THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO ARE BUYING THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY
TO THOSE WHO ARE USING IT AS A GIFT! ---ORDER RIGHT AWAY TO GET IT BY CHRISTMAS!
If you have read the book and are willing to post a review on amazon.com, I'd also appreciate that. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Conspiracy-John-Mariotti/dp/1450257895/ref=sr_1_24?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288189301&sr=1-24 Just scroll down a little bit to see where to post reviews. There are also places for readers "ratings" on Barnes & Noble (www.bn.com) and Borders (www.borders.com). To go directly to the page for the book, you can use the links at the end of THE ENTERPRISE.
If you send me a copy of your review, I am also collecting them on the book's web page http://www.thechineseconspiracy.com
IN ANSWER TO THOSE WHO ASKED OR WONDERED---THE BOOK IS NOT LIKELY IN MOST "TRADITIONAL BOOKSTORES"
Traditional bookstores only want to carry books they can send back if unsold. After a matter of weeks or a few months, some 40% of all books shipped to bookstores are returned to publishers--or a much lower price is negotiated--and they are retained and sold at deep discounts. Space on bookstore shelves at the front is like space on Supermarket shelves. It "costs money," and not a small amount. Thus I decided to do this book as a Print-on-Demand book, which only has inventory created when someone asks for it. Also the growth in e-books and on-line book sales have reduced sales in traditional bookstores.
If you want to get one from a bookstore, ask them to get it for you. They should be able to do that, since Ingram, the largest book distributor should be "carrying" the book, and both Borders and Barned & Noble's on-line stores offer all formats of the book for sale. Please let me know the outcome if you do this.
FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT NOT REALIZE THAT THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY IS NOT JUST A FICTIONAL BOOK
Some people who I've told about the book or have read it ask me, "isn't this all exaggerated?" My answer is that the villains careful plan to use all these known technologies in this particular combination is my idea--but it is not a new idea. Our US military has done this countless times. So have other countries. The point of writing the book was partly to entertain those who like to read "thrillers" of this type. The other reason was to send a "wake-up call" to our government officials. We are both served by and victims of our amazing technological advances. Read on to learn more.
These are real briefings, released not long ago:
US-China Economic and Security Review Commission provided the US Congress with a detailed overview of what's been happening in China...
For about 18 minutes on April 8, 2010, China Telecom advertised erroneous network traffic routes that instructed US and other foreign Internet traffic to travel through Chinese servers. Other servers around the world quickly adopted these paths, routing all traffic to about 15 percent of the Internet’s destinations through servers located in China. This incident affected traffic to and from US government (‘‘.gov’’) and military (‘‘.mil’’) sites, including those for the Senate, the army, the navy, the marine corps, the air force, the office of secretary of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and many others. Certain commercial websites were also affected, such as those for Dell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and IBM.
Although the Commission has no way to determine what, if anything, Chinese telecommunications firms did to the hijacked data, incidents of this nature could have a number of serious implications. This level of access could enable surveillance of specific users or sites. It could disrupt a data transaction and prevent a user from establishing a connection with a site. It could even allow a diversion of data to somewhere that the user did not intend (for example, to a ‘‘spoofed’’ site). Arbor Networks Chief Security Officer Danny McPherson has explained that the volume of affected data here could have been intended to conceal one targeted attack.
WIKI-LEAKS IS BASED ON A MODIFIED FORM OF CYBER-ATTACK--"CYBER-SNOOPING"
Instead of shutting things down, it invaded systems--notably the US government's SIPRNET--a theoretically secure network. Then it spread what it stole across the Internet for all to see. How is this any different from the attack that stole the plans for the USAF's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter-- before it ever flew? It isn't, is it? If hackers and cyber-criminals can hack into the Army's systems and access US Army battlefield plans (they did, in 2008!), then what is secure any more? Wonder how secure things are? NOT very secure, it seems.
SIPRNET & NIPRNET & HOW THE "AIR GAP" MIGHT HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED?
The US government uses two different computer networks: NIPRNET which is analogous to the public Internet we all know and use, and SIPRNET which was created to be a Secure network, and totally separated from NIPRNET by an "air gap." That means no physical connection between the two exists. Because SIPRNET was designed for higher security access, it was not protected with such a high security system. Unfortunately, it seems that someone "bridged the air gap" via the use of an external memory device (USB thumb drive?) which was "contaminated" with programs/content/material from NIPRNET and then plugged into SIPRNET, which then "contaminated" it in such a way that material could be copied and then re-transmitted. This is one of the most likely scenarios of how Wiki-Leaks obtained its classified information (with the help of a US military person, allegedly a Private First Class who had access).
NOW CYBER-FIGHTS ARE DEVELOPING AROUND WIKI-LEAKS
I won't cover all the news, since it has been widely disseminated. However, here is a thumbnail of how it developed:
From Yahoo! Technology News: LONDON – Hackers rushed to the defense of WikiLeaks on Wednesday, launching attacks on MasterCard, Visa, Swedish prosecutors, a Swiss bank and others who have acted against the site and its jailed founder Julian Assange. Internet "hacktivists" operating under the label "Operation Payback" claimed responsibility in a Twitter message for causing severe technological problems at the website for MasterCard, which pulled the plug on its relationship with WikiLeaks a day ago.
