Lynn Cisco presentation chased by ISS

According to TaoSecurity Blog, ISS is trying to chase down copies of Lynn's presentation on the Internet and sending those hosting them "Cease and Desist" letters.

Waste of time guys - cat's already out of the bag. Even BEFORE he gave the presentation, do you think no one at the Black Hat convention would have noticed the pages literally ripped out of their conference proceedings? Someone would have gotten their hands on a copy and distributed it.

Besides, what's the strategy for shutting down foreign sites hosting the presentation? I bet it's for sale on eBay too!

It's strongly rumored that groups of "pissed off hackers" are collaborating on exploit code and planning on releasing it into the wild. I don't know for sure of this is true, but it is highly likely. Of course I denounce such activities, although I can understand the outrage.

Let's hope people patch their Cisco routers - Cisco released a patch MONTHS ago.

Cisco & Michael Lynn - Black Hat Cisco Gate

Cisco is a great company with networking gear and security products I like. They have a lot of great people, but in any big company there are bound to be a few "bad apples" and mistakes do get made as well.

A major mistake was made by Cisco. No, let's simply say disaster.

So bad that today, at least in the technical community, defending Cisco is like defending the devil!

Someone at Cisco make a very bad and STUPID decision to silence Michael Lynn, an ISS Researcher who quit his job in order to disclose a serious Cisco router vulnerability (LONG SINCE patched, although not all routers have the patch applied yet). I wrote about this earlier.

It has gotten infinitely worse:
Reportedly, Cisco (and perhaps ISS) has filed suit against Michael Lynn and Black Hat, and there were very recent reports that the FBI was searching Lynn's residence.

Lets try to get the Pope to stop praying. No, too easy, Let's try to suppress security information at a Black Hat convention - that'll be more fun.

The "suppressed" presentation is all over the Internet!

I said "bad and STUPID decision." I'm not talking from the moral perspective, but purely from the business perspective. A few within Cisco made horrendous business decisions! They weren't very nice either, and probably aren't nice people I'd like to have a beer or dinner with, unlike most Cisco employees I know.

I'm glad I don't run Cisco, at least now, but if I did, heads would roll!! The responsible parties, those who caused what may be a nightmare for Cisco, would be fired, tarred and feathered, etc. Let's be clear: the Cisco employees responsible for this PR Snafu would be fired. I'd have Cisco apologize, maybe offer Lynn a job, and try to move on.

For a somewhat civilized discussion, see what Bruce Sneier has to say.

I wish Cisco the best, I wish Michael Lynn the best, and I want the responsible parties in Cisco to be held responsible.

ex ISS Researcher Lynn details Cisco Vulnerability at Black Hat

Cisco routers run the Internet. Just as Microsoft Windows rules and runs the desktop, Cisco routers rule and run the Internet. They control the basic flow of Internet traffic.

A successful attack to Cisco router's operating system, IOS, is very serious and can bring the entire Internet to its knees. IOS attacks are less frequent for a number of reasons, including that most hackers have less familiarity with IOS than Windows, and IOS is simpler than Windows and hence tends to be more secure. But nothing is totally secure, including Cisco routers and IOS.

Internet Security Systems' Michael Lynn found a bug in IOS that allowed him to shut down Cisco routers. The bug has been long since patched, since April, although many routers have not had the patch implemented yet.

Lynn was going to detail his Cisco attack at the Black Hat conference, but the talk was canceled due to pressure from Cisco. Since many routers still not updated, the attack IS viable.

Lynn quit his job at ISS and gave the presentation anyways! This guy has got balls! He explained that giving the talk was "the right thing to due," citing concerns over the misconception that Cisco's products are somehow less vulnerable to attacks than Windows.

Both Cisco and ISS allegedly threatened him with legal action if he proceeded and gave his talk.

Not publicizing the attack details, as Lynn did, makes sense. Many routers are still vulnerable. However raising the awareness of security issues, including debunking a false sense that routers are close to invulnerable, is a noble act. I wasn't there and don't have all the details, but certainly can see both sides of the issue.

