Internet Access For Visually Impaired

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Nearly 200 cyber experts and other stakeholders seeking access to the Web for scores of millions of people with visual and other disabilities wrapped up a four-day United Nations workshop in Geneva today, stressing the need for universal access despite handicaps.
“The key to the information society is universal access and no one should be denied the potential benefits of ICTs [information and communication technologies], not least because they are hampered by their disabilities,” UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said, noting that an estimated 650 million people live with disabilities worldwide.

“ICTs have the great merit of serving as a powerful equalizer of abilities, empowering persons with disabilities to fulfil their potential, realize their own dreams and ambitions, and take their place as active members of society.”

ITU, which co-organized the workshop with the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), focuses on a series of strategic issues ranging from the rights of the disabled to making technical design standards accessible to providing education and training on accessible ICTs.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry underlined the importance of accessibility in general and reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to establishing an accessible web environment that promotes easy access to intellectual property information in line with its visually impaired persons (VIP) initiative launched in 2008 to explore ways to facilitate and enhance access to literary, artistic and scientific works for the VIP community.

Mr. Gurry, noting that only 5 per cent of all published works are currently available in formats accessible to the VIP community, said WIPO and its member states are actively seeking to improve this situation. WIPO’s copyright committee is currently considering a draft treaty that would create an enabling legal environment to address exceptions and limitations to international copyright law.

A first workshop was hosted by WIPO last May, and the forums are in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which entered into force in 2008, which requires that accessibility be taken into account in the design of new information technologies and systems.

This week’s meeting brought together experts from the World Wide Web consortium, Mobile web initiative, Yahoo!, Adobe Systems Incorporated and the British Royal National Institute for Blind People. Participants agreed on the need for an annual workshop to keep abreast of technological developments and to share knowledge and experience of the issue within the UN system.

The Department Of Energy National Laboratories — New work on the Red Storm supercomputer at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories is helping to make supercomputers more flexible and accessible, in effect removing them from the constraints of their specialized operating systems. Sandia researchers, working with researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico, socialized 4,096 of Red Storm’s total 12,960 computer nodes into accepting a virtual external operating system — a leap of at least two orders of magnitude over previous efforts.

“The goal is to create a more flexible environment for all users,” said Sandia researcher Kevin Pedretti. If supercomputers can be virtualized without sacrificing performance it will increase the utility of these significant national infrastructure investments, he said.

HARRISBURG – A Maryland-based computer training school that suddenly closed in mid-December, after taking nearly $2 million dollars in tuition payments from Pennsylvania students, is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said the suit was filed against ComputerTraining.com, Inc., (ComputerTraining) which offered computer training and certification programs through four Pennsylvania companies operating at locations at Bensalem, King of Prussia, Lancaster and Pittsburgh. The school also operated in 14 other states.

“Pennsylvania students paid anywhere from $13,000 to $25,000 for various computer training programs, only to be left out in the cold when ComputerTraining suddenly locked its doors in December,” Corbett said. “These students were trying to improve their skills and build careers – only to be abandoned to face substantial loans or debts, incomplete training and a long list of unanswered questions about their educational futures.”

According to the lawsuit, the schools knew, or should have known, about mounting financial difficulties, the threat of closure and the strong likelihood that they would be unable to provide training services for students.

Corbett said that students were required to pay all, or nearly all, of their educational costs and fees up-front, before beginning their courses.

“Despite growing financial problems, ComputerTraining continued to enroll new students and collect advance payments from consumers without disclosing any potential problems,” Corbett said. “Additionally, the school continued to advertise classes and services on its website even after halting operations in December.”

According to the lawsuit, ComputerTraining also provided deceptive or misleading information about possible refunds.

“In a December email message announcing the closing, students were instructed to contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education in order to request refunds, even though the surety bonds that had been posted with the department would cover only a very small percentage of the outstanding tuition,” Corbett said. “Knowing that the surety bonds amounted to only pennies, compared to the thousands of dollars that students had paid, the instructions to contact the Department of Education about refunds were not only deceptive but also insulting to all the victims.”

Corbett said the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection seeks full restitution for all victims who suffered losses, along with fines and civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each violation of the Consumer Protection Law (up to $3,000 for each victim over the age of 60). The lawsuit also asks the court to prohibit the school from operating in Pennsylvania.

Corbett said the Attorney General’s Office has also filed a request for a special preliminary injunction against ComputerTraining – asking the court to freeze all bank accounts and financial assets; prohibit the sale, transfer or distribution of any other assets; safeguard all student records and personal information; and preserve all financial and business records.

Students who enrolled at ComputerTraining and paid tuition for classes that were not provided should file formal complaints with the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Complaint forms can be obtained by calling the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-441-2555 or online at www.attorneygeneral.gov (Click on the “Complaints” button on the front page of the website and select “Consumer Complaint Form” from the menu).

Corbett also urged students to contact their bank to halt any automatic payments to the school. If they obtained student loans, they should contact their financing company to stop any additional transfer of funds to the school.

Additionally, students should contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Private Licensed Schools, at 717-783-8228, for more information about possible assistance being provided to displaced students.

The consumer protection lawsuit was filed in Commonwealth Court by Senior Deputy Attorney General Henry Hart and Deputy Attorney General Michael C. Gerdes, of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

A federal appeals court has ordered Microsoft to stop selling Word. In addition, Microsoft is to pay the Canadian company i4i Inc. $290 million for patent infringement.

Michel Vulpe i4i said it is “an important step in protecting the property rights of small inventors.”

Washington, DC — President Obama plans to award $2 billion in grants and loans over the next 75 days in an effort to expand America’s broadband Internet access, as well as, create tens of thousands of jobs.

