Posts Tagged ‘black hat’

(Disclaimer: As Rob Rosenberger reminds us, this is the time of year for computer security hysteria in the media, so media reports must be taken with several pounds of salt. Both the Black Hat and DEFCON conferences are going on.)

Reuters reports that a security researcher demonstrated a serious vulnerability in Mac computers. This one would allow an intruder to retrieve encrypted data. The story is here.

The existence of a vulnerability does not, of course, mean that Mac users are actually vulnerable.

A vulnerability doesn’t become a threat until someone actually tries to exploit it. Proof of concept viruses targeting cellphones have been tested, but, by and large, cellphones aren’t targets in the wild. The “smartphone” is still a small percentage of the market (though the cachet of the iPhone might be changing that); even a smartphone can’t be reliably integrated into a botnet; and cellphones, except for some persons’ smartphones, don’t usually contain the kind of personal information an identity thief might want.

What I take away from this is the lesson that most Windows users learned a long time ago: Sensible persons take sensible precautions. Be mindful of security (some of the precautions recommended at the preceding link are what I consider a little extreme, but it’s an excellent summary of good security practices).

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Twitter Attacks Fakes – Are you Authentic?
Bing Leaps Yahoo
Ballmer: Taxes could Move Jobs – If Taxes rise, Employees might not be in the US.
XBOX 360 with HULU? – They’re looking at new opportunities.
China Security Software – Where Big Brother can watch.
Homeland Security Gets Black Hat
-Full List of Names
Cyberspace Review Lacking – Security Experts want more
Bank Trojan Netted $112k – What came from YOUR wallet?
WINEHQ 1.1.23
40 Years of UNIX

Leo Blowing up at Arrington

II
Keynote: iPhone 3.0 – Tomtom coming. More on Keynote
-Windows Gets Stuff, too
-Old iPhone 1.0 May Loose Out
Pre Breaks Sales – Is it enough to save Sprint?
-Pre Issue
T-Mobile Data Hacked – How it affects users.

CTC – Scarpar
QOTC – Would you Pay $1 a Twitter?

III
Yahoo Microsoft Partnership? – AOL is out.
Online Ad Revenues Drop – Should we be concerned?

Extras:
The Worst Yahoo Answers
7 Years of Mozilla
Best Science Websites
Death Star BBQ
USB Powered Microwave
Best PC Cases

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Leo and Arrington – Warning: Strong Language present.
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