August 2006 Archives

New Services Help Safeguard Outbound Messages Against Forwarding and Tampering

People who want to open email from patent attorney Andrew Currier have to know the drill. First, they must answer a predetermined question, such as "Where did we first meet?" If they answer correctly, they will then be allowed to view the contents of the email -- but they can't alter it or forward it to anyone else.

Concerned about privacy, the Toronto-based lawyer has begun using a new service that encrypts his emails and tries to keep unintended recipients from reading the contents. The tool, developed by Echoworx Corp., adds a "send secure" button to his Microsoft Outlook email program. Unlike other email-security systems Mr. Currier has tried, this one doesn't require recipients of his emails to download any software or use the same email program.

"I really need it to be easy for the client on the other end," says Mr. Currier, who says that leaked information could be disastrous for one of their patent applications. "People don't appreciate just how vulnerable email is."

Amid heightened privacy concerns, a handful of technology companies are touting new services designed to make existing email programs, such as Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook, more secure, with features ranging from emails that can't be forwarded to self-destructing messages that can be viewed only for a limited time. While most email programs by themselves guard against inbound attacks such as viruses and spam, they give computer users little control over the messages that are sent. So these third-party developers, which aren't working directly with Microsoft or other email companies, aim to fill that hole.

Read more

(Also appeared in AOL Money & Finance, Arizona Republic, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Bonita [Fla.] Daily News, Bradenton [Fla.] Herald, Contra Costa [Calif.] Times, Detroit News, [Toronto] Globe and Mail, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Seattle Times.)

In the wake of AOL's recent leak of search queries from 650,000 customers, a new service has launched that says it masks computer users' online activities. But unlike other so-called anonymizer tools, which have been around for some time, the Relakks service comes with a twist: The service and the company behind it are based in Sweden, where backers say stiff privacy laws make it more difficult for law-enforcement authorities and others to gain access to customer information.

Relakks, which costs €5 ($6.44) a month, has attracted about 21,000 customers – with two-thirds of them coming from the U.S. -- since its debut last week, according to Labs2 Group AB, the Lund, Sweden-based broadband company that runs the service. "To be quite frank, we did not anticipate the hornet's nest we stirred up," said Jonas Birgersson, Labs2's 34-year-old chief executive, who rose to prominence in Sweden during the dot-com boom when he founded Framfab, a large Internet consulting firm. That company has since been broken up; Labs2 is a remnant.

Many anonymization tools are aimed at helping users avoid being tracked as they surf from one Web site to another. Relakks takes a more comprehensive approach, setting itself up as the gateway for all communication between a user's computer and the outside world.

Subscribers use their existing Internet connections to access Relakks's encrypted network. Once connected, any Internet traffic, including email, Web browsing and online file sharing, is routed through the company's computers in Sweden. The user's local Internet service provider would see only the connection to Relakks, and wouldn't have any record of the user's online activities beyond that, according to Labs2.

Read more (subscription required; contact me for a copy)

An Internet-fueled rumor that the next "Star Trek" movie will star Matt Damon as Captain Kirk has roiled Trekkies, who have taken to blogs and message boards to express their displeasure.

Speculation that Mr. Damon would take on the role made famous by William Shatner has been swirling for more than a month on entertainment news and gossip sites. But the hand-wringing has recently gathered momentum, thanks to a page on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), a popular movie site, which said Mr. Damon would indeed take the lead role in "Star Trek XI." Slashdot, Metafilter, Digg and other Web sites have pointed to the page this week, with users saying IMDB had confirmed fans' fears.

"I seriously don't think I can stomach Matt Damon as Cpt. Kirk," wrote one Digg commenter. Hundreds of tongue-in-cheek casting suggestions poured into Slashdot after it linked to the IMDB page, including Ben Affleck as the pointy-eared Spock and Oprah Winfrey as communications specialist Uhura.

Read more

In advertisements on hundreds of blogs, visitors are being encouraged to join a lawsuit against Alltel Corp. over a new discount-calling plan from the regional cellphone company. The plan, called My Circle, allows Alltel customers to designate up to 10 phone numbers that can be called for free, regardless of the cellphone carrier they're affiliated with.

"Have you been added to an Alltel My Circle without your consent? Join our class-action lawsuit and let our experience help to recover your losses," reads one version of the ad.

The content of the ad seemed controversial and worried Walter Olson when it was submitted to his popular legal blog, Overlawyered. He recalls that when he first saw it, he thought, "It'd be the first time I'd have to reject an ad."

Then Mr. Olson did some online digging and discovered that the ad was a spoof, part of an elaborate marketing campaign designed by the Little Rock, Ark., cellular company. The ads link to a Web site for the People Against My Circle Foundation – also an Alltel creation – while another faux site carries play-by-play reports from the court battle.

But the ad campaign may be too clever for its own good: Some bloggers have refused to carry the ads about the lawsuit, and others have been hesitant. Many blog visitors, meanwhile, have expressed confusion over the ads in online forums, with some asking: Who's Alltel? (The company isn't well known to consumers outside the states where it offers service.)

Read more