Darknets: Your Own Private Internet

HP's research into ''darknets'' could shed new light on Internet privacy.

BURLINGAME, Calif. -- For those struggling with privacy on the Web, security researchers at Hewlett-Packard might have found the light at the end of tunnel.

A duo from HP's ( HPQ - news - people ) Web security group, Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood, are scheduled to present an idea at the BlackHat security conference in July that could shed new light on an old idea about how to communicate privately over the Internet. The researchers, who previewed their concept to Forbes, say their model works like a private Internet on top of the existing public one: People can share information like files and messages via the Internet medium, but without the kind of public-facing personally identifiable information that Internet protocol addresses provide.

"What we've done is taken the idea of a darknet and moved it into the browser platform," says Wood, the HP Web security researcher who developed the idea over the last several months. "This is really like a darknet for everyone. If you can use the Internet, you can use a darknet."

So-called "darknets" are closed networks for sharing information securely. Although the nomenclature seems to imply some sort of shady behavior--indeed, anonymity is a common feature among today's darknets--their origin is not nefarious. The name was used originally to denote a network of computers that wasn't connected to the bigger one run by the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The darknet concept as we know it today has been around for a while, and current implementations usually rely on some sort of third-party technology to make it work. The model Hoffman and Wood are previewing is notable in that it uses the latest in rich Internet technologies to make using a darknet as simple as browsing a Web site. That innovation should drastically reduce the barrier to sharing secure information over darknets.

"We saw what was coming out with HTML 5 and these browsers, and the question was how far can we push this?" says Hoffman, who manages HP's Web security research group. "We started digging in and said, 'Oh my goodness, this might actually be possible.

HP won't give the specifics of its implementation, but here's how the idea works: Someone navigates to a Web site that serves up some JavaScript code that runs in the user's browser. That code uses the local storage capacity built into the latest version of browsers like Google (GOOG - news - people ) Chrome and Internet Explorer. As a result, each user gives up some local storage that holds redundant, encrypted slices of data that together are coordinated and shared by the darknet. As a whole, the information exists so long as the darknet exists.

HP's darknet idea is not another Internet protocol, like HTTP or BitTorrent. It's more like a peer-to-peer network where the computer nodes can't talk to each other directly. That way, the only computer that knows a user's IP address is the machine to which it first connects.

The nascent idea is not nearly as developed as other public privacy efforts like Tor, a software and network that tunnels traffic in a way that improves privacy and security by making traffic analysis more difficult. However, the HP security researchers say unlike Tor and competing privacy technologies, their idea is much simpler for users because it does not involve specially configured software or hardware.

"Tor, in terms of anonymity, is probably better and more robust than what we're proposing," says Hoffman. "What we're creating is a lot easier to use." The innovation behind HP's darknet model is that it is simple, thanks to recent improvements in complex Web browsers and the languages they use to render Web sites. Users don't need to download software or configure hardware to work over new network ports.

For example, the standards implemented in HTML 5, the next iteration of the language used to construct Web pages, means that HP's JavaScript-based darknet could likely be accessed on smart phones, Web-connected TVs or almost anything else that can browse the Internet. Improvements in browsers' JavaScript engines make local encryption much faster.

"With a browser-based darknet, if you can get it to run on a browser platform, that's almost going to work ubiquitously across all the things that can talk to the Internet," says Wood. It's easy to see how a ubiquitous darknet could be used for nefarious purposes--after all, when it comes to technology, ne'er-do-wells are often early adopters. But the researchers say that the opportunities that darknets could provide are compelling.

"It's not really for us to dictate how people use this technology," says Wood. "It's more important to see how privacy can be used by the people who want to use it in a good way."

Wood and Hoffman say they kicked the idea around for a few months before beginning to implement it a couple of weeks ago. The researchers do not yet know if their source code will be released to the general public after their presentation, but they expect that their ideas will generate significant buzz from both privacy buffs and the non-initiated.

"Matt and I know, it's not just us presenting something and saying, 'Look how cool this is,' " Hoffman says. "The cool stuff is not going to come from us, it's going to come from everybody taking the idea and running with it."

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/15/darknet-hewlett-packard-technology-security-darknet.html

Tags: HP, Darknets, Java script, HTML 5, Forbes, Billy Hoffman, Matt Wood, Global IT News,

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Global PC Makers Vying For "Green" Crown

SAN FRANCISCO - Personal computer makers are increasingly prioritizing "green" strategies, creating a pivotal point of competition for customers that are becoming more attuned to their financial -- and societal -- benefits.

Analysts say going green has become a business plan unto itself for the industry's heavyweights: a way to stand apart from rivals, win over a growing segment of environmentally conscious consumers, and shore up branding worldwide. The three major U.S. computer vendors -- Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell Inc, and Apple Inc -- argue that customers glean real benefits, for example lower power consumption in green-certified display screens.

"It's really a green arms race, in which they're trying to one up each other," said John Spooner, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "The good news is they're all working in this direction and that's going to benefit themselves, their customers and the environment."

Analysts point to certain efforts -- such as Dell's recycling program, Apple's moves to remove toxic raw materials, and HP's actions around packaging -- as areas of success. But the IT industry still accounts for an estimated 2 percent of global emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Consumers might have trouble picking out just who among the PC makers are making the right moves: Dell says it aims to become the "greenest technology company on Earth"; Apple lays claims to the "greenest family of notebooks"; and HP stresses it has a long tradition of environmentalism as well as the market size to effect change.

