Monthly Archives: March 2008

In the news this week…

There’s been a lot of security-related issues in the news this week (just like every week, actually). I thought I’d fuel the discussions by listing a few of them. I thought I’d also provide some links to topics that 3ric … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | 1 Comment

The Newton Virus spreads joy… and hopefully nothing else

The Newton Virus is a “harmless” virus that comes on a cute USB flash drive which copies itself onto the computer to which is attached (works for Mac only) and for only one time, it makes your desktop fall apart… … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | Comments Off on The Newton Virus spreads joy… and hopefully nothing else

Facebook and XSS – a sample in action! :P

Today, I checked Facebook and got a spam wall post. I suspected it was an FB API + XSS exploit and looked into this matter. What a coincidence with the new project! =P So after the first Google result I … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘Swatting:’ A Very Personal Version of a ‘Smurf Attack’

Wired posted a story including a telephone version of the “Smurf Attack” we learned about in class.  The story was posted because of new developments concerning the suspects but the actual attack was done back in 2005. On May 1, … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Spammers find a way to abuse out-of-office replies

We’ve all recieved those helpful out-of-office replies when someone is not going to respond to your email for a while.  At work, I always like recieving these because then I know I shouldn’t hold my breath waiting for a response … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Collaborative Current Event: Counterfeit Cisco Network Hardware Imported From China Seized

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/02/29/us-canadian-agencies-seize-counterfeit-cisco-gear USA and Canadian law enforcement has seized US$78 million worth of Cisco routers, switches, and network cards in 400 seizures since the coordinated operation between the two nations was launched in 2005. The reason for the seizures is “illegal … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Integrity, Policy | 5 Comments

Current Event: Wikileaks — a source of private and leaked information

On Februrary 19, 2008, the Wikileaks domain name was shut down as a result of a lawsuit filed by a group of Swiss bankers. Wikileaks is a website where people can confidentially and anonymously post sensitive, often leaked, information.

Posted in Current Events | 2 Comments

Humanoid Robot has future in Japan

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4714135.stm
http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080301/ap_on_re_as/japan_robot_nation;_ylt=AoX4B6VHVtvql_qBo0RBZj8jtBAF
http://www.stat.go.jp/English/data/handbook/c02cont.htm Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Security Vulnerability in Mac OS X – LoginWindow.app

A security vulnerability in loginwindow.app on Mac OS X was reported to bugtraq this week. The vulnerability is that the user password is still resident in memory after the system authenticates the user.

Posted in Current Events, Privacy | 2 Comments

The new sliding door at the CSE building

I want to start a discussion about the new sliding door we just got. I talked to Karl and he explained how the door works. It seems that the sliding door has two sensors, radar and infrared. The radar sensor … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events, Physical Security | 7 Comments