Avia's near slip-up

Careful, it's not just the NSA that might be monitoring your internet activity. Odien Group didn't reveal until yesterday that Ashok Leyland of India is buying Avia's truck division, but one of our readers informed us a month ago of the impending transaction. And it wasn't insider information. Avia contacted one of its Czech suppliers and asked if a foreign partner could visit the supplier's facilities. Avia refused to name the foreign partner, so the request was denied. At the same time, the Czech supplier (our reader) noticed that an Indian truck maker, Ashok Leyland, had accessed its web pages. Putting two and two together, our reader deduced that Ashok was doing due diligence on Avia. Our reader decided not to take any action (other than to inform us). If he had wanted to, though, he could have thrown a wrench in the Avia deal. All because someone failed to mask an IP address. [Czech Republic National Security Agency internet protocol]