• Finally migrated to my own site

    With the help of Gemini CLI, I’ve finally migrated all my 20 over years of blogs from https://mengchow.wordpress.com/ to this new https://brightstove.net site. All done in less than three hours. It could have been faster if I did not accidentally terminated Gemini’s session while it was executing some of the...
  • Riding the Typhoon wave: An episode of LLM exploration

    Was exploring a few open source LLMs installed in my laptop and observed some strange behaviors. Maybe someone here can help to explain why. More importantly, the episode reinforced the following to keep in mind when using LLM chatbots:
  • Innovate fast, disrupt, and trust? A DeepSeek’s dilemma

    This post was originally published on Substack here. “Most of the time, we hear about security only when it fails.” - Bruce Schneier, Beyond Fear, 2003</p>
  • Applying Baseline Technical Measures for Managing Data Privacy IN the Cloud at Scale

    As a follow-up to the earlier paper on "Baseline Technical Measures for Data Privacy IN the Cloud", I'm glad to present the second paper in this data privacy in the cloud series, which focuses on applying the principle-based methodology, with the output on the earlier paper to validate the baseline...
  • Baseline Technical Measures for Data Privacy in the Cloud

    After several months of collaborative work with Prof Kwok-Yan Lam and Dr Chi-Hung Chi at NTU, and several data privacy and security practitioners in the industry, including Ivy Young of Amazon Web Services, Sam Goh of Data-X, Dr Zhan Wang of Envision Digital, Dr Prinya Hom-anek of TMBThanachart Bank, Dr...
  • On risk, uncertainty, and impact

    Risk management is an approach that is commonly used across many industries. However, the language of risk has not been consistent or easy to understand across existing risk literatures. In particular, the definition of risk is at times mixed with uncertainty (e.g., ISO 31000 and ISO/IEC 73), and described in...
  • 《响应式安全:构建企业信息安全体系》

    三年多年前与中国电子出版社和清华段海新教授启动了翻译《Responsive Security》这本书终于在几个星期前圆满完成出版在中国亚马逊和其它网络书店了。中文书名《响应式安全:构建企业信息安全体系》与英文书名有点差别。主要是为了方便读者搜索关键词能更容易找到这本书。不然的话,更正确的书名应该是《响应式安全:有备无患》。
  • 台北讲云安全

    两周前在台北的(ISC)2 SecureTaipei 会议上讲了些云安全的想法。台北IT Home的记者同一天就把主要内容刊登到其网上了。有兴趣的朋友们可以到那儿去看看:http://www.ithome.com.tw/news/114072.
  • Fear when it is dark, fear when there is light

    We have fear of the dark because we can’t see what is in the dark. Many of us probably have similar experience of walking up or down an unlighted stairwell in the middle of the night, or into a dark  room or somewhere. Our mind respond to the change. With...
  • Brief thought on IoT security 

    There will be things that are security capable, things that are not security capable, and things that are somewhere in between. What those things can do, and how much an application can trust a given thing should therefore be tiered based on the security capabilities that the thing can do,...
  • When our guard is down

    We don’t normally feel the reality of a criminal attack on the Internet (or so called Cybercrime attack in the Cyberspace these days) until someone we know, especially when a friend, or a relative actually became a victim to such an incident. If we see an accident on the road, we actually see it. Our...
  • Blog series on Responsive Security

    I have recently published a five parts series on the captioned topic, based on my book of the same title, at Cisco’s Security Blog site. For convenience of the readers of this blog, I have the links to the five parts consolidated here for quick access: Part 1 - Understanding and...
  • A Black Swan on the ATM system

    This past week’s news headlines have once again been filled with a number significant cyber security incidents. Data breaches in JP Morgan, Bash shell vulnerability in a number of Unix/Linux operating systems (Apple OS X included), and many others. One that was of particular interest, not because it happened just...
  • REMOTE - Office not required - a brief review

    Working remotely is a practice that is familiar to many, especially in where I work today, so much so that we often take for granted its benefits, without even realizing their significance. I happened to come across this book recently, and enjoyed a new understanding and realization of what working remotely...
  • Hard and soft bacon

    Last week at the 14th RAISE Forum meeting in Bangkok, the hotel served breakfast every morning. Among the wonderful selection of western and eastern dishes were two choices of bacon, crispy (hard), or soft, arranged in a specially shaped Yin-Yang Taoist design plate (see picture below). As shown in the picture...
  • Be ready for the Year of the Wooden Horse

