disLEXia

Saturday, 09. November 2002

Europe bans hate-speech

The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content.

The provision, which was passed by the council's decision-making body (the Committee of Ministers), updates the European Convention on Cybercrime.
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GAO: Agencies share data despite laws

Technology is making it easier for government agencies to share information, so they are ? including details about your bank accounts, medical complaints and family lives [FCW: Technology]
09:07 | permanent link | mail this

Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech

The measure, which bans the publication of material that promotes racism and violence online, clashes directly with U.S. laws protecting such speech. By Julia Scheeres. [Wired News]
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Kaspersky mailing list hijacked!

Oops! Kaspersky Labs' antivirus mailing list became the unwitting vector for the spread of Braid, the latest email worm, today after script kiddies outfoxed the veteran Russian virus fighters.

Recipients to the mailing list looked on in bemusement, and some concern, as the original virus-ladened email generated multiple bounced messages this morning. These echoing messages bounced around the list for eight hours, we're told.

In a statement, Kaspersky Labs admitted the malicious messages was injected into its list after a "massive attack" against the company's Web server last night.

"The attack resulted in a group of hackers sending the subscribers of the Kaspersky Labs' email newsletter a message containing the recently discovered Bridex [Braid] worm," it admits. [The Register]
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Heads-up, we're making some changes to the XML-RPC interface for UserLand's aggregator. It's definitely not frozen yet. The implementation is out to the Radio-Dev list, but that's not frozen yet either. Still diggin! [Scripting News]
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Hi-tech signatures to fight fraud

The UK's biggest building society, the Nationwide, is to introduce electronic signatures to try to prevent fraud.

It is believed to be the first time so-called biometric technology has been rolled out on the High Street in the UK.

Customers will prove their identity by the way they physically sign their name. The system measures the precise speed and direction of the hand as it writes.

Signature capture may not be as well-known as iris or fingerprint recognition, but Nationwide is hopeful it will save it millions of pounds and make a giant step towards a paperless office. [BBC News Online]
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Security software could backfire on consumers

SAN FRANCISCO--At the USENIX Security Conference held here recently, Microsoft developers touted the company's upcoming Palladium architecture as technology that would enhance privacy, stymie piracy and increase a corporation's control over its computers.

Others, however, see a more nefarious role for the security software.

Instead of just keeping hackers out, critics say programs like Palladium could also block computer users from certain data. For example, the technology could be used as a policing mechanism that bars people from material stored on their own computers if they have not met licensing and other requirements.

"The perception is that the security protects content on the user's PC from third parties," said a security consultant who goes by the moniker of Lucky Green. "That's wrong."

The conflict highlights a growing debate over "trusted computers"--machines equipped with the technology to wall off data, secure communications and verify the characteristics of their system. Although military and intelligence agencies have used such systems, the concept has been met with opposition in mainstream consumer markets.

The reason: The masses don't necessarily trust the companies developing "trusted computing" technology. CNET Nov 8 2002 11:43AM ET [moreover Computersecurity]
20:33 | permanent link | mail this

Palladium: The Manhattan Project of DRM

CNET has a good summary of the issues surrounding Palladium and the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA). One slightly amusing quote: "I have seen no signs that Microsoft and Intel are out to screw the world; and if they do screw the world, I think Congress will stop them," said the University of Pennsylvania's [David] Farber [of the TCPA]. And if not Congress, then the courts. Oh, wait .. [infoAnarchy]
20:39 | permanent link | mail this

Hackers claim to have cracked new 'secure' Xbox

Two competing teams of hackers claim to have cracked the new 'secure' Version 2 of the Xbox in under a week.

The teams claim that their modifications opens the door to allow the Xbox to perform a number of tricks that Microsoft and graphics chip designer Nvidia would prefer it didn't.

Team Xecuter say that their device, which they expect to be selling shortly at around $45 will enable modifiers to run alternate operating systems like Linux and play 'homebrew' code as well as imports and code from all regions.

The Xboxhacker BBS was not far behind. The site claims it has been able to 'normalise' an Xbox to run Xbox Linux code.

Although these claims have yet to be tested, it would seem to be a blow to Nvidia who are said to be responsible for the security of the machine. It also means that the hackers have probably bought themselves another six months or so before the developers can come up with a more 'secure' patch.

PC Pro Nov 9 2002 3:43AM ET [moreover Computersecurity]
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Privacy questions still loom over biometrics

Biometric technologies have expanded greatly in the past decade, especially following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks [FCW: Homeland Security]
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disLEXia, a research project by Maximillian Dornseif