Monthly Archives: January 2009
Current Event: Government plans massive internet backbone security upgrade
The U.S. Federal government is planning to spend millions of dollars upgrading the backbone of the internet’s routing system. Specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning to quadruple its budget for improvements (from $600,000 to $2.5 million per … Continue reading
Security Review: Implantable Drug Delivery Device
Companies such as the Massachusetts-based biotech company, MicroCHIPS, are developing what they call “intelligent implanted devices” for long-term internal patient monitoring and treatment. Patients which would normally require frequent blood tests, monitoring, or drug injections can instead implant a device … Continue reading
Security Review: UW Bookstore
Everyone knows the bookstore sells books only after a tremendous markup. But does that really mean they can afford to employ lax security? Consider the situation of the books department: all of the textbooks for every class in the university … Continue reading
Security Review: Edible Chips
The California based company Proteus has created an edible computer chip designed to mark a new way of monitoring patient drug intake. The process involves two pieces of technology: a small chip containing sensors and a small patch worn by … Continue reading
Taxpayer Data at IRS Remains Vulnerable
The Government Accountability Office (GOA) realeased a report last week stating vulnerabilities in the security system used by the IRS to protect taxpayer data. The report showed the IRS has number of security issues in the way that it protect … Continue reading
US Passports now all have RFID tags
The security review on the EU passports reminded me of this one: As of October 2006, all US passports will contain RFID chips in them, which, when read reveal all the information that is printed on the passport itself, as … Continue reading
South Korean Woman Tricks Fingerprint Scanner in Japan
Back in April 2008, a South Korean woman who was banned from entering Japan for 5 years slipped through security at airports using a fake password and some special tape. The immigration control system in Japan features a state-of-the-art biometrics … Continue reading
Security Review | SIDA Badges and Airport Access Control
The Technology SIDA (Secure Identification Display Area) badges are identification devices issued to airport personnel, which establish which areas of the airport an employee is authorised to access. Each airport has its own SIDA badge classification system and issuing authority. … Continue reading
Towards Biometric Passports
The EU recently passed a bill to introduce computerized biometric passports which will include people’s fingerprints as well as their photographs. It joined a host of other countries which have taken similar steps towards increasing the security of their … Continue reading
Current event: Downadup worm infects 1.1 million machines in 24 hours
A worm known as Downadup, or also Conficker by some security companies, is spreading rampantly by exploiting a bug found – and patched – months ago in Windows machines. F-Secure believes that the worm has already compromised 35 million machines … Continue reading