Comments on: No Bullets Involved Part 2

By: Seriously, nobody gives a sh*t about information security | humanitarian.info

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:22:46 +0000

[...] no secret – here at humanitarian.info, we believe that the humanitarian community is criminally negligent [...]

By: humanitarian.info » Pass the security cube (a.k.a. No bullets Involved Part 3)

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:58:15 +0000

[...] 25, 2008Pass the security cube (a.k.a. No bullets Involved Part 3) Earlier this week, Paul noted that computer network attacks could have an impact on future relief efforts. In the early days of [...]

By: Paul Currion

Paul Currion — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:06:47 +0000

Janet – there’s an interesting tension between using an open approach to data management and ensuring data security. I envisage our shapefiles magically changing boundaries overnight… but I think that access and version control are compatible with an open approach. The real question in that context is cost, maybe – the need to have somebody actively monitoring and managing the resources.

And based on the fun we had in Bangladesh, a wall map is still very effective…

By: Janet O'Callaghan

Janet O'Callaghan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:54:20 +0000

Interesting series of blogs. I am currently working on data preparedness and the thought was to use wikis and geo-network to make the information as open as legally possible so that those who need the information can have easy access.
But you make a good point for making secure backups, on the low tech side dvds backups stored in a firesafe box would work.

I still think that using the currently available tech tools is an excellent way to give those involved in emergency response access to critical information.

However, those of us in emergency IM need to remember that just a few years ago a wall map and index cards were relatively effective and to not become overly reliant on technology. We need to keep reminding ourselves that technology, although very cool, is just a tool and a potentially vulnerable tool at that.