ETC Blog, The Tech Resource
Feds Take Down Megaupload….Without SOPA/PIPA
Federal prosecutors have shut down one of the world's largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, on charges of violating piracy laws -- a day after a 24-hour blackout of popular websites such as Wikipedia drew national attention to the issue. "This action is among...
The Definitive Post On Why SOPA And Protect IP Are Bad, Bad Ideas | Techdirt
This is exactly the truth. Read the entirety of the linked article please. There's been plenty of talk (and a ton of posts here on Techdirt) discussing both SOPA (originally E-PARASITE) and PROTECT IP (aka PIPA), but it seemed like it would be useful to create...
Microsoft mandating Secure Boot on ARM, making Linux installs difficult
Once again Microsoft engages in anti-competitive and blatantly monopolistic behavior. Note this happens right after they are freed of the DOJ anti-trust oversight. If you are going to buy any kind of mobile device make sure it does NOT run windows or you won't every...
Hands-on: hacking WiFi Protected Setup with Reaver
Time for me to start recommending routers with dd-wrt and NO WPS capabilities. If turning it off doesn't turn it off then security is non-existent for wireless network. Ick. The attack took about six hours to properly guess the PIN and return the SSID and password...
Not on Autopay? Vz is Going to Charge You to Pay Your Bill
It should read...you WILL see a HIGHER chance of billings errors if you go on autopay. Every time we have tried it there's ALWAYS been a major error and getting it fixed is worse than pulling teeth. Verizon says users wont have to pay the fee if they enroll in...
Turn Off WPS(Wifi Protected Setup)
I figured it was a matter of time before this was exposed. The pins are usually 8 digits which it has been known for quite some time that you need at least 12 sufficiently random characters for any kind of protection against brute force attacks. Of course the lack...
Security Does Matter Even if You Are A Small Business
Subway itself wasn't nailed but it franchisees were. Most franchise holders are SMB's and many of them don't think they are vulnerable due to their size. However criminals are banking on that thinking now to hijack everything from computers to POS systems(many of...
Hard Disk Warranties Getting Chopped
Not too long after the market punished the Hard Disk industry for dropping warranties before the industry is now moving to cratering hard disk warranties again. I bet they are going to be introducing a new technology for manufacturing hard disks and they are dropping...
Saw This One Coming In Regards to Verizon
Verizon had started selling off it's landline business years ago. they have also begun divesting some FIOS markets as well. I had been thinking VZ would concentrate on their LTE wireless infrastructure and that has been proven true. They'll hang onto...
Good Coverage of CarrierIQ rootkit
This link aggregates all of techcrunchs coverage with decent linking to outside sites about this too. Carrier IQ | TechCrunch.
Carrier IQ: Mobile App Crap Must Stop – Security – Mobile Security – Informationweek
Crapware on a pc or mac is easy to combat....format the machine and use your own, known good image. Phones however are a new frontier of badness for the enterprise and anyone with need for data security. Folks wonder why I've advocated locking...
The Internet Is Infected – 60 Minutes – CBS News
Watch this folks. I talk about this over and over. a/v isn't enough..it is only a start. Please start with these basics. Please contact ECC on how to minimize your exposure. The Internet Is Infected - 60 Minutes - CBS News.
Reset the entire registry permissions to defaults | Windows Reference
Reset the entire registry permissions to defaults | Windows Reference.
Virtualization Project Update
I got Hyper-v working finally here at my office. I now have one box hosting 3 virtual mahcines. VM 1 is my Astaro firewall. VM 2 is my main AD file/print/authentication server. VM 3 is my Astaro Command Center which aggregates status and updates from my astaro and...
This is Why Infrastructure Systems Should NOT be Internet Accessible
SCADA systems and their ilk simply aren't designed for security. You do ont want these systems to be acessible by the internet...it is just too easy to take control of them. Get ALL infrastructure systems completely OFF the Internet. Second water utility reportedly...
Facebook tracks down cause of spam….browser holes.
In a statement, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes acknowledged that the site was the target of a coordinated spam attack and explained how it went down. "During this spam attack, users were tricked into pasting and executing malicious javascript in their browser URL bar...
Facebook “hack” not Facebook’s issue
Read the earlier article i posted about this. It is not a Facebook issue but the ease of which browsers can be comprised. Facebook explained in a statement that the spam attack was the result of a browser vulnerability that tricked users into running malicious...
Facebook Porn and Grotesque Image Flood Exposes Cloud Computing Risk
Graham Cluely, a senior technology consultant from Internet security firm Sophos, said it was not yet clear how the malicious content was being spread, but added that the website could face long term consequences."Its precisely this kind of problem which is likely to...
Virtualization Projects Update
I currently have two virtualization projects going. One is to convert 3 physical server to hyper-v and one is to convert 3 physical servers to KVM. Unfortunately p2v on a domain controller is not only not recommended, it doesn't work well. Also there is no...
Time to Kill “Protect IP”
The so-called PROTECT IP act, sequel to the much-criticized COICA, is under fire again as it enters the process of becoming law. We’ve talked about it on this blog before and no doubt the discussion will continue after it passes or is rejected, but it’s important at...
Iphone 4S drains battery like a vampire – Turns users into Zombies | TechEye
The design geniuses at Apple, who are yet to come up with an iPhone 4 which did not have some serious design flaws, are scratching their heads about the latest problem which has hit the cargo cults latest toy.Apple recently released the iPhone 4S which was an iPhone 4...
Google Moves to Secure Searches….and Also Starts Freezing Out the SEO Games…
I have a client that is constantly being pushed to engage is SEO games to try to raise his Google pagerank. Hopefully this is the first nail in the coffin of the hideous Google Ranks manipulators. On October 18, Google announced that it would begin pushing...
If You Have a Siri Enabled Phone It is NOT Able to be Locked….Yet
Whoopsie. Apple's new "Siri" feature, the voice-activated personal assistant built into the iPhone 4S, leaves owners' spanking new smartphones partially unguarded. Those of us who work in the security arena have often banged on about the importance of securing your...
A Gain for the Cloud and a Loss for a Former Client
Business consultants.....nough said. I have a client that has been scammed into going all cloud. This consultant believe in no servers, no central logins and no local storage of anything. I know this "practice management" company is totally based in the cloud....
External Editorial: 5 Reasons Why I Think The iPhone 4S Is The Least Competitive iPhone Yet
There's one thing he is leaving out. Andriod is not a closed, one vendor only operating system. IOS is apple and pp-le only. I’d like to start by stating I am not a rabid Android “fanboy.” In fact, I heavily considered the iPhone 3GS back in the day (er, last...