Security researcher Dan Kaminsky has delivered his much-anticipated report on the DNS flaw he discovered earlier this year.
Kaminsky explained to a crowd at the Blackhat conference in Las Vegas that the flaw he uncovered could be used for attacks far more complex and sinister than just phishing operations.
The researcher began his presentation with an update on the patching operation. He noted that hundreds of millions of users have been protected through updates by vendors and ISPs, and the majority of Fortune 500 companies had deployed patches for their servers as well
The vulnerability centers around the way the domain name system looks up information linking URLs to IP addresses. In short, the flaw allows an attacker to "poison" a given DNS server and redirect traffic to the malicious site.
The vulnerability has mostly been discussed for its possible use in phishing attacks. However, Kaminsky warned that it could also be used to compromise mail servers, allowing the attacker to intercept and redirect messages.
Journalists expelled from Black Hat for hacking competitors - Security - iTnews Australia
Three French journalists from Global Security Magazine have been thrown out of the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas for hacking into fellow journalist’s computers.
Hacking is usually part of the fun at Black Hat and delegates are warned that hackers are patrolling the conference’s public Wi-Fi network trying to steal data. That data is then posted on a public ‘Wall of Sheep’ at the venue, to embarrass security specialists who should know better.
However, as the organisers don’t expect journalists to be as adept at network security the press area is off limits to hacking and runs on a private network. Nevertheless the three journalists decided to do it anyway and try and get the login details for journalists from CNET and eWeek onto the Wall of Sheep.
However the trio, Dominique Jouniot, Mauro Israel and Marc Brami, were rebuffed by staff, asked to leave the conference and banned from attending this year’s DEFCON event as well.
The attack seems to have used a network-sniffing tool called Cain and while it was successful in obtaining details from an eWeek journalists CNET report that the data retrieved on them was incomplete.
Mini laptop use set to soar - Hardware - iTnews Australia
Mini-notebook shipments are set to rocket past the five million unit mark this year and could reach eight million by 2009, according to new figures from analyst firm Gartner..
A mini-notebook typically has a five- to 10-inch screen and runs a full operating system. Current models include the Asus Eee PC and HP Mini-Note. Dell is also expected to make this week.
Part of the reason for the huge popularity of mini laptops, according to Gartner, is that they are likely to attract a variety of users with different requirements including content consumption, internet browsing and email and instant messaging use.
Although the surge in demand is likely to come mainly from consumer markets, mini-notebooks will also appeal to business users including journalists, sales people, and mobile services and support workers "who are seeking a small and lightweight mobile PC with basic functionality and internet connectivity", the report said.
“The demand for mini-notebooks will be driven by several factors: by their small form factor and small screen, their light weight, their price, their ease of use and their basic, but sufficient, PC functionality,” said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner, in a statement.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Google Street View gets go ahead
Google's controversial Street View photo-mapping tool has been given the all clear by the UK's privacy watchdog.
The system takes pictures of streets and adds them to online maps to let people see what locations look like.
The project drew criticism from privacy campaigners worried it could breach data protection laws.
But the Information Commissioner said it was "satisfied" that Google had put in place safeguards to avoid risking anyone's privacy or safety.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft sees end of Windows era
Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.
Called Midori, the cut-down operating system is radically different to Microsoft's older programs.
It is centred on the internet and does away with the dependencies that tie Windows to a single PC.
It is seen as Microsoft's answer to rivals' use of "virtualisation" as a way to solve many of the problems of modern-day computing.
Tie breaking
Although Midori has been heard about before now, more details have now been published by Software Development Times after viewing internal Microsoft documents describing the technology.
Midori is believed to be under development because Windows is unlikely to be able to cope with the pace of change in future technology and the way people use it.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Invisibility cloak 'step closer'
Scientists in the US say they are a step closer to developing materials that could render people invisible.
Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley have developed a material that can bend light around 3D objects making them "disappear".
The materials do not occur naturally but have been created on a nano scale, measured in billionths of a metre.
The team says the principles could one day be scaled up to make invisibility cloaks large enough to hide people.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple blogs to disaffected users
Apple has set up an apologetic blog devoted to solving the problems of its recently launched MobileMe service.
It follows a barrage of criticism of the service, which connects Apple devices to e-mail, contacts and online storage.
In posts over the weekend, the firm admitted to fixing "over 70 bugs" but that 10% of e-mail might have been lost for good.
It said the problem affected just 1% of customers.
One month of the iPhone 3G: what Apple needs to fix
It is just over a month since the worldwide launch of the iPhone 3G. The device has been welcomed enthusiastically by millions of buyers around the world, but the second coming of the iPhone has not been flawless by a long shot. Sure, it's rare for any launch to be entirely flawless, but problems have cropped up in greater frequency this time around than even after the original iPhone launch. Here, we look at the ups and downs in one month with the iPhone 3G.
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