A few days back I was at grc to run a “shields up” scan on a clients machine and found reference to their Security Now podcast (Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson.) The cast was about a VPN tool called Hamachi… so I revisited and gave a read to the Security Now! transcript. And then visited the Hamachi site. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed on a couple of levels with Hamachi. 1st it sounds as though they’ve done a great approach to a secure free VPN implementation. (Steve Gibson is a pretty good reference….) It’s also easy to install and use and beyond that there are linux/Windows versions of the client currently, Mac will be released after the 1.0 for Linux and Windows.
Tag: public
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Network Security guide for the home or small business network – Part 10 – use good passwords
In a small, trusted network you might be able to get away with weak passwords for file sharing for instance. What’s a weak password? Anything you might find in a dictionary. Most people don’t realize this, but there are programs designed to crack passwords. They’re designed to take a dictionary file and run through it trying every combination possible. It might take a while, but this kind of brute force attack can be VERY effective against a weak password.
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Lawsuit against 180solutions, eXact, Direct Revenue
Things are going to be interesting. A lawsuit has been filed against the three listed above, everyone’s favorites…. 180solutions, Direct Revenue, and eXact Advertising. This is coming from the Sunbelt Blog who received a tip. The suit has been filed in California, the defendants want to move the suit to Federal Court.
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Music industry to take on lyric sites
In another move that will frustrate millions… The recording industry is set to take on sites that provide lyrics (or scores) of licensed songs. I know I’ve searched for song lyrics many times because I couldn’t make out what the words were by listening to the song (and the label was too cheap to give lyrics in the packaging (or the type was small enough to require a scanning electron microscope…)) Anyway guitar tab sites are under the microscope as well. Don’t expect just fines and a site takedown either…..
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How much is a 0-day vulnerability worth?
ZDnet has this article today of an ebay auction for information on a Microsoft Excel vulnerability that the auction-seller had notified Microsoft of.
An online auction of a “brand new vulnerability” in Microsoft Excel had reached about $60 when eBay pulled the item late Thursday.
A seller using the name “fearwall” started the auction Wednesday evening at 1 cent. It was up to $56 on Thursday afternoon with 21 bids placed, and eBay quashed the auction soon after that.
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Internet Explorer 7 beta coming early next year
The title says most all, it’s reported that Microsoft will release a public beta of Internet Explorer 7 sometime in the first quarter of 2006. It’s unclear if this will be titled Beta 2 (a closed beta has already taken place.) The 2nd beta for Vista will be a public beta as well.
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The perils of Metadata in documents
Loose lips sink ships, so the old saying goes. These days documents are emailed back and forth and many times, revisions are made to “polite the text” up or “sanitize” or “redact sensitive information”. With many file formats though, the metadata about the revisions (or even the old versions of the data itself) are still there. The Security Fix has a great article on the topic today.
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How accessible is the Open Document Format?
Part of the big debate in Massachussetts over the Open Document Format has been it’s accessibility by persons with disabilities. The opponents have maintained that it will increase the difficulty of those people with disabilities in gaining access to vital public information. It’s also claimed that a Microsoft solution would be more accessible.
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More free online book resources
A while back there was an article on Google Print alternatives. Today, Search Engine Watch has an article on a couple other options. First up is Netlibrary.com, which provides free access to a wide range of etexts. Access is not to the general public, but through partner institutions. For instance, if your public library partners with netlibrary, you can enter your library card number and log in.
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The DMCA exemption process…
Another entry from the “how do the good guys keep from getting their pants sued off…” files. Freedom-to-tinker has an entry on their application for a DMCA waiver. (The DMCA (among other things) makes it against the law to circumvent copy protection (or to communicate ways of circumvention)) It sounds like the exemption process is slanted towards not issuing exemptions, but they’re trying. There are some interesting notes from their application.