VoIP Blog - Tehrani.com

« December 18, 2005 | Main | December 20, 2005 »

More Spear Phishing

I originally wrote about spear phishing this past summer. In case you missed it these attacks are more targeted and designed to look like they are coming from a trustworthy source such as someone in your enterprise. It seems people will share their passwords fairly willingly via e-mail if the trust the source.

Here is a more recent article on spear phishing and how hackers are targeting credit union executives by sending them a link to a site that contains a Trojan horse program. Some users had recently updated their virus definitions and were safe from the attack. It is unclear how many people were duped by this fraudulent e-mail.

The term “spear phishing” is a very accurate as in this case some credit unions received e-mails to a dozen senior executives over a period of 45 minutes. Rather than blast a database the senders of the e-mail were very careful not to set off alarms from antivirus or spam software.

Thankfully the phishers in this case had bad grammar and some recipients of the e-mail become immediately suspicious of the scheme.

| This entry was posted at 2:27 PM. | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: More Spear Phishing
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

GoogleTalk API

Holy mashup Batman. This is an incredible day as it heralds an era where VoIP is firmly entrenched in the world of Web 2.0. I mean this is fantastic. If you believe the definition of Web 2.0 is really WD 40 then you know that the lubricant that allows applications, user interfaces and databases to be seamlessly connected will really take off when the phone network is interconnected as part of the Web 2.0 world. Today is that day as the GoogleTalk API is now released. What wonderful applications will we see in the future?

Picture a Google map connected with any database, allowing a user to click on the map to initiate an immediate phone call. For example you can click on a push pin of a Chinese restaurant located on the route home from work and voila, instant call. Certainly this is a boring one. Dating services could leverage this API as well to connect users instantaneously.

Ecommerce sites can use this API as well. The possibilities are endless. If you hear of any great mashups involving this API be sure to let me know.

Check out Tom Keating’s excellent blog entry on the GoogleTalk API.

| This entry was posted at 1:51 PM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: GoogleTalk API
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

Sun Sentinel ITEXPO Press

Here is some nice press for Internet Telephony Conference & Expo. I for one just cannot wait to get out of the cold New England weather for the first VoIP show of the year at ITEXPO next month. In case you aren't aware the show is now in the Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center. This is a pretty big center and the show continues to grow nicely.

We are especially proud of our keynoters... All of them. Not only do we have really amazing industry keynoters such as Mark Spencer from Digium but we have keynoters that aren't typically at industry events.

For example Tom Ridge the first Secretary of US Homeland Security. I want to get his perspective on the state of emergency notification via 911 centers and how VoIP can keep our nation more secure.

Also, Ron Insana will be speaking. Ron is a news anchor for CNBC and has a radio show that is really good. Ron seems even tempered and extremely knowledgeable and I have always been a big fan. Expect Ron to discuss the financial side of VoIP.

This is the first show of the year and we expect it to be the best in TMC's history. I hope to see you there. One last note... If you haven't been to this event you will be blown away at how international it has become. To call it the UN (in the good sense of course) of VoIP is not an understatement... It is reality.

| This entry was posted at 12:32 PM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Sun Sentinel ITEXPO Press
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

Patent Law Changing

Is it possible that US patent law will soon change? According to this article it just may. Patent cases can cost computer companies up to $500 per year as the potential rewards are just so great. If a company is found to be infringing on your patent, the court generally issues a permanent injunction forcing the party who is infringing to settle rapidly.

This advantage is why there has been an increase recently in “patent trolls," companies that seek out and acquire patents for the sole purpose of prying loose licensing fees and infringement settlements.

The public is becoming more and more aware of such cases because of Blackberry and NTP but a lesser known but perhaps more wide-reaching case is the one pitting eBay against MercExchange. The latter holds a patent that the eBay “buy it now” feature was found to infringe upon. Excerpt:

"The eBay case cannot help but profoundly affect nearly all patent litigation and licensing," says Joseph Miller, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore., who specializes in patent law. Miller expects that the Court will limit the use of injunctions in patent cases at least somewhat, if not drastically.

If permanent injunctions were less automatic, plaintiffs would have a harder time forcing companies to settle over questionable patents. The Supreme Court could make it easier for judges to take into account questions of fairness and equity"such as whether the patent holder is an inventor or an investor" in such cases, says Tim Holbrook, an expert in patent law at Chicago-Kent College of Law. "The Federal Circuit rarely, if ever, applies equitable considerations in determining whether to grant a permanent injunction," he says.

