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Comment: A revised CAPTCHA? (Score 4, Interesting) 303

by Panaqqa (#25227959) Attached to: Spammers Targeting Microsoft's Revised CAPTCHA
I had played with this idea a bit a few months back and came up with an idea I think could work - but only ever got around to coding the most basic example of it. For those on /. who are interested, find it here. Each reload will produce the image of a new challenge.

In a closer to final version I had envisioned instructions in multiple fonts and colors involving shapes, letters, etc., and much more flexibility.

In the example I've shown above, pure random clicking will produce a correct response to the challenge 1 time in 30 approximately. So - make them solve three in a row and there you are - 1 chance in 27,000.
Microsoft

MS Update KB951748+ZoneAlarm: Crippled Net Access->

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "It looks like a recent Microsoft update, KB951748, does not play nice with certain personal firewalls, most notably ZoneAlarm. Following installation there are problems with ZoneAlarm due to DNS packets being blocked. Certain OS files are updated, but the update evidently neglects to inform the firewall of the new network settings. Simply uninstalling the update gets things back to normal, but one does have to wonder where the QC is these days at Microsoft. ZoneAlarm is one of the most popular personal firewalls out there, and for MS to break it due to lack of testing is inexcusable."
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Networking

Aussie device 'could speed up web 100 times'->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Australian scientists have developed a prototype of a photonic chip that could increase internet speeds by up to 100 times. The device — which eliminates the need to convert light to electricity during the transfer of data — would greatly increase the speed of fibre networks without the need for massive infrastructure upgrades. Centre for Ultra-high-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS) director Professor Ben Eggleton said the chip was created using a special type of glass called chalcogenide, which was engraved to create a circuit that could direct data at an incredible rate."
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Businesses

Clean up spyware in Texas, go to jail for a year->

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "According to a law passed in the 2007 Texas legislative session, any computer repair that requires the analysis of a customer's data could get the technician a $4,000 fine and a year in jail. That is unless the repair person has a private investigator's license. And how to get the license? A three year degree program in criminal justice or an apprenticeship of a similar length under a licensed investigator. This law was apparently passed as a simple protectionist measure, but the overly broad wording of it has just come to the attention of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian litigation firm which has filed a constitutional challenge to the law. Perhaps it's time to determine how many computer technicians working for the Texas government have their PI license."
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Microsoft

Intel to Pass on Vista->

Submitted by QRDeNameland
QRDeNameland writes "Steve Lohr on The New York Times' Bits blog reports that:

Intel, the giant chip maker and longtime partner of Microsoft, has decided against upgrading the computers of its own 80,000 employees to Microsoft's Vista operating system, a person with direct knowledge of the company's plans said.
Ouch, that's gotta hurt..."
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Government

Top Engineers Shun Military

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Unlike the 1970s and 1980, new engineering grads are shunning military jobs for employment in the private sector. Result: Expensive military projects are going off the rails due to a lack of engineering expertise."
Censorship

Goodbye to Usenet for Millions of Users->

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "The Attorney General for New York, Mario Cuomo, has issued a press release concerning an investigation which found child pornography in certain newsgroups. It appears his plan is to force major ISPs to severely curtail Usenet access. Sprint has announced plans to block the ALT. heirarchy, while Time Warner Cable has simply decided to eliminate Usenet access entirely. This measure will of course be completely ineffective, but it does set a nasty precedent: eliminating access to a huge segment of the Internet because of a tiny amount of illegal content. They must have been watching when each of Thailand and Pakistan decided to block YouTube over one video."
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Networking

Is the domain market getting plain silly again?->

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "The domain PIZZA.COM is up for auction on Sedo, and already the price has reached $2,505,000 with more than 4 days still to run in the auction. Other recent examples of huge domain prices are PORN.COM ($9,500,000 in 2007) and DIAMOND.COM ($7,500,000 in 2006). It is now impossible to buy any 3 letter .COM combination for less than $5,000 and every single 4 letter is registered, with sale prices averaging $100. Unlikely domains such as "AUCTIONMOOLAH.COM" are listed at $5,000, and we have Network Solutions front running WHOIS searches. Any thoughts on when the domain market will "jump the shark"?"
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Businesses

