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Security

Submission + - New attack bypasses virtually all AV protection (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Researchers say they've devised a way to bypass protections built in to dozens of the most popular desktop anti-virus products, including those offered by McAfee, Trend Micro, AVG, and BitDefender.

The method, developed by software security researchers at matousec.com, works by exploiting the driver hooks the anti-virus programs bury deep inside the Windows operating system. In essence, it works by sending them a sample of benign code that passes their security checks and then, before it's executed, swaps it out with a malicious payload.
Canada

Submission + - Canada Court Limits Rights of Confidential Sources (nationalpost.com)

Submitted by selven
selven writes: A Canadian Supreme Court ruling has clarified the right of media institutions to protect their confidential sources, saying that the right is not absolute "when the law-enforcement interest in obtaining information for an investigation is greater". The specific case revolves around a forged bank document sent to the National Post in 2001, which the court ruled must be turned over since it is a "physical evidence of a crime". The judgement may have an impact on the willingness of whistleblowers to come forward. Judge Binnie wrote "The alleged forgery is distinct from whistle-blowing. In terms of getting out the truth, the 'leak' of a forged document undermines rather than advances achievement of the purpose of the privilege claimed by the media in the public interest." However, this case does affect legitimate whistleblowers harshly: the onus is now on the media to justify the confidentiality of a source, and not on the prosecutor to justify trumping journalistic privilege.
Books

Submission + - Fishing with Strawberries 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: After reading The Oracle of Silicon Valley, Inc.'s profile of Tim O'Reilly, author Scott Berkun says he, too, is all for Fishing With Strawberries. Back when O’Reilly was exploring a sale or IPO for GNN, an investment banker advised him to focus less on work that was interesting and more on work of the moneymaking kind. 'You don't fish with strawberries,' said the banker. 'Even if that's what you like, fish like worms, so that's what you use.' Sound, commonsense advice, right? Except, as O'Reilly explained in 1995, 'We’ve made a business by offering our customers what we ourselves want. And it’s worked!'
Education

Submission + - Do children's eBooks ruin reading?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A fierce argument has begun over whether children are actually "reading" new eBooks or simply "watching" them. As publishers pump increasing levels of interactivity into eBooks, the New York Times and others argue that these highly-interactive, popular titles are ruining the purpose of reading. The NYT also worries that new eBook titles could distract kids from the tougher task of actually concentrating on literature: "what will become of the readers we've been: quiet, thoughtful, patient, abstracted, in a world where interactive can be too tempting to ignore?". Others, like Gizmodo, defend these new eBooks, pointing at titles like Alice for the iPad, of which they blabber, "For the first time in my life, I'm blown away by an interactive book design." But, the NYT counters: "what I really love [about traditional books] is their inertness. No matter how I shake Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, mushrooms don't tumble out of the upper margin, unlike the Alice for the iPad.". Alice, a physics-enabled version of Alice in Wonderland is more like a hallucination than a book, but is, much to the horror of traditionalists, the top selling kid's eBook title. So, which is it? Are children's eBooks improving reading standards, or turning the joy of reading into a "watching" experience?
Games

Submission + - Blizzard announces deal with Facebook (usatoday.com)

Submitted by msk
msk writes: Blizzard Entertainment has announced a deal with Facebook to tie Blizzard's upcoming Real ID feature into Facebook, making it possible for persons on Facebook to follow players on Blizzard games. The service is described as "opt-in", but Facebook is facing growing scrutiny over "opt-in" features apparently not being such. Real ID appears to be all-or-nothing, with little to no granularity of privacy control. In addition, friending a person through this service requires sharing part of one's login information, one's battle.net ID (which Blizzard previously advised, with good reason, never be shared), which is required to log into World of Warcraft and Starcraft II.
Advertising

Submission + - Vintage Tech Ads: The 15 Funniest Videos (itworld.com)

Submitted by JimLynch
JimLynch writes: Tech ads just aren't what they used to be.

Sure, you have your robot phone wars and naked spokeswomen in bathtubs (what was she selling, again?). But missing are the cheesy songs, silly slogans, and giant gadgets that made the tech ads of yesteryear so wonderful to watch. Check out these 15 vintage tech commercials for yourself. If all the obsolete technology doesn't put a smile on your face, surely the cameo by a young William Shatner will bring you some joy.
The Courts

Submission + - ISP Dragged to Court for Refusing to Block TPB

Submitted by homes32
homes32 writes: This March, IFPI set course for Norway and gave the country's largest Internet provider 'Telenor' an ultimatum. IFPI demanded that the ISP block access to The Pirate Bay within 14 days — or get taken to court.

"This would be the same as demanding that the postal service should open all letters, and decide which ones should be delivered," was the response of Telenor's Ragnar Kårhus at the time, while he stressed that they follow the law and not the demands of the music industry.

