Category Archives: Commentary

More POS Hacks Grab CC Numbers

Everyone gets a kick out of TV shows and news reports that feature stupid criminals. People who get themselves locked inside the store they are trying to rob or stuck in the air vent attempting to break in. For some … Continue reading

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Cyber UL – Reloaded

So about nine years ago Tan at the L0pht first wrote about the creation of a Cyber Underwriters Laboratory. Like the real UL the Cyber UL would be tasked with independently testing and evaluating software, specifically security related software without … Continue reading

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Security Ethics? Are there any?

I have a list of websites that I read as part of my morning ritual just like everybody else. It helps fritter away the first few minutes of the day as I wait for my tea to cool to a … Continue reading

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Defacement Archive May Close

One of the more popular features of HNN (The Hacker News Network) was the daily list of web page defacements that was maintained at the time by Attrition.org. Maintaining such an archive soon overwhelmed Attrition and the task was taken … Continue reading

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More USB Snake Oil

I’m still busy recovering from the excellent Source Boston conference and I will post a recap soon but I wanted to get this out there. Last week I wrote about RFID enabled external hard drives that supposedly offered secure encryption … Continue reading

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More secure products that aren’t

Think that cool USB thumb drive you just bought with the word of ‘encryption’ written in big letters all over the package is really secure? Think again. ComputerWorld recently reviewed seven ‘secure’ USB drives and basically found that they are … Continue reading

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Tamper Resistant Point of Sale Machine Isn’t

When I see something labeled tamper-resistant or even tamper-proof I don’t assume it is secure I just think that it is a little more difficult to break into than something that isn’t tamper-resistant. Three researchers at the University of Cambridge … Continue reading

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Less Than Two Weeks to Source2008

So I was having lunch with one of the organizers of the Source Boston 2008 conference yesterday (Spicy Beef Bowl, mmmmm) and realized that this is going to be one really great conference. Not only are there big name speakers … Continue reading

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AES = XOR = Secure? WTF!?!

I don’t have time for all of the stupidity out there but this is just to stupid to let pass by. Easy Nova a German company that makes a variety of computer storage accessories, recently released a hard drive case … Continue reading

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Responsible disclosure for vendors?

If a vendor finds a vulnerability in a competitors code are they obligated to tell them? What exactly is ethical and or responsible disclosure when it comes to competing vendors? Among security researchers the general consensus these days is to … Continue reading

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