Articles tagged with: security

It’s Friday and it’s lunchtime (in the UK), so it’s time for a bit of fun. This ad from Dutch security company Tunix popped up on YouTube the other day and we’d like to say that it cleverly plays upon the new Quantum of Solace Bond film to deliver an important message about tokenless network authentication.

Unfortunately, we can’t – it’s simply one of the most cringingly awful ads we’ve ever seen. So, until it gets nabbed for a cobbled-together TV clip show and analysed in tedious detail by some cretinous slack-jawed micro-celeb, we present Quantum of Authentication for your viewing pleasure.

Oh and there's even a "making of" video, if you were were wondering Tunix managed to reproduce that slick James Bond style so faithfully...

If you thought WPA Wi-Fi encryption was the bullet-proof alternative to the wide-open WEP, think again. A German graduate student Erik Tews claims to have discovered a security exploit in WPA encryption and plans to present a paper on his findings at the PacSec conference in Tokyo this week.

It’s far from a gaping security hole – the exploit takes up to 15 minutes to effect and does not allow the WPA encryption keys to be discovered. In fact Tews states that so far, it simply allows correctly-encrypted information to be injected into the network so that they appear to be sent from the router. In other words, it cannot be used to break into a wireless network, nor decipher all of its data – yet.

And we would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for that pesky 'Private' button. Yes, welcome to the latest in iPhone security - a $1 app, called Private-I that puts a big 'PRIVATE' icon on your iPhone screen. The cunning ruse? If an unsuspecting thief pilfers your beloved handset they simply won't be able to resist hitting the button and taking a peak at what's inside.

But, they'd do well to heed the story of a certain dead cat because they too will be done for by curiosity. While the app stalls the sticky fingered culprit with some convincing 'accessing pictures' screens it will all the while be busy emailing the owner with its co-ordinates.

Then it's just a quick call to the boys in blue and before you know it your thief will be in chains - unless he's read this article of course. Darn it.

[Wired]

A fair few security holes have been discovered on the iPhone and the 2.1 firmware due for release on Friday does contain some security fixes. However, it’s unclear at this stage whether or not it will address this latest exploit.

The problem relates to the iPhone’s passcode security – both on the iPhone 2G and 3G – and in short, allows the four-digit code required to access the iPhone’s features to be bypassed.

More details, plus a video of the iPhone passcode crack in action, after the cut. 

Tap tap. That’s how long it takes for a hacker to steal data from your laptop computer. As you're reading this sentence, in fact, a snarly bearded guy in a “Linux is for Lovers” T-Shirt might be downloading every e-mail you’ve ever written, while instant messaging with a buddy in China about how much the freshly downloaded company secrets might be worth. £1,000? £10,000? Who knows?

While the black market trade for personal data is growing at a brisk rate, it’s unclear who is selling it – it’s not like they report the income on their tax return. We do know how they intercept the data though, and by extension, how to stop them.

We know of PDAs that have biometric security built-in but this is the first time we've seen it on a phone. Lenovo's P960 uses a scanner made by Atrua that promises to use 'a fraction' of the power of normal scanners - preserving precious battery life.

Pandering even more to the needs of paranoids and crazies it also has a VIP recording feature that'll automatically record calls to certain numbers in your phone book. Sadly Lenovo only makes phones for China so we won't be seeing this over here just yet.

[Press Release]

Not so long ago, the simple way to ensure that private data stored on your laptop stayed that way was to encrypt it. Not any more. Now that that US Department of Homeland Security has reiterated that its Customs officers have the power to search any electronic device being carried across the US border, your private data is anything but.

This isn’t a new policy – US Customs officials have long had the power to search and seize documents and information storage devices – but it’s hit the headlines again after a spate of recent Customs confiscations and a Senate hearing into the legality of the practice.

The fact that the DHS is only trying to ensure that material being brought into the country complies with Federal laws is little consolation when a Customs official is mooching through material that's perfectly legal, but also highly sensitive or legally privileged. So what’s the solution? Well, the good news is that there is at least one…

Apple's been touting the enterprise friendly features of its new iPhone 2.0 firmware but a new report's concluded that while its business-oriented features may be fine for small companies and eager prosumers, they may not cut the mustard with large corporations and their IT departments.

After putting iPhone 3G through its paces for three weeks, the analyst firm, Gartner, concluded that: "Enterprises should approach expanded use of the iPhone slowly and with close examination." More details after the cut.

The Department of Homeland Security in the US has just issued new guidelines confirming that it can seize and search through files and data on your laptop, mobile or PDA, whenever you pass through customs.

The guidelines go so far as to say that hardware and files can be taken from the airport, the contents copied and the information shared with other US agencies. In fact, border agents don't even need probable cause to do this. Thanks to a court ruling back in April, they can nab your equipment on a whim - although they do have to destroy any copied files if nothing out of sorts is found.

Interestingly, "correspondence contained in a sealed letter class mail" cannot be opened without a warrant - leading some to suggest you should just mail any data you'd rather not fall into the hands of US officials direct to your destination, and then pop it in your laptop when you arrive. Head over here for the full guidance in pdf.

[Register]

Kensington bills this as its most portable and secure offering yet. It's the ComboSaver Portable Notebook Lock aimed students and workers on the go to keep their laptop safely tethered and away from sticky fingers.

The combination lock, which features a T-bar mechanism, is attached to a steel cable, cunningly coiled to keep it compact. It's designed to fit the standard lock fitting found on just about every laptop.

Kensington Marketing Manager, Stephen Hoare, says helpfully: "Huge amounts of valuable personal and professional data are kept on mobile equipment, which has given rise to new security risks. A lock is the first line of defence against losing your laptop to an opportunistic thief." Food for thought for our armed services, ministers and newspaper proprietors.

Find the ComboSaver for £29.99 at Dixons and PC World.

[Kensington]