So we all know that hackers try to do many things while using a PC. Many of those things though can be harmless at time can also pose as very dangerous. It's no big surprise these days to hear of hackers doing this or that but to what extent will they reach? In an article I read recently which is provided on this(link) and hosted on "InfoWorld" shows the story of some hackers injecting well known and supposedly trusted websites with malicious code that redirect users to web pages where they try to install fake spy ware programs or inject trojan horse programs into the users PC. By using the Google database and these websites, the hackers use the search queries so that unsuspecting users will find these links and in hopes to click and access the material behind that hyper link. Thus falling for the trap that was set. To what extent could these people be thinking? I can't seem to understand what goes through the mind of someone who simply wants to give others a hard time and inconvenience them. A lot must go through the mind of the individual that decides they want to use the internet in a way to benefit their own gains or to pet their ego. Listed in the article it was noted of some major websites that were hit with this type of hacking. Among those was walmart.com, usatoday.com and target.com but it is estimated that many more websites have already fallen prey to this type of hacking. The only advice they can give to website operators is to search their query functions regularly and eliminate the presence of this malicious html code in the search results.
All credit of this article goes to InfoWorld and the author.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
CIA-wikia
In a report from TIMESONLINE (link) the CIA has enlisted the help of google in a project to bring comprehensive information required by spies and other intelligence agencies to bring together data on suspects, targets and other misc. information that is related to the government. Hoping to use the servers that was bought from google and using their search technology they hope to imploy a type of wiki-encyclopedia type of server that agents and others within the government can contribute their information and resources to keep information current and updated. Intellipedia as it is now known will have different levels of security depending on the user's clearance level ranging from top secret, secret, sensitive etc.
To create such a server with an extreme amount of information about terrorists, criminals and other classified information seems like a good idea on paper. But one must wonder about the imposed risk of having such vital national security information accessible over the internet. Now don't get me wrong I am sure one must pass a lot security to be able to access the server but has that really stopped hackers from trying at the very least? I would think now, we should all know by now that code is not perfect and there is no such thing as the perfect system or else everyone would be running an OS that is bug free and hackers would be non-existent because there would be nothing to exploit. So I could only stress the importance of keeping such information out of the reach of those who could use it against us. One can only wonder what type measures these agencies that are in control of the server plan to do to keep such important national security information out of the hands of those no entitled to using it.
All credit of the article goes to TIMESONLINE and the author of the article.
To create such a server with an extreme amount of information about terrorists, criminals and other classified information seems like a good idea on paper. But one must wonder about the imposed risk of having such vital national security information accessible over the internet. Now don't get me wrong I am sure one must pass a lot security to be able to access the server but has that really stopped hackers from trying at the very least? I would think now, we should all know by now that code is not perfect and there is no such thing as the perfect system or else everyone would be running an OS that is bug free and hackers would be non-existent because there would be nothing to exploit. So I could only stress the importance of keeping such information out of the reach of those who could use it against us. One can only wonder what type measures these agencies that are in control of the server plan to do to keep such important national security information out of the hands of those no entitled to using it.
All credit of the article goes to TIMESONLINE and the author of the article.
Monday, March 24, 2008
This could be the pet of Batman
So while searching on the Net for database worthy topics I came across an article that talks about a new concept tool that the government hopes to use in the future as a type of spy plane. This spy plane will be modeling to look similar to an actual bat. The concept hopes to have embedded cameras, sensors and other functions so that it can communicate with soldiers on the battle field to alert them to enemy locations, any kind of bio alerts via the sensors or anything else the soldiers may need to be concerned about. The University Michigan college of engineering was given the project and a grant to make this concept idea a reality. They hope that the "Com-bat" will be able to function just as a real bad would allowing it to move around freely or remotely without crashing into objects or falling out of the air. Such a piece of hardware could prove to be an invaluable source of information during recon-missions being carried out by our military.
I think this automated bat is a fantastic idea right along with the other idea of implanting microchips into insects and controlling them for the same purpose. Another idea that I mentioned in a past article. I am incredibly interested to see this idea pan out to become a reality and see how it actually works. All credit for this article goes to the website and its author and the link is right here
I think this automated bat is a fantastic idea right along with the other idea of implanting microchips into insects and controlling them for the same purpose. Another idea that I mentioned in a past article. I am incredibly interested to see this idea pan out to become a reality and see how it actually works. All credit for this article goes to the website and its author and the link is right here
And they say writing a check is a bad idea....