Lynn also voiced his opinion with concerns about Cisco's IOS getting more complex in subsequent releases.

INCREASING SOFTWARE COMPLEXITY is a MAJOR ISSUE with most software and I agree whole heartedly!! More complexity = less reliable and less secure!

Blogs very confusing - survey says

Catalyst Group Design's recent study on the usability of blogs revealed that:
Blogs are confusing, even to experienced Internet users.

I get this because I used to do a lot of User Interface design and testing. I don't think many bloggers get this at all. We tend to think various blog elements are obvious and intuitive, but we're collectively VERY wrong.

The Catalyst Group took a group of moderately experienced Internet users and showed them a representative blog (all blogs pretty much look the same, regardless of what tool is used to create/maintain them). These users spent 10+ hours on the Internet weekly in addition to reading email. They either didn't knowingly read blogs or did so infrequently.

The Catalyst Group's testing methodology is well done and appropriate.

Findings:

• Users can't tell a blog from an ordinary website
• Comments were understandable yet confusing
• RSS is far from mainstream
• Blogs confuse ordinary people, even the Internet experienced
• Quite frankly, Blog User Interfaces Suck
  

The study is named "Net Rage" - A Study of Blogs and Usability and I found it fascinating reading.

By the way, this is a blog!

Psychologist says tech entrepreneurs crazy

John Gartner, a clinical psychologist who teaches psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins, says many technology entrepreneurs have a psychiatric disorder known as "Hypomania."
Hypomanics are marked by "infectious energy, irrational confidence and really big ideas. They think, talk, move and make decisions quickly." He also says, "Hypomanics live on the edge between normal and abnormal."

While he didn't use the word "crazy," that's a detail. Psychologists never call anyone crazy, preferring to categorize them with terms such as psychotic, neurotic, hypomanic, etc. "They're not crazy, they just receive radio signals from Mars telling them to do strange things." Most psychologists I've met could themselves be described as one standard deviation from the norm.

His recent book, "The Hypomanic Edge," and a number of derivative articles discuss this in detail.

Hypomania doesn't sound bad. Sounds better than nicotine addiction for example!
I'll reserve final judgment as I haven't read his book, but Gartner himself seems to be pro-hypomania. Hypomania is closely related to manic depression.

Someone should buy this book from Amazon, read it, and report back!

Disclaimer: I neither have training in psychology nor am I crazy, but I sometimes watch psychologists on TV such as "The Bob Newhart Show."

Blog Speech Transcript

I was asked to a submit a speech transcript to Representative American Speeches, which has been published since 1937.

Recent issues have included speeches by Bill Joy, George W Bush, Janet Reno, Charleton Heston, and Colin Powell - people somewhat better known than myself.

This is from a short speech I've given numerous times to schools, service organizations, etc. The text is transcribed from a recording of 29 June 2005.

Understanding Blogs, The Current Wave of the Information Revolution

Blogs have gone from nearly unknown to having a readership of 38 million seemingly overnight! Why? What is so exciting about blogs?
The excitement behind blogs is that they allow individuals to publish without any technical knowledge. Publishing is as easy as sending an email. It’s very tempting for people to publish their thoughts and opinions to the world, and the ease and the low and sometimes no cost have led millions of people to start blogging. People blog on just about every issue or topic based on their own interests. Examples include politics, current events, and technology, as well as motorcycles, knitting and wine. Pick a topic and chances are someone is blogging about it.

The explosion of publishing enabled by blogs encompasses what is sometimes called participatory or grassroots journalism, and it’s changed the face of media. The mainstream media has to move more quickly than before and be more accurate, as the competition as well as scrutiny from blogs is intense. CBS with its recent 'Rathergate' fiasco learned firsthand about increased scrutiny from bloggers. Blogs also routinely report important news before the mainstream media. The capture of Saddam Hussein was first reported in a blog.

