Security

U.S. blows its technology horn

The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), itself part of the Technology Administration (TA), which is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, released a report touting its technical accomplishments in 2004.

The report details how the ITL advanced standards, measurements and technologies in e-voting security, biometrics, building safety, electronic health records, information overload and mobile computing. Looking ahead, ITL Director Shashi Phoha said her group was engaged in bringing together the worlds of computer technology and quantum physics with the Quantum Information Program, the success of which she deemed "… Read more

Fee furor puts House panel in a spin

Tongues have been wagging about payments made by private companies to participate in the CISO Exchange, a cybersecurity effort that gives them access to government decision makers. Now it looks like Rep. Tom Davis, the chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, is easing back on official support for the group.

Davis has pulled the plug on the committee's staff director, Melissa Wojciak, serving as co-chair of the CISO Exchange's advisory board, according to a report on GovExec.com. The group was launched in February as a public-private effort to improve data security on federal systems--a much-needed … Read more

The Russians are coming

In a topsy-turvy flush of national pride, Russia's cybercrime police unit has warned that the hackers there are the world leaders, reports Dan Ilett of News.com's sister site ZDNet UK.

"Everyone knows that Russians are good at maths," Boris Miroshnikov, a lieutenant general in the ominously named Department K told a London conference crowd. "Our software writers are the best in the world, that's why our hackers are the best in the world."

Also in the running for top cybercrime nation are Brazil, home of a number of active hacking groups, and … Read more

Mabir virus comes a-calling

First there was Cabir, then CommWarrior. Now security company F-Secure says that another pest has been written to infect mobile phones.

The Mabir. A worm can spread via Bluetooth connections, but more worrying is that it can reach new targets using Multimedia Message Service. MMS is the mobile technology that lets people send text messages that contain audio, video and pictures. The worm waits for MMS or regular SMS text messages to come into the infected handset, then shoots off a reply that carries the malicious file.

Given how easy it is to send messages to handsets around the world, … Read more

Second thoughts about technology

File this under "it was only a matter of time."

Carjackers in Malaysia were unable to get past the biometric security device on a Mercedes, so they chopped off the owner's finger, used it to start the car and left him bleeding on the side of the road, according to this BBC story.

Consider it a cautionary tale for those considering implanting RFID chips in their bodies to thwart kidnappers.

PC virus makes humans feverish

As if computer viruses don't wreak enough havoc on our data, now we have to worry about them giving us flu-like symptoms.

Leading antivirus firms are putting users on high alert after the first computer virus that passes from PCs to humans was discovered in the wild on Friday morning, according to SC Magazine.

The dreaded Malwarlaria.B virus "seems to arrive packaged in e-mails claiming to provide a quick fix for debt and including a diatribe with the words 'you hate freedom,'" warned Richard John Bingham, a senior technology consultant at antivirus vendor LucaanWare.

Early signs … Read more

Passport to privacy problems?

Business-travel groups and some security experts have raised a red flag over the United States' plans to include a contactless (read: wireless) chip in next-generation passports.

The worry is that the chip, designed to be readable at a range of four inches, could be scanned by high-tech equipment from much further away, enabling terrorists and criminals to target Americans abroad. The chip on the passport will contain all the information normally displayed on the first page of the passport, including a digital photograph of the holder. The data--once written--cannot be changed.

Many of the concerns are fueled by a Web … Read more

Creating Mac OS X virus will have to be its own reward

A controversial Mac accessory seller has pulled his offer of a $25,000 reward for creating a Mac OS X virus.

Jack Campbell, CEO of DVForge, said on his company's Web site that he wanted to do the contest as a way of proving that Mac OS X is not vulnerable to attack, as Symantec recently claimed. However, he said he pulled the bounty after an outcry from Mac users.

"During the first several hours after making the public announcement, I was contacted by a large number of Mac users and Mac software professionals who shared their thinking … Read more

ChoicePoint denies FBI offer violated info-sharing laws

ChoicePoint representatives have refuted public concerns that its January 2000 business proposal to the FBI would have created a system that circumvented the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 and allowed law enforcement officials to secretly access Americans' personal data. A ChoicePoint Spokesmen said Monday that theories such as the one published on the Web site for the Electronic Privacy Information Center hold no merit, as the company requires proof that an individual is being legally investigated, such as an arrest warrant, before it shares people's data with any law enforcement agency.

According to ChoicePoint, which tallied 9 percent … Read more