Tag: Security
Your entire identity's worth just £80
Your name, your address, your mother’s maiden name, your passport number, the name of your first pet (“fluffles”? seriously?), your credit card numbers, your top five albums, your national insurance number. All that – what security experts call your ‘identity’ in the context of ‘identity theft’ – is worth just £80.
That’s the price that entire packages of data are going for on message boards and websites populated by fraudsters and scammers. A single piece of data can go for as little as £5. The data’s so cheap because there’s so much of it available – nearly half of all UK computer users aren’t using a firewall or security software.
All you’ve gotta do is make sure that your virus scanner stays up-to-date, and that you’ve got the security features in your operating system fully enabled and up-to-date. In fact go run Windows Update now. I’ll wait. Back? Good. Odds-are that you’re now pretty much safe.
Get Safe Online (via BBC)
Related posts: Microsoft on viruses and malware: It’s not our fault, guv. | FEATURE: Modern Day Malware & Organised Crime
WPA Wi-Fi security gets cracked
There are several ways to crack a wireless network’s security. The weakest, WEP, can be easily cracked using customized Linux software, but until today, Wi-Fi Protected Access (or WPA) had been considered secure. Not any more. Researchers have announced that they’ve developed a way to partially crack the encryption standard, but I warn you, it’s not easy.
The researchers, Erik Tews and Martin Beck, have found a way to break the Temporary Key Integrity Protocol (or TKIP) in as little as 15-12 minutes. They have not yet, however, managed to crack the encryption keys used to secure the data that travels from the PC to the router.
Buffalo announces super-thin NanoStation 60GB portable hard drive
Buffalo has announced its first 1.8-inch portable hard drive. The NanoStation HD-PT60U2 is the same size as three stacked credit cards (6mm thin),weighs 56 grams, and has a 60GB capacity.
It features easy-to-use backup and synchronisation software, as well as mobile applications including Firefox and Thunderbird. Buffalo’s SecureLockMobile software should prevent unauthorised data access if the drive goes walkabout…
Swiss researchers can steal passwords from 65 feet away
A bunch of Swiss researchers have worked out “a variety” of ways to steal passwords from wired keyboards. That’s right – wired keyboards. It relies on the electromagnetic emanations that happen when you push the keys on the keyboard, and you can see a demonstration in the video above…
Mobile phones about to become electronic tags – a passport might be required to buy one
If you’re one of those people who likes to get angry about possible privacy invasions, this should get you nicely red-faced until well after lunchtime.
As part of the vague, all-encompassing crackdown on anything to do with “terrorism,” the government is considering adding mobile phones to its national database of who owns what – so you could be asked to hand over your passport in exchange for buying a cheap pay-as-you-go job…
TDK launches security-conscious TRANS-IT USB Flash drives
USB Flash drives are fairly yawn-inducing, granted, but they’re pretty much the de facto standard for porting data around these days.
With security high on the agenda (if only because so many people seem to be losing large amounts of confidential data), Imation has launched its latest TDK-branded USB drives with built-in TRANS-IT security…
Jailbreak into your car with the first car-key/mobile phone hybrid device
We’ve seen the phone/oyster card hybrid, and the barcode scanner/phone hybrid, and we’ve long had mp3 cameras and cameras built into our phones. Enough? Not for Japan. Their attitude is “let’s see what else we can cram in there!”. They’ve put your car key into your mobile. At the moment it only works with Nissan vehicles, but it can remotely lock or unlock your car, as well as starting or stopping the engine. It’s not on the market yet, but they’ll be demonstrating it at the CEATAC conference in Tokyo on Sept 30th.
"Pre-crime" detector detects "hostile thoughts" before they become actions
This is a little concerning. A year ago, the US Department of Homeland Security reckoned that it had worked out how to read people’s minds, and detect “hostile thoughts”. They’ve just announced that they think it actually works.
Google Chrome uses old security-lax version of WebKit, may come to Android
Google Chrome‘s launch has been marred by an embarrassing security vulnerability, thanks to Google using an outdated version of WebKit which could be used by hackers to run malicious code directly in Windows without the user knowing.
It’s highly likely that Google will issue a patch for the problem very shortly, by updating the version of WebKit just as Apple did for its Safari browser. However, it’s not a great start for a browser that has been touted for its security features…
IFA 2008: Spy monitors and picture frames
Zara is still over in Berlin checking out the gadgets at IFA 2008. Check out the video above where she demonstrates an unusual hybrid device that combines digital photo frames and cameras that can be used as baby monitors or security cameras – ideal if you’re a big fan of surveillance society or destroying the civil liberties of your kids…
