Security

You might not call it the traditional hack, but law enforcement officers in Las Vegas have reportedly removed a suspicious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) after security experts attending the DEFCON 17 conference noticed something strangely peculiar ... about its design. The ATM in question was located at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, not far from the DEFCON 17 conference, an annual gathering of international hackers and security experts. Those attending the conference -- and let's face it, they're the type that would notice this kind of behavior before anyone else -- realized early on that ... (view more)

With the release of Windows 7 just a few months away, security experts have begun touting the widespread positive impact Windows 7 will have on PC protection and the online community. Despite the occasional outbreak of critical security patches, ... Microsoft has been able to steadily improve its security image since launching the Trusted Computing initiative more than five years ago. (Source: eweek.com ) Win7 to Help Strengthen Security Purewire Principal Researcher Paul Royal touted three specific Windows 7 modifications that he believes will help thwart application vulnerabilities, rootkits ... (view more)

Security researchers have demonstrated how both Windows Mobile and iPhone handsets can be hacked simply be sending a text message. It's also emerged that a flaw in the way secure websites worked could cause problems for Firefox users. The news comes ... from the annual Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, where it's joked that "black hat" hackers find these issues for criminal reasons, while "white hat" hackers are merely trying to improve security. However, it's generally understood that those who speak at the conference do so to highlight problems rather than exploit them. SMS from a SOB ... (view more)

With the death of Michael Jackson now being investigated as a potential homicide, a number of cyber "walls" have been erected to keep the new online records confidential. However, coroner investigations now report that several vulnerabilities exist ... in the two computer systems where the death investigation reports of Jackson are currently stored. An Inside Job The problem is much more serious than the potential for a hacker to access these restricted files from a remote location. Rather, employees are being given unauthorized access to these secretive reports despite being told that this ... (view more)

Adobe has vowed to fix a critical security hole in its Flash software within a week. But the Department of Homeland Security (DoHS) has taken the extremely unusual step of advising users to switch off the feature until the patch is available. The ... hole can be used for so-called 'drive by' attacks occurring when a user simply visits an infected website. However, the relevant code is also shared with Adobe's Acrobat software, meaning it can cause security problems through PDF documents which have Flash embedded in them for greater interactivity. That technique had already been criticized as a ... (view more)

Researchers at security firm Inverse Path plan to demonstrate how standard power sockets (used in a home, for instance) can be used to eavesdrop on what is being typed onto a computer keyboard. They plan to make a presentation at the Black Hat ... Security conference taking place in Las Vegas from July 25-30 this year. The researchers found that poor electrical shielding on some keyboard cables can result in data being leaked into power circuits. Analyzing such information allowed the researchers to see what was being typed on a keyboard. So far, demonstrations of the attacks have worked at ... (view more)

Mozilla has released the first minor point release in its Firefox 3.5 series, Firefox 3.5.1. The reason? To fix a critical security flaw within the browser's TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. Rest assured, TraceMonkey itself, despite the suspicious ... name, is not a new Conficker virus or something of the sort. On the contrary, TraceMoney is a tool created by Mozilla that improves the JavaScript web browser performance through something called a just-in-time, or JIT compilation engine. Simply put, JIT compiles code earlier and improves the performance of the Mozilla web browser. Mozilla Tracing ... (view more)

Microsoft has revealed it will indeed have a fix for a critical Internet Explorer bug in next week's monthly update. The security loophole means XP users who don't have the latest edition of the browser could be infected even by visiting a ... theoretically safe website. The bug, which Microsoft describes as "browse and get owned," involves the Active X (Direct Show) system used for displaying online videos. The specific function it affects is no longer used, which may be how the hackers found the loophole. The bug affects users of Windows XP, as well as anyone running Windows Server 2003 that ... (view more)

Researchers have discovered that it's easier to predict social security numbers than previously realized. The discovery means giving away too many personal details online is even more dangerous. A report by Carnegie Mellon University, published in ... The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says that social security numbers were never intended to be used as a way of confirming somebody's identity. Instead they were meant purely as a way of keeping track of an individual's tax and benefit payments. The researchers were investigating a theory that there was a distinct pattern to the ... (view more)

The company responsible for creating a database containing thousands of identities collected at U.S. airports has shut down. And so, the question remains: what happens to your personal information when a government-sponsored National ID scheme like ... 'Clear' suddenly shuts down? The fate of more than a quarter million people whose fingerprints, social security numbers, home addresses and other revealing personal information allegedly designed to help hasten traveler clearances at airports is hanging on that question, and even the government doesn't know the answer. (Source: yahoo.com ) Who ... (view more)