    Today marks the start of a new year on the Lunar calendar. As the Chinese saying goes, as the spring season arrives, happiness and prosperity follow. I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous lunar new year.
  • Responsive Security - Be Ready to Be Secure

    After much anticipation, my new book, “Responsive Security - Be Ready to Be Secure”, is finally published today. Thanks to Prof Pauline Reich of Waseda University, and Chuan Wei Hoo, who helped to proof read the earlier drafts, my publisher, Ruijun He, my editor, Iris Fahrer, and many friends and...
  • 12th RAISE Forum Meeting at Jinan, Shandong

    Talking about Shandong in the previous blog (“Before the ashes turn cold”) yesterday, in fact, I just came back from our 12th RAISE Forum meeting which was held at Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province in China on March 27 and 28, 2013. The meeting was co-sponsored and jointly...
  • Before the ashes turned cold

    Bruce Schneier wrote an interesting piece recently about the use of technology for political purposes and suggests that we need “more research into how to circumvent these technologies”: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/04/it_for_oppressi.html
  • A real sense of insecurity

    Our office at the new business park is an attraction in many regards. There are massage chairs in the lobby area, free flow of coffee and tea in the open pantry, and various forms of open and semi-open areas for local on-site collaboration as well as video-on-demand, telepresence collaboration with...
  • Changing season

    This is a post that I have drafted roughly about two years ago, when I was still living in Beijing at that time, on an early autumn day. As we approach the end of August, here in San Jose this week, I feel that the temperature is lowering each day,...
  • 11th RAISE Forum Meeting

  • Buckle up before you drive

    Walking past a row of cars parked alongside the street next to my apartment this morning, I noticed that a number of them have their safety belts already buckled. They reminded me of a habit common amongst many drivers and passengers in China, that they would drive without the safety...
  • What would you do with a magic wand for security?

    Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with several senior information security practitioners on various areas of information security risk management to get their insights and learn about their experiences and concerns in their practices. Before closing each of the conversations, I asked what would they do if they have...
  • Taipei - 9th RAISE Forum Meeting

    April 1st marked the successful completion of the 9th RAISE Forum meeting hosted by the Information and Communication Security Technology (ICST) Institute in Taipei city. The two-day meetings, as in all previous RAISE Forum meetings, covered a slice of the top of minds information security issues, concerns, and thoughts amongst...
  • Berlin Walls - Reflecting the 9th WG 4 meeting

    It has been six months since the Berlin meeting in October 2010. It was my first trip to Berlin then, brought about by the SC 27/WG 4 convenorship. The trip was a memorable one, not just because of the rich historical and scenic settings of the city and nearby towns, and the...
  • Keep left, walk right

    I have been jogging outdoor whenever I’m in Singapore due mainly to the warmer weather and cleaner environment there. During my jogs, I have observed the drainage covers that are lined up along the pavement of various walkways or footpaths just next to the roads. Most cemented walkways have the drainage cover...
  • Insecure Wi-Fi networks

    Nearly five years ago, I blogged about how the laws are not going to help secure wi-fi networks, and asserted that home wi-fi networks would be the weak link if security remains as an add-on to wi-fi technology (http://wp.me/p161XL-1h). A recent report claimed that “Half of Home Wi-Fi Networks in...
  • Return from the old Portuguese Town

    Yet another week of SC 27 Working Group (WG) meeting has gone by. Melaka, or Malacca as I know it since my childhood days, also well known as the old Portuguese Town, has not changed much since my previous visit a few years ago. What have changed are the addition...
  • Arriving at Malacca

    It is the time of the year for yet another ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27 Working Group and Plenary meeting. The host for the next nine days is the Malaysian national body (NB), represented by Standards Malaysia. As in many previous meetings, the venue is a place that has more holiday...
  • 8th RAISE Forum Meeting (cont.)

