<![CDATA[[SecurityRatty] tag: continental]]> http://securityratty.com/tag/continental Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:53:04 +0000 iRatty Engine http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Leading Travel Writer Reams Out In-Flight Internet]]> http://securityratty.com/article/f64004c5f420a4aa7be1520dea970d4b http://securityratty.com/article/f64004c5f420a4aa7be1520dea970d4b Joe Brancatelli pokes beneath the surface of claims that in-flight Internet is imminent: I've covered some of the same ground, but veteran travel writer Brancatelli connected the dots by checking with the FAA to find the status of applications for aircraft certification by Aircell and others.

He's not very positive about it, because his research shows a mismatch between claims and work. He writes that an unnamed American airline executive is frustrated by the delay in launching the 3-to-6 month pilot on their trans-continental fleet; that Aircell hasn't submitted paperwork for Virgin's Airbus models for certification; and that the FAA just received a request to certify Delta's MD-80 craft, which makes a launch with 75 planes this year on that airline less likely.

Competitor Row 44 doesn't fare better in his analysis, as they promised spring and summer 2008 tests that still haven't happened, with Southwest and Alaska Airlines.

I'm a little more positive about the future of in-flight broadband. There's no particular conspiracy. It's hard to make it work. Development and testing is tricky due to FAA limits, and getting in-flight handoffs to work for seamless service at 35,000 feet is far more difficult than, say, cellular handoffs in a moving car at 100 feet above sea level. My suspicion is that tuning the service to be entirely reliable at launch is what's taking so long.

Brancatelli blames the high price of Connexion on its failure, but I don't think the $27 fee for long-haul flights deterred users. Lufthansa, which deployed all its long-haul fleet, apparently had very good usage. Most other airlines had few craft equipped, which didn't allow business travelers, able to expense several hours of work for a $27 fee, the reliability of having on-board Internet when they needed it. Connexion also had many reports of spotty service in certain areas.

Connexion's failure came from deploying technology that was old when it was deployed, which weighed too much, and which was too expensive to install. Connexion's revenue and expenses were forecast based on having several hundred aircraft with Connexion service--recall that it was supposed to be a domestic U.S. service, too. In the end they had about 100, I believe.

Brancatelli is also modest when he says Boeing "lost" $300m. That's part of what they wrote down. My sources say they spent more than a billion in R&D, transponder leases, ground station operation, airline incentives, and payoffs at the end.

]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:34:03 +0000 service seamless service spotty service connexion service connexion airline incentives airline in-flight internet ground Leading Travel Writer Reams Out In-Flight Internet <![CDATA[Delta Opts for Broadband Fleet Deployment]]> http://securityratty.com/article/db5e01012dbeef6ef5baab0f213a6214 http://securityratty.com/article/db5e01012dbeef6ef5baab0f213a6214 Delta Airlines says they'll put Internet access on every plane: Delta is the first major U.S. airline to take the full-on plunge into fleet in-flight broadband service. The company said that it will equip 330 planes by 2009, starting with 130 MD craft this year, with Aircell's service. The Gogo Internet offering costs $10 for flights up to 3 hours and $13 for longer flights.

Delta's competitors with broadband interest, like Alaska, Southwest, and American, each have a different plan of attack. Alaska will test service soon with Row 44, which uses Ku-band satellite access, albeit with higher speeds and far lower costs, the company says, than Boeing's doomed Connexion service. Row 44 touts their over-water ability, critical for Alaska, which flies plenty of routes to the great northern state and to Mexico. A test is what's scheduled; not deployment.

Southwest did some deal with Row 44, but nothing further has been forthcoming. Summer's almost over, and we haven't heard more about the "four aircraft" mentioned in the linked press release.

American has the most fully formed plan, but they, too, are testing Aircell's service, and will shortly launch service on 15 trans-continental 767-200s, flying largely routes among SFO, LAX, JFK, and Miami. The company said in the past that they would decide on fleet deployment after the pilot stage.

