Posts by Dillon Pyron

Fake flash player site used to spread malware

News sites

I've now seen it on at least two news paper or TV sites. I've informed them, but received no response. I've notified that I will go public on Monday. We'll see what happens.

Hacker breaks into Pentagon email system

Unclassified?

Do you really think that only unclassified information is on those computers?

"I hear the 2nd Brigade is deploying this summer. Isn't that your brother's unit?"

"I just saw where Tacit Rainbow's successor is 6 months late. Now I have to do a new budget and get the Undersecretary a briefing paper together. Looks like I won't make the bridge game tonight."

"They just requisitioned bin Laden's DNA samples. You know what that means."

Google goes global with new-fangled ad engine

noscript

Ah, I use noscript. This should be fun.

Bush official goes nuclear in Net Neut row

Different providers?

So will the telcos/cables charge themselves for providing services such as IPTV versus somebody like CBS (unless they set up some sort of exclusive deal with them)? This would provide an enormous advantage to the telcos. And they get to charge more to their customers who want these service. I see it as a win/win for the telcos. They collect from both ends.

About those 844 security breaches... 'fess up, Congress tells DHS

Blackhat/DEFCON

Last year there were at least a dozen DHS people at Blackhat and DEFCON. Most had no idea what was going on. Perhaps it was because they didn't send IT people, but instead counterterrorism "subject matter experts". When it came to Spot the Fed, they were like shooting fish in a barrel. The Feebs were harder to spot, and they were pegged by the end of day one. DHS is all about bombs and can't get a focus on their own systems.

'Shut your head and be pheasant'

Goes into the forgotten past

Sure to push "bases" into the forgotten past.

US gov in Bill Gates inspired robot probe

They've been coming for how long?

Fuck robots. Erh, that's exactly what Christensen is proposing.

Seriously, this is yet another field that has been promised to us for 20 years. AI was the hot thing when I was doing my undergrad 30 years ago. And "one way trap door encryption" had just been introduced (I still have the copy of the Communications of the ACM where this was published). One of them has come to fruition, the other is "the next big thing". Specialized industrial robots have been around for quite some time because they are good at their particular task and so the demand is there. Meanwhile, household automation is a 1/2% market and at least one vendor appears to be ready to bail on the business.

Apple TV gets its first critical security patch

Security numbers

Sure Apple's had a couple of security lapses this year. But MS has had more in the last month.

OTOH, my neighbor's just got an Apple TV. I wonder if they know what they'll be watching tonight. I do. :-)

Operating systems are old and busted

It's still an OS

Call it what you like, there's still a need for an OS. He might argue that there's no need for device management, but at some level there has to be. A virtualized system still needs something to run on. He's selling a virtualization product, of course he'll say what he's going to say. I think everybody should have a full blown security assessment once a year. Guess what I sell.

YouTube 'riddled with 40-plus security vulnerabilities'

Full disclosure

Sometimes the threat of full disclosure is the only way to get someone's attention. The fear of looking bad frequently works where more gentle prodding and requests fails. I'm just surprised they didn't sue him or have him arrested. Of course, had it been someone less reputable, they would never have know who it was, just that the vulns suddenly showed up on a full disclosure site. Or some zero day attacks hit (given their seeming lack of interest, these might have turned into 6 month old attacks).

YouTube hits iPhone

The appeal?

"Although honestly I can't see the appeal."

What? You mean watching a grainy image on a 2 inch screen isn't the most thrilling thing in the world for you? But I thought that TV on the phone was the next "killer app".

Harry Potter transcript claim doesn't convince

Spot on

Ian, perfect. I think you nailed it. "Bot net for rent. Guaranteed to be Harry Potter fans. Perfect for spamming and porn hosting."

Another skiddie

Another skiddie looking for props. I doubt very seriously that the book would be stored on any computer connected to the net, for exactly that reason. I had to submit my manuscript on a DVD as my publisher doesn't accept anything online. Several of my professional publications do, but they really don't care if something gets leaked. And since they are all security related, I suspect they are a little more armored.

This is probably somewhat similar to the versions of the last book supposedly published in China. Mostly crap. Correction. All.

Quick-charging electric cars could be round the corner

Air conditioning

Whereas AC is a real drag on power. There is a measurable difference in gas mileage when the AC is turned on. And power is noticeably down on all but the most powerful engines (which have crap mileage). The Prius now has electric AC and power steering. The electric AC has improved the mileage over engine powered, I'm sure it's still a significant drain on the battery. Since the power steering was always there, it's hard to tell what the impact is.