“Broadband touches nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy, providing Americans with unprecedented opportunities in employment, education, health care, entrepreneurship, and civic participation,” the White House National Economic Council said in a report released to coincide with the announcement.

“These critical broadband investments will create tens of thousands of jobs and stimulate the economy in the near term,” the report said.

“The new broadband access will help underserved and often hard-hit communities overcome the distance and technology barrier by expanding connectivity between educational institutions, enabling remote medical consultations and attracting new businesses as well as the jobs that come with them.”

Beware! There is a fraudulent email circulating claiming to be from FaceBook. If you receive an email like the following, do not click on any links:

From: “Facebook”
To:
Subject: New login system
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:52:40 -0600

facebook
Dear Facebook user,
In an effort to make your online experience safer and more enjoyable, Facebook will be implementing a new login system that will affect all Facebook users. These changes will offer new features and increased account security.
Before you are able to use the new login system, you will be required to update your account.
Click here to update your account online now.
If you have any questions, reference our New User Guide.
Thanks,
The Facebook Team
Update your Facebook account
Update
This message was intended for me@myemail.com.
Facebook’s offices are located at 1601 S. California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304.

The IBM X-Force 2009 Mid-Year Trend and Risk report finds growing security concerns related to surfing the web.

“The trends highlighted by the report seem to indicate that the Internet has finally taken on the characteristics of the Wild West where no one is to be trusted,” said X-Force Director Kris Lamb. “There is no such thing as safe browsing today and it is no longer the case that only the red light district sites are responsible for malware. We’ve reached a tipping point where every Web site should be viewed as suspicious and every user is at risk. The threat convergence of the Web ecosystem is creating a perfect storm of criminal activity.”

“Two of the major themes for the first half of 2009 are the increase in sites hosting malware and the doubling of obfuscated Web attacks,” Lamb said. “The trends seem to reveal a fundamental security weakness in the Web ecosystem where interoperability between browsers, plugins, content and server applications dramatically increase the complexity and risk. Criminals are taking advantage of the fact that there is no such thing as a safe browsing environment and are leveraging insecure Web applications to target legitimate Web site users.”

National Cyber Alert System
Understanding ISPs
ISPs offer services like email and internet access. Compare factors like security, services, and cost so that you find an ISP that supports all of your needs.

What is an ISP?
An ISP, or internet service provider, is a company that provides its customers access to the internet and other web services. In addition to maintaining a direct line to the internet, the company usually maintains web servers. By supplying necessary software, a password-protected user account, and a way to connect to the internet (e.g., modem, phone number), ISPs offer their customers the capability to browse the web and exchange email with other people. Some ISPs also offer additional services.

ISPs can vary in size—some are operated by one individual, while others are large corporations. They may also vary in scope—some only support users in a particular city, while others have regional or national capabilities.

What services do ISPs provide?
Almost all ISPs offer email and web browsing capabilities. They also offer varying degrees of user support, usually in the form of an email address or customer support hotline. Most ISPs also offer web hosting capabilities, allowing users to create and maintain personal web pages; and some may even offer the service of developing the pages for you. Many ISPs offer the option of high-speed access through DSL or cable modems, and some still offer dial-up connections.

As part of normal operation, most ISPs perform backups of email and web files. If the ability to recover email and web files is important to you, check with your ISP to see if they back up the data; it might not be advertised as a service. Additionally, some ISPs may implement firewalls to block some incoming traffic, although you should consider this a supplement to your own security precautions, not a replacement.

How do you choose an ISP?
There are thousands of ISPs, and it’s often difficult to decide which one best suits your needs. Some factors to consider include

security – Do you feel that the ISP is concerned about security? Does it use encryption and SSL (see Protecting Your Privacy for more information) to protect any information you submit (e.g., user name, password)?

privacy – Does the ISP have a published privacy policy? Are you comfortable with who has access to your information and how it is being handled and used?

services – Does your ISP offer the services you want? Do they meet your requirements? Is there adequate support for the services?

cost – Are the ISP’s costs affordable? Are they reasonable for the number of services you receive, as well as the level of those services? Are you sacrificing quality and security to get the lowest price?

reliability – Are the services your ISP provides reliable, or are they frequently unavailable due to maintenance, security problems, a high volume of users, or other reasons? If the ISP knows that services will be unavailable for a particular reason, does it adequately communicate that information?

user support – Are there published methods for contacting customer support? Do you receive prompt and friendly service? Do their hours of availability accommodate your needs? Do the consultants have the appropriate level of knowledge?

speed – How fast is your ISP’s connection? Is it sufficient for accessing your email or navigating the internet?

recommendations – Have you heard or seen positive reviews about the ISP? Were they from trusted sources? Does the ISP serve your geographic area? If you’ve uncovered negative points, are they factors you are concerned about?

For the fifth year, the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is spearheading National Cyber Security Awareness Month, a comprehensive outreach campaign to empower all Americans and businesses to take steps to secure their part of cyberspace. Click here to get more information on steps you can take to contribute to cyber awareness activities.

We are aware of public reports indicating that attackers are using legitimate web pages to run malicious code on victims’ machines.

Reports, including a posting by Sophos, indicate that these messages
* Include keywords and names related to a current event (such as, the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack)
* Prompt users with a fake virus scan that attempts to make users believe they have a security issue. The users are then asked to download fake security software that is actually malicious code.

Please note that these characteristics may change at any time.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team encourages users and administrators to take the following preventative measures to help mitigate the security risks:
* Install anti-virus software, and keep its virus signature file up to date
* Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks document for more information on social engineering attacks