Security Popular Posts

Woah there, it's IT Blogwatch, in which another IE7 vulnerability rears its ugly head, prompting the inevitable comparisons with Firefox 2.0. Not to mention more amazing experiments with Diet Coke and Mentos...

Jeremy Kirk has deja vu. All over again:

A security problem originally found in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer 6 browser has returned to haunt IE7, the new version of the browser launched two weeks ago, a security consultant said Monday. Danish security consultancy Secunia AsP posted an advisory regarding an issue where an attacker could potentially snare logins and passwords from an unsuspecting IE7 user. Over two years ago, security researchers reported the same fault in IE6.

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is about to release iOS 5 -- the release date is today. In fact, by the time you read this, it may already be released. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers get ready.

The jailbreak for iOS 5, on your iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, or original iPad seems to be ready for prime-time. The usual bleeding-edge suspects have discovered the bugs, and the Dev Team's fixed them; so now you should be ready to escape from Apple's pomaceous walled garden of parody-free, sexless, family friendliness. Here you'll find the best jailbreaking resources, in today's The Long View...

[Update includes some additional unlock clarification] Good news, everyone! Now you can jailbreak your iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, or iPad, with iOS 5.0.1 and reboot untethered. At last! Find out how, in The Long View...

If you've been wondering what to expect from iPhone 5, the next-generation, beyond an all-new and improved antenna, then let me share a few ideas with you -- your iPhone will be your wallet, your house keys, your identity, the centre of your mobile existence. At least, that's how it appears on news of Apple's hiring of near field communications (NFC) expert, Benjamin Vigier.

If you read way down to the bottom of a Wall Street Journal interview with Bill Gates that ran yesterday, you'll discover that the Microsoft executive admitted to watching pirated movies on the Internet. The confession came as he was talking about content he had viewed on YouTube. Here's part of the exchange:

WSJ: You watch physics lectures and Harlem Globetrotters [on YouTube]?

Gates: This social-networking thing takes you to crazy places.

WSJ: But those were stolen, correct?

Gates: Stolen's a strong word. It's copyrighted content that the owner wasn't paid for. So yes.

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[As hilarious as some of the comments were, it's time to move on.]
Updated: Sony Computer Entertainment (SNE) (6758) regrets to inform PS3 users that it's been unable to repair its PlayStation Network (PSN) and Qriocity platforms -- at least, not so far. It now seems that users' personal data have been compromised, which "may" include credit card details. They've both been down for over a week and it could be another week until it's back. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers point the fingers of blame. Not to mention the Easter Peeps experiment: How long do marshmallow chicks last in an Arizona summer?..

By pushing a couple buttons on Anti, a new and free "advanced" hacking app for Android, even the clueless can find, exploit and pwn people, networks and devices like penetration testers.

The iPhone jailbreak scene is certainly never dull.
iPhone jailbreakers are at each others' throats and trading insults. The hacker-developers are bickering over who should release their Apple jailbreak tool. The long-awaited magic is ready to download, but it's not exactly what we expected: it's limera1n doing the jailbreaking, not greenpois0n. Now we can jailbreak almost any iDevice -- on any recent version of iOS... including 4.1. Today you can unencumber yourself from Steve Jobs' reality-distorting control over your iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod Touch (3G or 4G). But where did this unexpected twist come from? Find out in The Long View...

Users from around the U.S. and the world are all reporting that Google, and its related services, are moving at snail-like speed.

It's encouraging that there are companies out there that are working to find solutions that can fit both corporate and consumer needs.

Some Windows users are greeted with a black screen of death at login, ever since they installed this month's patches. One security company thought it had a solution. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers debate what's going on. Not to mention too much time on his hands...
(MSFT)

If Peter Wallace’s recent experience with hotel access cards is an indicator, leaving your electronic hotel room key behind when you check out could leave you open to identity theft.

Wallace, IT director at AAA Reading-Berks in Wyomissing, Penn. has been bringing a card reader with him on business trips to see what's on the magnetic strips of his hotel room access cards. To his dismay, a surprising number have contained his name and credit card information - and in unencrypted form.

What’s scary is how easy it is for even a novice to steal this information. He says he bought a $39 card reader at a local retail store and plugged it into his laptop's USB port. Now when he scans a card, the device inputs the data directly into an open Excel or Word document.

I've got my hands on a copy of the leaked, confidential Microsoft "Global Criminal Compliance Handbook," which details for police and intelligence services exactly what information Microsoft collects about users of its online services, and how they can be accessed. What is gathered and available about you is quite comprehensive, including your emails, detailed information about when you sign in and use the services, credit card information, and so on.

Here's the newest from Sen. Ted Stevens, the man who described the Internet as a series of tubes: It's time for the federal government to ban access to Wikipedia, MySpace, and social networking sites from schools and libraries.

Early in January, Stevens introduced Senate bill 49, which among other things, would require that any school or library that gets federal Internet subsidies would have to block access to interactive Web sites, including social networking sites, and possibly blogs as well. It appears that the definition of those sites is so vague that it could include sites such as Wikipedia, according to commentators. It would certainly ban MySpace.