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Comment Re:Who's running scared? (Score 1) 429

by psylentz (#37592100) Attached to: As a target for malware, my main computer is ...
I would agree to this, but causality and correlation are applied incorrectly. The reason most average users are infected is precisely because that's what the malware types target... if users were more aware, it would simply mean a more sophisticated attack. This will continue until the parabolic function of time invested is less than the return on investment by the malware infector.
Security

Espionage In Icelandic Parliament 274

Posted by timothy from the maybe-it's-just-the-porn-server dept.
bumburumbi writes "An unauthorised computer, apparently running encrypted software, was found hidden inside an unoccupied office in the Icelandic Parliament, Althingi, connected to the internal network. According to the Reykjavik Grapevine article, serial numbers had been removed and no fingerprints were found. The office had been used by substitute MPs from the Independence Party and The Movement, the Parliamentary group of Birgitta Jonsdottir, whose Twiiter account was recently subpoenaed by US authorities. The Icelandic daily Morgunbladid, under the editorship of Mr David Oddsson, former Prime Minister and Central Bank chief, has suggested that this might be an operation run by Wikileaks. The reporter for the Reykjavik Grapevine, Mr Paul Nikolov is a former substitute MP, having taken seat in Parliament in 2007 and 2008."
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Should Wikipedia Just Accept Ads Already? 608

Posted by CmdrTaco from the or-gimme-a-tote-bag dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Large images of Jimmy Wales have for weeks dominated each and every page on Wikipedia, making Wales arguably the single most visible individual on the planet. Now Molly McHugh writes that Wikipedia is once again pleading for user donations with banners across the top of its site with memos from purported authors and this week, Wales stepped up the shrillness of his rallying cry by adding the word 'Urgent' to his appeal. Wales attempted the same request for donations last year, and failed to meet the company's goal until Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar donated $2 million and Google stepped in with another $2 million gift to the foundation. This time around the foundation is approximately $7 million short of its 2010 fundraising goal, and Wikipedia analysts are saying the site would be better off with a marketing scheme as Alex Konanykhin of WikiExperts explains that the donations-only, no-commerce model restricts Wikipedia to relying exclusively on free volunteers, losing opportunities to involve qualified professionals who charge for their time in addition to the thirty staff members already on the Wikimedia payroll. 'Advertising is not cool. You're not as cool if you have advertising. But you know what else is not cool? Begging,' writes Jeff Otte. 'We do not care if there is advertising on Wikipedia, so long as it is not ridiculously invasive. So please, replace your sensitive mug with a Steak 'n' Shake ad or something, and start making advertisers pay for people to have stuff for free and not feel bad about it. It's the Internet's way.'"
Security

The Case For Lousy Passwords 343

Posted by CmdrTaco from the love-for-the-lousy dept.
itwbennett writes "Since the Gawker and McDonald's hack attacks, the web has been overrun with admonishments against using weak passwords. But weak passwords have their place too, says blogger Peter Smith. Like, for example, on Gawker, where he really doesn't care if it gets cracked. 'Life is too short to be worrying about 24 character passwords for trivial sites,' says Smith. And, to put things in perspective, your good passwords are pretty weak too. In a 2007 Coding Horror article, Jeff Atwood points out that the password "Fgpyyih804423" was cracked in 160 seconds by the Ophcrack cracker."

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