There are well over 12 million blogs, and 40,000 new blogs are started every day. The Pew Internet Study estimated that 27% of Internet users were regular blog readers at the end of 2004. That's approximately 32 million people who regularly read blogs. Blog readership jumped 58% in 2004. There is a lot of room for growth as 62% of Internet users are not sure what a blog is. The blogosphere – the world of blogs – is doubling in size every 5 months! Some blogs have millions of readers per month.

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Should Executives Blog?

Many executives should considering blogging. It helps publicize company news as well as executive viewpoints and opinions, and adds to a company’s personality. Executives can blog extremely effectively as their thoughts are usually well regarded and trusted, and their blogs tend to get an instant large readership. Executives who blog include Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of General Motors, Randey Baseler, VP of Marketing, Boeing, and many others.

Not everyone is suited to blogging. Some executives may also not be comfortable publicly expressing their views on a regular basis. Blogs also need to be in a written in a personal and conversational style in order to be seen as authentic, and many executives have difficulty writing in such an informal style.

Executives often have time constraints and an executive blog that is rarely updated will quickly lose its popularity and readers. A "group blog" with several authors and an occasional insightful blog post by an executive can successfully retain interested readers and popularity. This allows an executive to contribute as time permits.

Some executives default to having their blogs ghostwritten or "produced" by PR. "Light" ghost writing and editing can be useful but a blog entirely produced and scripted is not going to be effective; the thoughts and opinions in the blog must be authentic.

Blogging may be difficult or impossible to do effectively in some organizations. If company policy requires statements to be approved before being made public, perhaps by several layers of bureaucracy, the immediacy and relevance of a blog and its chances of success can be severely compromised. In any industry where running afoul of regulations may be an issue, confer with legal counsel for guidelines.

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Why Buzzmarketing Rocks!

To: Mark Hughes From: Ted Demopoulos Subject: Why Buzzmarketing Rocks!

Mark,

I finally finished reading Buzzmarketing. It took forever because I kept rereading sections and applying what I was learning as I went along.

For example, your six buttons of buzz quite clearly predict which of my press releases are most successful. It's quite straightforward - even for a "techie" like me. I'll write up details later to help solidify what I've learned!

You also wrote, "if you remember one word, and word only, remember personality."
Hmmm, that explains why my Keynote speaker page has helped me book so many speeches!

A friend rewrote my keynote speaker page about a year ago and dared me to used it! My personality oozes out; it's honest, accurate, yet insightful and somewhat outrageous. It portrayed me as a motivational speaker whose first speech started as a joke AND became an enormous hit. I was dragged on stage to do a "rap song" by a rock band I managed. "The Ted Rap" was incredibly popular and I was begged to perform every time the band performed (hmmm, "The Ted Rap" pushed 5 out of 6 buttons of buzz).

And yes, even extremely conservative groups have booked me for speeches, and been happy. Personality works!

More later.
Thanks for writing Buzzmarketing!

Ted
Checkout Buzzmarketing at Amazon! (I get a few coins if you buy via my link)

See my full review.

CEOs are faking it says Stanford Professor

According to Stanford professor Robert Sutton, most CEOs have little impact on their companies, and the bigger the company, the smaller the impact they have.

"The amount of control a leader has over a company is exaggerated, " Sutton says. He also adds, "If you look at these Fortune 500 companies where they get paid a fortune, they have the least impact."

According to Sutton, some of the best managers are the ones who do the least.

I partially agree.

A great CEO, like Jim Curtin of Win4Lin, is worth every penny he is paid, probably much more. A truly bad CEO can screw up an otherwise healthy company in no time.

A great CEO increases a company's chances of success significantly. But even a great CEO at a super promising and successful company can fail! There are just too many variables, too many unknowns, too much out of anyone's control.

My money is bet, figuratively and literally, on Pierre Noel of The Arial Group, A CEO who understands the limitations of power, as well as the responsibilities and challenges. Yes, I have a vested interest!

A couple new documents

A couple new things:

On ezinearticles.com, a collection of free articles, is my article Protect Your Laptop from Theft.

