Blogs: Security

We are back at it again with 10 updates in Microsoft's May edition of Patch Tuesday. Two are rated Critical, with the remaining eight rated as Important.  This month's Patch Tuesday is really a story of a few steps forward followed by a step back, after the release of a seriously flawed patch released in last month's April Patch Tuesday update, which caused Microsoft to revoke, and then subsequently re-release the update.

Previously "laughing at your security," four former LulzSec hackers appeared in British court for the start of the sentencing hearing. Another, an Australian and the "self-proclaimed leader" of LulzSec will appear before court today. In London, the prosecutor said the men believed they were "latter day pirates" and they were "at the cutting edge" of cybercrime.

Well, this is indeed 'something'... The U.S. State Dept. orders Defense Distributed to remove plans for its 3D-printable gun from its website. Lawmakers are rushing around like headless chickens, trying to ban certain types of information, while onlookers invoke bottled-genie or stable-door analogies. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers laugh and laugh and laugh.

Assad fingered. The strife-torn country of Syria has dropped off the net for the second time in six months. Almost all its BGP routes disappeared in quick succession, leading many to conclude that the Bashar al-Assad government has deliberately cut off its citizens from the world. However, others wonder if the infrastructure was physically damaged by the civil war. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers weigh up the evidence.

Weather prediction in the 50s.  Missile intercepts of UFOs in the 60s.  Electronic messages in the 70s.  We learned about it through the commercials.
 

Flashback a few years to the days when this jail uses 12-inch black-and-white screens for video monitoring -- and this IT pilot fish is finishing up a support call when he notices something peculiar: a styrofoam cup on a lens.

Google legal director opens kimono. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is highlighting the increasing volume of government censorship. Or, at least, requests from governments to remove content from Google's services. Often on dubious grounds. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers watch for black helicopters.

First, there's CISPA cyber spying to shred your privacy. Now, in the aftermath of the Boston bombing, New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that there will be more surveillance cameras; worse yet, he proclaimed that America's interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change.” If We the People lose any more rights that are protected under the Constitution and Bill of Rights, then terrorists have won.

Network administrator pilot fish for a local government gets an email from a co-worker who has noticed there's something wrong on a security camera: An image of a pizza covers the whole screen.

This pilot fish has just started working in his first IT help-desk job when a user walks into his office complaining that she can't get logged on. Fish checks, then unlocks her locked account -- but the user still can't log on.