Before I write this that is intended to be a public help to all those unfortunate folks, who like me, have to sort of maintain their own computers. Since 1993 I have had a mssion goal for my life of using computers to spread the gospel to the world, teach the difference between the holy and the profane and push the world toward a prolife embrace of human life; and an activist effort to save the baby humans. I am educated well enough to do that since I am a Registered Nurse and have a business degree, and about 25 years of I.T. efforts. Now, I wrote all of that to get to this:
In this evening's news on the money.cnn section online is article entitled "CEO's on the Hot Seat" and includes Ballmer of Microsoft, and Cisco's CEO. and SONY's,and HP's and Yahoo's. I am writing this to give them what I perceive to be their places where they miss the goal, and also to give the public my reasons. Most of what I write on this topic is as a woman who has to somehow keep her privately owned computers running securely enough to accomplish the goals of my life, as a bottom line achievement. [My life's mission statement is on website at http://gloriapoole.com].
I will start with Cisco. I bought a $94 router + or - few dollars made by Cisco for small business security it said on box and instructions. When I got home with it, and set it up to my computer the password supplied did not work. I called Cisco support line who assumed that since I am a woman I must have been the secretary and refused to give me the password to the brand new router I paid for, saying they changed it. So I could not use the router and it was a loss to me because it was on sale marked down from the usual price of about $178, so I could not return it. So I learned quickly what sort of business Cisco is. To be kind, I will not write my feelings about them and stick to the facts.
On to Yahoo. In the same year that Sarah Palin's yahoo email was hacked, so was mine. A Yahoo email I have had since 1996 was broken into and was being used by someone other than me. I think I wrote Yahoo tech support, and security for about 2 yrs before they replied. I was not willing to abandon it because it was my first email acct and was /is known all over the world. Enough said .
Next, HP: I bought a hp Pavilion computer with Microsoft software in 2003--it was nothing but aggravation. There was no security on it whatsoever, and to make matters worst their CEO was caught spying for the Democratic party by using insider knowledge of consumers who bought HP products. I bought another one in 2007 from Gateway with Microsoft only to discover that Gateway has this thing that allows almost any person in the world with any level of computer skills above never touched a computer before, to connect to it and to any computer it ever connected too, also. So it is the go-between sort of like an extension cord to extend the damage [malware, viruses, worm,trojan,spies] on it to virtually every device or computer you own. BAD bad security or rather no security.
Now to SONY. Sony makes great products with one HUGE flaw. They allowed their portable devices {PSP's and the newer version] to connect to any device & unsecured wi-fi connection and then to connect to other wifi in a constant pool of sharks swimming it seemed to me. I bought a PSP in Jan this year and had NO warning whatsoever it was not secure or encrypted and that it connected to the devices of others whether I liked that or not, and it ruined my mini computer I connected it to via usb.
For any one who uses their computer for real work or life's goals, to subject them to destructive powers running rampant on web, was nearly ruinous to me. IF a company is going to create those devices they should come with warning stickers that say 'this device is not secure, and not encrypted; therefore do not put confidential info on it".
To sum up, I think the fastest way for corporate heads to get results and make progress for their stockholders is to stop the drain of information that is confidential via their devices ; to make secure computers and software their goals; and to put their own fortunes on the line by giving every one of their employees their own products and only theirs to use, so they quickly find the leaks of their own money, and get motivated very fast. When they are spending taxpayers monies through corporate programs or Wall St bailouts, or public IPO's and their salaries, perqs and privileges continue regardless of their performance, there is no incentive to improve. And when their employees are using products made by other companies to protect their own assets, that is a very telling indicator of the lack of security on what they sell.
Gloria Poole; @ my apt in Missouri; 8:20pm;26-May-2011
