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Showing posts from November, 2012

How software defined radios (SDRs) will change security

Locks were considered very secure until the first lock pickers got their hands on it. Phone system were secure until the John Draper discovered some use for the toy whistle in Captain Crunch pack. Infact even the creators of internet didn't think of too much security when it was initially designed.  Its the commoditization of technology which sometimes brings about the worst of all security bugs. And I believe the next round of changes are coming very soon. Until very recently radios were built for a purpose and they rarely did more than what it was supposed to do.   Think of them like the early computers which took a whole room and could only do only type of a job per computer. Todays computer can do all kinds of stuff and unlike the older versions, they don't need to be rewired physically to make them do a new job. Everything is done using software. Wikipedia does a good job at defining what this is. A  software-defined radio  system, or  SDR , is a  radio   communication  

How software defined radios (SDRs) will change security

Locks were considered very secure until the first lock pickers got their hands on it. Phone system were secure until the John Draper discovered some use for the toy whistle in Captain Crunch pack. Infact even the creators of internet didn't think of too much security when it was initially designed.  Its the commoditization of technology which sometimes brings about the worst of all security bugs. And I believe the next round of changes are coming very soon. Until very recently radios were built for a purpose and they rarely did more than what it was supposed to do.   Think of them like the early computers which took a whole room and could only do only type of a job per computer. Todays computer can do all kinds of stuff and unlike the older versions, they don't need to be rewired physically to make them do a new job. Everything is done using software. Wikipedia does a good job at defining what this is. A  software-defined radio  system, or  SDR , is a  radio   communication  

Chrome: Fully sandboxed flash engine protect users

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The truth is that not everyone gets updates to chrome as soon as its released. And as its usually the case a lot of holes get discovered only after its exploited in the field. Google has finally announced a fully sandboxed flash engine which prevents the malicious code running within the flash component to fully exploit the system. It should keep you safe from unexpected security threats until an update arrives. Google says sandboxing is now available for Flash “with this release” of Chrome. The most recent version, Chrome 23, arrived last week, which is when the four-year-old browser received its usual dose of security fixes (14 in total), as well as a new version of Adobe Flash.  Yet the company today wanted to underline today that Chrome’s built-in Flash Player on Mac now uses a new plug-in architecture which runs Flash inside a sandbox that’s as strong as Chrome’s native sandbox, and “much more robust than anything else available.” This is great news for Mac users since Flash is so

Chrome: Fully sandboxed flash engine protect users

The truth is that not everyone gets updates to chrome as soon as its released. And as its usually the case a lot of holes get discovered only after its exploited in the field. Google has finally announced a fully sandboxed flash engine which prevents the malicious code running within the flash component to fully exploit the system. It should keep you safe from unexpected security threats until an update arrives. Google says sandboxing is now available for Flash â€Å“with this release” of Chrome. The most recent version, Chrome 23, arrived last week, which is when the four-year-old browser received its usual dose of security fixes (14 in total), as well as a new version of Adobe Flash.  Yet the company today wanted to underline today that Chrome’s built-in Flash Player on Mac now uses a new plug-in architecture which runs Flash inside a sandbox that’s as strong as Chrome’s native sandbox, and â€Å“much more robust than anything else available.” This is grea

Top security threats from Oracle, Adobe and Apple

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Kaspersky labs came out with its Q3 report and not surprisingly Oracle and Adobe have some of the worst holes impacting the largest number of users. What I was surprised more about was that Apple made it to that list even though Microsoft didn't explicitly get named. The map below shows the % of users infected. Also found it interesting that iTunes has a lot of holes. Who would have thunk it. IT Threat Evolution: Q3 2012 - Securelist

Top security threats from Oracle, Adobe and Apple

Image
Kaspersky labs came out with its Q3 report and not surprisingly Oracle and Adobe have some of the worst holes impacting the largest number of users. What I was surprised more about was that Apple made it to that list even though Microsoft didn't explicitly get named. The map below shows the % of users infected. Also found it interesting that iTunes has a lot of holes. Who would have thunk it. IT Threat Evolution: Q3 2012 - Securelist