(re) blog: dialogue with Redemtech

We go behind the scenes and report news that might otherwise be overlooked related to data security, regulatory change and environmental protection; some serious, some humorous.

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E-Stewardship Taking Responsibility in the Information Age

While producing a corporate video some years ago, I conducted a series of interviews with a diverse group of employees of a major telecom company across a five-state region stretching from New Jersey to Illinois. To arrange the interviews, I worked with a variety of community relations managers who escorted me from facility to facility so I could set up my camera and ask a few questions. But only once did this involve a giant telephone that would fit comfortably in the palm of King Kong’s paw.

60 Minutes Hits the Toxic Jackpot

The CBS News program 60 Minutes just ran a hard-hitting segment titled The Electronic Wasteland on the toxic e-waste trade between the United States and China. It was classic 60 Minutes, featuring human suffering, an apparently unscrupulous businessman, the Chinese underworld, and an intrepid reporter—Scott Pelley—exposing it all. For insiders in the electronics recycling industry, this is an old story. A majority of recyclers increase their profits by shipping hard-to-recycle commodities to buyers in developing countries where the lack of worker safety and environmental regulations have created an e-waste gold rush. Tonight, CBS News became the latest company to profit from this toxic trade.

E-waste Poses a Monster Problem

Got a phone call from an old friend the other day. I recognized his voice immediately by the series of atomic snorts accented by a metallic high-pitched wail, like someone was twisting rusty railroad tracks around an angry dolphin. A little puff of smoke escaped from my cell phone, signaling big news: Godzilla got a new job

Tomorrow’s News Today, Part 3

DATELINE: Washington, D.C. Oct. 27, 2043 – An economic disaster that analysts have compared to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the Not-So-Great Depression of 2008-10 was averted today as fast-acting legislators sold the Lunar Colonies for $700 quadrillion in a bail-out plan that should solve many financial problems around the world.

Red Flag Rules Will Impact Most Businesses

Historians claim the earliest reference to the use of a red flag for an official purpose arose in the early 17th century when armies used a red flag to signal that they were prepared to do battle. Since that time, red flags have been utilized for many purposes, but generally have come to mean a warning. When you see a red flag, you are to take notice.

Don’t Be Caught Off-Guard by Data Breach

I had an important appointment recently at a destination that is approximately 20 minutes from my home if you can take the interstate highway, avoid most of the traffic and accept that an enormous iron oil derrick is going to be hurled at you along the way.

BusinessWeek Exposes the e-Cycling Integrity Gap

I am happy to report that times have changed. When we started Redemtech 10 years ago, many corporate clients questioned the need for responsible electronics recycling. It was common practice in 1998 to use the dumpster for asset disposition, and exporting ewaste to developing countries was perfectly acceptable: not anymore. Most companies now demand responsible management of their surplus electronics, and a few service providers like Redemtech have invested tens of millions to deliver truly accountable results. As BusinessWeek discovered, we are the exception.

New Nevada Law May Foretell Encryption Laws in Other States

Nevada recently became the first U.S. state to enact a law that specifically requires encryption for all external electronic transfers of customers' personal information. Analysts predict that the Nevada law, NRS 597.970, will increase pressure on organizations to encrypt electronic transmissions of sensitive personal information, which will require businesses to increase employee training and investments in external communication channels to be compliant.

Would Chipper Please Get Out of the Street?

The other night, as a favor to my neighbor, I was walking my neighbor’s big dog ¬- Benjamin Franklin Pierce Brosnan - through my neighborhood when we came upon a small puppy in distress. The fact that the tiny, hairy dog wore pink ribbons tied to his ears was distressing enough, but the appearance was even more upsetting in that the pup was sitting calmly in the middle of the street.

The Cost of Ignoring Data Security is Rising

A new survey released by Logica has generated quite a bit of industry media attention because the results indicate that companies are failing to report data security breaches to clients when they occur and half of respondents admit that they don’t even tell legal authorities. That’s a pretty bold approach considering customer trust and regulatory compliance issues nowadays.

Charity Thrift Shops Suffer from E-Waste 'Donations'

Last December, I wrote a series of blogs that parodied some popular children’s holiday TV fare by placing the typical Santa Claus theme in an environmental crisis. Specifically, I imagined a place at the North Pole where Santa managed an Island of Misfit Electronics, which was merely a clever name for “e-waste.” Recently, I discovered that the Island really exists.