I shouldn't forget Virgin America, which planned Internet access as part of a set of already-deployed in-flight networked services, but they have under a couple dozen planes at the moment, so they're not a real competitor except on a few routes. Their launch date hasn't been set.

Delta's announcement makes it clear that air-Fi is coming soon, and will likely change how business travelers plan trips. If you can get productive work done during a flight, that changes the financial equation of the trip's cost, and your time out of the office. Pair in-flight Wi-Fi with a cell data card, and you may curse the fact that you're always connected.

]]> Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:27:12 +0000 shortly launch service service delta pair in-flight wi-fi in-flight test service fleet deployment deployment flight Delta Opts for Broadband Fleet Deployment <![CDATA[Do You Speak E-Discovery? You Should, Even in Europe]]> http://securityratty.com/article/83b90f1f212111ff6dbba328b609d249 http://securityratty.com/article/83b90f1f212111ff6dbba328b609d249
The concept of legal discovery (called "e-discovery" when electronic information is involved) is unique to the "common law" countries - notably the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Discovery in common-law civil litigation is a form of interrogatory in which both parties agree to the pretrial exchange of information, so that the plaintiff can prosecute a cause for action and the defendant can build a defense. By contrast, in countries with legal systems based on the Roman or Napoleonic traditions - which is to say, most of continental Europe - the obligation to produce information that is relevant to the cause for action is nowhere as comprehensive as the obligation attached to discovery in common law.

There is an important difference between criminal and civil litigation, irrespective of a country's legal system. In a criminal case, if the authorities have a warrant or an indictment, the subject is obligated to produce relevant information, and this is true both in common-law countries and in continental Europe. In civil litigation, however, only common law requires the pretrial production of information and its exchange between affected parties. In non-common-law civil litigation, the relevant information is produced before the judge for consideration and evaluation.

Despite these differences, there are some important lessons for all Europeans about e-discovery and about legal discovery in general. The first is that if an external party demands information, whether during civil or criminal proceedings, it pays to deliver that information quickly. Gartner has seen many cases where enterprises simply didn't know how to find the requested information or couldn't produce it for several days - just long enough to generate some damaging media coverage.

The second lesson: It also pays to be able to deliver precisely the information requested. Law enforcement officers may seize folders and binders, disks and tapes, files and e-mails, reports and logs - anything they can get their hands on, really. This may include information that is not relevant to the case, and it may include information that is highly sensitive. This information will be reviewed, processed and analyzed, and some of this sensitive information might leak to the public or to competitors. It's much better to be prepared to hand over just the requested and required information.

The e-discovery landscape is made even more confusing by international jurisdictional differences. In the global economy, a business relationship with an entity in the U.S. is becoming more the rule than the exception. But a company's duty to release information following a U.S. legal discovery claim - for example, for a European subsidiary - and how that would be seen in relation with European privacy legislation remain unclear at best. E-discovery rules require quick delivery of information that has not been tampered with, but privacy protection requires that personal data be removed first.

E-discovery simply does not exist in most European legal systems, but European companies would be well-advised to familiarize themselves with the concept, in case an e-discovery claim originates elsewhere. Companies that have processes and automation for information archiving and retrieval, document and records management, and a retention policy (including disposal when information is no longer needed) will be well-prepared for any e-discovery claims that arise.]]> Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:05:25 +0000 e-discovery e-discovery simply e-discovery actions sensitive information information include information discovery produce relevant information e-discovery claims Do You Speak E-Discovery? You Should, Even in Europe <![CDATA[A Continental nightmare]]> http://securityratty.com/article/d55712f73fd5b2c5c1b199e3992cca03 http://securityratty.com/article/d55712f73fd5b2c5c1b199e3992cca03

The state of the airline industry is a travesty.  Today United announced that they are joining American in charging a fee for even the first bag of checked luggage.  Combined with the ban on liquids that makes it hard to carry on anything, you are forced to pay up.  This is on top of the already jacked up prices and fuel surcharges they are already charging.  They also charge if you want to fly stand by now, extra for exit seats, aisles, etc, etc.  It is not one airline worse than another, they are all pretty bad. 