    Continuing from the morning break in Day one, we have Dr Perry Liu from Chinese Taipei, and Prof Youm Hueng Youl from South Korea, which provided updates on their areas of focus and the recent information security development in the Cyberspace of their respective economies. Dr Liu’s presentation covered how...
  • 8th RAISE Forum meeting

  • Of gaining good fortune and eliminating bad luck

    Having missed the Lunar New Year visiting and celebration in Singapore last year (2009), I very much enjoyed this year’s visit back home. As in the past, visiting and catching up with friends and relatives are the norms. Unlike the past, however, that I usually spent the last evening of...
  • Of haze and fog and the visibility of risks

    The hazy fog in Beijing has triggered many local radio stations and TV news to constantly remind drivers to slow down, turn on the head lamps, and drive with extra care in view of the poor visibility of the road conditions. On the way to the hotel yesterday's evening, from...
  • Progress at Redmond

    This is not about Windows 7 or Microsoft, but to have a tail to the head that I started while at Redmond in early November 2009, about the progress of the 7th meeting of WG 4 and what lies ahead for the 8th meeting in less than six months time....
  • 7th meeting of WG 4 at Redmond, WA

    Six months have passed since the Beijing meeting. This week, we commence the 7th meeting of the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG 4 at Redmond, Washington, USA. The meeting is hosted by the US national body (NB), represented by NIST, and sponsored by Microsoft, hence at the MS conference center in...
  • Clockwise or anti-clockwise - taking a different path

    I like to run outdoor to enjoy the openness, the morning or evening sunlight, the soft blowing winds, and the surrounding scenary that changes with the distance. A long running path that is safe and free of disturbances or irritants is however often hard to come by. Most often, I would end up going...
  • Superman inside

    Have not been running for more than a week now, though I did had a few swims in the period, and feeling a little lethargic late afternoon, I decided go for a run. As the surrounding here is having a number of construction work going on, with many folks spending...
  • WG 4 Progress in Beijing

    The 6th WG 4 meeting in Beijing has closed since May 8, 2009. It has been a while for me to find some time to report the meeting outcomes and also highlight further progress. While most of the projects in WG 4 has progressed according to plan in the meeting,...
  • Beijing Friendship

  • Washington D. C.

  • Passing destination

    I managed to get up early this morning and went for a jog around the hotel area. My destination was a palace building nearby. According to my colleague, it was about 2 km away, and to-and-fro, I would have covered around 4 km. I didn’t check the map or look around...
  • Flight delayed, arrival nearly on schedule

    I had my second trip to our Shanghai office and engineering center this week. Unlike the previous trip last month, the weather was fine most of the days--truly a feeling of the spring season. As usual, the flights between Beijing and Shanghai are always crowded, even though they have in...
  • Skiing lesson

    My family and I went to NanShan (南山), a man-made snow mountain at the edge of Beijing for our first lesson and experience in skiing on the fifth day of Lunar New Year. As it was our first lesson, we engaged two instructors to teach us the basic techniques involved...
  • Beware of pirated software, even on non-Windows systems

    In an earlier entry, I blogged about how users of non-geniune software secure their systems, and mentioned about IDC's analyst reporting the link between malicious/trojan software and non-geniune software. It seems that the connection is becoming stronger ever, and has grown beyond the Windows platform.    According to Computerworld, "Trojan hides in pirated copies...
  • Why not localize your password

    Having moved to a new residence over the weekend, the first thing that happened then was to also move the broadband connectivity so that I could continue to have a Cyber life from my new residence. As usual, the last mile is always the challenge. I have to first get...
  • How users of non-genuine software secure their systems

    Happy new year! As I checked through the list of "draft" blogs that I have left unfinished in 2008, one particular entry looks like something that I should complete for the learning that perhaps we may gain from it, amongst the many other things that we learned through the eventful...
  • Local food, local foreign food, foreign food, foreign local food, foreign foreign food

    Dinning at a Vietnamese restaurant yesterday evening and it occurred to me that we (my family and I) actually didn’t try any Vietnamese food before while living in Singapore in the past few decades of our life. But now, living in Beijing, we have learnt to enjoy not just Vietnamese...
  • Losing heart earned data

    I haven’t been running for the past two weeks due to the numerous short trips and started with the treadmill at the gym yesterday, which covered a nice 6 km distance. Today, managed to get home earlier and seeing that the sky was still bright and shining, I quickly changed...
  • Two-way communications

    While it is often a challenge to achieve two-way communications in a typical conference setting, even with the use of new communication tools such as mobile short messages (SMS), as discussed in my previous blog entry, in a concert setting, the outcome is entirely different. Last saturday, I managed to...
  • Two-way communication

