Screenshot from one of the menus in the forensic-software system for analyzing images for pornography.
(Credit: Paraben)
Pornography in the workplace can pose a serious problem for employers because a significant amount of material is downloaded by employees during business hours.
The viewing of porn at work can result in lost time, creativity, productivity, and employer profitability. More importantly, it can help create a hostile work environment and can be considered sexual harassment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Naturally, corporations want to avoid the potentially serious legal consequences and protect their bottom line.
On Sunday, Orem, Utah-based forensic-software maker Paraben plans to introduce a unique piece of enterprise software developed to detect and analyze images on workplace networks and computers for suspect content. The system looks for a number of sophisticated parameters and grades images at three levels, based upon their correlation with criteria that have been programmed into the system.
The software, according to CEO Amber Schroeder, will also aid in the development of evidence for internal or criminal investigations in such cases. It's expected to cost about $17,000 for 500 computers.
I interviewed Schroeder last week, during the Techno Forensics seminar at the headquarters of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), near Washington D.C. From personal experience, I can attest to the difficulty in analyzing large hard drives. Searching terabytes of data is incredibly time-consuming and difficult, so this software should provide a welcome tool for administrators and investigators.
Schroeder told me that the program cannot discriminate between child and adult pornography, but it is extremely effective at rapidly identifying suspect images, either online or offline. The system is capable of providing an effective real-time monitor, as images are downloaded to individual workstations, and can definitely aid in shielding employers from extremely costly lawsuits.
Even more importantly, such a program can help protect employees from the kind of invidious and offensive conduct that has been ruled as actionable by the courts, she said.
While the Paraben software has been designed for the corporate environment, it isn't prepared to examine other problem areas: cell phones, PDAs, and any other device that provides access to the Internet.
A notorious Internet underground site that ceased operation last week has turned out to have been used since 2006 by the FBI as part of an elaborate sting operation.
DarkMarket was an online forum for "carders", those who buy and sell stolen identities and credit card information online. The site was recently made public with the arrest of "Chao," a Turkish criminal who allegedly stole personal information from devices mounted over the card slots and keypads of ATMs.
In a story on Monday, Wired revealed DarkMarket's primary operator "Master Splynter" to be J. Keith Mularski, a senior FBI agent. Wired credits Südwestrundfunk, a German radio network, for first reporting that the DarkMarket site was operated by the National Cyber Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA) in Pittsburgh.
The NCFTA says it seeks to bring "together local, state, and federal law enforcement, businesses, and academic institutions to functionally collaborate on cybercrime issues."
The DarkMarket site had been long rumored to have been under law enforcement control, however, that didn't stop online criminals from buying and selling credit card information through the forum.
This isn't the first time law enforcement agents have masqueraded as online criminals. As part of "Operation Firewall" in 2005, law enforcement officials successfully infiltrated the ShadowCrew marketplace before putting it out of operation.
(Credit:
Andy Purdy)
On Wednesday, HBGary announced that Andy Purdy has joined their advisory board.
Purdy, while a member of the White House, co-drafted the 2003 edition of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, then joined the Department of Homeland Security. There, he served on the tiger team that helped to form the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). He went to head both organizations and was dubbed by the media as the "cyberczar" of the United States until DHS appointed Greg Garcia as assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications.
In 2006, Purdy oversaw the first large-scale mock cyberattack, code-named Cyber Storm. A second mock attack, under Garcia, was held earlier this year.
In August, HBGary has announced a partnership with McAfee to provide forensic tools for its enterprise offerings. HBGary specializes in monitoring information systems for external and internal threats.
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