I was doing some web surfing and came across a gem of a topic in the form of an article on how to hack credit card information via the RFID chip embedded in newer credit cards. The idea behind it is quite simple and its effectiveness is quite alarming. This article was presented by Boing Boing TV and it shows hacker and inventor Pablos Holman show off a credit card scanner that he bought off ebay for about 8 dollars. When he connects this piece of equipment to his computer and run a program he simply has to talk up to where ever your wallet may be and pass the scanner across it. In nearly an instant the 8 dollar scanner will pick up any trace of the RFID that may be embedded within your credit card and simultaneously steal your credit card number, name, expiration date and any other stored information within the chip. It nearly took all of about 3 seconds to rub the card on someones rear end or wallet for the program to take all the information.
It's alarming to think that an 8 dollar piece of equipment, some simple wiring to the computer and a click of the mouse can net you a fresh credit card ready for all the online shopping it can handle. But fear not all is not lost and you don't have to toss those cards out yet. There is a weakness to this form of theft. The card reader cannot pass its signals through a stainless steel wallet. For those that dont mind the retro looking wallet you could always keep your cards concealed in one of these. Other then that the only piece of advice I could offer a potential target is to keep an eye of where you keep your wallet and dont let casual strangers hold scanners near its location because chances are they are treasure hunting and its your "booty" they're after. Hopefully anyone who reads this won't become a target but in a world where identity theft is always around us, you need to protect yourself and become aware of your surroundings. Credit of the article goes to the website I found it on and Boing Boing TV as well as the author of the article. The link is located here
It's alarming to think that an 8 dollar piece of equipment, some simple wiring to the computer and a click of the mouse can net you a fresh credit card ready for all the online shopping it can handle. But fear not all is not lost and you don't have to toss those cards out yet. There is a weakness to this form of theft. The card reader cannot pass its signals through a stainless steel wallet. For those that dont mind the retro looking wallet you could always keep your cards concealed in one of these. Other then that the only piece of advice I could offer a potential target is to keep an eye of where you keep your wallet and dont let casual strangers hold scanners near its location because chances are they are treasure hunting and its your "booty" they're after. Hopefully anyone who reads this won't become a target but in a world where identity theft is always around us, you need to protect yourself and become aware of your surroundings. Credit of the article goes to the website I found it on and Boing Boing TV as well as the author of the article. The link is located here
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Digital Pirates reach safe ground?!
Link to the article given here:
While surfing the Internet on my favorite websites I happen to come across and interesting article that had to deal with File Sharing and a notorious website known as the Pirates Bay. Pirates Bay just for a short background, is a file sharing website home to many cracked programs, movies and other downloadable content usually offered with programs such as Bittorrent, Utorrent etc. It seems the webmasters have been in constant fire from government agencies in the U.S. for copyright infringement etc. What ever were these digital pirates of the virtual sea going to do? Coming to their aid in an unexpected turn of events was the nation of Antigua. Now you probably are wondering why in the world would this nation outside of the U.S. want to help a group of file-sharer's....trust me I thought and thought until I read through the article completely. Well it turns out the U.S. has been trying to put a stop for it's citizens to use Antigua's online gambling services offered on the Internet. A service such as online gambling handles undoubtedly millions of financial records and take in a lot of money from their active users. It seems to me that the U.S. must contribute a lot to Antigua's profit share when it comes to online gambling services. So in an effort to pressure the U.S. to discontinue their efforts and banning Antigua's gambling services, they announced a "free sanction" to the Pirate Bay file sharing website. This is very good news for people around the world who take part in sharing files around the world. Unfortunately this may leave many U.S. companies with little chance at stopping file sharing to take place that infringe on copyright laws.
Although, I feel that they're are many pro's and con's to file sharing so I won't share my own views on them, but this can spell a no win situation for either side of this debate. However, people at Pirates Bay can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, nothing is being announced as of yet as to where this may go in the weeks to come. One can only hope that a diplomatic solution can be addressed so that all party's may move on with something to gain.
All credit for this article goes to the hosting website and the author of the article.