Creature comforts will be the bane of electric cars.

Google boss brandishes 'powerful' iPhone

but, but , but

But it's an iPhone. That makes all the difference in the world.

I look forward to Linux based phones with an X-Windows GUI. I can create an x-term and ssh back through my firewall at home. The phone will have a little fan and everything.

Brown asks cops for gadget wish list

"against dissent"

I know the UK doesn't have a Bill of Rights, but I thought you had some sort of freedom of speech. Or does that only apply if you agree with the majority opinion? Or with the government (which doesn't have to be the majority opinion).

Let's see, among the "gadgets" I'd pay for is a raise in police salaries. Police and firefighters don't get paid enough. Charleston, SC is a case in point.

Brits to US tech firms: we need you!

Biometrics?

It's as if biometrics would suddenly solve all the theft problems. But putting a biometric system into a device increases the price, adds to the complexity and adds another point of failure.

Walt Disney World uses a simple biometric device to prevent multi day tickets from being resold (the more days you buy, the cheaper the additional days are). They have about a 5% failure rate (scan doesn't match what's on file). So everybody has to sign their ticket and produce ID if needed. I wonder what the alternative access method would be for an iPod Shuffle.

If someone could answer this question: How common is the theft of mobile devices in England? Is it a real problem or a perceived problem?

Apple buyout rumours circulate as iPhone launch nears

Stock manipulation?

Drive the price down with rumors, buy at a discount, let the product prove itself, sell at a premium. The reverse of the pump & dump. And typically, you don't know who the rumor mongers are. In this instance, the reporter/columnist is just saying what he heard. I could say that the Barcelona is going to exceed expectations and beat Intel in all the benchmarks. Which I hope happens (because I own a ton of AMD stock).

Byrne explains the UK's wondrous, biometric, ID card future

Positve ID works?

This weekend I was in Indy. Flying back Monday morning I noticed that they had the Trusted Traveler system. I asked the TSA agent how popular it was and he said that he saw probably less than 100 people use it on a busy day, maybe less. Now Indy is on the end of a spoke, but somebody must be flying in from the hubs, so there should be some sort of demand for it. The terminal in question serves American and Continental.

I agree, and ID card won't make check in any easier at the airport. Or anywhere else, for that matter. And who bears the cost of the reader? Not the service provider. And not the government.

I suspect we will see some sort of national ID here in the States in a few years. Once the UK has "sorted out the bugs". Of course, if they really wait for that to happen, we'll never have one. I really and truly feel sorry for you Brits.

Those who sacrifice freedom for security will get neither.

FCC chairman says ‘broadband for all!’

700 MHz will never happen

As long as we have a government (and both Reps, and Dems apply here) that wants to sell frequencies, we'll never have a "free" band anywhere. Public service, yes. But broad band will have trouble being justified as "public service".

The communications "giants" "have to" make their money somewhere. So, unless the Feds intervene, it will either be on the backs of the rural customers or all customers will pay equally. But the consumer WILL pay for it. If the Feds decide to subsidize the service, you know who will actually pay for it. This was the case in Texas for a number of years. Until the Lege found out that the money was going almost everywhere except supporting infrastructure in rural areas. Rate payers were charged a fee to support this. We're charged a fee for just about everything. I pay $19.98 each for two lines, plus $2.95 for distinctive ring on one of those lines and $15.00 for unlimited long distance. But my total bill is around $100.00. Those are some heavy fees and taxes.

Say goodbye to Office 2003, Microsoft tells PC builders

Accepting W2K7 docs?

I belong to 3 professional societies who have all said that they will not accept Office 2007 Word documents for publication. I have Office 2000, but am upgrading to 2003 for Contact Manager. But any future machines will have OO, unless I decide to reuse my copy of Office (which will be "perfectly legal" because the current machine will be retired).

Need hard facts? Try Conservapedia

Cinservative?

Conservative my ass. This makes conservative look like far left wingers. This is written by and for the wing nut fringe. I'm a NRA lifer. Maybe that credential will help make me a "trusted" editor. At least until I edit the scurolous entry on breast cancer. My wife had breast cancer last year and I have come to know many breast cancer survivors. Most of whom have never had an abortion. I wonder if this applies as libel.

Sony debuts dual-box HD-editing PC

RAID 0?

Should that be RAID 1? There's no real advantage to a RAID 0 except capacity. And with a few hundred additional slots available, RAID 1 is the obvious choice. I also see a time in the not too distant future where we will see high end systems with RAID 5.

iPhone variants on the way?

