The FBI’s Computer Crime Survey 2005 has been released. Thanks to BeSpacific for the link. At the time of this writing the survey itself is not accessible, but the summary of the findings can be found from the above link. In relevant part, the important findings are as follows: Frequency of attacks. Nearly nine out… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Security
Truly Anonymous Web Surfing: Realized on a CD?
In Wired News, Quinn Norton has an interesting article on an open source CD that contains a self-contained operating system. The purpose is to never actually use the hard drive of the machine while still allowing internet access, thereby leaving no fingerprints that the machine was used. The CD runs OpenBSD, but it disguises the… Continue Reading
Out of the Box with Wireless
I’m writing this now on OpenOffice 2.01 with my new Acer Travelmate C200. Opening the box was cool, I was up and running within minutes. The only big hiccup came with the built-in power management software misinterpreting tablet mode as being the standard “Lid’s closed, let’s power down” mode. Luckily I was able to diagnose… Continue Reading
Victory declared: But is it really?
Mark Russinovich, over at Sysinternals, has declared victory over the rootkit embedded in the CD’s Sony has distributed. And, as Bruce Schneier points out in his excellent analysis, Mark has reason to be happy. It’s David v. Goliath. However, it’s not a total victory. There are untold numbers of machines still infected with the Sony… Continue Reading
Firestorm over Sony DRM continues
So, just what was Sony thinking? Now that the first class-action lawsuit has been filed in California, I’m sure more details on that topic will eventually emerge. Since Sony licenses the software from First 4, it may not have known all of the niceties of just how the software worked. I would not be surprised… Continue Reading
More on Sony DRM problem
My major problem with the Sony DRM I wrote about yesterday is the lack of consent on the part of the user. The terms of the Sony EULA are posted here. Nowhere does Sony advise that even if you uninstall the software using normal procedures that there are hidden bits that remain. Further, the fact… Continue Reading
Sony CD contains DRM that can’t be removed
Here’s a link to a fascinating article by Mark Russinovich detailing his process in detecting the DRM on his computer installed with a Sony music CD that uses rootkit technology to hide its existence. It’s the same process used by a lot of malware to hide their existence. Bad, Sony. Bad, bad bad. Continue Reading
Excellent article on responses to Phishing
Here is an excellent article on the response taken by a bank (whose identity is kept anonymous in the article) to a Phishing attack. (Link courtesy of beSpacific) Continue Reading
Microsoft: Damned if you do.
The patches that Microsoft released for a security flaw are partly to blame for the recent Zotob virus outbreak. As noted in many places, among them being This Week in Tech, hackers reverse engineered the patches to determine exactly where the security flaw was and released the Zotob virus within *THREE DAYS*. Microsoft is damned… Continue Reading
Spyware part of ID Theft Ring
This is very, very disturbing. An article over at Eweek claims that the spyware called CoolWebSearch is actually a keylogger. A test by a spyware removal company found that the program is sending passwords, user names and bank account information to a server in Texas. The FBI has been notified, but the article does not… Continue Reading