Alastair Revell

Welcome to my web log (or 'blog' in the vernacular).

My intention is to use this blog to record my thoughts on various issues within the IT Profession, on specific technical issues that Revell Research Systems encounters that might be of interest to a wider audience, and on applications of technology in general.

It's not quite a New Year's Resolution, but I hope to keep blog on a regular basis - perhaps at least once or twice a week.

I would welcome feedback on the various postings and hearing from people about the topics I touch on.

Recent Blog Posts

LinkedIn Security Breach: 6M Hashed Passwords Potentially Leaked
There are claims circulating on the Web today, which have been reported by the BBC, stating that some six million passwords from LinkedIn have been leaked on a Russian Internet site in encrypted form. LinkedIn, which has around 150 million users,...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 6th June '12

Would You Risk the Wrath of the Information Commissioner?
The Information Commissioner's fining of solicitor Andrew Jonathan Crossley is interesting in several respects and contains an important message for many small businesses. The £1,000 fine was announced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 10th May '11

US Diplomatic 'WikiLeaks' Inevitable
I was interested in what Sir Christopher Meyer (HM Ambassador to the United States between 1997 and 2003) had to say about WikiLeaks on BBC Question Time last night. I understand from what he was saying that the United States created a massive...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 3rd December '10

NHS: Can we trust them with the Patient Summary Care Record Data?
I find it worrying that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) reports that the NHS is the United Kingdom’s worst offender in terms of keeping personal data, especially in light of the Patient Summary Care Record scheme,...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 2nd June '10

Thoughts on The Queen's Speech
I welcome the two IT related bills in the Queen’s Speech. The Freedom (Great Repeal) Bill will limit the amount of time that the DNA profiles of innocent people in England and Wales can be held on the national database and will...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 28th May '10

McAfee Update Causes Windows XP SP3 Machines to Fail Worldwide
I imagine that 21st April 2010 will be a day that McAfee will remember for some time to come and probably one they would much prefer to forget! The antivirus vendor issued its daily security update DAT5958 at 06:00 PDT (GMT-7), but by...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 21st April '10

Data Protection Act 1998
I suspect many businesses and probably most members of the general public are unawarethat the fees for notification under the Data Protection Act 1998 were changed witheffect from 1st October 2009. The change was made through The Data Protection...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 27th January '10

More on the Exeter University Virus
Just a quick update to my earlier blog regarding the problems currently being faced by the University of Exeter. It seems the virus is exploiting known flaws in the Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Server 2008 platforms.Zack Whittacker, who blogs for...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 20th January '10

Exeter University Shutdown!
It seems that the University of Exeter is currently in the middle of a major virus outbreak, which has led to their IT team shutting down the entire campus network, including their telephone system in an attempt to contain the problem. The attack...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 20th January '10

IT Professionals must be assertive!
I’ve been mulling over Michael Cross’ article of 23rd September 2009 for the Guardian web site for a while now, which was written in response to The British Computer Society rebranding itself as BCS—The Chartered Institute for IT...
Alastair Revell, Revell Research Systems | 2nd December '09