Dennis Crouch, a patent and intellectual property lawyer with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP in Chicago, warns that legitimate patent holders could be hurt if the courts are not careful. "Quite often, individuals who are great inventors or engineers are not great entrepreneurs.... In the case of a small company or an individual inventor, the way to profit from a new invention is to license the patent rights," Crouch says. "If companies refuse to take a license, then an infringement lawsuit is the way to enforce rights."

Pointing to the number of major patent cases being considered by the Court and to unusual moves by the justices, legal analysts say that by the end of the term, odds are that the Court will have shaken up patent law significantly, with perhaps the biggest changes seen in nearly a century.

| This entry was posted at 10:47 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Patent Law Changing
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

More Bad Wikipedia News

This article in the Toronto Star details continued credibility problems with Wikipedia and cites egos and people’s need to rewrite history to their liking as reasons the online encyclopedia is seriously flawed. Excerpt:

These questions reportedly prompted the business editor of the New York Times to write a memo to staff, warning them Wikipedia should not be used to verify the accuracy of information. The Toronto Star's own library issued a similar warning to editorial staff, who were instructed to be cautious with Wikipedia information.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales still defends the accuracy of his pet project, calling the bogus entries small aberrations that don't indicate a larger problem with his online model. But such a comment is entirely premature. Until this past month, when coverage of bogus entries first surfaced, Wikipedia was the equivalent of an untouched concrete wall on the side of a building.

Now that one or two have been found to spray-paint this canvas with graffiti, vandals are sure to turn their attention to the wall. The publicity alone will lure copycats and those who previously had no idea how easy it was to manipulate the world according to Wikipedia.

Like a denial-of-service attack is to websites, the volume of people tempted to abuse Wikipedia's openness will either lead to the demise of this online resource, or force it to dramatically alter its open-source philosophy.

Looks like Encyclopedia Britannica may win this war after all.

| This entry was posted at 10:28 AM. | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: More Bad Wikipedia News
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

Inveneo Newsletter

I received the Inveneo newsletter and it is not my habit to pass on marketing material but Inveneo is a non-profit organization using open-source VoIP technology for the benefit of the underprivileged as well as to help the survivors of disasters. Here is a recent article on Inveneo for more information. This is worth reading.

--------------

Dear Friends and Supporters of Inveneo.

It's been a big year for Inveneo, starting out as a small team operating out of an apartment in San Francisco with a big goal of bringing telephony and Internet communications to places where it's needed most. In just one year, we've deployed our system to rural villages in Uganda, brought communications to areas of Mississippi devastated by hurricane Katrina and demonstrated our solutions at the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS) conference in Tunis with Intel and ActionAid. You'll see below that we have much more in store next year.

We thank you for your interest and support and we wish all of you happy holidays and a successful New Year.

The Inveneo Team and the many volunteers who help make all our efforts happen....

Contents:
· Inveneo's Impact in 2005
· Inveneo in the News
· Looking into 2006
· How your financial support helps


Highlights of Inveneo's impact in 2005

Inveneo completed its Solar-Powered PC and Communications System, designed specifically for the needs of deployment in rural villages

In partnership with ActionAid International http://www.actionaid.org Inveneo brought telephony and Internet access to five villages in Uganda, each with over 800 inhabitants, for the first time ever. These villagers are now:
o Using email to share market prices for crops
o Coordinating trips to market towns to increase revenue up to 5x
o Calling health clinics for advice, rather than walking for hours
o Checking for secondary school scholarships, so their children can attend
o Checking government Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) medication distribution locations

Inveneo and CityTeam http://www.cityteam.org helped restore communications in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi starting a week after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. This deployment, done in conjunction with several non-profit organizations, volunteers and technology companies, served the needs of the Bay St. Louis area's emergency operations centers, local police stations and firehouses, and local shelters. It has enabled these organizations to better help individuals and families rebuild their lives.

Inveneo participated in Cisco Systems pilot program for the NEPAD schools initiative. This six school deployment of computers, multi-media and the Internet will benefit thousands of secondary school of children across Rwanda.

Inveneo in the news

In Slate: Waiting for the $100 Laptop? Don't hold your breath.
http://www.slate.com/id/2131201/

In Telecommunications Online: VoIPcycle Spins Conversation
http://www.telecommagazine.com/Americas/Article.asp?Id=AR_1283

In Wired News: VoIP Phones Give Villagers a Buzz
http://www.wirednews.com/news/technology/0,1282,68796,00.html

In San Jose Mercury News: You Have a Call from Uganda
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12452180.htm


What's coming up in 1st Quarter 2006

Inveneo will be participating in Africa Source II: Free and Open Source Software for Local Communities Workshop, January 8th-15th. For more information:
http://www.tacticaltech.org/

Catch Bob Marsh and Aaron Huslage speaking at the O-Reilly Emerging Telephony Conference in San Francisco, January 26th. For more information: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/etel/

Inveneo will present our Solar Powered Communications System to the participants of the annual Conference for the Advancement of Telemedicine in Arlington, VA from January 30th - February 2nd.

