9 Business: The 8th Layer
Hacking Your Network’s
Weakest Link—You
As security measures have
grown stronger and more
sophisticated in recent
years, those who would
hack into others’ networks
for private gain are turning their attention to the
human element: Why not
hack the network administrators instead?
Lynn Greiner
13 Putting it Together
Social Network?
Which one?
Are today’s social
networks really so
different from what has
come before? And what
can an analysis of
MySpace, Facebook, and
other current services tell
us about the future of
social networking?
Win Treese
DEPARTMENTS
3 Editorial
Securing the Vote
The outlook is bleak for election
‘08, but now research may solve the
problems with today’s electronic
voting machines.
Ken Korman
5 Net News
Yahsoft or Microhoo? We Report,
You decide!
Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid for
Yahoo!; The Giant Silicon Valley
Sucking Sound; Forget the iPhone:
Apple’s iPod Touch is the Real
Platform; The Power of Social
Networks, for Good or Evil; Nokia
Grows, While Motorola Is a No-Go
Moto
Alan Zeichick
40 The Last Word
Hey, Providers, Leave Our Bits
Alone
Our ISPs want to start filtering
data to facilitate a move into the
content business, because that’s
where the money is. But they’d
make huge profits, and provide a
much-needed public service, if they
focused instead on providing faster
access to the Web.
Aaron Weiss
16 Down for the Count?
Major improvements
to digital voting
systems may lie on
the horizon, but the
inaccuracies and
potential for fraud
found in the last U.S.
presidential election
remain in place.
Laurie Rowell
24
Content Filters
Now that DRM-based
solutions to copyright
enforcement are on
the wane, copyright
holders—and now
America’s ISPs—are
endorsing the idea of
filtering content
before it arrives in
our homes. But is
this concept feasible?
Or advisable?
Aaron Weiss
33 RESOURCES
Reviews of Keeping Found Things Found: The Study and Practice of
Personal Information, by William Jones; Geekonomics: The Real Cost of
Insecure Software, by David Rice; and Open Source: Technology and Policy,
by Fadi P. Deek and James A.M. McHugh
Reviewed by Michele Tepper
Also: A list of upcoming conferences and essential URLs relating to this
issue’s stories.