While surfing the Internet on my favorite websites I happen to come across and interesting article that had to deal with File Sharing and a notorious website known as the Pirates Bay. Pirates Bay just for a short background, is a file sharing website home to many cracked programs, movies and other downloadable content usually offered with programs such as Bittorrent, Utorrent etc. It seems the webmasters have been in constant fire from government agencies in the U.S. for copyright infringement etc. What ever were these digital pirates of the virtual sea going to do? Coming to their aid in an unexpected turn of events was the nation of Antigua. Now you probably are wondering why in the world would this nation outside of the U.S. want to help a group of file-sharer's....trust me I thought and thought until I read through the article completely. Well it turns out the U.S. has been trying to put a stop for it's citizens to use Antigua's online gambling services offered on the Internet. A service such as online gambling handles undoubtedly millions of financial records and take in a lot of money from their active users. It seems to me that the U.S. must contribute a lot to Antigua's profit share when it comes to online gambling services. So in an effort to pressure the U.S. to discontinue their efforts and banning Antigua's gambling services, they announced a "free sanction" to the Pirate Bay file sharing website. This is very good news for people around the world who take part in sharing files around the world. Unfortunately this may leave many U.S. companies with little chance at stopping file sharing to take place that infringe on copyright laws.
Although, I feel that they're are many pro's and con's to file sharing so I won't share my own views on them, but this can spell a no win situation for either side of this debate. However, people at Pirates Bay can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, nothing is being announced as of yet as to where this may go in the weeks to come. One can only hope that a diplomatic solution can be addressed so that all party's may move on with something to gain.
All credit for this article goes to the hosting website and the author of the article.
Got GPS for that Radar?
Welcome back to another proud edition of Database is to Mind as Computer is to...
Time to talk about another fun filled article found out on the web~
I am not exactly sure how I feel about this device being bought commercially. Such a device can only promote others to drive recklessly and carelessly put others and themselves into harms way. I am actually glad that such devices are illegal to have in the state of Virginia. Most virginians know all to well what kind of drivers we have around this area and to allow a device that warns you when police officers are near can't be safe for the rest of the public. Though I still feel its a technological advancement in terms of bringing two different types of electronic devices together. However, I still feel the technology could be better used in some other fashion, such as helping people to better their lives. This is my opinion however, I am sure others may feel similar and/or different about such topics. All credit of the article goes to the original author and the website hosting it. Here is the link
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
If only I had a pair of these....
Hello and thank once again for tuning in into the wonderful world of I.T. With spring break finished for this term school begins again into full motion and with that a wonderful article on a pair of Smart Goggles that can make lost keys, etc. a thing of the past!
When you hear/read the term smart goggles what comes to mind? Initially I thought of a pair of goggles that have some kind of electronic function to them to make life easier. I never would of guessed what kind of use these "smart goggles" I found on the web may do for us. Do not let the appearance of these goggles fool you, they are still in their early stages but these goggles are a form of data storing, recognition and retrieval technology with use of voice command and in line sight can help the user remember where certain objects are left behind with the unique ability to learn. Created by Japanese scientists these goggles have the unique trait of learning where the user leaves keys, ipod, hand bad etc. Especially for those forgetful individuals that tend to lose things never to be seen unless you tear your house upside down. These goggles boast to be able to help any who experience chronic senior moments or those who suffer from memory problems caused by dementia.
How these goggles work is absolutely astonishing. The goggles contain a camera that film everything the user looks out while containing a viewfinder over the right lens. Connected to the bad is a small computer processor which learns, stores and recognizes shapes extremely quickly. Setup seems simple enough while all you need to do is put the goggles on and wander around the area such as your home, or workplace for about an hour and look at objects you may want to find later on. After looking straight at an object the user says the name of the object aloud so that the recognition software may identity its shape and name for later retrieval. The display of information will show in the small viewfinder when ever called upon and after searching through its memory it then displays its last known location of the item.
The inventory comments that this invention could be an invaluable aid to the elderly experiencing memory problems even those with Alzheimer's. Taking this technology can even be possible for robots when it comes to recognition and visual learning. If outfitted with the correct programming these goggles can boast as instructional and learning aids. Suppose you program simple shapes from geometry, if the user looks at a shape used in geometry the viewfinder can display what type of shape it is and the name of it. Or for instance programming botanical information to display what type of plants a user may be focusing on which would be important as to avoid plants that may cause harm. One very important application that can make good use of these goggles as police and military use. For instance suppose the police program these goggles with wanted criminals at large. The police while on duty could be wearing the glasses and look at casual pedestrians and happen upon a wanted criminal where the officer can confirm their identity with the view finder and wanted list where they can make the appropriate arrest. The uses are this type of invention can have endless applications. And with its data retrieval and recognition learning ability these goggles can take the simplest task as remembering where your keys are and completely eliminate the "lost keys" factor.
