Unless you've been living a solitary existence in a warm and cosy cave you'll no doubt have spotted the minor matter of a swine flu pandemic sweeping the world. And if you're in the UK, you'll also have heard about the National Flu Pandemic Service. You'll also probably have heard about how, immediately after launch, the website component of this service crashed and was taken offline for several hours due to "unprecedented demand". You'll have seen the comments from the UK Government about how well the service has worked, and from the Conservative party opposition about how bad and slow the response was. All very interesting.

However this post on Zero Flaws is to tell you one thing, and one thing only. The National Flu Pandemic service (website and call centre) wasn't suddenly created and put into action this year when swine flu began to rear its head. The massive demand for the service also wasn't unprecedented. The service was discussed and designed way back in 2008, after the H5N1 Avian Flu outbreak, and way back then the speed of response and anticipated volume of demand was known, discussed, and represented a huge concern to all involved - both to the Government, and to the companies they asked to tender for the service.

So keep that in mind when you hear reports of how well - or how badly - the service is operating. And that, I'm afraid, is all I can say on the matter.... (Read More)

Whilst I work on the next full length article for Zero Flaws I thought this merited a brief post. The Home Office has now released the consultation paper for the proposed communications monitoring system (as discussed in the previous two articles), called "Protecting the public in a changing communications environment". You can find the paper at this link, as well as instructions on how to submit your comments and response for consideration. The closing date for submissions is 20th July 2009, and rest assured Zero Flaws will be participating!

After sending in the "Dear Ms Smith" letter I thought it would be a long wait for a reply from the Home Office regarding the Government's proposed communications monitoring system. Surprisingly I've received a response already, albeit a canned one that doesn't actually address the questions I raised. In the interests of fairness I've reproduced the reply below. In essence, though, the Government's previous statements have been repeated and the emphasis has been placed on the public consultation due to take place soon. Rest assured Zero Flaws will be participating!... (Read More)

Since the last Zero Flaws post, the UK Government has made some significant noises regarding the implementation of a communications monitoring system. Last week Jacqui Smith, the UK's Home Secretary, gave a press conference to clarify the Government's plans. Essentially she wants to create a monitoring system that records the metadata of phonecalls, emails and web browsing sessions.

Many campaigners have complained about the gross invasion of privacy this monitoring system will cause, and they're absolutely right. However Zero Flaws has another, slightly different concern: this system will be a vast waste of taxpayers' money, and by definition will never be fit for purpose. So, in the spirit of public service, Zero Flaws sent the following letter to Ms Smith this week.... (Read More)

There's been a lot of noise about a recent UK Government proposal to store the details of email and web browsing activities by UK citizens. PCPro has covered the highlights and provided some interesting quotes on this new initiative, and the story has been reported by most of the national newspapers too. On the face of it this sounds like yet another mass invasion of privacy by the UK Government, regardless of the actual content that's being stored.

The stated reason for this proposal is as part of a crackdown on serious crime and terrorist activity, which of itself is fair enough, but there are two serious problems with the practicalities.... (Read More)

Do you own a wireless router? Yes? Good. I'd like you to do something for me. Go into your wireless network configuration and check your security settings. The encryption option is probably set to WPA or WPA2 depending on the model of router you own. Can you set it to WEP for me please?

Careful - don't choke on your cappuccino. Yes, I am asking you to switch your encryption from the strong WPA setting to the, well, not strong at all WEP setting. And yes, I know WEP encryption is easy to crack. With some freely available software and a spare 15 minutes someone can easily break into your WEP-secured wireless network. Still, we should all live dangerously from time to time so go ahead and do it. There's no magic trick coming. You're not about to discover a revelation in wireless network security. I really am asking you to decrease the security posture of your wireless network. There's a very good reason for it, too. It will keep you safe.... (Read More)