In the shameless self promotion category, my press release Blogger Scoops Mainstream Media on HP World Cancellation.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Interex and HP World dead - HP Happy

It's no surprise that many highups at HP are happy with the demise of Interex, an HP User Group, and HP World. Interex apparently escorted their employees to the door and closed forever last Friday, hence canceling HP World.

We reported it first here, scooping the Mainstream Media, and thereby pretending to be very cool! :) See here and here for details.

HP did not have control of HP World. They sponsor the competing HP Technology Forum, which they entirely control. Interex was invited to participate, but declined. Some other HP User groups decided to participate in the HP Technology Forum, for example Encompass and OpenView Forum International.

The forth large HP User's group, ITUG, mainly customers of former Tandem Computers, plans to hold its annual ITUG Summit conference in San Jose in October and I wish them success.

There were basically too many HP user groups and conferences. There still may be too many. Of course HP wished they had one user group, preferably under their umbrella, and one conference, under their control. That is only natural.

Encompass "will reach out to them," offering a home for Interex users, "eventually," said the president of Encompass, Kristie Browder. HP has offered registered HP World users complimentary passes to their HP Technology Forum (call 877-216 5400 for info). No offense HP, but I'm not going.

Disclaimer: I used to work fulltime for HP, and have consulted for them since. I wish them, and their conference, well. If I didn't you'd be reading about it here!

HP World cancelled - Interex Bankrupt

HP World 2005, August 14-18 in San Francisco is CANCELLED and Interex, who sponsors the event, is bankrupt, confidential and reliable sources informed The Ted Rap.

Apparently this is a secret and the website has no information, the speakers, presenters, and exhibitors haven't been told - no one has been told yet not even the volunteers running the conference.

The Interex Board should explain why they haven't told anyone directly! People are busy making (often nonrefundable) plane reservations and plans.

I'm sure the Interex board is busy with damage control, but is that an excuse??

I am scheduled to speak there - why haven't they told me??

Addendums 1:25 PM EST. Interex not answering their phones - doesn't look good!

Tuesday, 2AM EST: Conference cancellation confirmed. www.hpworld.com still accepting registrations!

Talkr Audio added to each Post

You'll notice a small: " Listen to this Article" link next to each post.

I've added Talkr functionality, allowing another option for consuming The Ted Rap. You can even download a free podcatcher and configure it to automatically download new Ted Rap posts, and then listen to them while driving to work, mowing the lawn, or in the gym.

It is rumored that listening to The Ted Rap will make you more attractive to members of the opposite and/or same sex, improve your dental hygiene, and make you cooler. The rumor is only partially true - I know, I started it!

Why Podcast?

To: Shel Holtz
From: Ted Demopoulos
Subject: your podcast - I now know you 182% better

Just listened to your latest podcast at forimmediaterelease.biz - great job!

What impressed me the most, is not how interesting and professional it is, but how personal it is. We've communicated a bit through blogs and email, but hearing you directly with my ears bumped up the "I know Shel" feeling several notches. Some of this is probably because you are conversing with Neville in your podcast, but much of it is from simply hearing your voice.

Occasionally people tell me they feel they know me through my blog.

Podcasting clearly has the ability to bring that to another level.

Since I have so much free time on my hands, just as we all do, I think I'll have to start podcasting soon. I wonder if fordamnnearimmediaterelease.biz is taken . . . Maybe I can sing and juggle in my podcast too. Oh, I see - bad idea!

Ted

Prebook review: Buzzmarketing, Mark Hughes

Buzzmarketing, get people to talk about your stuff

Imagine a hypothetical book written by your favorite authors. For me, that would include Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.

Now imagine volume II -– new material, not a rehash.
For me, that book just might by Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes. I like it enough to write my first ever "“prebook review" - I'’m about ½ way through.

The big idea: We all know advertisers lie, and even if they didn'’t we wouldn'’t listen to them because there are just too many ads. Buzzmarketing gets people talking about your product, and people listen to other people.

