When I'm not traveling, I like to work from home some days rather than endure the trek from Seattle to Redmond (although it's much better now that our own employee transit service has expanded into my neighborhood -- the existence of which is sad commentary on the availability and reliability of Seattle's public transit companies).

This means, of course, that I need fast and stable network connections. Comcast with their PowerBoost is working very well for me. But I just can't find a decent wireless router at all. My Lenovo T61p (with Intel 4965abgn adapter) just won't stay connected to my D-Link DIR-628 and IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! (Yes, I've tried various driver versions, from both Lenovo and Intel.)

My house is in an area with a lot of wireless activity -- sometimes I can see nine or ten SSIDs. I'm running draft N on 2.4GHz (which occupies two non-adjacent channels, currently 1 and 4), and I suspect the problem is collision interference. I could shift the router to 5.2GHz, which I probably would help, but then the rest of the computers in my house won't connect. Why, you ask? Well get this: the DIR-628 is part of D-Link's RangeBooster N family. So I stayed in the family and got two DWA-542 adapters for the desktop computers. Yet they only do 2.4GHz! Silly me, I assumed that being in the same family means full support of the router's capabilities.

I'm very tempted to replace my router again -- and I'm thinking that the best option is to get one with dual radios. That way I can move my T61p to 5.2GHz and replace the desktop adapters, while still having single-channel 802.11b/g on 2.4GHz for the Wii and my PlayStation Portable.

Now my request: tell me about your experience with home routers. What do you really like, and why? What should I buy?

Blogger: Randall Gamby

As briefly mentioned in a Burton Group IdPS blog and a ZDNet Australia published article on July 3, 2008, HR data from Google was stolen from one of their previous HR outsource partners.  It seems that the partner, Colt Express Outsource Partners, had equipment stolen that contained HR data from some of its clients, including Google.  The data was unencrypted and stored on systems that were apparently portable.

So what does this mean for all of us? 

First, it shows that even large SaaS companies like Google can be bitten by a lack of security at their partners, just like many of us can.  Burton Group has been warning clients for a long time about the dangers of sending confidential information to outsource partners without proper security and audit processes in place. Of course this should also be backed by strong contractual language. 

Second, be prepared to pay.  Even if Google had breach mitigation terms in their contract, Colt Express announced that it was in financial difficulty. So Google has had to pay for financial reporting and other compensation to its own employees, even though Google did nothing wrong. 

Third, a Google representative stated "We take the security of our employees very seriously and require outside vendors to meet appropriate security standards. We review and update these standards on an on-going basis.”  Does this mean that Google doesn’t require encryption of its confidential information since encryption of the data was not deployed at Colt Express?  When working with third parties, whether it’s financial data or confidential personal data, this information needs to be protected from unauthorized access. One of the simplest ways is encrypting the data while at rest, regardless of where it’s located. 

Final, the Colt Express breach brings to mind a question Burton Group is always asking: “What is your exit strategy if the contract is terminated with your outsourcing partner?”  A lot of effort is expended in creating an outsourcing agreement around use and protection of data, but what happens when the contract is ended?  Do you obtain and retain the information the outsource partner maintained?  Do you have the outsource partner destroy the information and any archives of it (and verify this was done)?  Do you create a custodial contract with the outsourcing partner for them to maintain the information and archives on your behalf (ensuring the data is properly protected)?  As was found in this incident, after their contract with Google was terminated the outsourcing partner apparently retained the employee data unencrypted on their servers. This was the fatal mistake that allowed the breach to occur.

So as you work with your outsourcing and SaaS vendors, you should not only consider how day-to-day operations should be secured to maintain the confidentiality of your data. You should also think about how that data is being maintained over time, and what are your procedures should the unthinkable happen if your partner allows your data to be compromised.

The Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed today that a package containing contact information from its Paisley Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre (EMDC) has been lost by the courier, TNT, while in transit to one of its IT suppliers. The portable data disk contained a copy of records of 894,629 calls to the ambulance service's Paisley EMDC since February 2006. It was fully encrypted and password protected and includes the addresses of incidents, some phone numbers and some patient names. Given the security measures and the complex structure of the database it would be extremely difficult to gain access to any meaningful information.

Alltel launches domestic US hotspot service: Alltel is reselling Boingo's offering at $20 per month or $4 per day with no commitment. That's 25,000 US hotspots. The No. 5 cell operator, which is in the process of being acquired by Verizon, also runs a EVDO network available nationally as part of a Verizon partnership (Alltel covers a ton of areas Verizon doesn't), which costs $60 per month. Combine Wi-Fi and 3G and pay $70 per month.

Beijing's Wi-Fi network launches with a limp; no 3G at Olympics, either: The Wall Street Journal says the WiCity project that will cover the Olympic venue with Wi-Fi (about 100 sq km) got off to a rough start at its launch, with reports from their bureau and others of poor signal strength; no answer on the customer-support hotline; and broken links on the Web site. The blog entry also notes that visitors who expect 3G over their cell will be bitterly disappointed, as anyone in the industry knows: China didn't adopt either worldwide 3G standard. They claim that their own TD-SCDMA 3G technology will be up and running in time, but that won't really help visitors much, now will it? I'm surprised no waivers were granted to run temporary cell installations for EVDO and HSPA just for the games. Wouldn't have been that big a deal.

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This could have won my Third Movie-Plot Threat Contest.