    Conferences, in general, is a one-way communication platform, where a series of speakers get up to the stage and deliver their messages. While there are often opportunities for Q&A, they are mostly limited to a few minutes for very few questions. The setup therefore remains mostly one-way, i.e., unilateral. To...
  • Protecting yourself in the Cyberspace

    A while back, I blogged about some findings on users' experiences of security breaches. This morning, just come across this new site, known as Security Garden, that is providing "Tip of the Day" to help users protect themselves when using the Internet, in particular, when using applications such as Facebook, MySpace,...
  • Leaving Limassol

    Another week has gone by, closing off the 5th ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG 4 meeting at Limassol, Cyprus.  There were some fun during the week, but more importantly, work-wise, significant progress has been accomplished for a number of projects--thanks to the project editors, rappoteurs, and experts. One of the projects...
  • Limassol

    Yet another security standards meeting this week. This may sound like a boring thing, and I guess that's why our host in Cyprus (like many other hosts of SC 27 meetings in the past) has chosen a beach resort for the meeting. I have taken some pictures of the scenery...
  • Knowing the ground

    Sep 11, 2008 - After struggling through the time zone change and jet lag for three nights, I finally got back my rhythm and able to get up early enough to go for a run this morning. I checked Live map the night before and planned an approximately five km...
  • Joy of technology

    It often excites me when new technology is made available to make my daily work and lifestyle more digitally enabled. The Personal Information Manager (PIM) devices are one of those innovations, and have now converged to become one with the mobile phone, camera, voice and video recorder, music and video...
  • Who should be doing what for Cybersecurity

    The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that "Public, private sectors at odds over cyber security". It seems that there are high expectation in the US that the government should play a central role in Cybersecurity, and if the current and/or incumbent US President gives focus on this topic, and government regulations and laws...
  • Read and run

    I was browsing thru' Amazon Kindle's catalogue of e-books about 3 or 4 weeks ago and stumbled upon "What I talk about when I talk about running" by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese novelist whose novels all seems interesting but I just couldn't prioritize them into my reading list somehow. The...
  • Why standards matter

    I was at the SPRING Singapore's Quality and Standards 2008 (QS2008) conference on Aug 20, 2008 and at the keynote was Mr John Wilson, Lead Economist of the World Bank. Mr Wilson spoke about the importance and benefits of standards, in terms of its contributions to the economy. The talk...
  • Less is more

    If you travel a lot like me, you will probably be one of the readers of inflight magazines, which are the most freely available magazines you can get hold of in any flights, regardless of which class of travel you are in. It is the same magazine from Suite, First,...
  • Superwomen at the Beijing Olympic 2008

    After watching the super long celebration of the Beijing Olympic 2008 opening last night -- four hours on the couch, accompanied by three pots of Pu Er tea, I was exhausted. The first hour of the event was fresh and touching though. It depicted the path of the Chinese culture,...
  • Users' experience

    A few months back, as part of my preparation for an Internet safety and security roundtable session in Hongkong, I compiled a list of useful sites on the topic. Over the past few months, there have many more incidents of information breaches been reported in the media in Hongkong, and...
  • Patch, patch, patch, and patch

  • Announcing the 7th RAISE Forum Meeting

    In my previous updates on the completion of the 6th RAISS Forum Meeting proceedings, I promised further updates, but I keep forgetting about it. Finally, through a conversation with a friend today, I got reminded that this needs to be provided soonest. So, here it goes. The 7th RAISE Forum...
  • X.1207 approved

    X.1207 "Guidelines for Telecommunication Service Providers and End-users for Addressing the Risk of Spyware and Potentially Unwanted Software" was determined and undergone a six months review by ITU-T members from Oct 2007 to April 2008 (see my earlier blog entry on this topic). In the April 2008 ITU-T SG 17...
  • Revolving security

    Revolving restaurants are often a hit for children. They are also attractions for adults, but mostly during special occasions. Otherwise, they are often expensive places to dine in. However, the two groups of people are mostly intrigued by different aspects of the technology that is central to the concept leveraged in such...
  • What is Cybersecurity

    While a a new standard on "Guidelines for Cybersecurity" (27032) is being developed in ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG 4, the question of "what is cybersecurity" continues to be asked and debated by members of SC 27, in particular, those who have been active in WG 4. From the various meetings,...
  • Proceedings of 6th RAISS Forum meeting published

