Categories
Security

Hacking with a Microscope

Via Bruce Schneier and Cory Doctorow, it appears that smart card used on the London Underground has been cracked by a team of researchers. The most interesting thing to me though, is how they did it (emphasis mine): The research team was able to obtain the card’s proprietary encryption scheme by physically dissecting its chip […]

Categories
Technology

How to Use Your Paypal Security Key with OpenID

I told you about the Paypal Security Key a couple of days ago, and since then, I discovered something very, very cool. It’s possible (and actually pretty easy) to use it your security key to give you multi-factor authentication with OpenID. Here’s how. Verisign, the company behind the technology in the Paypal security key, is […]

Categories
Security

The Paypal/Ebay Security Key

Late last week, I received a very cool little piece of technology in the mail. It’s the Paypal/Ebay security key, and if you use either of those two sites on a regular basis, I highly recommend that you pick one up for yourself too. It’s $5 well spent. So, here’s what it does. Once you […]

Categories
Security

Security Theater

My favorite security expert is Bruce Schneier, and not just when it comes to computer security. Sure, he understands that better than almost anyone else I can think of, but he also has a deep understanding of the underlying concepts of security, including the psychology behind it. Schneier is an outspoken critic of many of […]

Categories
Macintosh

Some People just LOVE to Complain…

Apple updated their Safari web browser to version 1.2 on Monday, pleasing many, while ticking off some. According to Apple’s rather sparse knowledge base article, v1.2 includes: improved support for web standards support for personal certificate authentication support for Java 1.4.2 full keyboard access resumable downloads through the download manager improved stability faster page rendering […]

Categories
Technology

Work From Home for the Russian Mafia!

A recent article on SecurityFocus details the experience of having an FBI computer intrusion expert speak to a technology class at Washington University in St. Louis. It’s a very interesting read. The agent explains how many of the new virus/trojan horse hybrids are being propagated by professionals, namely the Russian mafia. One detail that I […]