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Comment Re:Disable autorun, lock your computer (Score 1) 154

I seriously doubt a forensics tool created by the same developers that created what it tries to break into, is going to rely on autorun to get things started.. Even if that is the case, it's not exactly hard to obtain a password removal tool out in the wild to get rid of the "lock your computer"..(ie: linux live cd's that run scripts to kill saved winxp/vista/win7 account passwords) I've had one in particular for years that I use when someone calls me to say "how do I get into my box when I can't remember the password"

Comment Re:It's not the fines.... (Score 1) 339

I agree with the parent comment - it is the lack of enforcement that is keeping the activity going, not the fine amounts..
If you make someone have a bad day enough times by stopping them to give even a small fine, and wasting (in their eyes) 20 minutes of their day
and possibly the small embarassment of being pulled over, they will stop after 2-3 times being caught.. The $$ amount isn't what stops people doing this type of thing

I'm in the Buffalo, NY (USA) area, and when we had our little snow storm the other day (two feet of snow in my area) I had a driver in a minivan fly in front of me and spin out
while in blizzard (50mph winds) conditions, all because the moron was holding a cell phone to his head while he was driving.. He'll stop doing that when one of two things happen:
He is pulled over a few times while in the act, or when he kills someone.
I would rather it be the first..

Comment Re:Telecoms... (Score 1) 321

If they see a shift, guess what: internet bandwidth costs will go up.

They already do this - Comcast and Time Warner charge extra for net service when you don't bundle video ($10-30 more per month)

Similar to what Verizon does with DSL if you don't order their voice service..

Comment Re:So, this is about as damning as you get, isn't (Score 1) 186

No, the "smart, rational thing to do" would be to validate your code and status of it in whole before you post it for the world to take..
The only reason why they pulled it is because *someone else* looked into it..
Putting out any type of release stating that they took down the tool/code so they could review their own work isn't exactly
a tip of the hat to confidence either..

*Disclaimer - I am neither a fanboy or automatic hater of anything - I like common sense too much


PS.. "...acknowledges the power of the GPL..." uhm not so much - remember how MS is trying to market themselves
as starting to be OSS friendly? This is the marketing machine at work with damage control..

Comment Re:What!? (Score 1) 658

It does occasionally happen.. I guess in my tired stuporr last night I didn't explain properly..
While we called it firmware when we dealt with it, the provisioning file is more of a lock
file requested at each boot of the modem - each time you power cycle the modem, that file
isn't saved, and needs to be downloaded immediately after ranging is complete (when your
send/receive lights finish coming up, signaling the power was properly set to
send/receive, and the basic data link to the head-end was set up.) - I remember back in the
day before the docsis ver.1 spec was created (when Motorola Surfboard was actually and SA
brand..(2100/4100 series) when you could plug into the console port on the back of the modem,
and change your speed whenever you like through telnet.. ahh those were the days.. (This
was in one of the first cable hsd areas, northern VA, ~1995

Comment Re:What!? (Score 2, Informative) 658

You're almost correct - As a former Time Warner Cable NOC engineer, I have some experience in this area..

The headend systems that the cable modems are provisioned with check each modem periodically for their bin file name (provisioning file name) along with a crc on that file to ensure no one is tampering with the works.. There are easily ways around this with hacked firmware, etc, but the only people who would even attempt to circumvent the (still fairly simple) checks are the type of people reading this post :)

Each time CPE is powered up, or added to the network, if the MAC is said to be correct for that account, then the modem is sent the firmware file for that account's provisioned speed. Many of the hacks out there in the wild don't accept that re-download, and the hack then fails, as the MAC addy is cut off until it does accept the download after ranging is complete..

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