Stop Bullycide - save a life

A discussion surrounding bullying

I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Pirillo pre-Gnomedex about a variety of subjects, some light, some humorous and one very serious – the topic of bullying and the attendant suicides. During this discussion, I also shared my thoughts on how we as a collective society need to step up and accomplish in the immediate future. I do hope you will come and listen to my talk on the Gnomedex stage at Seattle Interactive conference on 2 November 2011 at 1400 hours (2:00pm).

The presentation is titled: “Unintended Consequences”

Hunger: Together the US and Brazil can make a difference

Kudos to President Obama of the United States and President Dilma Vana Rousseff of Brazil for their discussion of jointly addressing global food security issues during President Obama’s recent visit to Brazil. As my readers know, I am a strong advocate of eradicating hunger in a world where abundance of food is a reality and the issues lay within the ability to distribute…

While lacking visibiilty into the discussions in Brazil which occurred, I am hopeful that President Rousseff highlighted the initiative of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, (her hometown) where the municipality has outlawed hunger, rendering it illegal – successfully (see my piece, Hunger Should be Illegal). This model needs to be replicated and replicated widely.

Is your teen EXPOSED? Sexting is a crime.

Exposed is a 10 minute drama about a 15 year old girl called Dee, who makes a very common mistake of sending via (SMS – text messaging) five photos of herself to her boyfriend, nude photos. This is called “Sexting”

Every day is worth living

If we are able to collectively work together, we can save a life, we can save many lives and in doing so we will demonstrate to the children, every day is worth living.

Bullycide: How many are too many?

… in 2010, by my count, 30 children ranging in age from 9-19 took their own lives as they were unable to cope with the bullying which they were being subjected. These families who lost their child …

How does my child access the internet? With whom is my child engaging?

A question which every parent should be asking themselves, “How does my child access the internet?” “With whom is my child engaging?” The array of answers may startle you. So make no assumptions. Why does it matter? Knowing how your child accesses the internet and with whom they are engaging are the first steps in crafting an online safety plan for your child. I have said it before and will repeat, our family is our responsibility.

Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2011

Today is January 11, 2011, Human Trafficking Awareness Day, unfortunately.  The 13th Amendment was signed by President Lincoln on February 1, 1865, unfortunately some 100+ years has been insufficient to remove slavery from the United States.  So we who live in the year 2011 have to have a day to remind us that we have more of our fellow-man enslaved …

Do You Know Where Your Data Is?

The following appeared in the Canadian online magazine Security Matters:  Location Based Services: Do you know where your data is? Do you know where your data is? By Christopher Burgess  Everywhere you look, retailers and other entities are offering to collect your data using one of the many location-based services available to collate your whereabouts and analyze your behavior.  Are …

Google Bomb – a book review by Christopher

Every person with a name and reputation which they wish to protect should purchase this book. You don’t have to be a technological titan to understand the examples provided. The take-away knowledge provides you a fighting chance to protect, and when necessary, reclaim your reputation. My adage re family online safety is: “Invest in your family’s online safety, commensurate with the value of your family.”

Social Media and Cyber Security (Talk2Cisco)

In October, I had the pleasure of being the guest on Talk2Cisco and to discuss social media and cyber security.  Here is the write-up and recap of the event: Talk2Cisco .  I took a moment and watched the video, and thought, this is something beneficial to small, medium and large businesses.  I also think the individual will garner value from …

Let Us Give Thanks…

Let us give thanks 85 percent of the households in the United States are food secure Let us give thanks our family is not amongst the remaining 15 percent, which equates to more than 50+ million persons who are food insecure. Let us give thanks our children are not amongst the one in one in four in the United States …

Out of Control User = Frenetic IT

By Christopher Burgess When you access your email each day, do you do so at a distance of 15 paces because you’re just not sure what might jump out of that inbox? You can just about anticipate an email detailing how another user has caused a “blip” that will stretch your capabilities to protect both the user during their online …

Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking

On 15 September, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security conducted a hearing on “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking” in the United States. (NB: A minor in the United States is an individual under the age of 18.) On ongoing issue in the United States which every year touches over 100,000 children. The sex trafficking and exploitation of a child victim, on average …

The Connection: Hunger & Sex Trafficking of Children

Were you aware that hunger, food insecurity is one of the root causes of individuals finding themselves victimized by Human Traffickers?  You might be asking yourself how is this possible.  In urban and rural situations both within the United States and abroad the number of families living under the poverty level continue to increase.  In the United States this number is 14.3% …

Virtual Food Drive 2010 #VFD2010

Hunger Should be Illegal

This morning I read an extraordinarily uplifting piece about the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. They have declared hunger to be illegal. I shalln’t recap the entire article (see link below), but allow me to highlight some of details with hopes that those reading can take the data and emulate in their own villages, towns and cities. In 1993, the city of 2.5 million had 275,000 in absolute poverty and 20% of the children suffering hunger. Fast forward to 2010, hunger is virtually non-existent and only 2% (two percent) of the city’s budget was used to achieve this result – how much was two percent, 2 million dollars – less than a dollar per constituent.

Crimeware – a book review by Christopher

Five stars to Jakobsson & Ramzan for a most useful guide to understanding the underbelly of the internet. The strength exhibited by this book lies within the all-star lineup of contributors and the thorough dissection of the numerous forms of crimeware. Their book is a must read for anyone who has responsibility or an interest in protecting Personal Identifying Information (PII), Private Consumer Information (PCI) or Intellectual Property (IP).

Security Monitoring – a book review by Christopher

The guide is a professional guide, with exemplars which can be used in a sandbox, or to assist you in noodling through specific infrastructure monitoring issues – such as “tuning” so the incident logs tell you the story, and don’t drown you in event data. This book should be in every incident responset team’s professional library.

2007 – Presentations by Christopher Burgess

In 2007 I learned much about the concept of “Thought Leadership” and was pleased to have been invited by both public and private entities to speak to their organizations and personnel.  Visting Purdue University, Massachusetts for the E-Government Summit, and NATO for their Information Assurance conference, and supporting the HTCIA, ASIS, WRG  and AGMA and getting to meet their constituents.    I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the many …

2006 – Presentations by Christopher Burgess

The year 2006 was an interesting one, with my public speaking engagements limited, as I transitioned from a government executive to a corporate executive.  I largely focused my presentations on the various aspects of industrial and corporate espionage, and finished the book, Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost.   Speaking at the Anti Phishing Working Group on the art of targeted online attacks …