Of course!

Of course there will be cheaper models. Just like there will be a 3G model. The question is when. Apple can't afford to piss off early adopters, so the cheaper models will have to have some features cut. But it's those features that make the iPhone what it is.

About a month ago, Cingular/AT&T sent me an email saying that they had iPhones reserved for my wife and I and all we had to do was come in and tell them we want one. OTOH, our contract ran out in December, so they probably want us on a new one, which now requires the purchase of a media package. But I don't think I'll pay $500 for a phone when I can get all I need for $50. Or a WM phone for $100.

HP buys web security firm SPI

There goes the neighborhood

Oh no! I really like the SPI Dynamics product line. They have some great tools. I liked the ISS product line, now many of those tools are gone. At least some of my friends will become rich with this deal. But likely unemployed.

Feds told they need warrants for webmail

Encryption?

Of course I've been using it, for many years. I belong to several committees that meet and vote online. All votes are required to be signed.

As far as export is concerned, it's been years since encryption technology has been covered by ITARS. I have several pictures of me wearing in t-shirt that says "This is a munition" with the RSA code, taken in many countries.

Video games, TV ruin Best Buy's profits

Margins?

I suspect Best Buy's margins on TVs are pretty slim. And with Fry's selling name brand lap tops for $500, Best Buy is going to have a tough time there, too. With video games coming out by the dozens every week, they're going to have to invest in a lot of inventory in hopes that a few might sell well.

But they're not the only one hurting. All the electronics retailers are in much the same bind. It's not that the internet businesses are cutting into them, it's consumers demanding lower prices. And the demand of a year ago is down, as "everybody" who wants a flat panel has "probably" "already" bought one. So it's people like me who only want to pay $1000 for one that they have left to sell to. Even the prices on 1080p sets have fallen dramatically. Best Buy isn't competing with Circuit City or Fry's, they're competing with history. And history always wins.

Google cookie cuts $600m data center in Iowa

Consulting services

One of the services a consulting firm can provide is how to use, and maximize the benefit of, Google services. There are already consultants who do nothing more than teach people how to become "power users" of MS Office products. Why not Google? I've also seen people teach how to use Google. This kind of service can't be provided by Google, it needs a local presence. As far as other services are concerned, once again, until Google opens shop in Austin, I'm not afraid of them.

Fring thing comes to Windows Mobile

Solution?

Is this a solution in search of a problem? I'm sure that carriers are going to embrace VoIP instead of their own air services. Or their own solutions. Fring has a long row to hoe. I wish them luck, but point to the many dot com companies of the late 90s who had zero income but offered a "world changing" product. Yahoo, Google, Amazon and e-Bay survived and flourished. Can you name the others? I can't.

UK extends ecommerce directive to terrorism laws

Misleading lead in?

When I read the first paragraph of the article, I thought that the UK had decided to follow the US model and prosecute anybody they wanted, no matter where they are located. And then you disappointed me. You mean I can set up a site advocating bombing the Parliment and only have to worry about the Feds? Shucks, I was hoping to serve life in two countries.

Google takes aim at Microsoft, carbon, China

Carbon neutral?

That's a lot of trees they'll be planting to offset the pollution produced by the power plants they need to support their server farms. There's no way they could install enough solar panels to power them. Unless they go nuclear (nucular?). Which opens its own can of worms.

Phishermen, not zombies, causing biggest security woes

Botnets?

Botnets on the decline? And just how do you think the vast majority of spam is distributed? What do you think rootkits are for? They're publishing self serving surveys.

Lag caught with phone charger up jacksie

Holiday camp?

"The recent pics I've seen of prison cells has them with colour TVs... FFS, this is supposed to be a punishment, no a bl**dy holiday camp!

There are some in the US who have suggested color TVs in every cell, food by McDonalds and Pizza Hut. They also advocate no weights or handball courts. The criminals would come out as soft butterballs instead of buff strong arms.

Of course, McDonald's and Pizza Hut might be considered "cruel and unusual punishment". Especially the crap Pizza Hut passes off as pizza.

Post Office loses Amazon contract

HP7

I have a friend who works for the USPS. He told me that the Harry Potter books are delivered in a container with a seal. They can break the seal at midnight. We expect our book (well, Carol's book) around 9 am, on our doorstep. I will not have a conversation with her until she is done.

Pentagon's raygun-packing 747 to visit DC

And that's called?

Oink oink.