    This round, we did not have the proceedings printed. However, the entire volume still undergone the copy writing process, with the PDF version of the contents laid out in ready-to-print format. Here's the link to the contents: http://www.itsc.org.sg/raiss.html. While we have the 6th meeting done with (I mean fully completed...
  • Anti-virus company Trend Micro: Our website has been hacked, risk of Trojan horse infection

    At a security roundtable held earlier this week with some academics and professionals involved in information security, the subject of Vista security was discussed and debated. My assistant presented the new security capabilities incorporated in Vista, and also highlighted the incorporation of Windows Defender, and outbound firewall features to explain...
  • ISO/IEC 24762 published

    Finally, after more than two years of development, the ISO/IEC 24762 on "Guidelines for ICT Disaster Recovery Services" is now completed and published. It is now available for purchase at ISO web site at: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=41532. This standard was developed based on the Singapore Standard, SS 507, which was published in...
  • Big Italian bank says 'Google your password to see if it is good'

    Don't ever try this! It is always dangerous when people get addicted to something (in this case, search engine). Sunbelt Blog: Big Italian bank says "Google your password to see if it's good" While Internet search engines such as Live Search (www.live.com) or Google (www.google.com) can be a quick fix...
  • Internet Safety for Everyone who uses the Internet

    I was in Hongkong before the Lunar New Year and read from the press about a 14 years old teenager who was arrested for hacking into a school network. As a result, several other media picked up the story and shortly after, my colleague and I were interviewed to comment...
  • 中国地图

    Windows Live has recently released publicly a new Beta version of an online searchable map of China. See http://ditu.live.com, which is 地图@live.com. This should help those who are visiting places in China to get a better orientation and also locate places using Chinese road names, restaurant names, etc. I personally...
  • Rocks or rubbish

    Some issues are rubbish, while other are stones, or rocks. When we walk along a street and see some rubbish, it is alright for us to help clear it and clean up the street. Few people would get unhappy over such a gesture. On the other hand, when it is...
  • Taxi Communicator 2

    Like all popular movies, they quickly become a series, with new twists to the original story, and also new casts of characters. Sometimes they turn out to be more interesting, other times, they just flop. I was in Hongkong in November 2007, and in one of the evenings, got on...
  • On whether the entire AV industry been wrong since its start

    Have not been using Windows Live Writer for a while since trying out the beta version. On running it again today, after installing the release version, then discovered that I have the blog below drafted but not published yet. It is great that the Writer application didn't simply discard the...
  • Taxi Entrepreneur

    While the taxi drivers in Hongkong are technologically geared to receive more calls and communicate better to improve their livelihood, those in the Taipei city are taking a different approach, in the form of "application diversification" perhaps. During my visit to Taipei in October 2007, I started to find numerous...
  • Calmness hazard

    I was reviewing some of the photographs that I have taken in the past months during the many trips I had abroad and within China, and found one (below) amongst the collection, which reminded me about the visit I had in Taipei in October 2007. In the two weeks that...
  • Waterfree - you can actually buy it

    I remained curious as to why "Waterfree" was printed on the label above the urinal in the male toilets at the Beijing International airport, and did a search (invoking Windows Live of course) using it as the keyword. Interestingly, a list of companies supplying the "waterfree" urinal products were displayed. So it...
  • Waterfree - Relax, it's time to get serious

    An ex-classmate in London used to refer to toilet as the Thinking Room. In fact, it is often a place where one gets the ultimate solitude to reflect, especially when using the Thinking Room at home. Interestingly, it seems that many public toilets (I mean gent's only) in China are...
  • Car as an analogy

    The (ISC)2 Japan organized an informal meeting today with several CISSP constituents, including a few course instructors in Tokyo during lunch time for Ed Zeitler, Executive Director of (ISC)2 and I to have a chat on local experiences and also to share our experiences on what we have learnt from...
  • A difference in trust

    Sep 20, 2007 - Yin Chuan (银川) - At the 2nd China Computerworld FSI Security conference today, during the keynote address, Dr Ren JinQian, Chief Engineer of a government body, spoke about the principles and approach of using a risk based approach for information security. Dr Ren highlighted the importance of...
  • A blog of Microsoft security blogs