After reading this article I personally was quite surprised as to how far technology has been jumping but at the same time I am glad we are reaching an age where the potential for human and robot interaction is practically within reach. I truly believe these "smart goggles" are the next step in technology to further assist us in our every day tasks. Article link will be copies below and all credit goes to the author of the article and the website.
Web source link
When you hear/read the term smart goggles what comes to mind? Initially I thought of a pair of goggles that have some kind of electronic function to them to make life easier. I never would of guessed what kind of use these "smart goggles" I found on the web may do for us. Do not let the appearance of these goggles fool you, they are still in their early stages but these goggles are a form of data storing, recognition and retrieval technology with use of voice command and in line sight can help the user remember where certain objects are left behind with the unique ability to learn. Created by Japanese scientists these goggles have the unique trait of learning where the user leaves keys, ipod, hand bad etc. Especially for those forgetful individuals that tend to lose things never to be seen unless you tear your house upside down. These goggles boast to be able to help any who experience chronic senior moments or those who suffer from memory problems caused by dementia.
How these goggles work is absolutely astonishing. The goggles contain a camera that film everything the user looks out while containing a viewfinder over the right lens. Connected to the bad is a small computer processor which learns, stores and recognizes shapes extremely quickly. Setup seems simple enough while all you need to do is put the goggles on and wander around the area such as your home, or workplace for about an hour and look at objects you may want to find later on. After looking straight at an object the user says the name of the object aloud so that the recognition software may identity its shape and name for later retrieval. The display of information will show in the small viewfinder when ever called upon and after searching through its memory it then displays its last known location of the item.
The inventory comments that this invention could be an invaluable aid to the elderly experiencing memory problems even those with Alzheimer's. Taking this technology can even be possible for robots when it comes to recognition and visual learning. If outfitted with the correct programming these goggles can boast as instructional and learning aids. Suppose you program simple shapes from geometry, if the user looks at a shape used in geometry the viewfinder can display what type of shape it is and the name of it. Or for instance programming botanical information to display what type of plants a user may be focusing on which would be important as to avoid plants that may cause harm. One very important application that can make good use of these goggles as police and military use. For instance suppose the police program these goggles with wanted criminals at large. The police while on duty could be wearing the glasses and look at casual pedestrians and happen upon a wanted criminal where the officer can confirm their identity with the view finder and wanted list where they can make the appropriate arrest. The uses are this type of invention can have endless applications. And with its data retrieval and recognition learning ability these goggles can take the simplest task as remembering where your keys are and completely eliminate the "lost keys" factor.
After reading this article I personally was quite surprised as to how far technology has been jumping but at the same time I am glad we are reaching an age where the potential for human and robot interaction is practically within reach. I truly believe these "smart goggles" are the next step in technology to further assist us in our every day tasks. Article link will be copies below and all credit goes to the author of the article and the website.
Web source link
Thursday, March 6, 2008
FED's have a back door into whose wirless carrier?
Ever wonder what could happen if you had your phone tapped? How would you feel if you found out that your Wireless carrier gave the FBI and all access pass to their database containing your cell phone number, billing information and other misc. account data. It was made public by "Whistle-blower" that as many as 4 phone companies are being accused of such an action. One of the alleged wireless carriers in question is Verizon Wireless.
This is some serious stuff to be dealing with these days. You have to watch everything you say because even if you are joking around with a friend this "dragnet" type of monitoring could be your undoing. I will have to admit in this day where terrorism and crime is all around us this kind of system has its many pro's but at what cost? At what cost is our right to free speech and privacy for warrant less persecution. Many people are filing law suits because of this but much is being done due to the fact that like anything else this is being treated as a "country secret" so you can't fight what "doesn't exist." So what are innocent people like you and me supposed to do when the government monitors our phone calls, txt messages, voice mails etc. To be honest....nothing, there is nothing the average person can do except keep your nose clean and take some consideration as to what you are saying, especially if it's a joke.
article source listed below and all credit goes to website and author.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/whistleblower-f.html
This is some serious stuff to be dealing with these days. You have to watch everything you say because even if you are joking around with a friend this "dragnet" type of monitoring could be your undoing. I will have to admit in this day where terrorism and crime is all around us this kind of system has its many pro's but at what cost? At what cost is our right to free speech and privacy for warrant less persecution. Many people are filing law suits because of this but much is being done due to the fact that like anything else this is being treated as a "country secret" so you can't fight what "doesn't exist." So what are innocent people like you and me supposed to do when the government monitors our phone calls, txt messages, voice mails etc. To be honest....nothing, there is nothing the average person can do except keep your nose clean and take some consideration as to what you are saying, especially if it's a joke.
