Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:The devs were notified and ignored it (Score 4, Interesting) 202

by dnwq (#39248031) Attached to: GitHub Hacked
Not precisely right: the devs were saying "good users know how to secure their installs" and then Homakov demonstrated just how untrue this was by breaking into what is probably the world's most important and professionally-run Ruby on Rails server, i.e., GitHub. That Rails itself is hosted on GitHub just makes it funnier.

Comment The devs were notified and ignored it (Score 5, Interesting) 202

by dnwq (#39247545) Attached to: GitHub Hacked
The best thing is this comment by a developer closing Homakov's original bug report, two days before Homakov hacked in:

fxn commented 3 days ago

There was a proposal about changing that flag in #4062 and the consensus is the pros of the default configuration outweigh the pros of the alternative.

Thanks!

Apparently GitHub's own admin isn't "pro" enough...
Security

Research Inches Toward Processor-Specific Malware 155

Posted by samzenpus from the acquiring-new-targets dept.
chicksdaddy writes "The Windows/Office/IE monoculture is disappearing faster than equatorial glaciers — Mac OS X and iOS, Linux and Android ... and whole new application ecosystems to go with each. That's bad news for malware authors and other bad guys, who count on 9.5 out of 10 systems running Windows and Microsoft applications to do their magic. What's the solution? Why, hardware specific hacks, of course! After all, the list of companies making CPUs is far smaller than, say, the list of companies making iPhone applications. Malware targeting one or more of those processors would work regardless of what OS or applications were installed. There's just one problem: its not easy to figure out what kind of CPU a device is running. But researchers at France's Ecole Superiore d'Informatique, Electronique, Automatique (ESIEA) are working on that problem. Threatpost.com reports on a research paper that lays out a strategy for fingerprinting processors by observing subtle differences in the way they perform complex floating point calculations. The method allows them to distinguish broad subsets of processor types by manufacturer, and researchers plan to refine their methods and release a tool that can make specific processor fingerprinting a snap."
Operating Systems

Linux Distribution Popularity Trends Plotted 209

Posted by Soulskill from the year-of-linux-on-the-toaster dept.
DeviceGuru writes "In order to get a sense of the popularity of various Linux distributions over the past several years, LinuxTrends entered their names into Google's search insights tool and grabbed images of the resulting graphs. The graphs display some fascinating trends and bode well for the future of Linux, particularly its ability to adapt to changing requirements and opportunities. What's especially noteworthy is that Android is the first Linux spin to take on a life of its own within consumer devices. It's certainly not the first use of Linux as an OS for devices; what's unique, however, is that it's the first branded Linux-based OS to be widely marketed to consumers."
Wireless Networking

Android Users Aren't As Disloyal As Reported 246

Posted by kdawson from the ask-the-right-question dept.
ergo98 writes "As we discussed recently, a CNN article had a statement that '77% of iPhone owners say they'll buy another iPhone, compared to 20% of Android customers who say they'll buy another Android phone.' This was a gross misrepresentation. The CNN story now has up this note: 'Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that 20% of Android customers say they'll buy another Android phone. The survey actually revealed that 20% of all smartphone customers say they'll buy an Android phone.' The Yankee Group has further sought to clarify the situation by saying that the 20% are people who explicitly said they would buy a 'Google-branded' phone (which excludes the overwhelming majority of popular Android phones) — as Google gets out of the business of selling branded phones. Summarizing their position on Android: 'Yankee Group still believes that Android will become the next breakout mobile phone platform, making it the third most popular platform behind iPhone and RIM's Blackberry in installed base for at least the next five years.'"

Comment Re:No surprise (Score 2) 334

by dnwq (#32375288) Attached to: UK Home Office Set To Scrap National ID Cards
The Conservative party used to back national ID cards; it moved onto the Labor platform when Labor won in 1997.

The simplest explanation is that the ruling party simply represented the interests of the Home Office, and the same now that the excessive cost has been amply demonstrated. Had the price tag not been so high, even a Lib Dem government wouldn't have dismantled it.

Slashdot Top Deals

To the systems programmer, users and applications serve only to provide a test load.

Close