Make Your Own DHS Threat Level Display At Home 132
An anonymous reader writes "This guy put together what most law-abiding Slashdotters have always wanted for Christmas: a stylish, wall-mounted homeland security threat level display. A perfect accent for the living room."
What To Do About Mobile Devices That Lie 107
GMGruman writes "InfoWorld has caught two Android devices that falsely report security compliance that the Android OS does not actually support, and Apple quietly has dropped its jailbreak-detection API from iOS 4. So how can IT and businesses that allow iPhones, iPads, and Androids trust that the new generation of mobile devices won't become Trojan horses for malware? There's no easy answer, but Galen Gruman explains what current technologies can do to help — and how Apple, Google, and others might increase the trustworthiness of their platforms in the future."
Comment Re:DDOS = Digital Sit-in (Score 1) 206
Not really. If you are blocking the public right of way, you can be arrested. Most stores are on private property, not public so they can reserve the right to refuse service to you as well.
This is why those involved in sit-ins have been arrested in the past, and those on-strike have to 'keep moving' and can't just do their own sit-in.
US Says Plane Finder App Threatens Security 524
ProgramErgoSum writes "The Plane Finder AR application, developed by a British firm for the Apple iPhone and Google's Android, allows users to point their phone at the sky and see the position, height and speed of nearby aircraft. It also shows the airline, flight number, departure point, destination and even the likely course-the features which could be used to target an aircraft with a surface-to-air missile, or to direct another plane on to a collision course, the 'Daily Mail' reported. The program, sold for just 1.79 pounds in the online Apple store, has now been labelled an 'aid to terrorists' by security experts and the US Department of Homeland Security is also examining how to protect airliners. The new application works by intercepting the so-called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcasts (ADS-B) transmitted by most passenger aircraft to a new satellite tracking system that supplements or, in some countries, replaces radar."
Comment Re:Staff shortages (Score 1) 156
Sadly this doesn't cut it. It's easier to take someone who was a cleared cleaning staff member and train them to do other tasks than clear these people. The process can take up to 24 months if you have a checkered history.
Comment Re:Staff shortages (Score 1) 156
There's a lot of places to go with this, including over classifying data, etc.. that typically happens, and getting it revisited with the right class authority. You have to look no further than the SBU reports that come out from GAO. It makes it really tough, combined with existing regulations set in stone by congress.
Comment Re:Staff shortages (Score 1) 156
A lot of these jobs require that you be a US Citizen in order to pass the background check to be granted a security clearance. There are lots of jobs posted at clearancejobs.com and other sites that reflect this need. It may take 6-9 months for that process to complete itself (or up to ~2 years in some cases) but once that gauntlet has been run, it becomes much easier the next time.
If you're a qualified networking or IT geek that meets those criteria, there are plenty of jobs available.
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ may also be of value to you as well.
Some of these jobs are serious cash $119k+ ($10k/mo)
Comment Re:Delayed by CS3 (Score 1) 156
There were ~1800 players in Cyberstorm 3. It's not just for Government, lots of industry people participated.
Comment Re:Delayed by CS3 (Score 1) 156
You sound like someone I know in the vicinity of ballston
Comment Delayed by CS3 (Score 1) 156
Must've been delayed by cyberstorm iii
Submission + - Apps Nuked By Google Were Botnet Proof-Of-Concept (forbes.com)
AGreenberg writes: I've written a post at Forbes' cybersecurity blog explaining something that's been missed in coverage of Google's decision to exercise its "kill switch" and delete two apps from Android phones. The apps were not "practically useless" as Google has described them. They were created by cybersecurity researcher Jon Oberheide as a proof-of-concept to show the possibility that a misleading application could transform into malware. One was a fake Twilight preview application capable of fetching new executable code, and was downloaded by more than 300 users. Google only became aware of the apps and deleted them after Oberheide presented his research at the Summercon security conference last week.
VPN Flaw Shows Users' IP Addresses 124
AHuxley writes "A VPN flaw announced at the Telecomix Cyphernetics Assembly in Sweden allows individual users to be identified. 'The flaw is caused by a combination of IPv6, which is a new Internet protocol due to replace the current IPv4, and PPTP (point-to-point tunneling protocol)-based VPN services, which are the most widely used. ... The flaw means that the IP address of a user hiding behind a VPN can still be found, thanks to the connection broadcasting information that can be used to identify it. It's also relatively easy to find a MAC address (which identifies a particular device) and a computer's name on the network that it's on.' The Swedish anti-piracy bureau could already be gathering data using the exploit."
Comment Re:I don't fly anymore... (Score 1) 549
Flying was a lot of fun back in the day. If the US48 ever got a serious train system (eg: Shinkansen speeds) I would love to do that instead. The problem has been it's NEITHER time or cost effective to take the train. The plane is Faster and Cheaper and less prone to delays related to congestion. I've heard worse horror stories about trains being days late on long-haul routes vs any experiences in Air travel.
Comment First Class (Score 2, Insightful) 549
Flying too much does have its perks, auto-upgrades and the short security line. It also makes it nicer when I travel with the wife and family.