Some Unexpected Circumstances, Consequences from Data Breaches

Redemtech often warns companies and other organizations of the dangers of a data security breach, ranging from the damage to an enterprise’s reputation when a security breach occurs, affecting everything from customer trust to stock price, to large fines and other penalties from regulators for non-compliance. Recent news reports, however, have revealed some rather unusual circumstances and consequences that businesses may never consider before or after a breach occurs.

Forrester Survey Finds 10% of IT Budget Devoted to Security

Results of a new Forrester Research survey of security decision-makers indicate that 10% of operating budgets are now devoted to security issues, marking an increase from 8% last year. More than 20% of the survey respondents said they expect security spending to increase in 2009. It appears that all that subtle news about data security breaches week after week might actually be waking up the business world.

Redemtech News Bureau in Good Company

Sorry, CNN. I guess I should feel responsible for the major global news network’s recent decision to assign journalists to 10 U.S. cities as self-sufficient news bureaus. It is a reflection of the way television networks and other powerful news organizations are reinventing the way they gather news that the CNN journalists will not work from expensive bureaus, but instead will harness technology such as laptop computers and cell phone cameras to file news reports.

Refurbishment Can Prolong the Life of Useful Machines

We ate lunch under the wing of a T-50 Bobcat used to ferry U.S. Navy pilots to new duty stations during the ugliest years of World War II. We dined on county fair-style hamburgers in the shade, well in view of a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-25 Mitchell bomber parked majestically just a few yards away.

Self-Protection Opens Doors to Data Security Compliance Amnesty

Amnesty has a lot of interesting connotations, from an official legislative act by which recognized authorities restore legal remembrance of an offense to the annual “amnesty week” a local public library hosts for those who may have forgotten to return those books on memory loss checked out six months earlier. Ironically, amnesty stems from the Greek word for oblivion, amnestia, which also serves as the root word for amnesia.

The Return of Pavlov’s Squirrels

Attendees at the recent Redemtech company picnic were presented with bird feeders as part of the company’s overall message to be good to the environment. It took less than a day for the acerbic, acrobatic squirrels that creep into my back yard to disassemble the bird feeder and chew a hole in the side of it. And these guys are part of the environment we’re trying to rescue!

Can Batman Stop Jokers Who Steal Off-Network Data?

Bullets flew in all directions. Thieves with rubber faces scattered and screamed. There was a symphony of breaking glass and maniacal laughter. And something sticky adhered to the bottom of my shoe. “Isn’t this great?” someone behind me murmured as I dislodged an old Milk Dud from my Puma. Spoken like a true modern-day moviegoer, I thought.

iPhone, youPhone, We All Scream for E-Waste

The U.S. launch of the new Apple iPhone last Friday attracted a lot of attention from consumers, businesses, Apple competitors and the news media. By Monday, Apple reported that it had sold 1 million iPhones in the three days following the release of the latest model, iPhone 3G.

SARBOX Begets 'Carbox'

I remember being perched in the swayback chair in my orthodontist’s office when I was about 10, reading a dog-eared Cracked magazine and pondering a cartoon that depicted a humorist’s view of the future of government. A man was slipping a nickel in a box strapped to his head that featured a sign that read: Breathing Tax – five cents for five minutes. The notion seemed ridiculous at the time, even to my politically unaware 10-year-old perspective, but before I could think more about it, the orthodontist came at me with some three-pronged, pointy instrument, rendering all thoughts of future bureaucracy null and void.

The Return of the Point of No Return

During my recent convalescence, my daughter sought to mend some of my woes about being laid up for awhile by offering to go to the public library and pick up some movies. I’d exhausted my small collection of old movies at home and when she asked what I’d like to see, I picked up a couple of nearby video tapes (yes, I still actively use a VCR), most notably The Return of the King and The Return of the Jedi, and told her to find me something along those lines.

Data Security News Has Everything!

Last Friday’s Redemtech Data Security News Edition had everything a data security researcher could want by way of variety, and everything a savvy business person should fear. Seldom have so many diverse elements of data security news come together in such a short span of time. Unfortunately, most of the news was less than positive.

Mark Twain’s White Elephant Trumpets Obvious Message of Data Security Research Results

While analyzing the results and statements provided in two recently published research reports on aspects of data security breaches, I was reminded of a lesser-known but poignant Mark Twain tale about a purloined pachyderm.

OEMs Are the Greenest!

Let's pretend that we are all big PC manufacturers, and that we want to sell more boxes. Since everybody's talking about being more "green," maybe we could say that it's more environmentally friendly to trade in that old PC on a new one! Yeah, that's it—older PCs aren't worth as much, so companies might have to pay to recycle them. That makes buying new systems cheaper in the long run than keeping the old ones, right? 