    The Microsoft's Chief Securty Advisor for Italy, Feliciano Intini, has recently compiled this page in his blog, collating all the current Microsoft-related security blogs in one page, which is probably quite a useful reference when you are searching for Microsoft security information. Take a look here: http://blogs.technet.com/feliciano_intini/pages/microsoft-blogs-and-web-resources-about-security.aspx.  
  • The Three Little Pigs numbered

    A good news I've gotten from the SC27 Secretariat yesterday morning. In the national bodies (NB) ballot process for the three new projects in WG4, the title has already included the newly allocated number for each project. With the formal approval by JTC1 NB at the end of the ballot...
  • X.1207 Determined

    X.1207 "Guidelines for Telecommunication Service Providers and End-users for Addressing the Risk of Spyware and Potentially Unwanted Software" - This ITU-T Recommendation (which is ITU's term for "standards") has finally reached a "determined" stage at the Study Group 17 Plenary on Sep 28, 2007, at the Geneva meeting. This Recommendation...
  • Bye-bye password

    MSN and Windows Live login now has an integration with Windows Cardspace. Yes, the concept of Information Card is now alive, no longer just a concept! A step nearer to a future of "password-less" login in the online world. Check out Kim Cameron's Identity Blog (www.identityblog.com) for more information. IdentityBlog...
  • Three little pigs crossed the JTC1 bridge

    The three new work items proposals in WG4 (part of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27) passed the JTC1 balloting this week. So the three new projects -- (1) ICT Readiness for Business Continuity; (2) Guidelines for Cybersecurity; and (3) Guidelines for Application Security -- are now on the development track. In addition to this,...
  • On ISO 27001 Report: ISO 2703n: Latest Developments

    Just read some reports on the roadmap and numbering of the ISO/IEC 2700x series of standards at the ISO 27001 Report blog site: "ISO 27001 Report: ISO 2703n: Latest Developments". Also noted that there are some interest in the infosec community about this recent development - "ISO Standards - What's...
  • Taxi communicator

    28 Aug 2007 I had an interesting sight of a taxi driver this evening in Hongkong. I think the term "taxi communicator" suits this driver as he seemed to be really into modern communication technology. A digital workstyle unfolding.   At his dashboard was the usual radio network microphone with speakers somewhere below his wheel, where he communicates with the...
  • Football match in Mandrogi, Russia

    As part of the ISO/IEC JTC 1 19th SC 27 and 2nd WG4 meetings, which was held on board the Motor Ship "Lenin", cruising from Moscow to St. Petersburg, we get to stop by the village of Mandrogi on May 9, 2007. It was raining that morning, and the Convener...
  • Talking about the Windows Live Messenger campaign

    I heard about this i'm program recently, but didn't really understand how it works until now, when I accidentally bumped into the i'm web site. This program allows all of us to be involved in helping the people around the world who need helps, by leveraging what Microsoft have and willing to...
  • Culture of Vulnerability (认识弱点的文化)

  • Book town (书城一游)

    I was in Guangzhou in late March for a customer visit, and got an opportunity on a Saturday morning to do some sightseeing around town before continuing with my business travel in the country. As usual, my favorite tour spot is the book store. In Guangzhou, and most cities in...
  • First week in Beijing

    March 5, 2007 - Today marks the beginning of my second week in Beijing. One interesting observation over the past seven days is the weather here in Beijing. When I arrived here on Monday, Feb 26, it was a very hazy and cloudy day. Temperature was hovering around 6 degree...
  • Is ISMS relevant to SME and Non-Profit Organizations?

    I often get asked about the relevance of an Information Security Management System (ISMS), such as the ISO/IEC 27001:2005, to small and medium enterprises (SME) given that such a practice (of ISMS) originated from large organizations that have much more resources to protect and also deal with the problems of...
  • Yet another flight delay :-(

    February 9, 2007 - This is the third trip in a row over the last five weeks that I have on a Silkair flight. The first was to Trivandrum, which was delayed by an hour at the Changi Int'l airport. Then it was from Kochi to Singapore, for another few hours,...
  • Trivandrum to Kochi

    January 17, 2007 - Today is another one of those travelling days, but a very long journey on the road though. There's no flight from Trivandrum to go back to Singapore directly today, and I have to get back to Singapore by tomorrow morning. I have to take ride on...
  • Game Park

    I was in Glenburn, South Africa, week before last for the 1st ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG4 meeting. Our South African host organized a tour of the game park, cum dinner on Thursday for the evening. The game park was about 30 mins from the meeting place (Glenburn Lodge), accessed through...
  • Unusual day

