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Comment Real crime here is the software engineering (Score 1) 165

It's SO easy to transparently encrypt data at rest now. All you really have to do is to turn on a few configuration settings and set up a decent key management system. If this had been done by Equifax or Capital One, any hack would have resulted in a pile of useless gobbledygook that couldn't be decrypted. The people that designed this system should be shot.

Comment Lacks understanding of mgmt of Internet traffic (Score 2) 171

by Mephistophles (#55621461) Attached to: Bloomberg Op-Ed: The Internet 'Already Lost Its Neutrality'
Internet traffic is managed by reciprocal peering agreements between network providers (i.e. you carry my traffic and I'll carry yours). Google or Facebook may provide peering with other providers, but they're only one of countless others. On the other hand, major ISPs like Comcast and ATT are also major network peering providers. So they CAN influence the cost and amount of traffic they carry. Hence the need for regulation. The reference poses a false analogy about a website whose content was so vile that no one wanted to carry it. That's carry Web content, not Internet traffic. That's primarily a function of advertisement and revenue generation. If you carry vile content, companies are not going to want to run ads next to it to avoid the association.

Comment Re:Works for me (Score 1) 607

by Mephistophles (#44776681) Attached to: NSA Foils Much Internet Encryption
Totally agree. I'd expect the NSA to be the best at what they're supposed to do. Trouble is, the have no regulation or scrutiny. The rubber stamp FISA court is a joke. The NSA spends a lot of time lying, spying on, and gaming American citizens, when they should be devoting that time and energy to cracking codes from our enemies. Sheesh.
Android

Submission + - Sony Encourages Linux on their Phones (neowin.net) 1

Submitted by
neokushan
neokushan writes: "It's no secret that Sony has been in the news a lot lately. From the PSN downtime, with the identity theft issue that comes with it, to the numerous court cases launched to try and quell the PS3 hacking Scene.

It may come as a surprise to many, then, that Sony's mobile smartphone division has taken an almost polar-opposite approach — they're actively encouraging developers to create, modify and install customised Linux kernels into their latest lineup of phones, including the Xperia Play, the device that was once known as "The Playstation Phone"."
Power

Submission + - Students Invent Revolutionary Solar Sterilizer (inhabitat.com) 1

Submitted by
greenerd
greenerd writes: "Engineering students at Rice University have solved a huge health concern in developing countries by creating a device that uses the sun to sterilize medical instruments. This invention could help prevent the spread of infection and illness in clinics around the world without access to proper sterilization tools."
Facebook

Submission + - Google/Facebook: Do-Not-Track Threatens CA Economy 1

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Ars Technica reports that Google and Facebook are warning legislators of dire consequences if California passes a 'do not track' bill. The proposed law would require companies doing online business in the Golden State to offer an 'opt-out' privacy mechanism for consumers. Senate Bill 761 'would create an unnecessary, unenforceable and unconstitutional regulatory burden on Internet commerce,' reads the-sky-is-falling protest letter bearing the stamp-of-disapproval of Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Amex, Acxiom, Experian, Allstate, Time-Warner, MPAA, ESA and others. 'The measure would negatively affect consumers who have come to expect rich content and free services through the Internet, and would make them more vulnerable to security threats.'
Sony

Submission + - Sony Running Unpatched Servers with no Firewall (consumerist.com)

Submitted by ewhenn
ewhenn writes: Security experts monitoring open Internet forums learned months ago that Sony was using outdated versions of the Apache Web server software, which "was unpatched and had no firewall installed." The issue was "reported in an open forum monitored by Sony employees" two to three months prior to the recent security breaches.

Submission + - Einstein proven right, again (wattsupwiththat.com)

Submitted by sanzibar
sanzibar writes: After 52 years of conceiving, testing and waiting, marked by scientific advances and disappointments, one of Stanford’s and NASA’s longest-running projects comes to a close with a greater understanding of the universe.
Privacy

Submission + - Data Protection Software Too Complicated To Use (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruhlinger
jfruhlinger writes: "With a series of major data breaches over the past few months, you'd think more and more companies would be investing in data protection software, which can help keep data secure even on systems that have been compromised. Unfortunately, even organizations that have paid good money for this software often don't use it, because, as one of the vendors admits, it's often too complicated to use."
Space

Submission + - Did Some Black Holes Survive the Big Bang? (discovery.com)

Submitted by
astroengine
astroengine writes: "Could anything survive from one universe to the next, through a Big Crunch and resulting Big Bang? According to two researchers, a special class of pre-Big Bang black hole may have the ability to traverse the Big Bang singularity. The upshot is that there may be black holes that existed before the Big Bang knocking around in our modern universe. What's more, we might be able to detect them through the theorized gamma-ray burst produced when these pre-Big Bang black holes evaporate out of existence. But how would we distinguish between these black holes and the primordial black holes thought to be produced after the Big Bang? Well, that's just too confusing right now."

Comment Institutional Stupidity or Laziness (Score 1) 242

PCI/DSS standards clearly dictate that all customer data, when "at rest" (i.e. on disk, in a database, etc.) needs to be encrypted: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pdfs/pci_fs_data_storage.pdf: "Do use strong cryptography to render unreadable cardholder data that you store, and use other layered security technologies to minimize the risk of exploits by criminals" That Sony (and all the other businesses and institutions that have been hacked, left laptops to be stolen, etc.) doesn't do this is inexcusable. Had this data been properly encrypted, it would have been unusable to anyone. It's trivial to incorporate this encryption as a part of the design.

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