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Comment Old-school? (Score 1) 368

I think the cyber- prefix is an artifact our transitional age (no global network -> pervasive global network). Kids born today will probably not distinguish between "cyber" parts of their world and real parts as concretely as we do. If they hear "cyber" in conversation, they will dismiss the speaker as being part of their parents' generation. People born after the mid-70s tend think of the word "groovy" (language not-withstanding) the same way in my experience.

Security

Unspoofable Device Identity Using Flash Memory 145

wiredmikey writes with a story from Security Week that describes a security silver lining to the inevitable errors that arise in NAND flash chips. By seeking out (or intentionally causing) defects in a given part of the chip, a unique profile can be created for any device using NAND flash which the author says may be obscured, but not reproduced: "[W]e recognize devices (or rather: their flash memory) by their defects. Very much like humans recognize faces: by their defects (or deviations from the 'norm') a bigger nose, a bit too bushy eyebrows, bigger cheeks. The nice twist is that if an attacker manages to read your device identity, he cannot inscribe it into his own device. Yes, he can create errors — like we did. But he cannot control where in the block they occur as this relies solely on microscopic manufacturing defects in the silicon."

Comment Re:I'm convinced! (Score 1) 378

Adobe makes their money on implementing efficient work flows for manipulating images, etc. If I am an independent designer, the more work I can cram into a day, the better I live. If I run a megacorp design department, the more work my employees can do, the fewer I need and the larger my bonus. I personally love and use the GIMP. It's an amazing project, but when I go head to head with my brother with his CS4 on a particular task, for the most part, I can't compete.

Comment Re:Malware detection is Bogus. (Score 1) 410

Also, as an admin, help your clients change their business processes to minimize the number of workstations where regular users are local administrators. Yes, some software packages need local admin to work, but most do not. While doing this will not be a panacea, it does seem to cut infection rates down.

Comment Switch out the workstation.... (Score 1) 403

Get an old pc and a big enough drive.

After hours:

Unplug the workstation from the network.

Load Linux and samba on the old pc.

Put all of the son's data on the old pc.

Rename the pc to the workstation name, plug it into the net, and share out the drive.

Stuff the pc under a desk somewhere.

Rename the workstation.

Plug workstation back into the network with its new name and continue working.

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