Business Trends

Stuxnet – Spyware “That’s Really Scary”

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

Saturday mornings are a great time to catch up on the news.  I regularly follow nearly 100 RSS feeds through my reader.  The number and content type change periodically as my personal and business interests evolve (or when I forget my Adderall).  When I came across this article I was surprised not about the content but more so about the fact that my computer security RSS feed stopped working.

I hate that when that happens.

Free Management Consulting Tip of the Day

Ask your tech guys if your remotes can infect the corporate systems using this sneaker net USB memory stick method.

I don’t know is an unacceptable answer.

Stuxnet spyware targets industrial facilities, via USB memory stick – CSMonitor.com

“We have not seen anything like this before aimed directly at the industrial control system environment,” says Walt Boyes, a control systems security expert and editor in chief of Control magazine. “It’s a clear-cut case of industrial espionage. We don’t know its ultimate aim yet.” But, he says, the attack is aimed specifically at the company that sells the lion’s share of industrial automation software to the electric power sector in North America and Western Europe. “That’s really scary,” Mr. Boyes adds.

Kindle Ebooks Outselling Dead Tree Versions

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

I am still holding out for lower prices on my Ebook reader of choice.  Besides I like dead tree versions of books.

Amazon: Kindle Books Now Outselling Hardcovers

E-books have hit a significant milestone. In each of the last three months, Amazon reports that sales of books for Kindle have outpaced the sale of hardcover books, and that growth is only accelerating.

In a statement, Amazon says that, “over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 180 Kindle books.”

(Sobering) Thought for Today – 5/28/10

/ SupremeCmdr / Leave a comment

The New Republic: Reality For The Unemployed : NPR

Of the 908-person sample, 67 percent remained unemployed but were still looking for work, and an additional 12 percent had given up and dropped out of the labor force. Only 21 percent had found jobs (only 13 percent full-time) and were currently employed. A stunning 28 percent of the newly reemployed had been looking for work for more than one year, and 6 percent for more than two years. Fifty-five percent accepted a pay cut in their new jobs; 13 percent took a cut larger than one-third of their previous salary.

Women (26 percent newly employed) did somewhat better than men (18 percent). Surprisingly, young adults (29 percent newly employed) did better than 30 to 49-year olds (21 percent). Not surprisingly, this is a terrible time to be over 50 and out of work: Only 12 percent of these older workers had managed to find jobs.