    Today (Nov 5, 2006) is one of those unusual day. Unusual not in that everything goes wrong, but everything seems to behave/response differently. Fortunately, the unusual-ness started in the evening, and seemed to have ended now.   I was scheduled on a flight to Jakarta, and the plane (SQ166) was...
  • Talking about Slashdot | How to Cheat at Managing Information Security

    Just come across this entry in Slashdot, about a book on managing information security in a corporate environment. What's revealed in the review, and also many comments that are posted are interesting. They remind me of my life in a multi-nationals bank previously. Quote Slashdot | How to Cheat at...
  • Ice bar

  • Baseball Lesson

    Had a chance to watch a baseball game in Seattle earlier this month when I was there. The game was between Seattle Mariners and the Twins (from another State in US, but can't remember where now.) It was interesting to be there, but the game was kind of monotonous, unlike...
  • A bull fight in Madrid

    The ISO/IEC JTC1 SC27 18th Plenary meeting was held in Madrid from May 16-17, 2006. It set forth the new structure with formal agreement of two new working groups--one on "Security Controls and Services", named as "WG4", and the other "Identity Management and Privacy Technologies", viz., "WG5." The existing Working Groups...
  • What's a filled bottle doing in the middle of the street?

    Was back in Hanoi last week to conduct a workshop on network security. Got a chance to have a stroll along the streets around Sofitel Plaza hotel area with a Vietnamese colleague on the last day after the event. Along one of the street, I noted this bottle that was filled with a greenish-blue...
  • The Role of Technology

    Was in Hanoi earlier this week for a privacy symposium, speaking on the role of technology in information privacy protection. The focus was that privacy is only as strong as the weakest link. People (including organization), and processes (including policies) are equally, if not more important to ensure that we achieve adequate...
  • We trust you

    I was having a second look at the photo taken at the Honey Stall along New Zealand motorway during the family vacation and found that in many ways, it is a rather interesting sign. As discussed in a blog below, it reveals the trust issue that the owner has somehow been challenged...
  • Watching signs

    Warning signs are often employed by authorities to remind people against undesirable behaviors. They are believed to be most effective when posted in or near areas where the undesirable behaviors are most perpetuated. In the busy shopping street of Shinjuku in Tokyo, I noted this interesting sign been posted recently...
  • Traffic jam opportunity

    In Manila this week, and have to travel between two cities every day, passing through and tagging along lines of heavy traffics. The higher than average humility, and the frequent brusts of honks and engine yawns and yells make one feels trapped and uncomfortable. Many drivers become frustrated and easily...
  • Warning signs and vandalism

    Road crimes in the Kiwi land seems to be a major concern (perhaps at least to the authority.) As in many other places, trust in people is also a diminishing thing. From the store fronts in the city, to car parks in national parks and various sight seeing places, to honey stall along...
  • Action speaks louder

    The Kiwi land that I just came back from is indeed beautiful and very scenic, with clear blue skylines that look like the artworks of those fine watercolor paintings, and natural greens of a variety of shades padded over the surfaces of mountains and hills across country. But driving along the motorways of...
  • Safety signs along New Zealand roads - a learning for security messages

    Just returned from a 10 days family vacation from the Kiwi land - the New Zealand. This is my first trip to the place, and the general impression is positive, although I did encounter a few unpleasant experiences. I will leave them for another blog entry if time permits later. One...
  • Talking about Unsecured Wi-Fi would be outlawed by N.Y. county | CNET News.com

    It is interesting to read that New York County (USA) is planning to mandate implementation of Wi-Fi security to all commercial businesses using Wi-Fi technology. From a security and law enforcement perspective, it certainly looks like a very welcomed move, since this would prevent the use of Wi-Fi network by anonymous...
  • Geographical effect on responsiveness

    At dinner last night in Bangkok with a colleague, we talked about our ancestors from China, on why they migrated to Singapore during the war period instead of staying put. We also shared our common agreement that most of the people who migrated from China are in fact living in...
  • Issue of repeated messaging

    In CNA news channel in the morning of Oct 15, there's a documentary on the impact of terrorism in S.E. Asia to foreigners living and working in this region, especially in places like Indonesia and Thailand. One US person interviewed by CNA in Bangkok said that because of such issue, he has...