A computer seized by the US containing detailed intelligence has led US Homeland Security to raise threat levels for specific locations…all of them financial.

The potential targets include the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, Prudential Plaza in Newark, New Jersey, and the Citigroup Building and New York Stock Exchange in New York.

Plans include the use of car and truck bombs to physically destroy these buildings, and to kill and injure as many people as possible.
The damage would extend past the buildings and disrupt the flow of financial information.

Canada’s Banks
In June the Royal Bank of Canada had a computer glitch that caused serious problems for Canadian consumers.

It was when millions of its retail customers across the country couldn’t update their accounts, although they could still get money already in their accounts.

Toronto-based RBC blames the computer crisis on a programming upgrade gone awry.

To appreciate the magnitude of this event, consider that in the world of corporate computing, companies shoot for something known as three-nines — which means their business-critical systems are up and running 99.9 per cent of the time.

That allows for a small margin of error — just a few hours of downtime per year.

The service disruption at RBC received so much attention in part because the bank took so long to process the transactions that had backed up.

It fixed its computer problems, but what are the lessons to be learned from the denial-of-service fiasco? Why did things go so terribly wrong with a fairly routine software upgrade? And, if it happened to a big bank, what’s to stop it happening at other companies?

Excellent question, because two more Canadian banks were hit with ‘computer malfunctions’ July 30th.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and TD Bank Financial Group were both hit with unidentified computer glitches, according to news reports Thursday, causing disruption to some customer accounts and online banking.

That is the day before the Canadian long weekend.

About 60,000 personal line-of-credit accounts at the CIBC were affected by a system error early today that caused a double-dipping effect to take place on customer accounts and as well as some problems with online banking systems.

Three major Canadian Banks dealing with computer problems in under two months that affected thousands of customer transactions and access.

I don’t know whether banks are becoming more open about problems because more customers are being affected, or whether something else is going on.

Casino
18 people were injured after a hand granade was lobbed at a casino in Prague.
The attack was believed to have been linked to feuds between rival criminal gangs.

Paraguay Fire
The death toll is still climbing after a fire and explosions in a supermarket complex in Paraguay’s capital, Asuncion. At least 283 people died in the inferno which raged for over 7 hours.

Hundreds more are injured and the death toll is set to rise as firefighters bring charred bodies out of the debris.

The cause of the explosions and fire have not been confirmed.

Officials said as many as 600 people could have been inside the shopping centre on the outskirts of the capital.

As the centre filled with smoke and flames, the basement gave way. Other floors are also thought to have collapsed, correspondents say.

Unconfirmed reports say people had to escape through the windows because the doors within the centre had been deliberately closed to prevent people leaving without paying.

The owner of the shopping centre is being questioned by the state prosecutor’s office, which launched an investigation.

Paraguay has become a regional centre for smuggling, money-laundering and organised crime. The countries population of 5.6 million have an over 60 percent poverty rate.

China moves against Internet PrOn
The Chinese government is moving to block Pr0n to internet users from overseas sites.

The state-run Xinhua news agency says the growth of such sites may result in a decline in ethical standards among young people.

Pr0n will lower ethical standards. But a larger issue needs to be addressed.

It is estimated that 87 million people in China use the internet, half of them under the age of 24.

Many visit porn sites to learn about sex as the subject is seldom discussed with parents, Shanghai student He Tao told AFP news agency.

“Porn websites are rooted in young people who are thirsty for the facts of life, on which education is so deficient,” he said.

One does not receive the facts of life from pr0n.

China’s authorities have shown an ambiguous attitude to the rise of internet use.

On the one hand they see it as essential for the economy to have a computer literate population.

But on the other hand they have sought to restrict use of the internet for political purposes.

The sad part reality in this article is that young people aren’t given correct sexual education from school or parents, grandparents or relatives.