Steve Okay has been invited back in February for his third year of teaching at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. The institute brings together individuals from all over the developing world to provide hands on training in networking. Steve will be teaching at the School on Wireless Networking for Development.

Keep an eye out for announcements from Inveneo as we start to make our Solar-Powered PC and Communications System available as a "solution kit" from our website and as we announce new pilots and deployments around the world.

How can you help?

At this time of year, we'd like to ask that you consider a donation to Inveneo as a way to help make a greater impact with technology for people around the world.

Your donation of:

· $10 can provide a phone for a village
· $50 supplies a lightning arrestor to protect the system and the villagers
· $100 supplies the wiring needed to connect the system
· $500 supplies outdoor wireless connectivity between two towns
· $2500 outfits an entire village with a solar powered communications system

You can make a donation through Paypal from our website: http://www.inveneo.org/?q=donate

Or send a check to: Inveneo, 760 Market Street, Suite 859 San Francisco, CA 94102.

If you would like to be added to our newsletter list, please send a request to newsletter-subscribe@inveneo.org

© Inveneo December 2005

| This entry was posted at 9:31 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Inveneo Newsletter
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

Japanese Google Competition

Does Google care that just about any and every software company is gunning to take them out? Nahh! If Microsoft hasn’t mad e a dent and Yahoo! And Amazon aren’t really hurting you much either then what do you have to worry about? Well what if a country had you in their sites. For example a country like Japan.

So the Japanese government is teaming up with universities and industry t launch a better Google. The companies will include leading electronics firms Matsushita Electric Industrial, Hitachi, NEC and Fujitsu as well as telecom carrier Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and public broadcaster NHK, he said. Full story.

While on the topic of Japan, here is a great article talking about Japanese industry as it compares to the US system.

| This entry was posted at 9:18 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Japanese Google Competition
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

Google As Memory

For better or for worse Google is substituting as long-term memory for many people. Think of it as your brain’s hard disk. USA Today Story.

| This entry was posted at 9:05 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: Google As Memory
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

VoIP and Santa

Is VoIP too mainstream now? I have seen research that says that most people think VoIP is a type of a vodka. I respectfully disagree. Everyone seems to know what this technology is and if they don’t know the term VoIP they know Internet calling, broadband phone, IP telephony, Internet telephony or some derivative of these terms. Point being VoIP is very very mainstream.

If you don’t believe me take a look at this release that ties VoIP with Santa. You know your industry is mainstream when you see Santa plugging it ;-) Here is an excerpt from the release:

Glowpoint, Inc. one of the world's leading providers of internet based video communication services, and Kris Kringle, Inc., the world's leading provider of tidings and joy, have joined together to use Video and Voice over IP to help Santa meet and speak with children around the world. For the first time ever, children and the child at heart looking to give Santa their Christmas list will have to go no further than their own home computer to see and talk with Santa live at the 'North Pole.'

| This entry was posted at 8:49 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: VoIP and Santa
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

AOL and Google

One has to wonder if it is payback time for Microsoft. The company has been a ruthless competitor over the years and has routinely wiped out companies with successful business models. There are countless software vendors from Quarterdeck to Borland that were steamrolled by the Redmond behemoth over the years.

Now it seems like the tables have turned. As you might recall MSN was supposed to fight it out against AOL. MSN never rose to meet the expectations Microsoft had for the online service. But what they did do is make an enemy in AOL.

Now that Time Warner is selling off part of AOL it seems that perhaps the resentment towards Microsoft may have been a factor in the company’s decision to sell a 5% stake in AOL to not Microsoft but Google.

Now if you read articles such as this one, you’ll see there are lots of other reasons why Google was chosen over Microsoft as well but I wonder if the bad blood between Microsoft and AOL was an important factor.

| This entry was posted at 8:32 AM. | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: AOL and Google
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl

King Kong

A coworker told me Friday that no one he knows is seeing King Kong and he expected lackluster sales. It turns out he was on the right track. Some of the reasons now being cited for the slow sales are the fact that the movie is over three hours long and people have lots of obligations with the holidays around them. This of course means less free time per person. Another challenge is that women apparently aren’t so interested in the remake of this classic.

The movie has brought in about $66 million in the US the past week and $80 million overseas. The production budget was $207 million. If any of my readers have seen the movie please post a mini review.

| This entry was posted at 8:20 AM. | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Link this | Email this | Leave comment
Trackback URL: King Kong
Technorati Del.icio.us BoingBoing Slashdot Digg Spurl Furl