The problem with boost phase intercepts is that you have to see the missile. Now I know that it's easy enough to keep planes in the air 24x7, but how many and where?

Sex game bloke traps modesty in padlock

News of the Weird

This will be making News of the Weird by the end of next month.

Cocky Locky. I like it.

Texas cops taser diabetic seizure man

Trigger happy?

I've carried since Jan 1, 1998 and have never had an occasion to draw, never mind fire. I've walked away from fights because I know my responsibilities. Your generalization is insulting. That's like saying that all Brits have crap teeth or that they are so frightened of criminals that they have outlawed almost everything.

Of course, you know who I am, versus being an anonymous troll.

Swedish man gets benefits for Black Sabbath addiction

A cure?

Every time Ozzy comes on, he gets a slight shock. Or make him listen to Bach for a couple of weeks.

What if I object to heavy metal and work with him? Do I get benefits from the government?

I guess internet porn addicts are next. Followed by WoW junkies.

Yahoo! and MSN up the mobile browsing stakes

Dumb phones?

And those of us with dumb phones?

I guess that everybody will be hustling with Apple.

Blade PC start-up manages to nail IBM, ClearCube and Verari

Thin clients?

I can remember when thin clients were being hailed as the "next big thing". That was in 1994. I've used or supported dozens of them. Remember NCD and how they were going to revolutionize Unix & X Windows? Blades and thin clients are just the latest version of this. Eventually we'll cycle back around to desktops with some sort of remote control. It's the Circle of Life.

Manhunt 2 banned

EC "exports"?

I wonder how long it will take for some enterprising soul from another EC country to start "exporting" them to the UK. I'd do it if I had access to PAL versions.

Investigators find secret White House email accounts

Just block them

I can't get to any of the webmail services from my current client. I can't even get to my own. It's just a matter of blocking them.

But you don't think politicians of all stripes don't do the same thing? It's endemic in our government. It's a great way to leak information, to hide communication, to set up "plausible deniability". I'm sure some staffer on the committee has an anonymous email account.

Minister: ID cards 'another Great British Institution'

Fingerprint readers

My experience with fingerprint readers is that they work about 85% of the time. And add about $75 to the cost of the device. Not much for a $2000 lap top, but outrageous for a $75 MP3 player or a "free" phone.

Goodbye ICSTIS, hello PhonePayPlus

Logo watch

I hope the el Reg observers are ready to spot the new logo, which will probably be inspired by the London Olympics logo. Only worse.

F-22 superjets could act as flying Wi-Fi hotspots

At last, a use

At last we have a use for an air superiority fighter. Which I was working on in 1986.

TalkTalk slams slamming charges

What they meant

"We don't do that, and even if we do, we didn't mean to, and even if we meant to, it's not all that frequent. Sort of"

In the US we don't have unbundled service in most areas. So the only criminals are the telcos and cable companies. You can get all sorts of attractive rates, but they don't tell you what the rate will be after the teaser expires.

Dutch police arrest 111 West Africans in 419 clampdown

419ers and their victims

There are two types of victims. The greedy and the gullible. The greedy I have no sympathy for. They include such "victims" as the public official who embezzled several million dollars from city/county coffers to keep his "relationship" with a 419er going. The gullible are typically those who don't understand when they are being scammed. The elderly are victims of this both on the internet and in person. A local con man was recently arrested for running a Ponzi scam at a local retirement city (Sun City). He took "investors" for about $8 million. And investigators can only find about $600,000.

Vyke moves VoIP battle to SMS

This is going to hurt

I'm not on a media plan from AT&T. I don't typically send that many text messages in a month. This weekend I sent about 60. At $.15 a message domestic and $.30 for international.

Messages such as "Speed sucks, beating Rubens and Fischy"

Cyber crooks hijack 10,000 websites

Sure

" Anyone else wondering if it is the anti-malware companies themselves creating this software just to keep themselves in business? "

Sure, and there's a vast conspiracy amongst lawyers to promote crime in order to keep them all employed (prosecutors and defense).

I got an email from my hosting service Monday morning saying that they had temporarily disabled PHP because of "certain threats". They turned it back on Monday evening, so there must be some sort of fix. I don't use PHP, Javascript, Active-X or any other of those malware vectors.

Texas arrests seven MySpace sex offenders

Making them move

"actually California is trying to do just that."

Florida already is. There are some sex offenders who have been forced to live under a bridge.

I have a friend who's a Texas Ranger. Sometimes he wears a button that says "Hi, I'm Buffy, a 16 year old cheerleader"