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31 May 2010 23:36

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Tech: Google on Windows: That’s nasty, use OSX or Linux instead

  • nope Reportedly, new Google employees won’t be able to use Windows as one of their OS options anymore; it’s just Mac and Linux.
  • why? Blame it on security concerns in the wake of Google’s whole hack thang with China that happened a few months ago. source
  • » The real question: How many of their employees are holdouts working on Amiga or BeOS? Really, we want to know. If this is a company of nerds, there has to be at least one.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 May 2010 13:10

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U.S.: Oops: The U.S. closes a loophole in its no-fly list

  • 24
    hours     the size of the
    intervals     airlines used
    to re-check no-fly lists
    before today
  • yes
    sir     Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad managed to board a plane before the list was updated
  • two
    hours     the size of the new intervals to check for individuals with “special circumstances” source
  • » Our take: Why aren’t they using a high-security equivalent to Twitter to do something like this? Why isn’t it updated to the minute? It seems silly that it’s not.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2010 19:23

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Politics: Does the TSA need to take some style tips from New York City?

  • So far we have seen a New York-style rather than a Washington-style response to the threat. And while New York is the least ‘American’ of U.S. cities, its emotional and social response is just what America’s should be.
  • “The Atlantic” writer James Fallows • Discussing how New York’s response to the Times Square car bombing attempt is so unlike that of the Transportation Security Administration’s response to any problem. Essentially, Fallows argues that it doesn’t put people in constant fear that something’s going to happen, but emphasizes resiliency. (Note how quickly Times Square re-opened after the incident.) Regarding the TSA’s methods, Fallows explains: “It’s not just that they’re pointless, uninformative, and insulting to our collective intelligence; it’s that their larger effect is to make people feel frightened rather than brave.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2010 16:03

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U.S.: High Court justices upset that they can’t walk in through the front

  • I write in the hope that the public will one day in the future be able to enter the Court’s Great Hall after passing under the famous words ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’
  • Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer • On the new security measures for the main entrance to the Supreme Court – a giant stairwell designed by Cass Gilbert back in the 1930s. Now, instead of being able to enter that bastion of law and justice as it was designed, people now have to enter through the side and go through security. Both Breyer and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg complained about the changes, with Breyer saying about Gilbert’s design, “Time has proven the success of Gilbert’s vision: To many members of the public, this Court’s main entrance and front steps are not only a means to, but also a metaphor for, access to the Court itself.” We wonder what the more right-leaning justices think about this change. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2010 20:25

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Tech: Apple’s iPad not passing the test at a couple of big schools

  • GWU The university says its wireless network’s security features don’t play nice with the iPad. We’ve been on George Washington’s campus, and we’re pretty sure it’s because their wireless network sucks.
  • Princeton The Ivy League school has blocked some of the devices on their network due to DHCP issues with the device – something a reader of ours mentioned last week. It, however, is working on a fix. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Apr 2010 13:56

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World: Now it’s deadly: The Thai protests turn a dark, dark corner

  • 12+ number of people killed
    in the conflict between Thai
    protesters and security
  • 500+ number of people injured,
    which is way more than we
    reported earlier     source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Apr 2010 11:43

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U.S.: Why did the U.S. change its airline security standards, anyway?

  • Simple: Some of the countries being targeted complained. After December’s near-miss terror incident involving the underwear bomber, the U.S. put people fourteen nations on a heightened security checklist. Some of the countries, including Nigeria (where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came from) complained about the treatment because they were allies of the U.S. So the U.S. decided to switch to more general terrorist profiling techniques. Good idea, or too soft on terror? We’ll find out. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

18 Feb 2010 20:52

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World: Investigators: Chinese universities the root of Google’s hack attacks

  • One of the two schools is tied to the Chinese military. The National Security Administration’s investigation into Google’s hacking claims has led to Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School. Jiaotong in particular has one of the country’s strongest computer science programs, while Lanxiang is directly tied to the Chinese military. What does this mean all mean? It means that it may have been rooted in China even if the government itself wasn’t involved. This could get interesting. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2010 21:40

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Tech: Apple’s got “extreme” security around their upcoming products

See this compound here in China? This is where some of Apple’s newest products are made. They go to “extreme lengths” to protect the secrecy of the products. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2010 10:27

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Tech: Don’t open that doc: PDFs proving to be a major security problem

  • PDF exploits are usually the first ones attempted by attackers. Attackers are choosing PDFs for a reason. It’s not random. They’re establishing a preference for Reader exploits.
  • ScanSafe senior security researcher Mary Landesman • Regarding the preference of hackers to use rogue PDFs for exploits first on malicious Web sites, then other exploits if those don’t work. Landesman claims that 80 percent of all exploits in the fourth quarter of 2009 came from PDFs, which is really scary, especially since the format is so heavily-used. “PDF use is huge,” she said. So are zero-day exploits. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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