harrystottle's favorite security pages, page 1

Last login: 13 hours agoHarrystottle: Harry is a guy from Bristol, England, UK.; Likes 3,770 pages, 126 videos, 20 photos • 95 fans • Received 13 reviews; Member since Oct 03, 2005

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'Fakeproof' e-passport is cloned in minutes - Times Online: Aug 18, 2:10pm 7 reviews security, police-state, trusted-surveillance
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4467106.ece; I need to do a detailed response to the e passport nonse but for now let me just point out its main security flaw. It is based on a single unique identifier (the passport number) - just like traditional passports have been for the last 50 years or so. In a digital world, that means personal tracking - the ultimate weapon of the totalitarian ruler. All the rest is commentary...

Hackers mull physical attacks on a networked world: Aug 11, 2:29am 1 review science, security
http://www.physorg.com/news137469996.html; and, as we learn here, intrusion is becoming simpler and cheaper - when technology ought to be making us more secure. What is wrong with this picture?

US intelligence alerts travelers to cyber spies: Aug 11, 2:25am 1 review science, security, cryptography, police-state, trusted-surveillance
http://www.physorg.com/news137470374.html; I love the complete absence of irony in this story. As though their precious wireless devices aren't being routinely compromised on demand by agents of their own Police State...

Beloved websites riddled with crimeware | The Register: Jul 31, 9:25am 2 reviews internet, security, web-security, sandboxie
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/30/websense_high_profile_website_malware...; I'm increasingly pleased that Rumplemigskin found Sandboxie (and pointed me at it). I now use it routinely. It makes you immune to any attacks because nothing "downloaded" or inserted into your browser stays there once you close the browser. It all goes "pooft" into the ether. (because your entire surfing session takes place in RAM) If you're not already using it, get it now. (and don't forget to set up your default download folder for "quick recovery" so you can still download those files you actually want to download)

IPS finds no nuggets in ID checking goldmine | The Register: Jul 4, 9:01am 1 review privacy, security, identity
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/04/ips_validation_service/; I'll come back to this later but one of the consequences of my Glastonbury project (which I can now announce to have been a modest triumph - to the extent they're asking me to commit for the next two years) is that I have come up with a much better solution to Identity verification than the typically clumsy and intrusive Government solution.

Kaspersky Lab reports a new and dangerous blackmailing virus: Jun 15, 5:33pm 1 review windows, security, conspiracy-theories, trusted-surveillance
http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207575650; I don't know how seriously to take this.

I'm finding it difficult to imagine a situation where someone would be dumb enough not to have multiple backups of anything valuable enough to consider paying a ransom for. And it would have to be a very intelligent virus to find those few files on a typical system and either to verify that they weren't backed up, or to find and encrypt the backups as well. So I'm having a hard time believing in the potential victims here.

Which makes me start wondering about other potential motiviations. Like building support for the criminalisation of encryption, and using stories like this to illustrate the "problem". Now who might have the desire to do that sort of thing?

Data from Columbia disk drives survived the shuttle accident: May 10, 4:24pm 1 review science, privacy, security, secrecy
http://www.physorg.com/news129557606.html; bear this in mind when you try to hide those secret files! If they can recover data from a drive this damaged, you're going to have to work very hard to stop them getting at your data...

How many staff has HMRC caught snooping on records? | The Register: May 1, 8:08am 1 review security, police-state, trusted-surveillance, corrupt-insiders
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/01/hmrc_discipline_numbers/; the news in this story is not the snooping. We'd have been 'king amazed if that hadn't been going on. No, what really matters is what it reveals about the mindset of the children in charge.

"Kennedy revealed that less than one per cent of total HMRC staff per year have been caught improperly accessing information."

and

Kennedy told the Commons the numbers "reflect the strength of HMRC's internal disciplinary procedures".

these two passages reveal that they think they're actually doing rather well and that "only" one percent bad appleship is acceptable when you're holding the private and sensitive data of 40 million citizens. That alone should be enough to persuade doubters that they are not fit to govern and certainly not fit to be holding sensitive data.

Unfortunately their audience (the unwashed masses) are, if anything, slightly more ignorant than their political masters and they too will probably think along the lines of "less than one percent" being a perfectly acceptable security standard.

Those of us who care about these things (including most of you likely to be reading this) need to figure out how to present the "Idiot Guide to Stupid Security" so that we can make the wider public begin to understand the full dangers that governments represent when we let them loose in this area...

Comments on ‘Warning sounded on Microsoft and Googles health records landgrab�…: Apr 21, 8:40am 1 review internet, security, free-trade
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/18/google_microsoft_health_record/comments; Classic example of what happens when a commercial idiot messes with geeks... (I'm referring to the attempt by the MD of "My Medical Records" to attract some support for his product)

Bad, Bad Idea: The Anti-Hijacking Safety Bracelet | Autopia from Wired.com: Apr 19, 4:32am 2 reviews terrorism, security, propaganda
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/04/can-this-little.html; My main objection to this is the impression that this is a current campaign. If you actually watch the video, you'll clearly hear reference to measures like the reinforcement of aircraft cabin doors which will be completed by 2003. So this naive nonsense must be older than that and frankly, if you look back to 2002 you'll find a lot of stupid suggestions which have died the death they deserved. This one obviously didn't go anywhere then and it aint about to be revived now. We've got enough problems with the real world without worrying about the problems which might have reared their head had anybody paid attention differently in the recent past...