Today's travel nightmare though comes courtesy of Continental Airlines.  I rarely fly Continental because in coach I find their seats are to close together and my knees get crushed.  But flying home from Denver today, they were the cheapest so I booked the flight. 

I was scheduled to be on a 4:50 flight out of Denver into Houston.  An hour layover, an 8:55 flight from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and I would get me home around midnight.  Long day for sure.  So I finished up my meetings and stuff early in Boulder and saw that Continental had a 2:30 flight from Denver to Houston and a 7:10 connection to Ft Lauderdale that would get me in around 10:20pm.  I left StillSecure HQ around noon and was at Denver airport by about 12:45.  I went to the Continental counter and asked to get on the earlier flight.  Because I am a platinum medallion member of Delta, as a Sky Team member, I am an elite plus level passenger on Continental. In days gone by that would qualify me for same day ticket changes for free.  Not anymore it doesn't!  I don't understand what the price of fuel has to do with charging me for same day ticket changes.  Anyway, they said I could fly stand by for free until June 17th, when even standby is going to cost an extra fee (again they blamed it on fuel costs).

So they put me on standby and told me my luggage would go on the earlier flight.  I then went to the 2:30 flights gate and waited.  The ticket counter agent told me about 20 minutes before take off that they only had me as a silver medallion and due to my low status I was far down the list and would not make the flight.  My luggage would though.  OK, so I will hang at the airport and work a few hours.  Just before the plane takes off they call my name and tell me to wait at the end of the jetway.  They are checking the plane and if there is a seat I can take it.  I get the last seat on the plane, a middle seat. 

I arrive at Houston and proceed to the gate for the 7:10 flight to Ft Lauderdale.  I check in with the agent and she tells me the folks in Denver only put me on standby for the Denver Houston flight and I am not on stand by for the Ft Lauderdale flight.  She can put me on and I will probably make it, but my luggage will be going on the later flight.  Now mind you I can see the plane I just got off of out the window and could have gone to the jetway and told the guys unloading the luggage to grab my bag.  Not wanting to wait two hours in Ft Lauderdale late at night for my luggage to arrive and not wanting to drive down the next day to pick it up I say thanks, but no thanks and decide to wait another two hours for the later flight that my luggage will be on.

I board my 8:55 flight as scheduled and we take off headed for Ft Lauderdale, due to land at 12:15 or so.  The plane is hot as heck and about a half hour into the flight the pilot says that we have a pressurization problem and am turning back to Houston!  We turn back and upon arrival near Houston, he tells us we have too much fuel to land and will have to fly around to burn it off.  We have no air conditioning, it is hot as can be and they are telling me how much they charge because of the cost of fuel that they are now flying around in circles to burn off!

We land in Houston, they find another plane and we finally take off from Houston around 11:45 or so. I am writing this on the plane and am due to land about 2:30am. If I find my luggage came on the earlier flight I am going to kill someone.  In the meantime, I have had enough of Continental for a while and they won't see me on their planes very soon.

End of story, we landed around 2:45 and my luggage was waiting for me, having arrived on the earlier flight.  The Continental employee at the baggage claim will remember Alan Shimel for a while, as I gave him a piece of my mind.

]]> Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:34:55 +0000 denver airport denver denver houston flight flight lauderdale flight continental houston continental airlines luggage A Continental nightmare <![CDATA[A Continental nightmare]]> http://securityratty.com/article/1e535b8d7814aa9ad0c695c5888d81a6 http://securityratty.com/article/1e535b8d7814aa9ad0c695c5888d81a6

The state of the airline industry is a travesty.  Today United announced that they are joining American in charging a fee for even the first bag of checked luggage.  Combined with the ban on liquids that makes it hard to carry on anything, you are forced to pay up.  This is on top of the already jacked up prices and fuel surcharges they are already charging.  They also charge if you want to fly stand by now, extra for exit seats, aisles, etc, etc.  It is not one airline worse than another, they are all pretty bad. 

