If you are going to make more than 1 or 2 trips through Dubai and you don't like waiting in long lines, then taking advantage of the UAE-Gate program is definitely to your advantage. The UAE-Gate is like a digital passport that lets you get through immigration, normally a 45 minute plus long line, in less than 5 minutes.
Signing up for UAE-Gate has gotten even easier. There is now a desk inside Terminal 1 (the main airline terminal) that lets you sign up for UAE-Gate before you even enter the country. The cost is 200Durhams, roughly $60USD, takes about 20 minutes, and is good for two years. I'm not sure if there are other payment options, or if you need to have Durhams on hand to pay for it.
After you land in Dubai and exit the plane, be prepared for a very long walk. First you walk through the secure area across the top of the airport to the center, where you drop down to the below ground level. The main corridor is probably 1/2 mile long and you can choose to walk or ride the people conveyor. The end of the corridor opens up into the visa processing area (no visa required for US citizens). At the far end of the visa processing areas are stairs that take you up to immigration. After you climb the stairs, stay on the right hand side and there will be a small counter marked UAE-Gate. After the counter are some man-trap turnstyles, the actual E-gates, so turn back, you've gone too far.
At the counter you need to give them your passport, they will take your picture, scan your thumbprints, collect your money, and give you a driver's license size card. Now, whenever you enter or leave Dubai, all you need to do is insert the card into the e-gate, scan your airline ticket, and provide a thumbprint.
If you don't have checked baggage to wait on, you can get from the plane, through the airport, and out to your taxi in less than 20 minutes. If you do have checked baggage, you won't really save much time because it normally takes an hour from when you get off the plane until the baggage comes up, but you will have plenty of time to shop in the duty free store.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
fear cyberwar?
I started focusing on computer security as a career back when power control SCADA systems started getting connected to corporate networks and the Internet at the demand of the federal government. The fed.gov demanded opening up the transmission market for competitive access, which led to previously closed, air-gap security, networks being made much more vulnerable through connection to other networks.
That focus on learning how to build "secure" networks took me through companies large and small, the .com bubble, and onto government and military network security. I hope I've learned a few things about security over the years. I do not think that either government or private industry has a monopoly on good security practices, they just go about things in slightly different manners.
While the cyberwar industry makes for entertaining movies and books, they are dependent on the assumptive premise that western civilization will completely collapse after two to three days (or weeks) of life without the Internet, or the television, or power. Cyberwar is not a cold war or something unto itself, it has only proven effective as a prelude, used to stun and confuse a population during an actual, physical, attack.
Computer security, or information assurance, or smart business, is about managing risk. No mere computer attack could wipe out everyone's credit card debt, only a destruction of the debt collection mechanisms, society at large, could wipe out your credit card debt. In the face of catastrophe, people are going to be far more worried about food, survival, and shelter than their mortgage payment.
When lives are at stake, organizations build redundant, physically separated (air gapped) networks to increase security and lower risk. Data is kept in multiple locations, including offline and off grid locations that are not subject to the effects of the risks being guarded against.
If you truly want to believe that civilization will completely collapse in a psychotic fit of withdrawal from the Internet, you really need to unplug and take a vacation somewhere with no Internet. Bonus points for vacationing in a place with no phones or no power.
That focus on learning how to build "secure" networks took me through companies large and small, the .com bubble, and onto government and military network security. I hope I've learned a few things about security over the years. I do not think that either government or private industry has a monopoly on good security practices, they just go about things in slightly different manners.
While the cyberwar industry makes for entertaining movies and books, they are dependent on the assumptive premise that western civilization will completely collapse after two to three days (or weeks) of life without the Internet, or the television, or power. Cyberwar is not a cold war or something unto itself, it has only proven effective as a prelude, used to stun and confuse a population during an actual, physical, attack.
Computer security, or information assurance, or smart business, is about managing risk. No mere computer attack could wipe out everyone's credit card debt, only a destruction of the debt collection mechanisms, society at large, could wipe out your credit card debt. In the face of catastrophe, people are going to be far more worried about food, survival, and shelter than their mortgage payment.
When lives are at stake, organizations build redundant, physically separated (air gapped) networks to increase security and lower risk. Data is kept in multiple locations, including offline and off grid locations that are not subject to the effects of the risks being guarded against.
If you truly want to believe that civilization will completely collapse in a psychotic fit of withdrawal from the Internet, you really need to unplug and take a vacation somewhere with no Internet. Bonus points for vacationing in a place with no phones or no power.
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