Data Security in the Back of a Pickup Truck

Someone had tried to paint the automaker’s brand name over the gritty rust stains on the tailgate that barely hung to the frame of the pickup truck in front of me in the fast food drive-through lane. I smiled, reminded of an old pickup truck I used to drive many years ago in my youth, with which I would haul anything for friends and neighbors. Eventually it got to look like the truck I saw in front of me, worn down by lots of miles and many loads of mattresses, furniture and at least one giant inflatable pig. But that’s another story.

News Media Increases Awareness of E-waste Crisis

Three significant news articles in two recent publications have captured the essence of the serious e-waste crisis around the world.

Big Red Goes Green - Part 4

As the Island of Misfit Electronics sank beneath the rising icy waters, Big Red, Mrs. C and I headed for an escape hatch. Then each of us was whisked away through a series of green and red chutes and spirals that slid us toward the waiting elf-boats below. While I skidded through the loops and corkscrews, I saw hundreds of tiny elves taking the same route to get out of the factory before it was inundated by the arctic sea.

Big Red Goes Green - Part 3

“As you probably know,” Big Red continued from his perch amid the recycled computer components strewn about his workshop on the Island of Misfit Electronics. “My business partner has been hard at work on many of our eco-friendly innovations in recent years, while I’ve tried to maintain the old holiday traditions."

Big Red Goes Green - Part 2

“So what’s the deal with taking me for a ride with your little red-and-green clad thugs, Big Red?” I said to my old friend as we moved into the heart of his workshop on the Island of Misfit Electronics. “I was worried when I noticed this big guy over here was packing heat,” I added, indicating the enforcer elf I’d nicknamed Stomp, who stood nearby with his big hands in his little pockets.

Big Red Goes Green - Part 1

I noticed the reindeer at the wheel right off, prompting me to wonder who else might be aboard the colorfully decorated bus and why it was following me.

As Storage Devices Get Smaller, Data Security Worries Grow Larger

When I was a young college student many years ago, there was a standing policy for some professors to leave graded copies of term papers and other typed assignments in a cardboard box outside their office doors during finals week when classes were not normally in session. Students could stop by and pick up their research reports, and then check their posted grades on a nearby bulletin board at the same time.

Giant Space Alien Head Invades Redemtech Sales Meeting

Nothing says “business maturity” better than a big space alien head invading a sales staff meeting.

You wanna see something really scary?

“You wanna see something really scary?”
That’s my favorite line from a fairly benign horror movie released in 1983 as a tribute to beloved Twilight Zone television series of the 1950s and ‘60s. The clever line, however, was fresh material at the time, used to segue into the bizarre world of Rod Serling, one of the most brilliant television writers to live in this or any other plane of existence.

E-Wasted, But Planning for a Better Day

I attended the E-Scrap conference in Atlanta last week, where 900 of my colleagues and I spent two days debating the state of electronics recycling. Redemtech is not itself a recycler, but uses partners to process many millions of pounds of electronics each year. So we are part of the industry by association, and we stay in close touch to ensure our downstream vendors are compliant with industry best practices. The various sessions completely ignored a glaring deficiency in the trade: the majority of electronics owners choose NOT to recycle their old computers and other e-junk when they are done with it. Stated more bluntly, the customer doesn't like, or think they need, what we are selling.

Business Week Highlights Our IT Recycling Partner, TechSoup

Influential Business Week Magazine, which recently underwent a significant redesign, last week published this interesting article on the benefits of dealing with professional refurbishers when companies recycle used IT equipment. Like most general business publications, it stressed the obvious environmental concerns that socially conscious businesses should take into account to avoid adding to the waste stream.

Tomorrow’s News Today, Part 2

DATELINE: Southeast Oklahoma, Oct. 29, 2027 – Autumn came and went today as the last leaf on the last tree in the U.S. spiraled dramatically to the ground at Ouachita National Tree, formerly Ouachita National Forest. A crowd of 300,000 visitors cheered the event while a dozen impatiently waiting bulldozers prepared to demolish the 70-foot-tree to make room for another landfill to accommodate electronic waste.

Tales of Beer and Stolen Laptops are Brewing

Covering the off-network data security news beat for Redemtech, I’ve seen a lot of newspaper and trade magazine articles about the financial losses suffered by companies that had a laptop computer containing valuable information stolen out from under them. Sometimes rewards are offered for the safe return of a laptop, but I’ve never seen an offer quite like the reward offered by a New Zealand brewery.

My Life With Mascots

I made a new friend the other day. He’s a real nut.

