Security

BMC angry about vulnerability

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BMC Patrol has a critical remote exploit that needs to be patched. Not the most exciting news, but what I did find interesting was the attitude/tone of their announcement:

[This issue] has been addressed, and a patch has been made available to our customers. A flash bulletin has been created describing the patch and will be sent to all affected customers in the next few days.

So far so good, right? Then something odd happens.

BMC has a formal customer support mechanism in place to provide solutions to security issues brought to us by those who have legally licensed our software. In cases where security issues are brought to my attention by individuals/vendors who do not have legal access to our products, we will investigate their merit; however the issues will be addressed at our own discretion and according to our understanding of their severity.

Finally, please note that in the future, I will only communicate resolutions and workarounds to licensed customers who are using our software legally. For a more meaningful dialogue around these issues and to be notified of any available patches, I urge all licensed customers to use BMC’s support mechanism.

They are taking their ball and going home now.

If you want to try and tell them about a critical vulnerability, then you had better be a licensed user or they will pretend you do not exist.

Energy, History, Security

Four miles per gallon worse than the model T

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Funny how things move around on the net. Early last year I was talking about the model T fuel efficiency compared with today’s cars. Now I see the same comparison showing up in the mainstream news:

The average price of a gallon of gas is higher than at any time since the early 1980s. The Middle East seems more volatile than ever. And even climate skeptics are starting to admit that the carbon we’re pumping into the atmosphere might have disastrous consequences. To these circumstances, automakers have responded with a fleet of cars that averages 21 miles per gallon, about four miles per gallon worse than the Model T.

Actually that is four to nine mpg worse than the Model T, or let’s just round it to ten, shall we? 107 years have passed and what exactly has improved? Let me guess, someone will say security of the passengers. Well, that turns out to be bogus logic.

Now I’m starting to think I should just dig up a model T, or take the core principles, and modify it for electric engines for getting around town.

Energy, Security

Memo to NJ State Police: Lose the SUV

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I thought these executive protection recommendations by Bruce Alexander were interesting:

Despite what Capt. Al Della Fave of the NJSP said regarding SUVs “operate in all terrains. They won’t get bogged down.� “They are heavier and can withstand a crash better,� get rid of the SUV.

Bogged down? Where are you taking him, to a tar pit? When it comes to Executive Protection there are a variety of considerations when it comes to selecting a vehicle but getting “bogged down� is rarely one of them.

There are times when an SUV is appropriate but based on the publicly available information in this situation, this isn’t one of them. An SUV simply can not maneuver as well as a sedan particularly at higher rates of speed or under an emergency driving condition requiring braking, skid or traction control. Another consideration is the increased vehicle profile that an SUV presents as opposed to a sedan.

Finally when it comes to weight as a means of protection in an accident, like they say back home “that dog don’t hunt.� Weight in this case simply means you have a heavier object in motion, not greater protection. Memo to Capt. Fave, an armored sedan is pretty darn heavy

Nice analysis. Wonder what times require an SUV. Ground clearance? Photo shoot at the New Jersey car dealers association meetings? Maybe it’s the least different model of transportation for the state and therefore a form of camouflage — spinners might soon be required too.

Update (23 Apr 2007): Bruce has posted more commentary with even stronger language regarding the misleading characteristics of giant SUVs.

An SUV should not be used as a regular means of transportation for Executive Protection. SUVs are difficult to control and simply do not perform as well in emergency situations typically encountered in Executive Protection which includes accident avoidance in addition to vehicle ambushes etc… Compounding this problem is that most Executive Protection driver’s training programs do not spend the same amount of training time in an SUV practicing evasive driving techniques as they do in a sedan. Consequently when it comes time to drive an SUV in an Executive Protection mission, driver skill isn’t usually as proficient.

It time to put to rest the notion that “bigger is better� when it comes to vehicle size and safety and Executive Protection.

Poetry, Security

A Bird Came Down the Walk

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by Emily Dickinson

In the Garden

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all abroad,–
They looked like frightened beads, I thought;
He stirred his velvet head

Like one in danger; cautious,
I offered him a crumb,
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home

Than oars divide the ocean,
Too silver for a seam,
Or butterflies, off banks of noon,
Leap, plashless, as they swim.

Civility in nature, disturbed by the observer.