Most People Have No Idea What Copyright Is For-> 1

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "Question Copyright has posted an interesting video of ordinary people explaining why they think copyright exists. It is pretty clear that most people have no clue why, thinking instead that it has something to do with protecting content or preventing plagiarism. This is not a good thing considering the current attempts to vastly expand and lengthen copyright protections. But our recent copyright turmoil is not new. Far from it according to a recent dissertation concerning copyright in the 19th century. From the dissertation: "This era was rife with copyright-related controversy and excitement, including international squabbling, celebrity grandstanding, new technology, corporate exploitation, and ferocious arguments about piracy, reprinting, and the effects of copyright law". Some engaging reading for those with an interest in the topic."
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Security

Vista & XP Security Flaw - Rootkit exploit in ->

Submitted by
Paul
Paul writes "In early Devember 2007 a new rootkit that hides itself in the Master Boot Record (MBR) of a users disk was spotted in the wild. Up until then this was more of a proof of concept (POC). This goes to show how much effort rootkit authors are putting in to creating new ways of evading Anti Rootkit software. This is a new vector of attack for malware writers and gives them control from outside the Operating System."
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Privacy

Sears at it again: burglar's reference->

Submitted by
Anonymouse Coooward
Anonymouse Coooward writes "CA has another scoop on Sears:
http://community.ca.com/blogs/securityadvisor/archive/2008/01/03/managemyhome-com-another-privacy-issue-for-sears.aspx

Sears' managemyhome.com site allows any burglar to case a home from the comfort of their armchair and provide them with everything they'd need to bluff their way through picking it up for a "recall".

quotes from TFA:

Once you register, you can look up major purchases for ANY address. All you need to do is enter a name, address and phone number and if the person attached to that info has made a major purchase at sears you get that info!! They have no real controls in place — you have to enter an onscreen code and they say that keeps your info safe, but that does not stop someone from entering other people's contact info to see their product purchases.

I checked this out, and sure enough, in about 2 minutes I was looking at every purchase my parents had made since 1989. What's worse, I had used no more info than is publicly listed in the phone book: their name, address, and telephone number. Once you have an account at http://www.managemyhome.com/ and have logged in, select the first option (Home Profile) from the "Home" pull-down menu on the main page. In the upper right corner of the page, you should see a "Sears Purchase History", with a button labeled "Find my Products". The only information they asked for when I followed that button was a name, phone number, and address.

If you had major dealings with Sears, that information is now available to the public, from a television bought in 1978 to a stove which was purchased elsewhere but had been repaired by a Sears technician."
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Security

Facebook Widget Installs Zango Spyware ->

Submitted by BaCa
BaCa writes "A malicious Facebook Widget actively spreading on the social networking site ultimately prompts users to install the infamous "Zango" adware/spyware. The tremendous success and lightning fast expansion of Facebook empowered the social networking giant with an impressive user base. Needless to say, in a digital world where web traffic equals money, such a user base attracts spammers, virus/spyware seeders, and other ethic-less online marketers like honey would attract flies."
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Patents

EFF Busts Bogus Online Testing Patent->

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes "It's taking a while, but the EFF's Patent Busting Project is making progress. In the latest news, the USPTO has now officially rejected one of the 10 awful patents targeted, making the world safe again for administering tests over the Internet. This joins the reexamination of a patent on automated remote access of a computer over a network and the revokation of a patent on recording live performances to CD as notable successes for the EFF."
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The Courts

EU Encouraging Standardized DRM, Licensing 153

Posted by Soulskill
from the reply-hazy-try-again dept.
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The European Commission is trying to encourage a standard licensing and DRM scheme for all of Europe, as well as 'cooperation procedures' and 'codes of conduct' for ISPs, copyright holders, and customers. No legislation has been proposed yet, but the 'cooperation procedures' sound like a push for an EU version of the DMCA Takedown Notices, which are already routinely sent to people outside the US. While simplified licensing might be nice, it's interesting that they don't appear to understand the inherent tension between standardization, interoperability and DRM — break once, copy everywhere."

It is indeed desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors. -- Plutarch