ChristW - Slashdot User

+ - Quantum-Secure Authentication with a Classical Key-> 0

Submitted by ChristW on Tuesday March 05, 2013 @08:46AM

ChristW writes "This paper describes how a quantum-secure authentication can be achieved using a (physical) key containing a PUF (Physically Uncopyable Function, consisting of a random 3D structure of nano-particles). The setup uses a low photon-count wavefront to make skimming and flooding of the system practically impossible. From one of the authors is also the paper 'Towards more aesthetic forms of cryptography', which is also a good and funny read."
Link to Original Source

+ - McAfee Fears Torture By Belize Police 0

Submitted by ChristW on Wednesday November 14, 2012 @03:26AM

ChristW writes "Famous software engineer John McAfee, known for his line of anti-virus software fears for torture by the Belize police force. Last Sunday, his neighbour's body was found in a puddle of blood. Police told him that he is not a suspect, but they want to interrogate him none the less. McAfee fears that the police wil not hold back on torture methods to get him to give them any information. When his farm was raided, he dug himself into the ground and put a box over his head to keep from being found.

He tells this in interviews that are published on CNBC's and Wired Magazine's websites."

+ - Dutch DigiNotar servers were fully hacked-> 0

Submitted by ChristW on Wednesday October 31, 2012 @07:10AM

ChristW writes "The final report that was handed to the Dutch government today indicates that all 8 certificate servers of the Dutch company DigiNotar were fully hacked. Because the access log files were stored on the same servers, they cannot be used to find any evidence for or against intrusion. In fact, blatant falsification has been found in those log files.

A series of so-far unused certificates has also been found. It is unknown if and where these certificates have been used."
Link to Original Source

+ - Call To Arms: Free The Internet! 2

Submitted by ChristW on Tuesday May 01, 2012 @04:13AM

ChristW writes "We've been on the slippery slope for some time now. SOPA and PIPA, the MAFIAA, BREIN (in The Netherlands) shutting down links to sites, and shutting down sites that link to sites that have instructions on them, the DeCSS debacle, the Sony Rootkit debacle, you name it...

The companies and governments are acting like little children (taking the Internet for their own intentions, and not sharing it).

I say, we do what we do to little children. We've given the Internet to the corporations and governments, it's time to say 'Bad girl!' and take it back from them.

So, what can we do to wrestle the Internet from their hands?"

+ - Developers for GTA04 (OpenMoko successor) needed!-> 0

Submitted by

ChristW

on Monday February 20, 2012 @09:16AM

ChristW writes "In a recent article, I presented you with the OpenMoko Freerunner's successor, the GTA-04.

The project is in dire need of (kernel) developers to help out with drivers, suspend/idle time and userland applications, or any other area you may be interested in.

A limited number of free (as-in-beer and, of course, as-in-speech) GTA04 main boards is available for people who want to help move the project forward. Having a GTA01 (Neo1973) or GTA02 (Freerunner) is optional, but having one will enable you to convert your existing phone to one with the new main board.

If anyone is interested in obtaining one of these boards, please let me know!"
Link to Original Source

+ - OpenMoko's FreeRunner rises from the ashes 0

Submitted by ChristW on Thursday December 01, 2011 @02:38PM

ChristW writes "Remember OpenMoko's first free and open source phones, the GTA-01 and GTA-02 (also called FreeRunner)? There is a new project called Phoenux. The German company Golden Delicous is building a new main board (called GTA-04) for the GTA01/02 case.

The new hardware features:
- DM3730 (800 MHz)
- GTM601W UMTS (HSPA)
(and lots more)"

+ - Lockpicks by Open LockSport-> 0

Submitted by ChristW on Monday September 20, 2010 @02:56AM

ChristW writes "If you've always wanted to own a good set of lockpicks, but haven't been able to get any, here's your chance! There's a project on Kickstarter to fund a project by Schuyler Towne to make sets of lockpicks. As I'm writing this, the project has been funded up to 1100%, but I'd love to see what a Slashdotting can do to a Kickstarter project..."
Link to Original Source

+ - OpenMoko inc announces Wikipedia WikiReader-> 0

Submitted by ChristW on Tuesday October 13, 2009 @03:44AM

ChristW writes "OpenMoko inc, of FreeRunner fame, proudly presents its new product: The WikiReader. It's a small form factor device that needs no internet connection to show Wikipedia articles. The articles are stored on an internal, removable uSD card. Needs 2 AAA batteries to run. The company claims that it can run up to a year on one set of batteries."
Link to Original Source

+ - Microsoft further reducing MSN Music support 0

Submitted by ChristW on Thursday April 24, 2008 @10:05AM

ChristW writes "The aricle itself says it better than I can: "In November 2006, Microsoft stopped selling music downloads through its MSN Music site, directing people to the Zune Marketplace instead. But customers who had already purchased tracks through MSN Music have been able to continue getting license keys to transfer and play their songs on additional computers. After Aug. 31, no more will they be able to do that, according to an e-mail notification sent to customers today."

The e-mail that Microsoft sent can be found in the original article"

+ - Towards more aesthetic forms of cryptography

Submitted by

ChristW

on Monday February 19, 2007 @08:34AM

ChristW writes "A security expert currently working at the Philips Research lab in Eindhoven has set himself a new challenge, making encryption and decryption more aesthetically pleasing. From the introduction to his paper: "When a scientific or engineering discipline reaches a high level of sophistication, it ceases to be a purely function-oriented endeavour and acquires certain aesthetic qualities. Consider for instance robotics. The elegant and efficient motions of sleek robotic arms are delightful to watch. Another example is fractal art. The difference between a sophisticated and an immature discipline is like hearing a song instead of mere speech, reading poetry instead of mere words, seeing a sculpture instead of mere stone. Cryptography has clearly not yet reached this state of maturity. Not by a long way. Instead of being delightful, it a is messy, painstaking, boring, arduous business for all involved parties, especially for the cryptanalist. I hypothesize that when cryptography reaches a sufficient state of maturity, reading and analyzing ciphertext will be akin to submerging oneself in a profoundly poetic work of art. Cryptanalysis, even if unsuccessful, will fill the practitioner with joy, while the encrypting and decrypting parties will delight in the beautiful relationships between the plaintext and the ciphertext." See the paper on his home page for an example and his conclusion."