I might not buy XYZ because of the ads or marketing, but if Joe and Bob and Mary all tell me it's great I just might buy it. I trust Joe and Bob and Mary;– they have no reason to lie, unlike advertisements. Even if just Steve who I barely know tells me "“Joe'’s BBQ"” is a great new restaurant I'll want to check it out. People trust people, not ads.

Mark demystifies buzzmarketing with 6 simple rules or the "“six buttons of buzz." There is information I can and already have used in this book.

Besides, it'’s really cool how Mark got the town of Half, Oregon to rename itself to half.com! And the story on why Miller Lite made it while previous light beer attempts failed is fascinating.

Full review later!
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book, presumably for "buzzmarketing" purposes.

Full review here

How crooks use your stolen credit card info

There is a great article in US Today on how criminals use stolen credit cards.

Hint: they recruit ordinary people like you and me.

Business Week:Blogs will Change Your Business

The latest from Business Week Online, which admits we're probably sick about hearing about blogs, but:

Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself.

They go on to explain that although most blogs may be silly, poorly written, nonsense, or utter garbage, there are so many of them that if only 1% were relevant to your business, that's a lot.

They greatly underestimate the number of blogs, but that's a small point.

Worth checking out!

Ted speaks at HP World August 18 in San Francisco

I'll be at HP World Aug 16-18 in San Francisco and happy to get together for a beer or cup of coffee or whatever. I'm only in town for a little while so I'll probably have a frantic schedule! Tempted to blow off the conference and go visit wineries in Napa however :) I did blow off a conference in London once, never even showed up, and wisely went to Scotland to drink Scotch instead! Good move on my part!

I'm speaking Aug 18 - something about blogs. I uploaded my props - err, Power Point slides, yesterday. I assure you that won't constrain or restrict me! For those who don't know me, I'm very happy speaking without any slides or props at all. Hey, I'm happy and somewhat (in)famous for seizing the microphone and taking over even at places I don't belong. I've commandeered political speeches, financial seminars, and classes at Berkeley among others. Pay no attention to the man with the microphone - oh wait, that's me!!

It's interesting that HP loved my blog proposal, but didn't show much interest in my talks on Security (one security talk is officially an "alternate").

Looking forward to it. I haven't done an HP conference in about a decade. About a decade ago I used to speak at maybe a dozen tech conferences a year, including HP's, IBM's, OSF's, USENIX, etc.

Then I moved to Hong Kong, and after returning concentrated on speaking at conferences that actually pay money. Odd concept for some: work for money. And some of you thought you got money just for showing up? Not when you're a consultant.

PS: Glad to email a copy of my slides if you'd like. I may eventually post them on demop.com depending on HP's policies.

Blogs, the CURRENT wave of The Information Revolution

I've been giving a number of speeches on blogging and refering to blogs as the "next wave of the information revolution."

Hogwash!! They are the CURRENT wave of the information revolution! I've been wrong!

The blog statistics are simply amazing: over 20 million blogs in existence, approximately 40,000 started every day, and as of 2004, 32 million blog readers!

Now admittedly, of those 20M blogs, many are no doubt abandonned, poorly written, boring, or irrelevent (e.g. there are some good blogs on "knitting," but frankly, very few people care.)

The most popular blogs get maybe a million readers during a good month - that's a lot! I get perhaps 5-10 thousand in a good month.

Blogs are seriously challenging main stream media and have emerged as serious business tools as well. This blog has been instrumental in selling a number of keynote speeches and consulting for example. Besides, blogging is fun, as is reading blogs.

Over 32 million Internet users can't be wrong . . .

Loch Ness monster a mutated eel, says researcher

Loch Ness Investigator Bill McDonald claims the Loch Ness monster is a 50 feet mutated eel.

"It 's an amphibious fish, predatory, and definitely a female. Unable to reenter the open water to spawn, it just keeps growing bigger." says McDonald in this somewhat silly press release.

Oh yes, he also claims there is a government conspiracy, a US$100,000 reward, and perhaps DNA evidence on the way.

