We are the other people You’re the other people too “Mother People” – Frank Zappa So just who is it that messes up great security plans and policies? You know those folks who’s boneheaded stunts compromise even the best security efforts? The people who use webmail accounts for company business. The people who write their [...]
Archive for October, 2008
Save us from the other people
Posted: October 27, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: end users, other people, people, security policy
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If it’s on the web it must be true. Or not.
Posted: October 26, 2008 in general, securityTags: chain letters, Internet Hoaxes
Just in time for Halloween is this article by Alice LaPlante in InformationWeek, 7 Fantastic Internet Hoaxes. The really scary thing about this list of hoaxes is that I remember almost all of them. You can read Alice’s original article to get the details but a summary list is provided for your convenience. Test your [...]
Happy Birthday VMS
Posted: October 19, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: Apple II, Atari, CMD shell, Commodore PET, DCL, DEC, DIGITAL Command Language, Digital Equipment Corporation, fault tolerant, high availability, IBM PC, Linux, mission critical, OpenVMS, PDP-11, Unix, VAX, Virtual Memory System, Vista, VMS, Windows NT, Windows PowerShell, WinFS
I just can’t help myself I’m feeling like I’m going out of my head Uncanny, strange deja vu But I don’t mind “Strange Deja Vu” Dream Theater Micheal Janke at Last In – First Out has this great article entitled “There are some things about computers I really don’t miss…“. It’s a trip down memory [...]
Security ideas for your mom revisited
Posted: October 12, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: anti-virus, Bitlocker, del.icio.us, facebook, firewall, full disk encryption, Gibson Research, GRC, malware, MySpace, NAT router, password manager, personally identifiable information, PII, sandbox, Sandboxie, security suite, strong passwords, TrueCrypt, VaultletSuite 2 Go, Virtualization, Web 2.0, wireless access points
Information security for everyone is a big deal with me. I even have a weblog devoted to that very ideal. So Julie Seedorf’s Something About Nothing article, “Be careful of what you store on computers” definitely resonated with me. I read an article from PC Magazine recently. It was titled “Day in the Life of [...]
Energizer Bunny OS
Posted: October 7, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: Energizer Bunny award, Microsoft, Mojave, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
The coveted Security for All “Energizer Bunny” award goes to Microsoft Windows XP for it’s ability to just keep going and going… Yep, the rumors of XP’s impending demise, ostensibly to be replaced by the exciting new Windows Mojave er… Vista are still somewhat premature. Undoubtedly to Microsoft’s chagrin. Check out this announcement as reported [...]
Over the top copyright enforcement insanity
Posted: October 7, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: CBP, copyright infringement, counterfeit and pirated goods, Intellectual Property Rights, IPR, IPR violative, patent-infringing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Regular readers of this blog know that as a Software Engineer and music composer I’m all about getting paid for the intellectual property that I create and develop. The mechanism, flawed though it may be, that protects most of the work I do is copyright, which is typically held by my employer. If my company [...]
Even you can be Elvis
Posted: October 5, 2008 in general, professional, securityTags: Electronic Passport, Elvis, epassport, ePassport emulator, Make, passport
Recently I came across this amazing hack in Make:. It shows you how to backup a RFID passport. Actually it goes way beyond that – you can actually alter the information on the RFID chip. THC/vonJeek proudly presents an ePassport emulator. This emulator applet allows you to create a backup of your own passport chip(s). [...]
The dark side of post startup innovation
Posted: October 3, 2008 in professional, securityTags: agile, dark side, innovation, Napera, security, software engineering, startups, the force
Todd at the Napera blog has two great articles here and here about how most of the innovation in network security comes from startups. Breakthrough products like security appliances and virtualization were not pioneered by established industry behemoths, but originated with smaller companies willing to pioneer new product ideas and disrupt the status quo. Startups [...]
Eating your own dog food
Posted: October 1, 2008 in professional, securityTags: Oracle, password cracker, Pete Finnigan, PL/SQL
Every so often you see something that is just so elegant and ironic that, well, you’ve just got to pause and admire it. Pete Finnigan has an article on Full Disclosure about an Oracle password cracker he has written completely in PL/SQL. That’s right – in PL/SQL. I often suggest to people to download binary [...]
