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CERT Releases Basic Fuzzing Framework 51

Posted by timothy
from the this-field-cannot-be-left-blank dept.
infoLaw passes along this excerpt from Threatpost: "Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team has released a new fuzzing framework to help identify and eliminate security vulnerabilities from software products. The Basic Fuzzing Framework (BFF) is described as a simplified version of automated dumb fuzzing. It includes a Linux virtual machine that has been optimized for fuzz testing and a set of scripts to implement a software test."

Comment: Re:Unencrypted Wifi (Score 1) 418

by Marnhinn (#32289446) Attached to: Google's Streetview Privacy Snafu Prompts Lawsuit

The point isn't for her to feel justice, or make money from this suit, it is for the lawyers representing her to get rich.

Remember, in most lawsuits, the lawyers come out on top. If she wasn't the one making the claims, I am sure that the law firm sponsoring this action would find someone else that would be willing to.

Hardware Hacking

Scientists discover potential Silicon replacement->

Submitted by
Marnhinn
Marnhinn writes "McClatchy News has an interesting article on Graphene, a potential silicon replacement. Graphene is a pure carbon material that is one atom thick, stronger than diamond and can conduct electricity 100 times faster than silicon can in computer chips. While a replacement for silicon is a ways off still, heavy research into Graphene is being done (funded by DARPA)."
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Comment: Re:Aiding and abetting? (Score 2, Interesting) 199

by Marnhinn (#28622045) Attached to: Online Attack Hits US Government Web Sites

So, normally I would agree with you hands down, however, I think the issue is that many people are unaware that their computers are being used for malicious purposes.

Case in point: recently I visited a friend of mine to take a look at his computer. He was complaining it was running slow. A quick check showed multiple viruses on his machine. I asked him how long it had been that way, and his response was, "a few months".

The thing is, by far and large a significant portion of the population is more than likely unaware of what a botnet is, let alone possess the ability to diagnose when their computer has been infected. This is quite different then say, a harboring a bomb maker, as most people (hopefully) would be aware that the guy building bombs in their garage is bad news.

Further, this issue is complicated that the attacks may be motivated politically but carried out by private individuals. If a connection is found, say possibly even a direct link, how is a government supposed to react. Does this qualify as an act of war, espionage, or state sponsored terror attack?

It becomes a sticky issue whenever states are involved, simply due to the politics behind it. If it was soley an attack on a private enterprise, by some general criminal, I would simply recommend getting the cooperation of the government that is harboring / serving as a base of operations for the person / people behind the botnet and having it resolved that way. (Now, I do realize that there are many rogue nations or places that are willing to harbor these types of people, so in reality, a different solution is more than likely needed.)

Comment: Re:Battlenet Server Clones? (Score 2, Interesting) 737

by Marnhinn (#28545811) Attached to: Blizzard Confirms No LAN Support For <em>Starcraft 2</em>

While at the beginning Blizzard may not allow play without having connectivity to Battle.net, I am fairly sure that at some point in the future, functionality will be released that will either allow for multiplayer private servers or possibly LAN.

Remember, Blizzard did release a patch that allows you to play Starcraft 1 without having to insert the CD in. It's simply that eventually computer games reach end of life - and rather than have to continually support a base of players it is easier to simply let them play on their own. Blizzard knows this, it is simply a matter of time before they do it.

However, until then, I am fairly sure that someone will reverse engineer the software and figure out how to emulate a server on their own. Depending on the success or failure of that effort, Blizzard's stance on no LAN support may change. If the emulation / hax reaches critical mass, Blizzard may release a tool that does / has similar functionality simply to maintain that portion of the market.

I'd say at this time - it is far too early to tell though.

Games

Blizzard Shows Off Diablo III Archivist Class, WoW Dance-Off 119

Posted by Soulskill
from the bursting-with-info dept.
It's been a busy day for the folks at Blizzard, who have released major announcements for several different games. The next Diablo III class has arrived: the Archivist. Despite their frail appearance and hunched, labored movement, they are quite deft at launching Quest Bolts at nearby foes, or conjuring a whirling Lore-nado of spinning books. Loud monsters can be silenced with a devastating Shush attack. Blizzard also put Starcraft II's latest unit on display, the Terra-Tron, which is a giant, robot uber-weapon assembled from the buildings in your base. Finally, for World of Warcraft they announced two features that have been requested by players for years: a battle of dances, where you can show off your avatar's hippest moves, and the ability to 'p1mp' your mounts. (Not sure exactly what that means, since I don't speak elvish, but there's a Nightsaber with a cannon — holy crap!)

Comment: There is more than that... (Score 1) 366

by Marnhinn (#26806959) Attached to: The Flying Giant Is 40 Years Old

I'm going to respond to this with a tad more detail (since I have some).

The 747 and A380, while both are large jumbo's, are different classes of planes per international flying bodies (these classes are based on size, wheels, and other physical characteristics). The 747 is a whole class lower (a class V) while the A380 is a class (VI). What this means is that the A380 can land at far fewer airports that the 747 can (something like 300+ less). There are very few airports in the world (as far as I know of - only one airport in the USA that is specifically designed for class VI planes [Washington Dulles in the US]).

When an A380 lands at LAX, in order to accommodate it, a large portion of the taxi-way and surrounding area has to be cleared. This delays all other flights times by 10-15 minutes. Right now LAX can afford to accommodate 1-2 A380's a day, but more than that, and you have issues with all the smaller planes being delayed.

The 787 - the much delayed Boeing plane, is considerably smaller. It can land safely and be used at many more airports around the world. (And upgrading an airport to support a new class of plane, is in the millions of dollars - often as runways, terminals and other items will have to be moved and redone.)

Simply put, the A380 has a significantly smaller usage footprint (somewhere around 385 airfields worldwide can take one normally without interruptions), and as such will sell less, cause airlines are often not willing to pay for additional costs to accommodate the required upgrades to an airport.

Movies

Toshiba Making Funeral Plans for HD DVD 452

Posted by Zonk
from the cue-taps dept.
Blue Light Special writes "With HD DVD on life support, Toshiba is reportedly preparing to bow to the inevitable and allow HD DVD to expire quietly. 'While denying that a decision on the fate of HD DVD has been made, a Toshiba marketing exec left the door wide open. "Given the market developments in the past month, Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players," Jodi Sally, VP of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products, said.'" A few folks have also noted that Wal-mart is joining the Blu-ray train, further lowering the stock of HD DVD.

Xerox developing "natural language color editing"->

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets


Xerox's Geoffrey Woolfe seems to think he's found a way to make picking just the right color a bit easier, laying out his plans for so-called "natural language color editing" at the annual meeting of the Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC). While it's apparently still in the early stages, the system will supposedly let you adjust colors simply by describing them in natural langauge, using voice or typed commands like "make the sky a deeper blue" or "make the background carnation pink" -- the software then does all the rest of the work. Of course, Xerox isn't exactly giving any indication when that may happen, so you'll have to make do with the cumbersome point-and-click method of color-choosing we've somehow managed to get along with all these years for a little while longer.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


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Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. You can't simply say, "Today I will be brilliant." -- Kirk, "The Ultimate Computer", stardate 4731.3

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