There is also a book on the Loch Ness monster to promote, a Book Promotion agency, and a scary picture of a 4" barbed tooth! More (well-done) foolishness and a tooth picture at http://www.lochnesstooth.com/

For the record, I've been to Loch Ness. I planned on swimming, but it was cold, raining, and dreary, and Loch Ness looks anything but inviting. I saw no evidence of anything remotely exciting there.

Man Arrested for "Stealing" Wi-Fi Signal!

A man was arrested and charged with stealing a Wi-Fi signal in Florida.

It was a very blatant case as he was parked in front of the house he was "stealing" the signal from. The actual charge was "unauthorized access to a computer network," which is a felony.

Now most wireless networks are insecure, and unauthorized use is often innocuous and innocent. For example, last week I rented a vacation condo that included Wi-Fi access. There were two equally strong and wide open signals - which one was I authorized to use? Frankly, I didn't care!

Unauthorized wireless use is sometimes associated with illegal activities - such as downloading or uploading stolen credit card numbers or child pornography. It is unknown if the man in question was doing anything bad or simply reading his email.

Secure your wireless networks!! It's easy to implement *some* security and that will keep out over 99% of everyone!

Startup Follies, Part V

Things we did right:

The business made sense and we had a great business plan. I impressed on everyone that the business plan was primarily a marketing document, intended to help get financing, and everyone understood. It wasn't full of lies, but portrayed an "if everything goes right" scenario. Unfortunately, almost nothing went right!

Two of the principals were lawyers by training and very bright guys. They voluntarily took Java programming classes just to get some background and insight into what our troops did on a daily basis. I was impressed - they took Java for two semesters at night school!

One of our principals ran the offshore shop in Poland (we did offshore software development). He had been doing business in Poland for a while and knew what it took, and in Europe you need a permit to even go to the toilet!

Let's see, what else went right? Oh, our CEO's house burnt down, destroying everything including his laptop and *all* his clothes, but fortunately he and his kids escaped minutes before the house was entirely engulfed by flames! The house burning was bad but everyone getting out alright was fortunate.

The office was near good restaurants.

Looks like I'm starting to stretch looking for things that went right . . . .

Recent Accolades

Sorry, but I'm procrastinating. I should be writing a speech, but instead I'm making up absurd accolades . . .

"Ted has such grace and feeling for a truly clueless person - simply amazing!"
-The Dalai Llama

"Such Drive and Determination"
-Lance Armstrong

"He can Pontificate with the Best"
-Catholic Digest

"He is extraordinarily logical and intelligent for a Homosapiens"
-Mr. Spock

"This boy kicks ass"
-Mister T

"Demopoulos is a Pope among Popes"
-Father Guido Sarducci

"Almost as cool as me"
-Ice Tea

"He is the most diplomatic insensitive lout on the planet"
-Boutros Boutros Gali

"We don't understand a single word he says, but we help him drink his wine. And he has some mighty fine wine"
-Three Dog Night

Don't Outsource Your Brains - Bill Gates

Bill Gates doesn't believe in outsourcing core functionality, likening it to "outsourcing your brains." I agree.

Outsourcing key functionality, whether across the street or across the globe, makes little sense. When a company outsources key functionality they merely become a middleman, and lose much of their inherent worth and competitive value.

Imagine a bank that outsources its banking functionality, or a farmer who outsources their farming. Ludicrous? How about a software company that outsources their software development?

Of course key functionality is not always as obvious. How about a bank that outsources all its IT, or credit card functions, or risk management?

The lines aren't always clearly drawn, but companies should keep their brains in house!

As an analogy, I'll keep making all my own decisions. When and what to eat, sleep, go to the toilet, etc. until and unless I'm unable. If necessary I'll enter a nursing home or other assisted living facility and outsource my brains as required.

Steve Jobs: Do What You Love: Time is Too Short . . .

A friend just sent me a link to the transcript of a great speech by Steve Jobs:

"Do What You Love: Time is Too Short to do Anything else . . ."

Short, sweet and inspirational