Telenor thus refused to give into the demands of the music industry, and invited IFPI to file a lawsuit if they deem it necessary. True to form and together with several movie studios, IFPI has now filed a lawsuit against Telenor.
Security

Submission + - Linux and on-line banking

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: As a long-time Washington Mutual customer, I have recently had to come to grips with the on-line banking system of its new owner, Chase at https://chaseonline.chase.com/. They claim to support Firefox. At first things looked OK. But then I opted for paperless statements. At first glance it looks like a win-win situation; the bank doesn't have to send out statements, and I don't have to carefully file them away. But to my disgust, their asp-based statements do NOT display in Firefox on Linux, (v. 3.0.10).

I sent off a request, and John Macaibay from their Internet Service Center, replied that I should use IE on Windows, or Safari.

Now I don't own a Mac, and for security reasons, I refuse to do on-line banking from a Windows machine, or to use IE for any reason.

Am I being too paranoid?

Are there any banks that do fully support Firefox on Linux?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Fighting For The Hearts And Minds of Pirates (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by iateyourcookies
iateyourcookies writes: As opposed to enforcement which usually makes the headlines, The BBC is running an article called Inside A Downloader's Head which looks at the film and music industry's attempts to prevent copyright infringement. It details some of the campaigns, their rationale, controversy surrounding them and notes that "there are plenty, even among the young, who can be eloquent about why they believe illegal downloading is not wrong. These can include everything from what they see as the unacceptable "control freakery" of DRM and regional coding, to overcharging and exploitation of the very artists the music industry claims to protect". However, PR company for the industry Blue Rubicon attests that "campaigns can change hearts and minds... If you do them right you can make a material impact on people's behaviour."
Editorial

Submission + - Disabled man has egg thrown while traveling in Eng (spinalcordresources.com)

Submitted by
Greg George
Greg George writes: "A disabled man that was traveling the Iarnrod Eireann on the Cort to Thurles line has been repeatedly harassed by the crew on the train. The man was given permission to travel on the train as long as he stayed in the food cars so there was room for everyone to move around. Unfortunately the powered wheelchair was wider than certain areas in the cars and he would become stuck while trying to move. Instead of trying to help this disabled man the crew became nasty and rammed him with food carts to vent the anger they had to deal with a man in a wheelchair. In addition, the crew would gather to talk about the man in public and point to him so that everyone in a particular car would know who they were talking about. To add insult to injury, as the man was disembarking from the train the crew members were throwing raw eggs at him. The train company has offered to give the man a manual chair but that was refused because he does not have the strength to move himself with his arms"
Government

Submission + - French Internet Piracy Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Submitted by nandemoari
nandemoari writes: France's plan to cut off the Internet connections of digital pirates has been defanged by the country's highest constitutional body, who called the law unconstitutional. The council found the proposed law contrary to French constitutional principles like presumption of innocence and freedom of speech, especially since the Internet is important for the participation in democratic life and expression of ideas and opinions, as well as the online public's freedom to access communication services.
Privacy

Submission + - Google's X-Rated Steet View Camera (theglobeandmail.com)

Submitted by oldspewey
oldspewey writes: .

Though Google's Street View only recently launched in Canada, the rolling cameras are already causing a stir. However Canadians who are nervous about the launch of Google's Street View can rest assured: Operators will be standing by to handle complaints and remove compromising images within 24 hours.

The pledge from the head of Google Canada to have extra staff on hand should be welcome news to Robert White, who has been fretting about unwanted exposure since April. That's when he stepped naked in front of an open window after taking a shower just as a Google camera car rolled down the street. Mr. White raised the issue with his Member of Parliament, who passed the story along to Jonathan Lister, Google Canada's managing director

"What assurances can you give Mr. White that he will not become an international sex symbol?" he was asked.

Mr. Lister said it's unlikely the cameras were able to shoot through a window. "The photography and the photographic ability isn't that good,;" Mr. Lister said. "Google is not seeing inside buildings."

His main message was that Google intends to err on the side of individual privacy. He said Google's technology automatically blurs faces and license plates that appear in its photos. If the software misses a face, Mr. Lister said, people can file a complaint and it will be addressed within 24 hours.

The tripod-mounted Google cars have been spotted taking 360-degree images in cities across Canada. Street View is already available in nine countries, but Google has yet to say when the Canadian version of the site will be launched. British tabloids quickly dubbed the site "Google Cheat View" after reports of men caught parked outside their lover's house or walking out of sex shops. The venture ran into privacy objections in Greece this year, and Google was forced to reshoot its images in Japan after complaints the photos were taken from a high angle that peeked into private backyards.

Mr. Lister said Street View will be a boon to Canadian real estate and tourism. Yet despite Google's stated commitment to privacy, MPs expressed concern that Mr. Lister has not clearly stated how long the company will keep the non-blurred images. MPs were also worried that the technology could identify vulnerable people, citing women's shelters as an example.

Mr. Lister said the company intends to alert community groups before the site goes live, in case there is a need to blur entire buildings.

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