Today's travel nightmare though comes courtesy of Continental Airlines.  I rarely fly Continental because in coach I find their seats are to close together and my knees get crushed.  But flying home from Denver today, they were the cheapest so I booked the flight. 

I was scheduled to be on a 4:50 flight out of Denver into Houston.  An hour layover, an 8:55 flight from Houston to Ft Lauderdale and I would get me home around midnight.  Long day for sure.  So I finished up my meetings and stuff early in Boulder and saw that Continental had a 2:30 flight from Denver to Houston and a 7:10 connection to Ft Lauderdale that would get me in around 10:20pm.  I left StillSecure HQ around noon and was at Denver airport by about 12:45.  I went to the Continental counter and asked to get on the earlier flight.  Because I am a platinum medallion member of Delta, as a Sky Team member, I am an elite plus level passenger on Continental. In days gone by that would qualify me for same day ticket changes for free.  Not anymore it doesn't!  I don't understand what the price of fuel has to do with charging me for same day ticket changes.  Anyway, they said I could fly stand by for free until June 17th, when even standby is going to cost an extra fee (again they blamed it on fuel costs).

So they put me on standby and told me my luggage would go on the earlier flight.  I then went to the 2:30 flights gate and waited.  The ticket counter agent told me about 20 minutes before take off that they only had me as a silver medallion and due to my low status I was far down the list and would not make the flight.  My luggage would though.  OK, so I will hang at the airport and work a few hours.  Just before the plane takes off they call my name and tell me to wait at the end of the jetway.  They are checking the plane and if there is a seat I can take it.  I get the last seat on the plane, a middle seat. 

I arrive at Houston and proceed to the gate for the 7:10 flight to Ft Lauderdale.  I check in with the agent and she tells me the folks in Denver only put me on standby for the Denver Houston flight and I am not on stand by for the Ft Lauderdale flight.  She can put me on and I will probably make it, but my luggage will be going on the later flight.  Now mind you I can see the plane I just got off of out the window and could have gone to the jetway and told the guys unloading the luggage to grab my bag.  Not wanting to wait two hours in Ft Lauderdale late at night for my luggage to arrive and not wanting to drive down the next day to pick it up I say thanks, but no thanks and decide to wait another two hours for the later flight that my luggage will be on.

I board my 8:55 flight as scheduled and we take off headed for Ft Lauderdale, due to land at 12:15 or so.  The plane is hot as heck and about a half hour into the flight the pilot says that we have a pressurization problem and am turning back to Houston!  We turn back and upon arrival near Houston, he tells us we have too much fuel to land and will have to fly around to burn it off.  We have no air conditioning, it is hot as can be and they are telling me how much they charge because of the cost of fuel that they are now flying around in circles to burn off!

We land in Houston, they find another plane and we finally take off from Houston around 11:45 or so. I am writing this on the plane and am due to land about 2:30am. If I find my luggage came on the earlier flight I am going to kill someone.  In the meantime, I have had enough of Continental for a while and they won't see me on their planes very soon.

End of story, we landed around 2:45 and my luggage was waiting for me, having arrived on the earlier flight.  The Continental employee at the baggage claim will remember Alan Shimel for a while, as I gave him a piece of my mind.

]]> Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:35:05 +0000 denver airport denver denver houston flight flight lauderdale flight continental houston continental airlines luggage A Continental nightmare <![CDATA[Desktop computer stolen from Administrative Systems, Inc.]]> http://securityratty.com/article/491b6ad9d6d8e74acd41c8dbfaab7a33 http://securityratty.com/article/491b6ad9d6d8e74acd41c8dbfaab7a33 Security Breach

Date Reported:
2/8/08

Organization:
Administrative Systems, Inc. (ASI)*

*ASI is a licensed third party administrator that provides certain administrative services on behalf of its clients, which include insurance companies and other financial services companies. These services often include processing employee applications for insurance coverage, issuing of insurance plans and employee certificates, managing premium billing and collection for insurance plans, responding to customer service requests and other record-keeping functions.

Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None

Victims:
Customers of various ASI partner companies**

** Lists of companies in " Strategic Partnerships"  and forms.

Number Affected:
Unknown

Types of Data:
Name, dates of birth, mailing addresses, and Social Security numbers

Breach Description:
On December 29th, 2008, a desktop computer was stolen from the Seattle offices of Administrative Systems, Inc. ("ASI") that contained a database of sensitive personal information belonging to customers of the company's clients.

Reference URL:
Administrative Systems, Inc. official notice to victims
PogoWasRight.org Story

Report Credit:
Administrative Systems, Inc., with a special thanks to PogoWasRight.org

Response:
From the online sources cited above:

A desktop computer stolen from an Administrative Systems, Inc. (ASI) office in Seattle on December 29th contained names and sensitive information about customers or employees of several of the firm's clients: Continental American Medical, EyeMed Vision/Kelly Services Vision, and Jefferson Pilot Financial Dental.

ASI is a licensed third party administrator that provides certain administrative services on behalf of its clients, which include insurance companies and other financial services companies. These services often include processing employee applications for insurance coverage, issuing of insurance plans and employee certificates, managing premium billing and collection for insurance plans, responding to customer service requests and other record-keeping functions.
[Evan] Sheesh, this is some very sensitive information.  There is no mention in the notification or the Administrative Systems, Inc. web site about what is done to protect this information.

personal information about customers including name, date of birth, mailing address, social security number (“sensitive information”). The information did not include credit card information or driver’s license numbers.

We are writing to notify you of this incident and to assure you that we take this matter seriously and are taking steps designed to minimize the likelihood of such an event occurring in the future.
[Evan] What specifically is being done?

We have tightened our security measures to provide greater protection for the information we maintain and are working closely with local authorities to minimize future risks.
[Evan] Again, no specifics.

The Seattle Police Department is investigating this incident and ASI is cooperating fully with this investigation.

We suggest that you remain vigilant over the next twelve to twenty-four months by reviewing your financial account statements and monitoring your credit reports to minimize your potential risk of identity theft or fraud.
[Evan] The onus is on the data custodian to protect the information according to what is expected by the data owner.  The victims can remain vigilant, but what if data custodians are not?  Take your business elsewhere?

ASI sincerely regrets any inconvenience this incident may cause you. We know our clients value your trust and confidence and we remain committed to ensuring the security of your personal information. If you have questions for ASI regarding this incident, please call toll free 1-866-614-9454. We will be available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm Eastern time.

In its notification letter, ASI did not indicate whether the data were encrypted nor why it took over a month for individuals to be notified of the theft


Commentary:
This is a very unfortunate breach.  I assume that many of the victims do not even know who ASI is or how they came into the possession of their information.  If I received one of the notifications from ASI, I would have more questions than answers and I would be frustrated.  As customers of companies, we provide certain personal information.  We trust that the companies we do business with will see to it that our information is adequately protected.  In this instance, information was passed on to a third-party and that third-party did not do what they should have done to protect personal information.

There is no mention of any existing controls or what controls ASI plans to evaluate to further strengthen their information security and reduce risk.  Victims and customers are left in the dark.  One can only assume what type of physical controls were in place to protect against the physical theft or what technological controls were in place to protect against compromised confidentiality.  Your guess is as good as mine.

Past Breaches:
Unknown

]]> Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:53:04 +0000 protect personal information personal information sensitive personal information companies include insurance companies financial services companies information information security asi partner companies Desktop computer stolen from Administrative Systems, Inc.