hacks

On this week's EIC Squared podcast ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I talk about the gyrating, uncertain financial markets. Larry says that consolidation in the financial sector could result in an IT spending decline, but notes that Oracle's latest quarterly results were solid.

We also discuss the hacking of Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, and Web 2.0 reaching middle age.

We finally get our hands on the much coveted Bonch aka Bonnie Cha, Senior Editor for CNET.com. No, we don't grill her on the latest cell phones at CTIA or the proper way to make a Superman cape. Instead, we try to guess Sarah Palin's e-mail password, run through a list of Jeff's mancrushes, do the Cha Cha on the air, and take a visit to the Sex Museum, aka Wilson's cellar.

Wow, did someone open up a tank of nitrous oxide in here? Today's show is literally 40 minutes of constant laughter, and we owe that to our special guest, Bonnie Cha! She's a Senior Editor of mobile phones at CNET and one of the first people I ever met at the San Francisco office. Please don't be operating heavy machinery while listening to today's show! We do taint, tarnish, and otherwise frack up Bonnie's "innocence" by explaining the science behind "Supermanning that ho," which goes over surprisingly well with her. We also debut a service called Cha Cha that allows you to text or call a 24/7 concierge service that will literally answer any inquiry, such as "Is the 404 going to be taken off the air tomorrow?" or "Why is Bonnie's nickname The Bonch?" Of course, all of these questions can be answered using another service; here in 2008 we call it Google. Furthermore,why would I use the Cha Cha when I know Wilson will always be within arm's length of a computer? The man is physically tethered to the Internet. Finally, we take a look at the NBC fall lineup and Bonnie asks the question that's on all of our minds: Jeff, how can you like Sex and the City and still urinate standing up?

One of the hackers accused of involvement in the massive data breach targeted at T.J. Maxx's parent company, arguably the largest security breach worldwide, reportedly pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Damon Patrick Toey pleaded guilty to wire fraud, credit card fraud, and aggravated identity theft, and will be released subject to electronic monitoring, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's Web site. Eleven defendants total are facing charges in federal court in Boston.

TJX Companies, the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshall's, said in March 2007 that 45.7 million accounts were compromised … Read more

The Best Western hotel chain has given details of a hack involving one of its hotels, but downplayed reports that 8 million customers have been affected.

In response to an article published in Scotland's Sunday Herald, Best Western rejected claims that it had suffered a massive compromise of customer details.

Best Western confirmed on Tuesday that it had suffered a breach at one of its German hotels, but denied Sunday Herald claims that every customer using Best Western European hotels since 2007 had had their booking details compromised.

"We can confirm that on 21 August, 2008, three separate … Read more

We thought latte stencils were pretty cool, but this really takes the cake--er, foam. A new company called OnLatte has grabbed the attention of food blogs (and mainstream press like The Wall Street Journal) with its tech-centric approach to the practice of latte art.

The project began last year, when inventor Oleksiy Pikalo saw a video on latte art and decided to make a machine that would decorate his lattes for him. Using a hacked x-y flatbed plotter and edible brown ink, he built a prototype and jokingly filmed it printing a Starbucks logo on a homemade latte.

Pikalo demonstrated … Read more

This post was updated at 1:45 p.m. PDT with comment from MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas.

BOSTON--The three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who have been barred by a court order from discussing subway card vulnerabilities are now free to say what they want.

In a ruling certain to be cheered by computer researchers, a federal judge here Tuesday let the 10-day-old gag order expire. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole Jr. refused to grant a preliminary injunction requested by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority that would have blocked the students from talking about their findings until … Read more

Gary McKinnon, a British man accused of hacking into U.S. military systems, has been granted a short stay of his extradition.

Last month, McKinnon lost his battle in the House of Lords against extradition to the U.S. to face charges of hacking various military systems. His final recourse now will be if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agrees to hear his appeal.

The London law firm representing McKinnon, Kaim Todner, stated on Tuesday that the ECHR will consider as soon as August 28 whether McKinnon can appeal.

"The presidents of the European Court (of) Human … Read more

We tried to give NBC the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Olympic streaming, but then we tried it. And it's ridiculous. Also, we wonder if the iPhone makes you fat, even as it fattens Steve Jobs' wallet. We also discuss the technicalities of invisibility cloaks, and opt-out of Obama's aggressively hip Internet outreach campaign.

Defcon ends with researchers muzzled, viruses written http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10013156-83.html

Judge orders halt to Defcon speech on subway card hacking http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10012612-83.html

Apple hits 3 million … Read more

In the fine tradition of subject lines that tell you nothing about the show or clue you in to the fact that this is, in fact, a tech show. But sometimes, we also like to talk about cowboys. And dogs. And extra-malicious hackers at Black Hat, Vista security "rendered useless" by same, and the low, low interest in Blu-Ray.

Times Online: 'Fakeproof' e-passport is cloned in minutes http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4467106.ece

How I got hacked at Black Hat http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/How-I-Got-Hacked-at-Black-Hat/ … Read more