The Great British Blunder

November 22, 2007 · Filed Under Technology and Gadgets · 2 Comments 

You probably heard the news this week about the loss of data concerning 25 million UK citizens.

The data included names, addresses, and bank details. For those specializing in identity theft, it must be something of a dream come true. However, for the victims, it may well be the start of a nightmare. Not good.

Yet, this was inevitable, and the famous FBI also knows quite a lot about losing critical, confidential information too, by all accounts.

The problem boils down to the enormous capacity of today’s computer hard disks, and the ease with which huge amounts (from 4 to 8 gigabytes) of data can be saved onto DVDs. An accident waiting to happen, if ever there was one. Only this accident has now happened.

Possibly the best way to ensure that such an event never occurs in the future, would be to eliminate hard disks from the computers of certain organisations. A system, known as a ‘thin client‘ already exists. And this system functions on the basis that no or minimal information is stored directly on a user’s computer, instead, all files and applications are located on a server or many servers. The user’s computer sort of acts like an internet browser and allows the user to access data held on a network.

This means that anyone in an organisation can access anyone else’s information, with the right permissions. So it no longer becomes necessary to put stuff on a dvd and send said DVD to someone - and risking that said DVD goes missing - as happened in the UK.

It also appears that the UK government has not heard about the very efficient - and free, data encryption systems which exist. Search for ‘Truecrypt’ on Google if you need to know more.

Anyway, I digress. A thin client system may have saved the face of the UK government. But, you may be commenting, what about the ubiquitous laptop?

Well, we now live in an increasingly wi-fi world, and we have high speed Internet too. This means that harddiskless laptops can exist, and, through the use of wi-fi or any other Internet connection, become thin clients, thereby eliminating the need to ‘carry’ huge amounts of sensitive data around.

The technology to implement this ‘remote access’ of data exists. Why it is not being used is anybody’s guess.

There is even a consumer angle on this. I am terrified by massive hard disks which hold enormous amounts of data. My own laptop hard disk is becoming crammed with huge digital photos too. I’d hate to lose them all. To allay my fears, I’d like to see cheaper hard disk space available over the www. Modern data centres are secure and reliable, and they often save copies of the same information in several different locations, so even if one is destroyed, another should still have all your precious data. This kind of service really interests me, and I don’t think I am alone.

So, don’t try to sell me a 50 terrabyte hard disk, instead, sell me space on a well managed and backed up server system. Then I can get to, and work on, my data from just about anywhere in the world where I can find good Internet access.

Bye bye physical hard disks, hello virtual hard disks.

Just a wee thought, and I know it does not, on the face of it, have much to do with Italy. In actual fact, this worrisome problem relating to data loss is potentially a global problem, and with e-Government just around the corner, this issue needs to be looked into, and looked into pretty damn fast.

Be safe, not sorry, Mr Brown.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wi-Fi - not.

February 19, 2005 · Filed Under Technology and Gadgets · 3 Comments 

I have a rather neat wireless connection to the www. Well, correction, I did have a rather neat wireless connection until today. I switched on the PC, waited for a few hours while it booted up. Then I tried to check my mail. A no connection to the server message came up. Ah ha! The server is down. How about checking this from the web. Click on Firefox icon. This time the message blurts something about not being able to connect to Google. Try again, same message. There was a little message beside the network icon which had a nice little black exclamation mark on a yellow background. This was new. Anyway to cut what could well turn out to be a long story short, I messed around for a few hours while cursing the latest batch of MS updates.

After playing with this and that, getting unwelcoming messages and wading through stuff on the www. (I could connect via one of those old style bits of wire, which goes by the name of LAN cable, RJ45 or some such thing.) I decided to press this little reset button on the back of the access point. This operation took all of two seconds. And, guess what? Yes, the wireless connection was restored in all its glory. All I need to do now is set up the WEP thingy and stuff and it will be back as before. Poo. I wasted hours. The damn thing was working fine last night. What happened in the meantime? Who knows?

Now, I love technology, but sometimes I find that it has a nasty habit of wasting time. Although I still get a kick from sorting out these little problems on my own. Don’t even have to get my hands dirty. Sort of messing without the mess, if you know what I mean.

Just thought I’d share these thoughts with you dear reader. It’s now ten to two and I’m off to bed.

Tags: , , ,