Ubuntu opportunity to penetrate desktop segment

With all the malware and virus floating around today it is difficult to feel comfortable doing banking over the internet.  Sure it's going to be https, but what about that keylogger that is on your PC because your 10 yr old likes to download flash games?  Windows is the most attacked OS today.

Enter Ubuntu. With Ubuntu and remastersys you can make a cd (called a Live CD) that can boot up and allow your windows PC to be transformed into a secure platform for your internet banking.  This task is not what this post is about.  For that checkout this very good tutorial. There are also great tutorials on making a bootable USB drive, however, this will end up being less secure.  Why?  If you also happen to use that flash drive to store files on then it can be a target for malware and viruses.  That's why a read only copy of the OS is the best idea.

"But mybank uses two factor authentication".  Nice... but there is no way to assure the security of your transaction if you are operating from a compromised PC.  Check out http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=4402
All you banks looking to spring for the RSA token for each account holder,  it's not going to help your customers.

What I would like to explore is the idea that Ubuntu has the perfect opportunity to get avg Windows users to experience the Ubuntu OS.  Once they become at ease with the look and feel it can't be too much of marketing effort to get them to switch for good. To that end Ubuntu should promote this use of their OS heavily.

And with more power!  Firefox should benefit too being the default browser in the Live CD.  This ensures that the user also gets a taste of FireFox as well.  This would drive their penetration too.

But wait there's more! Banks want you to use the internet to do business with them. It cuts down on their paper and processing costs. So much so that some banks are already considering providing these live CDs.  Just think of the opportunity here Mr. Shuttleworth.  Work with the banks and facilitate them distributing your software.  You can't get any more Tom Sawyer than that!

Here are some other sources for thought on this subject.

• http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/10/avoid_windows_malware_bank_on.html
• http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/use-linux-live-cd-usb-for-online-banking.html
• http://blogs.computerworld.com/15815/can_ubuntu_save_online_banking

Any utility that would need to be created around this would be a good idea.  The one I can think of is a utility to save off a users bookmarks from their windows installation and then allow those to be imported into the Ubuntu image before it is packaged up into the Live CD...  Perhaps one that allows you to select the browser to be included?  Can you think of any others?

Obamanomics

So let's think about this.  We are adding 32 million people to coverage. The number of Doctors, Hospital beds, Clinics is the same...  Doesn't it make sense that getting an appointment will be harder?   I understand that the laws of supply and demand say that if there is demand a supply will rise to meet it.  It takes 2 years to build a hospital. It takes 8+ years to educate a doctor. How is this situation going to be anything but pain for this country for a least half a decade?

Insurance benefits will have no cap for payout, and I believe that they can raise rates...  but to handle this rise you can get a subsidy. So if I am not taking advantage of the full subsidy then I am leaving something on the table right? 

Can anybody clue me in on how this is supposed to work?  I'm afraid all that we have achieved is change for change sake.

SANS 2010 Conference

I just got back from the SANS 2010 conference in Orlando.  While there I took the Defending Web Applications security essentials class. It was a very good class.  While there I heard a discussion on the intrusions that China is perpetrating on the rest of the world.  Go Google!  If they want Google to observe their laws then they should observe ours.

Zoom in... Now ENHANCE!

We all love the movies where the satellite zooms in and in and in and then we see Jason Bourne about to take out a misguided bad guy.  Other movies like No Way Out (Kevin Costner) has a magic tape drive that can enhance the blurriest of photos.  Well the real world is one step closer to the second movie using a technique called compressed sensing.  Through the magic of math Mr. Costner would have been caught.  Wired has and excellent article at http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_algorithm. Now if they can combine the sat view with google street view and have the camera change perspectives once it reaches the ground.  That would be impressive!