MasterCard acknowledged "a service disruption" involving its Secure Code system for verifying online payments, but spokesman James Issokson said consumers could still use their credit cards for secure transactions. Later Wednesday, Visa's website was inaccessible. The online attacks are part of a wave of support for WikiLeaks that is sweeping the Internet. Twitter was choked with messages of solidarity for the group, while the site's Facebook page hit 1 million fans.
All the people who say that callling Wiki-Leaks a "Cyber-invastion" are learning now from its allies just what it was: A Cyber-invasion helped by a single person (that PFC.) which found previously private information and spread it all over the Internet. Whether the invasion came over the Wi-Fi, Cable, whatever form, the fact that it was perpetrated through "Cyber-space" is just another form of warning. How many warnings do we need? I originally wrote the story of THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY as a "wake-up call" for both government and corporate leaders to do something, instead of just sitting there waiting to be attacked.
IS YOUR NEW CREDIT CARD VULNERABLE TO "WALK-BY SCANNERS?" HOW CAN YOU TELL? IS THIS FOR REAL?
This news video shows how cards with embedded RFID (Radio Frequency Information Detection) Chips are vulnerable to being "hacked" by a scanner, who merely needs to get within a couple of inches of where you have the card--wallet or purse. In a crowded setting, this is pretty simple. Watch the video all the way through and it will show you the little symbol on your card (three curved lines sort of like computers use to show Wi-Fi signal strength) that identifies it as containing an RFID chip. You might want to contact your credit card issuer and ask for one that doesn't contain this "feature" that leaves you vulnerable to Cyber-thiefs.
http://www.wreg.com/videobeta/?watchId=8ba6f8fc-90a2-4711-90ea-1884ec348310
GROWTH IN CYBER-MONDAY ALSO ADDS GROWTH IN CYBER-RISKS
The scanner risk above is far from the only risk of security in on-line business. Hackers are increasingly stealing passwords and other sensitive data on-line using methods such as phishing, social engineering, and outright hacking methods. Perhaps many do not know that China has had the equivalent of Hacking Universities since 2003! Thus it should be no surprise that it is one of the leaders. India is more worried than the USA since it depends even more heavily on Internet based business models--including its huge office services outsourcing business. The more business is done on the Internet, the more opportunities there are for weak security to exist and the more chances for thieves to gain access to consumers' identity information and steal their credit card information. The incredible explosion of smart phones on the network increases this risk exponentially.
IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD WE ARE LIVING IN, AND THAT MEANS NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND NEW RISKS
Many of us yearn for the "good old days," but I fear those are in the past. The best we can do is retain the values and principles we held so dear in those days and pass them on to our children and grandchildren (even if it's by texting them!). Next week, watch for more reflection on this new era and what has happened to the USA--and what might happen in the future.
Best, JOHN
PS: To those who have asked, it will probably give the economy a shot in the arm...BUT...the current "deal" between the President and Congress to extend the Bush tax rates for two years in return for another extension of unemployment (why should anybody look for work?) and a pork laden package of tax cuts, and wasteful deficit spending may very well be the best deal the GOP & the White House could each get (which is why so many liberal Dems are mad).
BUT it increases an already insane deficit still further. Keeping the tax rates the same is a "growth generating" move, and growth increases revenue from taxes. Being forced to do it for only two years and add another huge chunk to the deficit is a bad idea. But then the current liberal leaning Congress and White House have cornered the market on bad deals. We need to "clean house" (and I mean that pun literally and figuratively both) in 2012. Then we need to make sure the folks we elect recall why we elected them. Cut spending. Cut big government. Cut regulations and let businesses "breathe." Don't increase taxes unless or until it is a last resort and then do it very, very carefully. Increase some, reduce others. Provide incentives for the right behavior—growth with responsibility.
__________________________________
MY NEW NOVEL IS AVAILABLE NOW!
THE CHINESE CONSPIRACY
http://www.thechineseconspiracy.com
BUY IT AT THESE PLACES:
KINDLE EBOOK: http://www.amazon.com/The-Chinese-Conspiracy-ebook/dp/B00472O93G/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288189116&sr=1-22
NOOK EBOOK: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chinese-Conspiracy/John-Mariotti/e/9781450257916/?itm=1&USRI=The+chinese+Conspiracy
PAPERBACK: http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Conspiracy-John-Mariotti/dp/1450257895/ref=sr_1_24?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288189301&sr=1-24
OR: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chinese-Conspiracy/John-Mariotti/e/9781450257893/?itm=2&USRI=The+chinese+Conspiracy
OR: http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000182005
HARDCOVER:http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Conspiracy-John-Mariotti/dp/1450257909/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288189301&sr=1-25
OR: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Chinese-Conspiracy/John-Mariotti/e/9781450257909/?itm=3&USRI=The+chinese+Conspiracy
OR: http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000182006
For ITunes/iPad users, go here to download Stanza and use it << http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?F=iPhone_ebooks>>
John L. Mariotti, President & CEO, The Enterprise Group, Phone 614-840-0959 http://www.mariotti.net http://mariotti.blogs.com/my_weblog/
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments