Friday, May 18, 2007
A $2.8 Billion Prank Email
When we talk about employing an Internet Acceptable Use Policy, its purpose is to mitigate risk. There are many areas of risk between web sites employees visit, blogs they may submit entries to and the use of email. What can happen in email? Apple is working on its iPhone, a cell phone and music player combination and Leopard, a new operating system. Just prior to 10 AM Wednesday May 16, an Apple internal email was distributed to employees. It stated that the iPhone release was being delayed from June to October, and that Leopards release was delayed from October to January. Less than two hours later Apple sent an official email saying the earlier one was a hoax.
But by the time the valid email called the first a hoax, the story was out. Engadget, a tech blog, had posted the news from a credible source. Seven minutes after being posted, stock trading was in a frenzy. Apples market value dropped a staggering $2.8 Billion in six minutes.
By the end of the trading day the stock had recovered to $107.29 a share, down $.60 a share from when the news hit.
The use of email is vital to communication in business today. But the "written" word of today including what is in email and on web sites should be considered less credible until there is some validation of the information and accountability for its source. Anonymity and the internet seem to go hand-in-hand and is thought of as protection. It should not be.
So what might your employees be saying in email today?
See the Bankers Tools for an Internet Acceptable Use Policy template as well as other banking tools.
When we talk about employing an Internet Acceptable Use Policy, its purpose is to mitigate risk. There are many areas of risk between web sites employees visit, blogs they may submit entries to and the use of email. What can happen in email? Apple is working on its iPhone, a cell phone and music player combination and Leopard, a new operating system. Just prior to 10 AM Wednesday May 16, an Apple internal email was distributed to employees. It stated that the iPhone release was being delayed from June to October, and that Leopards release was delayed from October to January. Less than two hours later Apple sent an official email saying the earlier one was a hoax.
But by the time the valid email called the first a hoax, the story was out. Engadget, a tech blog, had posted the news from a credible source. Seven minutes after being posted, stock trading was in a frenzy. Apples market value dropped a staggering $2.8 Billion in six minutes.
By the end of the trading day the stock had recovered to $107.29 a share, down $.60 a share from when the news hit.
The use of email is vital to communication in business today. But the "written" word of today including what is in email and on web sites should be considered less credible until there is some validation of the information and accountability for its source. Anonymity and the internet seem to go hand-in-hand and is thought of as protection. It should not be.
So what might your employees be saying in email today?
See the Bankers Tools for an Internet Acceptable Use Policy template as well as other banking tools.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The Network Went Up in Smoke
Internet2 is an experimental, enhanced version of the internet and networking. It was recently brought down as Level 3 communication lines on the Longfellow Bridge, (which connects Boston and Cambridge across the Charles River) were broken. It seems a homeless man threw a lit cigarette away and ignited a mattress and other debris. This started a two alarm fire on the bridge. Traffic and trains had to be diverted.
Many people don't know that the term "debugged" dates back to Admiral Grace Hopper's days (1945) working on the Harvard University Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator. There were problems with the computer and it was found that a moth (the bug) was pressed between electrical contacts, disrupting them. When they found and removed the moth, they coined the term "debugged."
Will "up in smoke" or "up in flames" become a term to mean the network is down?
Internet2 is an experimental, enhanced version of the internet and networking. It was recently brought down as Level 3 communication lines on the Longfellow Bridge, (which connects Boston and Cambridge across the Charles River) were broken. It seems a homeless man threw a lit cigarette away and ignited a mattress and other debris. This started a two alarm fire on the bridge. Traffic and trains had to be diverted.
Many people don't know that the term "debugged" dates back to Admiral Grace Hopper's days (1945) working on the Harvard University Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator. There were problems with the computer and it was found that a moth (the bug) was pressed between electrical contacts, disrupting them. When they found and removed the moth, they coined the term "debugged."
Will "up in smoke" or "up in flames" become a term to mean the network is down?
