Author: Vince Kimball

Service Pack 2 Post Mortem. Today officially is Computer Security Day, something HP is commemorating with new protective services and products for consumers and small and medium businesses. I expect other vendors to respond, too. I see this as an appropriate day to do a post mortem on Microsoft's security efforts around Windows XP Service… Continue reading Service Pack 2 Post Mortem

Falwell on Meet The Press. Jerry Falwell quotes from Sunday's Meet The Press: “Well, the fact that he's a gay Republican means he should join the Democratic Party.” [when asked about the creator of “Desperate Housewives,” a self-described conservative, gay Republican] “I wouldn't vote for my mother if she were pro-choice.” “I'm just trying —… Continue reading Falwell on Meet The Press

Universal Surveillance Doesn't Make Us Safer. Mitch Wagner interviewed me for eWeek. [Schneier on Security]

Canadian Inventor Lets Everyone Be an Armchair Spy (washingtonpost.com). TORONTO– New Internet-based technology could soon turn regular computer users into armchair spies, a Canadian inventor said on Monday. Vincent Tao, an engineer at Toronto's York University said he has invented a mapping and surveillance tool called SAME (see anywhere, map anywhere), that produces images so… Continue reading Canadian Inventor Lets Everyone Be an Armchair Spy (washingtonpost.com)

Clean System to Zombie Bot in Four Minutes. Amadaeus writes “According to the latest study by USA Today and Avantgarde, it takes less than 4 minutes for an unpatched Windows XP SP1 system to become part of a botnet. Avantgarde has the statistics in their abstract. Stats of note: Although Macs and PC's got hit… Continue reading Clean System to Zombie Bot in Four Minutes

Flaw opens crack in Windows servers. Microsoft suggests work-around to fix hole in popular server software, as it blasts the company that disclosed it. [CNET News.com] [Privacy Digest: Privacy News (Civil Rights, Encryption, Free Speech, Cryptography)]

Universities struggling with SSL-busting spyware. U.S. universities are struggling with a flare-up of dangerous spyware that can snoop on information encrypted using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Experts are warning that the stealthy software, called Marketscore, could be used to intercept a wide range of sensitive information, including passwords and health and financial data.[InfoWorld: Top News]… Continue reading Universities struggling with SSL-busting spyware

Canada, the Closer Country for Outsourcing Work. Canada's stability, proximity and cultural similarity to the U.S. tend to attract higher-value, more sophisticated outsourcing work than countries like India. By IAN AUSTEN. [NYT > Technology]

Selecting 5 KM books. A posting at the knowledgeboard gives a list of 42 books that anyone starting in KM may find useful. Well 42 is a little too many for starters, so here is my list of 5 and some rationale for the choices: * Deep smarts A new book (2005) from Dorothy Leonard… Continue reading Selecting 5 KM books