Category: Security

Categories
Computing Security

Cyber thieves target social sites

The BBC reports that social sites such as Myspace and Facebook are prime targets of cyber thieves.

The quasi-intimate nature of the sites makes people share information readily leaving them open to all kinds of other attacks, warn security firms.

Detailed information gathered via the sites will also help tune spam runs or make phishing e-mail more convincing.

It is not just the information that people make public that they wouldn’t ordinarily tell a stranger but that add-ons to these social sites may inadvertently create vulnerabilities whereby criminals can compromise a users computer and install trojans or keylogging software to steal bank details.

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Security Uncategorized

Demos Report on National Security

Bruce Schneier recommends reading National Security for the Twenty-First Century by Charlie Edwards of the think tank Demos.

Categories
Computing Security

Entire Child Benefit database lost.

The loss of two CDs containing the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 inspires me with confidence of the Government’s ability to ensure the security of the data to be held in the National Identity Register.

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Security Uncategorized

Secur-i-disc is solution to stolen tax discs.


secur-i-disc, originally uploaded by electricinca.

In an effort to secure my replacement tax disc so that I don’t have to suffer another break in to my car I’ve used the Secur-i-disc as recommended by both the Police and the DVLA. They describe how it works as follows.

If a thief breaks into a vehicle and steals the tax disc, the unique Secur-i-Disc encapsulation will prevent any alteration for use on another vehicle. Any attempt to alter the details on the tax disc will result in its destruction, thereby preventing the thief from “selling it on”.

Hopefully the result will be that the thief sees the warning and will not even try to break in now.

Categories
Politics Terrorism Uncategorized

Plan to split Taliban backed by the UK

The Guardian reports that the UK is backing a plan to split Taliban from within.

The British government has thrown its backing behind an ambitious Afghan strategy to split the Taliban by securing the defection of senior members of the militant group and large numbers of their followers.

The strategy, spearheaded by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, reflects a significant shift in British policy, and is showing initial signs of success.

This would seem to me to be a classic case of divide and conquer, a sensible course of action I think as the ultimate goal is to bring peace to Afghanistan not to capture or kill every single member of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the country. It can only be a good thing if more moderate members of the Taliban who are not really adherants to the ideology but are members out of tribal loyalty can be persuaded to lay down arms. ,

Categories
Terrorism Uncategorized

Thais burning chillis causes terror alert in London

BBC News: Burning chilli sparks terror fear

A pot of burning chilli at the Thai Cottage restaurant on Monday sparked fears of a biological terror attack.

Roads were closed and homes evacuated by police whilst firefighters wearing protective breathing apparatus broke down the door to the restaurant where they discovered the source was merely a 9lb pot of chillies.

Categories
Surveillance Uncategorized

Bicester drinkers happy to be tested for drugs by police

Customers of the Litten Tree pub in Bicester were apparently quite happy to be submitted to a drug test upon entering the premises. [via]

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Security Uncategorized

Schneier interviews the TSA’s Kip Hawley

Bruce Schneier has posted the final part of his five part interview with the TSA Administrator Kip Hawley.

Links to Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Categories
Computing Security

Potty about Harry’s leakage on bittorrent

Bruce Schneier reports that the New Harry Potter Book Leaked on BitTorrent and that he’s been fielding press calls all day about it.

It’s online: digital photographs of every page are available on BitTorrent.

I’ve been fielding press calls on this, mostly from reporters asking me what the publisher could have done differently. Honestly, I don’t think it was possible to keep the book under wraps. There are millions of copies of the book headed to all four corners of the globe. There are simply too many people who must be trusted in order for the security to hold. And all it takes is one untrustworthy person — one truck driver, one bookstore owner, one warehouse worker — to leak the book.

But conversely, I don’t think the publishers should care. Anyone fan-crazed enough to read digital photographs of the pages a few days before the real copy comes out is also someone who is going to buy a real copy. And anyone who will read the digital photographs instead of the real book would have borrowed a copy from a friend. My guess is that the publishers will lose zero sales, and that the pre-release will simply increase the press frenzy.

I’m kind of amazed the book hadn’t leaked sooner.

And, of course, it is inevitable that we’ll get ASCII copies of the book post-publication, for all of you who want to read it on your PDA.

Harry Potter Fans Transcribe Book from Photos

Scholastic Loses It Over Harry Potter/BitTorent Story

The Harry Potter leaker left the EXIF data still in the jpgs they created.

Categories
Security Uncategorized

Robocops and robbers?

Australia’s The Age reports that Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty believes the greatest threat in the future will be from robots or robotic enhanced humans. [via]

Surely the correct response to the following would be ED-209 [via]