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How Allan Scherr Hacked Around the First Computer Password
Posted: January 28th, 2012, 3:11am CET by timothy
Tags: security
New submitter MikeatWired writes "If you're like most people, you're annoyed by passwords. So who's to blame? Who invented the computer password? They probably arrived at MIT in the mid-1960s, when researchers built a massive time-sharing computer called CTSS. Technology changes. But, then again, it doesn't, writes Bob McMillan. Twenty-five years after the fact, Allan Scherr, a Ph.D. researcher at MIT in the early '60s, came clean about the earliest documented case of password theft. In the spring of 1962, Scherr was looking for a way to bump up his usage time on CTSS. He had been allotted four hours per week, but it wasn't nearly enough time to run the detailed performance simulations he'd designed for the new computer system. So he simply printed out all of the passwords stored on the system. 'There was a way to request files to be printed offline by submitting a punched card,' he remembered in a pamphlet (PDF) written last year to commemorate the invention of the CTSS. 'Late one Friday night, I submitted a request to print the password files and very early Saturday morning went to the file cabinet where printouts were placed and took the listing.' To spread the guilt around, Scherr then handed the passwords over to other users. One of them — J.C.R. Licklieder — promptly started logging into the account of the computer lab's director Robert Fano, and leaving 'taunting messages' behind." -
DARPA Funding a $50 Drone-Droppable Spy Computer
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 11:56pm CET by Soulskill
Tags: security
Sparrowvsrevolution writes "At the Shmoocon security conference, researcher Brendan O'Connor plans to present the F-BOMB, or Falling or Ballistically-launched Object that Makes Backdoors. Built from just the disassembled hardware in a commercially-available PogoPlug mini-computer, a few tiny antennae, eight gigabytes of flash memory and some 3D-printed plastic casing, the F-BOMB serves as 3.5"-by-4"-by-1" spy computer. With a contract from DARPA, O'Connor has designed the cheap gadgets to be spy nodes, ready to be dropped from a drone, plugged inconspicuously into a wall socket, (one model impersonates a carbon monoxide detector) thrown over a barrier, or otherwise put into irretrievable positions to quietly collect data and send it back to the owner over any available Wi-Fi network. O'Connor built his prototypes with gear that added up to just $46 each, so sacrificing one for a single use is affordable."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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When Viruses Infect Worms
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 10:33pm CET by Soulskill
Tags: security
An anonymous reader writes "Bitdefender reports that there exist viruses which, when they encounter other viruses, will merge and combine effects so that they create a new virus. 'A virus infects executable files; and a worm is an executable file. If the virus reaches a PC already compromised by a worm, the virus will infect the exe files on that PC — including the worm. When the worm spreads, it will carry the virus with it. Although this happens unintentionally, the combined features from both pieces of malware will inflict a lot more damage than the creators of either piece of malware intended. While most file infectors have inbuilt spreading mechanisms, just like Trojans and worms (spreading routines for RDP, USB, P2P, chat applications, or social networks), some cannot replicate or spread between computers. And it seems a great idea to “outsource” the transportation mechanism to a different piece of malware (i.e. by piggybacking a worm).'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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FBI Building App To Scrape Social Media
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 9:08pm CET by Soulskill
Tags: facebook
Trailrunner7 writes "The FBI is in the early stages of developing an application that would monitor sites such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as various news feeds, in order to find information on emerging threats and new events happening at the moment. The tool would give specialists the ability to pull the data into a dashboard that also would include classified information coming in at the same time. One of the key capabilities of the new application, for which the FBI has sent out a solicitation, would be to 'provide an automated search and scrape capability for social networking sites and open source news sites for breaking events, crisis and threats that meet the search parameters/keywords defined by FBI/SIOC.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Digg / Security
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BREAKING: Facebook to File for IPO Next Week [REPORT]
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 7:50pm CET by Digg
The long-awaited tech IPO of the year -- perhaps of the decade -- is on. Facebook will file its paperwork for an Initial Public Offering on Wednesday, acco
digg / Linux/Unix
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BREAKING: Facebook to File for IPO Next Week [REPORT]
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 7:50pm CET by Digg
The long-awaited tech IPO of the year -- perhaps of the decade -- is on. Facebook will file its paperwork for an Initial Public Offering on Wednesday, acco
Digg / Security
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Samsung Galaxy Note teardown shows small LTE chip
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 4:53pm CET by Digg
We often see third-party device teardowns but Samsung bucks the trend by showing breakdown of its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note. Those who say Android screens are getting larger mainly because of LTE radio size need to take a closer look at this dissection. I think they're wrong.
digg / Linux/Unix
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Samsung Galaxy Note teardown shows small LTE chip
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 4:53pm CET by Digg
We often see third-party device teardowns but Samsung bucks the trend by showing breakdown of its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note. Those who say Android screens are getting larger mainly because of LTE radio size need to take a closer look at this dissection. I think they're wrong.
Digg / Security
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Apple 'attacking problems' at its factories in China -
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 4:03pm CET by Digg
Apple has defended its ethical standards after a newspaper reported factories in China rely on child labour, 24 hour days and unsafe conditions to manufacture iPhones, iPads and computers.
digg / Linux/Unix
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Apple 'attacking problems' at its factories in China -
Posted: January 27th, 2012, 4:03pm CET by Digg
Apple has defended its ethical standards after a newspaper reported factories in China rely on child labour, 24 hour days and unsafe conditions to manufacture iPhones, iPads and computers.