TBR recently ranked Dell No. 1 out of 40 technology companies on corporate sustainability. But a recent Greenpeace report ranked Apple best among the major PC makers. While there are differences between the three in areas such as materials, PC power usage and recycling and packaging, analysts and environmental groups say, the green agenda is profiting from the competition between them. Campaigns by interest groups like Greenpeace to praise or tweak PC makers have been particularly effective.

"Companies are realizing that consumers do use these environmental considerations as tiebreakers. It does help differentiate their products," Forrester's Sally Cohen said. Around 70 percent of companies surveyed in a recent report by Forrester Research cited product differentiation -- the desire to stand out -- as a business driver for their environmental strategies.

"It has struck a chord with consumers, businesses, stakeholders and NGOs," said Eric Lowitt, a research fellow at Accenture. In interviews, Dell and HP -- while each asserting leadership -- downplayed talk of competition. They pointed out that any good sustainability strategy must be comprehensive, and span the company, right down to its supply chain.

Some analysts say what may be more important than companies' actual green initiatives -- often highly technical -- is their ability to communicate them to the market.

Tod Arbogast, Dell's director of sustainable business, said there is actually some collaboration around green initiatives. "I don't think we've reached the tipping point yet, I think we'll continue as an industry to innovate, challenge one another to go further. faster on these efforts," he said.

Bonnie Nixon, HP's director of sustainability, said green practices should be integrated throughout the company. HP's "commitment has really been there, certainly through the 90's and the fact that society is really focusing on green right now is great. We're in an industry that can truly demonstrate" environmental leadership, she said.

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090613/ttc-tech-us-pcs-96247d2.html

Tags: HP, Apple, Dell, Accenture, Forrester, Greenpeace, TBR, Bonnie Nixon, Tod Arbogast, Sally Cohen, NGO’s, Green notebooks, Global IT News,

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Cisco Joins Dow Jones Industrial Average Today

Cisco Systems today joins the elite circle of 30 blue-chip businesses that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, a move that may make it easier for the San Jose company to attract investors — at least initially.

Plus, in joining Intel and Hewlett-Packard on the list, Cisco is sure to get a boost in prestige. But more than anything, experts say, the decision to replace General Motors with Cisco is recognition that technology is a primary innovator and spark plug of the nation's economy. And that trend is turning heads everywhere from Wall Street to Washington.

"It signals the ascendancy of Silicon Valley and high tech," said Stephen Levy of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "We're seeing older industries and companies be replaced by a sector that has substantial long-term growth prospects."

Technology already has the attention of President Barack Obama, who is actively promoting such ideas as smarter electricity grids and computerized health records. And now, with Cisco, HP and Intel on the fabled stock index, along with IBM and Microsoft, elected officials may listen even more closely to the needs of Bay Area businesses, said Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council.

"It certainly cements the tech industry in Silicon Valley as an integral part of the American economy," he said. "From a public policy basis, it has some impact. I think it makes a stronger case in Washington and maybe in the state capitals."

Since its debut in 1896, the Dow Jones industrial average has predominately featured so-called smokestack industries, from U.S. Rubber and Bethlehem Steel to Standard Oil and American Smelting. However, reflecting a major shift in the nation's economy, those types of businesses have gradually given ground to firms offering products centered on computers, software and communications technology.

Officials with the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis say it's hard to say how much of the gross domestic product is represented by sales of such technology to consumers and the government. But business purchases alone of such goods represented about 3 percent of the GDP in 2008, compared with less than 1 percent in 1968. And one of the biggest up-and-comers in the tech field is Cisco, which was founded in 1984 and earned $8 billion on sales of nearly $40 billion during its most recent fiscal year.

Since the June 1 announcement that Cisco will replace GM, a part of the index for 83 years, the Internet-networking equipment maker's stock price has risen more than 7 percent, closing Friday at $19.87. That kind of increase is common after companies are first selected for the list, in part because some big institutions invest heavily in firms that are on such indexes, said Sybille Reitz, a Dow Jones spokeswoman.

"It certainly does increase your visibility in the market," she said. "You're included among the bluest of the blue-chip companies in the United States." But the share-price bump frequently is temporary, she said, adding, "at the end of the day, it doesn't mean anything to their business or to their long-term stock price."

Although HP executives declined to discuss how they've been affected by being placed on the list in 1997, Intel, which got on two years later, hasn't seen much of an impact, according to spokesman Chuck Mulloy. "By and large, it's more prestige than anything substantive," he said.

John Roberts, director of Stanford's Center for Global Business and the Economy, also expressed skepticism that being on the index would mean significantly more business for Cisco or Silicon Valley. After all, he said, "very few people can tell you whether a given company is in the DJ30. I certainly cannot."

Still, in a prepared statement, Cisco officials said they are pleased at their inclusion. Noting that today marks "the first time in nearly 10 years that a technology company has been added to the Dow," the company said, "We are honored with this recognition of our continued strong performance."

Tags: Cisco Systems, Cisco, DJIA, Dow Jones Industrial Average, GM, Sybille Reitz, Chuck Mulloy, DJ30, John Roberts, Stanford's Center for Global Business and the Economy, Silicon Valley, Bay Area Council, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Intel,

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_12530721?source=email

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