Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Security

Submission + - XEN rooted (xensource.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous
Anonymous writes: ""A remote code execution security issue has been identified that could allow a user who has root access to a virtual machine running on that server to execute arbitrary commands within Domain 0.""
Security

Submission + - Warning of a web 'super worm' pandemic (securecomputing.net.au)

Submitted by
negsss
negsss writes: "Security specialists have warned that internet users could be facing a major worm outbreak spread via weaknesses in current browser technology. A 'creative hacker' organisation known as GNU Citizen has published details of cross-site scripting (XSS) flaws that could be used to inject malware into computers via a web browser."
Censorship

Submission + - Burma Shuts Down Internet 3

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "MIT Technology Review reports that in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests, Burma's military rulers have physically disconnected their country from the internet:

Last week — after images of the beatings of Buddhist monks and the killing of a Japanese photographer leaked out via the Internet — Burma's military rulers took the ultimate step, apparently physically disconnecting primary telecommunications cables in two major cities, in a drastic effort to stop the flow of information from Burma to the rest of the world. It didn't completely work: some bloggers apparently used satellite links or cellular phone services to get information outside the country.
One Burmese blogger reported last week that "Myanmar main ISP has been shut down by so-called "maintenance reasons" and most of the telecommunication services have been cut off or tapped. ""
Data Storage

Submission + - Whether to go with online or local backup (computerworld.com)

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "With EMC purchasing online backup service, Mozy, buzz has swept through the IT industry about when and why IT should Web-based backup services. Computerworld's Jim Damoulakis points out that online backup can be useful, to fill gaps at the edge, but a determining factor will always be weighing acceptable service levels with cost."
Biotech

Submission + - Adding Capsaicin Improves Anesthetic Treatment (sciam.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "It's no secret what capsaicin, the fiery molecule of peppers, does to cell walls. In fact, it's now being used to open cells up to local anesthetics. Combine it with a new drug that works only from the insides of cells and you have a great system for relieving pain. From the article, 'QX-314 is known to reduce the activity of pain-sensing neurons in the nervous system and theoretically heighten pain thresholds. But there's a catch: Researchers found that "it wouldn't work from outside a nerve cell but it would work if you could get it inside," says Bruce Bean, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the new study.' Next time just reach for some (CH3)2CHCH=CH(CH2)4CONHCH2C6H3-4-(OH)-3-(OCH3)C18H27NO3."
Security

Submission + - Qwest to notify victims of hacked computers. (startribune.com)

Submitted by
mnslinky
mnslinky writes: "From the article:
"Telephone company Qwest Communications, portraying itself as a "safe" way to access the Internet, has introduced a "Customer Internet Protection Program" that protects both Qwest and its customers.

By monitoring outgoing Internet traffic from subscribers to its DSL broadband service, Denver-based Qwest can identify individual computers that are spreading computer viruses or unwanted spam e-mail, said Melodi Gates, the company's chief information security officer.

[...] So, when malicious activity is traceable to a particular PC, the customer is contacted via a message that appears in a Web browser, urging the customer to download free software tools to cleanse the computer. If the user acknowledges the message, it disappears."

This was pointed out by a co-worker of mine, and he had an interesting point. "The only problem with this is that said users are trained to ignore [popups asking users to update/fix their computers]." Be interesting to see how well this works."
The Military

Submission + - Nuclear war would trigger global starvation

Submitted by
willatnewscientist
willatnewscientist writes: "A regional nuclear conflict, between India and Pakistan for example, could trigger an environmental disaster that leads to starvation for a billion people worldwide, reports New Scientist. A new study maps out the global consequences of India and Pakistan exploding 100 Hiroshima-sized nuclear warheads. It suggests that the resulting pollution would cause temperatures to drop suddenly around the world. This, in turn, would lead to widespread famine, food-hoarding by nations and trigger epidemics of cholera, typhus and other diseases."
Security

Submission + - Undocumented Backdoor in PGP Whole Disk Encryption (blogspot.com)

Submitted by A non-mouse Coward
A non-mouse Coward writes: PGP Corporation's widely adopted Whole Disk Encryption product apparently has an encryption bypass feature that allows an encrypted drive to be accessed without the boot-up passphrase challenge dialog, leaving data in a vulnerable state if the drive is stolen when the bypass feature is enabled. The feature is also apparently not in the documentation that ships with the PGP product, nor the publicly available documentation on their website, but only mentioned briefly in the customer knowledge base (PGP customer account required). Jon Callas, CTO and CSO of PGP Corp., responded that this feature was required by unnamed customers and that competing products have similar "dangerous" functionality. There is still no official word from PGP as to why the public documentation withheld recognition of this risky option.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Slashdot crop circle (lucypringle.co.uk)

Submitted by cobi100
cobi100 writes: I found this neat image from a crop circle, the picture caption: "A ring containing a single circle and a long path with semi-circular ends, rather like the Mayan symbol for six" I believe it's the Slashdot logo. This confirms once and for all that aliens read Slashdot!
Security

Submission + - Backdoor in PGP Whole Disk Encryption (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by A non-mouse Coward
A non-mouse Coward writes: PGP Corp's Whole Disk Encryption suite has an intentional backdoor accessible via the command line, whereby administrators or any user who knows the passphrase for a volume key can disable the boot-up passphrase prompt altogether. Apparently this "feature" is not documented in any way beyond the enterprise customer support pages and is kept secret for only those organizations needing an automated reboot process that won't hang on the boot guard screen. Even running the typical " — help" switch to the command line yields no knowledge of its existence. What's worse, that PGP Corp built this intentional backdoor feature, or that they barely documented it, keeping it quiet from their customers who want the highest amount of security for their laptops?
Education

Submission + - MIT tries to put the prank back in 'hacking'

Submitted by
netbuzz
netbuzz writes: "As the 25th anniversary of what was perhaps the most famous of all MIT pranks nears, the university's chancellor has seen fit to remind students that it's not a prank if someone loses a limb or the SWAT team shows up. And it should go without saying in this post-9/11 world that a re-enactment of 1982's "ballooning" of the Harvard-Yale game would not be recommended.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20122"
Security

Submission + - Stolen Gap laptop exposes 800,000 job applicants (securecomputing.net.au)

Submitted by
negsss
negsss writes: "Clothing giant Gap has admitted that a notebook containing unencrypted details of around 800,000 job applicants has been stolen from one its vendors. Applicants who registered for positions at Gap or any of its Old Navy or Banana Republic stores in the US, Puerto Rico and Canada between July 2006 and June 2007 have now potentially had their personal information exposed."

Slashdot Top Deals

Quantity is no substitute for quality, but its the only one we've got.

Close