calculate and continuously revise the amount of remaining useful life of different engineering systems based on their current condition and health status. These predictions are then integrated with maintenance management and spare parts supply chain policies as part of an autonomous “sense and respond” logistics paradigm.
“Recent advances in sensor technology and wireless communication have enabled us to develop innovative methods for indirectly monitoring the health of different engineering systems,” said Gebraeel, who started working on this project at the University of Iowa. “This has created an environment with an abundance of data that can be exploited in decision-making processes across different application domains such as manufacturing, aging infrastructure, avionics systems, military equipment, power plants and many others.”
Gebraeel’s predictive models were detailed during two presentations on October 14 at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Annual Meeting. Funding for model development was provided by the National Science Foundation.
Because Gebraeel’s sensor-driven prognostic models combine general reliability characteristics with real-time condition-based signals, they provide an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a system’s current health status and its future evolution. These accurate predictions are then used to determine the most economical time to order a spare part component and schedule a maintenance replacement by accounting for different costs, including those due to unexpected failures, spare part inventory holding and out-of-stock situations.
Gebraeel began his research by monitoring the vibration and acoustic emissions signals from rotating machinery, namely bearings. He extracted degradation-based characteristics pertaining to key components on the machinery and used them to develop condition-based signals. Gebraeel then created stochastic models to characterize the evolution of these condition-based signals and predict the remaining life of these critical components.
After extensive experimentation and testing, results showed that his techniques can potentially reduce the total failure costs and costs associated with running out of spare parts inventory by approximately 55 percent. With such positive results, Gebraeel turned his attention to developing models for electronics. He recently began working with Rockwell Collins to develop adaptive models to estimate the remaining useful life of aircraft electronic components.
“Aircraft take off at ambient ground temperatures and quickly reach their cruising altitudes, where the temperatures tend to be below zero,” explained Gebraeel. “It’s these changes in temperature coupled with inherent vibrations that affect the deterioration and lifetime of electronic equipment.”
Gebraeel’s goal is to embed his prognostic methodology into key avionic systems so that decisions can be made about whether an aircraft is capable of carrying out a specific mission or if it should be assigned to a shorter mission or grounded.
Gebraeel is also working closely with Virginia-based Global Strategic Solutions LLC, which has funding from two U.S. Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. The focus of one of the grants is to advance the development of embedded diagnostics and prognostics to predict the remaining life distributions of electrical power generation systems on board U.S. Naval aircraft. The focus of the second grant is to develop advanced health monitoring and remaining useful life models for aircraft communication, navigation and identification (CNI) avionics systems used on the Joint Strike Fighter.
“The long term impact of all of these projects on human safety and maintenance costs will be tremendous, especially in the airline industry,” noted Gebraeel.
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Nagi Gebraeel, an assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has developed models that use data from real-time sensor measurements to calculate and continuously revise the amount of remaining useful life of different engineering systems based on their current condition and health status. These predictions are then integrated with maintenance management and spare parts supply chain policies as part of an autonomous “sense and respond” logistics paradigm.
“Recent advances in sensor technology and wireless communication have enabled us to develop innovative methods for indirectly monitoring the health of different engineering systems,” said Gebraeel, who started working on this project at the University of Iowa. “This has created an environment with an abundance of data that can be exploited in decision-making processes across different application domains such as manufacturing, aging infrastructure, avionics systems, military equipment, power plants and many others.”
Gebraeel’s predictive models were detailed during two presentations on October 14 at the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Annual Meeting. Funding for model development was provided by the National Science Foundation.
Because Gebraeel’s sensor-driven prognostic models combine general reliability characteristics with real-time condition-based signals, they provide an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a system’s current health status and its future evolution. These accurate predictions are then used to determine the most economical time to order a spare part component and schedule a maintenance replacement by accounting for different costs, including those due to unexpected failures, spare part inventory holding and out-of-stock situations.
Gebraeel began his research by monitoring the vibration and acoustic emissions signals from rotating machinery, namely bearings. He extracted degradation-based characteristics pertaining to key components on the machinery and used them to develop condition-based signals. Gebraeel then created stochastic models to characterize the evolution of these condition-based signals and predict the remaining life of these critical components.
After extensive experimentation and testing, results showed that his techniques can potentially reduce the total failure costs and costs associated with running out of spare parts inventory by approximately 55 percent. With such positive results, Gebraeel turned his attention to developing models for electronics. He recently began working with Rockwell Collins to develop adaptive models to estimate the remaining useful life of aircraft electronic components.
“Aircraft take off at ambient ground temperatures and quickly reach their cruising altitudes, where the temperatures tend to be below zero,” explained Gebraeel. “It’s these changes in temperature coupled with inherent vibrations that affect the deterioration and lifetime of electronic equipment.”
Gebraeel’s goal is to embed his prognostic methodology into key avionic systems so that decisions can be made about whether an aircraft is capable of carrying out a specific mission or if it should be assigned to a shorter mission or grounded.
Gebraeel is also working closely with Virginia-based Global Strategic Solutions LLC, which has funding from two U.S. Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants. The focus of one of the grants is to advance the development of embedded diagnostics and prognostics to predict the remaining life distributions of electrical power generation systems on board U.S. Naval aircraft. The focus of the second grant is to develop advanced health monitoring and remaining useful life models for aircraft communication, navigation and identification (CNI) avionics systems used on the Joint Strike Fighter.
“The long term impact of all of these projects on human safety and maintenance costs will be tremendous, especially in the airline industry,” noted Gebraeel.
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