In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police warned the entire Canadian Federal Government that the disk-erasing software they were using was no longer reliable. The Force's Technical Security Branch found that this DSX software left traces of sensitive data on new hard drives. This problem, known as data remanence, is fairly well known and should not have come as much of a surprise. Sounds like a great story, doesn't it? The Mounties rode in, (I'll keep jokes about red pocket protectors and horses that run on Linux, not hay to myself) and protected Canadians from data theft. I think there is a movie in there somewhere...

Here is where the story starts to get interesting. The Canada Revenue Agency could not find any software that could reliably erase hard drives. Some offices simply destroyed the hard drives (there is no word on whether they destroyed them properly or not), other offices started storing them. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, there are roughly 1,000 hard drives sitting under lock and key, waiting to be erased.

Please forgive me for the title of this post - it is ever-so-slightly tongue-in-cheek. The Swine Flu itself cannot actually steal your personal information. However, cyber-criminals are using concern about the Swine Flu to spread an ugly, old problem.

Analysts from Symantec announced today that a document titled "Swine influenza frequently asked questions.pdf" has been circulating around the internet. While the document contains real questions and answers about the Swine Flu, it also contains an ugly piece of malicious software known as an 'infostealer'. An infostealer's sole purpose is to steal your information - it will log your key strokes, capture screen shots and monitor your internet activity.

It's been an exciting couple of weeks for us here at NetSecure. Given the economy jobs are not as secure as they used to be, but working at a small start-up can be especially risky. Our flagship product, SmartSwipe, is gaining some momentum. There have been many delays in the launch of this product, some because of internal issues and some external.   But the forecast right now is looking bright. Here is what's happening:

First, a couple of great blogs (SlipperyBrick and Your World Today) did reviews for us. These blog articles got posted on some other sites as well like Trend Hunter and Iddictive. Second, a small, but solid computer retailer in Edmonton, Alberta called Digiware began selling and marketing SmartSwipe. Then two big things happened for us.

Hey everyone,

I want to let you know that the SmartSwipe is now for sale through the wonderful and innovative computer store Dell.ca.

Just as the tech community breathed a collective sigh of relief comes news that the Conficker virus has started to attack PCs. In an article in PC Magazine, security experts noted that Conficker has started turning an unknown number of personal computers into spam servers.

The SmartSwipe is a tool for safe online shopping. As such we are constantly going to different sites and looking at their structure and how their checkout process works. We have looked at literally thousands of shopping sites. Some are extremely well put together, easy to follow and give you an overall feeling of "I can't believe how easy that was - who needs a real store?" Others, not so much.

Some stores leave you in disbelief, some make you laugh and others make you want to buy things you didn't know existed. It is the greatest mall on earth. Whether you live in New York or Perth or Dilke, Saskatchewan you can buy whatever you want, whenever you want. Isn't freedom wonderful?

I have a morning ritual that repeats itself almost daily here at SmartSwipe World Headquarters in sunny Regina, Saskatchewan.  When I get here, I head over to say good morning to my friends Nima and Valentine, then I take a stroll to grab our morning coffees.  When I get back from the local purveyor of caffeinated wonder-products, I sip on my coffee while reading my email.

This morning, I got quite the shock when I opened my email and found a link to PC World's Ten Cool New Mobile Gadgets. It was at once humbling and shocking...