Like Our Environment, Columbus Day is Changing

The ghost of Columbus Day wandered by this week, giving some people a day away from work, but otherwise providing little more than apparitional recognition for Christopher Columbus.

Reality TV is a Far Cry from Reality

A new reality TV show recently captured my attention, because it features a bunch of adorable children working together to rebuild a western ghost town into a viable community – at least from the unfocused viewpoint of reality TV.

Look What I Found on Your Discarded Hard Drive!

It didn’t receive a lot of play in the global news media, but some new research conducted by the University of Glamorgan in the UK, Longwood University in the U.S. and Edith Cowan University in Australia, found that hard drives sold on online auctions often contain significant traces of personal information.

No Sale - And Step Away from the Birdbath

Last Saturday afternoon, I sat in my favorite chair rereading a beloved Vonnegut novel by the window while radio sportscasters softly droned observations about a baseball game in the background. The familiar yawning ping-pong of the doorbell summoned me, where a door-to-door salesman had a wonderful offer for me.

Improper Computer Disposal Is All Wet

Friends of mine lost nearly half of everything they own when their home was inundated by flood waters in the widespread Midwest deluge this summer. As they struggled to rescue what they could in the fast-rising waters, they left their computer behind. They had a surprise when they tried to salvage the PC, which had been submerged for days. They were able to retrieve presumably lost data from the hard drive.

Infamous Ohio Security Nightmare Spreads to Connecticut

Ever have one of those recurring nightmares – the ones where you wake up night after night, soaked in cold perspiration, certain that the two-headed monster from that B-movie you watched during the weekend was chasing you through the midnight streets of some surreal city, throwing slices of cold pizza at your head while repeatedly singing the chorus from “Oklahoma?”

Clean Up the World Weekend Goes Unnoticed in U.S.

It’s tough to compete with a giant, most any business person will tell you. That may be why last weekend’s community-based Clean Up the World Weekend global event garnered so little attention in the U.S. when compared with the annual Earth Day event held in April.

Where’s the Fire? All Around Us

Pink-tinged flames licked at the air as acrid, black smoke curled toward the sky. I pulled the pin on the fire extinguisher and ran forward, shooting a powdery stream of flame retardant until the inferno yawned and went out. Then a firefighter ran forward and reignited the fire. The next person in line with a fire extinguisher ran forward and smothered the flames again.

Timeworn Computers Can Be Typecast

Back before the golden age of personal computers, I worked for one of the last newspapers in Ohio that used typewriters. They were electric at least; monsters two feet wide and heavier than the wooden desks that suspended them in the newsroom. Some sort of computer scanner downstairs by the printing press was used to read the copy we typed onto the blank white pages of paper. That’s as advanced as technology went in those days.

The Back-To-School Green Conspiracy

It’s back-to-school time, so that means we better break out the solar backpacks and the school supplies made out of recycled e-waste.

Doors Locked, Windows Wide Open

It’s easy to steal data—just walk away with it. Despite billions spent on IT security, the Ponemon Institute’s National Survey on the Insecurity of Off-Network Security has found that many corporations are failing to address the root cause of more than half of all data breaches: the loss or theft of data-bearing assets. The good news is that remediation of off-network security gaps, though not easy, can be straightforward.

Tomorrow’s News Today

DATELINE: Dallas Atoll, Aug. 21, 2027 – Security analysts today reported yet another case of stolen data from the identity chips implanted in more than 10 million U.S. citizens. Instead of the more common drive-by mega-hacking that has become common in larger U.S. cities such as New Surfside City, Nev. and the nation’s capital, Indianapolis Island, today’s theft occurred when an employee of MicroGooglezon inadvertently left his nanorobotic armtop computer behind at a McStarDonbuck’s restaurant.

Seismic Shifts in the World of Computers

Some major shifts are occurring in the world of computers that could impact how long businesses and consumers hang onto their equipment.

Absolutely Obsolete – Phone Books vs. IT Equipment

I’ve never known the Maple tree in front of my house to bear fruit, but earlier this week I found two drooping limbs had sprouted heavy, plastic-coated produce. Some clever delivery person had tossed a phone book up into my tree.

Attack of Pavlov’s Squirrels

Each time I fill my back yard bird feeder, clap open the wooden lid and fill the air with the rich sound of sunflower seeds, crushed corn and red millet poured from a 900-pound bag into a plastic container the size of a laptop computer – the trees above me rustle with excitement. The rustling comes not from the birds for which the food is intended. It is the agitated symphony thundered by a pack of fat, pushy squirrels that live in the hollow tree just inside the parameter of my woods.