In this part of the world, three companies collect and monitor data to determine if a person is credit worthy. They provide a FICO score that is used by companies and institutions to determine the risk level of a person applying for a loan (e.g to buy a house).
Sad to say, one company was presumably STINGY or not technologically savvy to provide multiple line of defense against intruders. Even after two of its subsidiaries were hacked, the company did NOT report the intrusion to its customers and the general public, most of whom now have to figure what lies ahead with their precious private data (such as social security number, credit cards …) stolen.
Could this incident have been prevented?
Personal Experience
Many years ago, I had to use a Smart Card to enter the office building and to access computers. We were told NOT to use SSN and sensitive information in e-mails. We had to refrain from printing documents heedlessly, and to shred them (or put in special bins for shredding later).
We had to take courses about
handling different types of data — private, sensitive, classified …
secure communication channels and/or secure data
integrity
One company developed software to encrypt or replace sensitive data from e-mails, files, database. The test environment has to ensure that no sensitive data is leaked. A subtle assumption is that insiders may explicitly or implicitly be partners in crime.
Some Incidents
the backup tape for personnel data went missing; The affected personnel had great pains to correct their profile
lap tops containing sensitive information were stolen; The information are not encrypted, or encryption with weak keys
a professor posted SSNs along with the grades; A few students started identity theft
without a unique national ID, many companies and institutions use SSN for storing/access records;
Phishing attacks or malicious companies set up with the intention of getting credit reports from unwary job seekers
a credit card was used in rapid succession at a different state or outside the country; Some credit card companies are good in sending alerts about fraudulent uses.
A bug fix made by a professor was NOT properly reviewed and validated
Rationale
I have touched only the surface of the security problem.
Professor Dr. Than Tun was asked “Why should we learn History?”
He replied, “To ensure that one is not stupid or dumb”.
To paraphrase, “Why should we learn about Computer & Data Security?”
“To save countless people from having sleepless nights. Losing one’s identity, assets … is intolerable”.
U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :
One of the first work items on the Data Security is the classification of the data, it depends on what kind (or items) of data is collected/stored in a given application, At some point, it is termed ‘Data Asset’ and have several categories as below.
HBI – High Business Impact
MBI – Medium Business Impact
LBI – Low Business Impact
PII – Personally Identifiable Information
HSPII – Highly Sensitive PII
Of course, the above is not the exhaustive list, and is UN, HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, has one of the strictest regulatory requirements.
Value of a number in positional notation depends upon the Base or Radix.
In the Decimal system (Base Ten), 1001 has a value of a thousand and one.
In the Binary system (Base Two), 1001 has a value of 9.
Folklore
“One Thousand and One Nights” (also known as Arabian Nights) is from the Arabic Folklore.
Scheherazade told 1001 stories to defer her death.
Numerical Palindrome
A palindrome reads the same forward and backward.
101, 1001 and 123454321 are numerical Palindromes.
Ramanujan and the Beauty of numbers
Ramanujan was highly interested in Mathematics and ignored other subjects in College.
Ended up as an employee in a post office. Bold enough to send his handwritten notes to Professor Hardy (Cambridge University), who sponsored him.
Ramanujan later fell gravely ill. Professor Hardy went to see him in a hospital. He supposedly told Ramanujan that he rode a taxi cab with 1729 on its license.
Ramanujan replied, “That is an interesting number. It is the smallest number that can be represented as the sum of two cubes in two ways.”
1729 = 729 + 1000 = 9*9*9 + 10*10*10
1729 = 1 + 1728 = 1*1*1 + 12*12*12
Ramanujan’s works are still being studied and refined by Mathematicians.
intoxicating drinks and drugs that cause heedlessness
eating after mid-day (until next dawn) (a) dancing, singing, playing music, witnessing shows or entertainment (b) wearing flowers, using perfumes, beautifying with cosmetics
using high and luxurious seas and beds
Importune Moments
Being born in hell
Being born in the animal realm
Being born in the Peta realm (of ghosts or ever-hungry beings) and in the Asura realm (of demons)
Being born as a long-lived Brahma in the realms of No-Perception (Asannasatta) and No-Form (Arupaloka)
Being born as a person in a remote borderland inaccessible to monks, nuns, and lay people
Being born as a person with wrong views
Being born as a man with no intelligence to understand the Dhamma
Being born as a man with intelligence but when the Buddha has not arisen
Miscellaneous
Octave Eight notes apart
August Eighth month in the Gregorian Calendar
October Eighth month in the Old Roman Calendar
President’s Challenge Cup (RUBC) Inter-club Coxed Eights
Gallon Eight pints
Mile Eight furlongs
Sabbath includes 8th Waxing day and 8th Waning day
In our younger days, Opal was a decent car. But, when one jokingly calls someone “Opal” (or “O Pei အို ပယ်” then one is obsolete (good to be ignored for getting old).
T. O
Technical Obsolescence
Some artifacts can be found only in museums, antique fairs (by die-hard collectors).
Some technologies are disruptive.
Many automobile workers lost their jobs when robotics gradually displaced them. Those, who did not have alternate skills, were hit hard.
Secretaries (experts in shorthand and typing) found that their skills have been marginalized by the word processors, voice-activated systems and similar advanced tools.
Thoughts
On the flip side, I might not have a good memory and a hobby of “connecting the dots” of seemingly diverse topics if I had early access to the wonderful world of Internet, AI, and Gaming.
Slate, Chalk & Talk, Log Table, Slide rule, Multiplication tables (up to 16), Grammar books, Pronouncing Dictionaries, and now hard-to-find artifacts trained us to remember (not rote learning per se, but using visualization and tricks).
Some people thought that I am either “brain damaged” or have an “unusual brain”.
One said, “You can write backwards faster than most of us can write forward”.
A few were not impressed.
A professor said, “You cannot earn money by being an expert in History in general, and History of Computing in particular.”
A manager said, “What is the use of knowing the Trivia (e.g. hobbies, awards) of your fellow workers?”
T.O. required me to unlearn some old skills, and to learn new “latest and the greatest” skills.
Encyclopedia
For me, it’s easy to remember and too hard to forget. I know thousands of names.
After procrastinating for decades, I had a wake up call to dump my Trivia.
I have posted 2500+ articles and 220+ videos in the past few years.
Right speech