article source listed below and all credit goes to website and author.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/whistleblower-f.html
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
There is a community online just for you..and you
Social networking, "the use of a website to connect with people who share personal or professional interests, place of origin, education at a particular school, etc" (taken from www.dictionary.com). As this definition states social networks are growing a dime a dozen these days. You may have heard of some of these places such as Facebook or MySpace. These are just some of the more popular places people flock to in hopes of meeting new people and sharing their ideas and beliefs. Many organizations use these websites for more then just networking with people. You can use social networking for a bunch of database related reasons. Before I get to much into my article allow me to explain how this relates to database. When you join a place such as MySpace you have to sign up with information about you. This kind of information is stored on the servers owned by the operators of Myspace. When you are logged in, depending on your interests or hobbies you will see adds that they feel might interest you. These databases of users can be used by individuals or companies more may reasons such as promoting certain products or services. Other places similar to this or user enhanced websites such as Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary where the information presented on the site is dependent on user interaction via it's registered members. So now that you have an idea how social networks relate to database I am free and clear to discuss this interesting article I found.
It has recently come up on different websites that super producer Steven Spielberg is planning on launching a social network. This social network will focus on those who wish to discuss or have experienced paranormal activity of any kind. The website which is heavily influenced by most of Spielberg's own movies will bring people who are interested in such topics closer together. By storing everyones experience together and sharing them across the web they can collect data and store information just as well as any database. This idea which originally started out with yahoo was initially scrapped but is now in the process of being reborn with the help of this Hollywood all star producer.
It really makes you wondering what kind of people may flock to such a social network, and how much of this information can be fiction compared to having some kind of credibility. The end result will ultimately be the same. The truth is out there for you to find and I personally might want to take a look at this website once it is up and running. Being the adventurous type I am it would be nice to know if there is really anything out there beyond the norm. All credit of this article goes to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. Link to the site is pasted below.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/03/steven-spielbergs-ghost-town/
It has recently come up on different websites that super producer Steven Spielberg is planning on launching a social network. This social network will focus on those who wish to discuss or have experienced paranormal activity of any kind. The website which is heavily influenced by most of Spielberg's own movies will bring people who are interested in such topics closer together. By storing everyones experience together and sharing them across the web they can collect data and store information just as well as any database. This idea which originally started out with yahoo was initially scrapped but is now in the process of being reborn with the help of this Hollywood all star producer.
It really makes you wondering what kind of people may flock to such a social network, and how much of this information can be fiction compared to having some kind of credibility. The end result will ultimately be the same. The truth is out there for you to find and I personally might want to take a look at this website once it is up and running. Being the adventurous type I am it would be nice to know if there is really anything out there beyond the norm. All credit of this article goes to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. Link to the site is pasted below.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/03/steven-spielbergs-ghost-town/
Friday, February 29, 2008
Common sense and Hacking...
When it comes to common sense in this world, it is earned not given. Now when you add lack of common sense to a computer hacker you gain a potent combination of choice words I rather not share. I read this article around the net that involves some hackers, google and this program developed by hackers called Goolag. This program's function is simple, the user takes the program and runs it. It runs a few queries through Google searching for credit card information and other personal data owned by others where it then presents it to the user of this Goolag program. Scary? Yes it is. To think that a simple program could be used to search through google's database and query out sensitive information with little to know work involved.
Don't get me wrong though hackers have indeed been using Google as a means to hack information from unsuspecting individuals pretty much from its inception. But this task was manual and took time and experience to even begin to know where to look and what to look for. But with this new automated program designed to find the same mentioned data off Google can nearly cut the time in half which can allow hackers and thieves to steal your sensitive information quite easily. This worries many companies and the authorities on how this program can affect people who make many purchases over the Internet or who participate in online banking.
There is however a light of hope in this dark cloud however. Experts say that this program will do little damage if any at all if websites that store the sensitive information practice good networking and keep their security checks in place. As long as the website has good protection then this program will do little in breeching your identity. So the key is for companies to keep their websites more secure and keep private information off of publically accessible websites.
As a strong user of the internet I am always concerned about hackers stealing my information, and I hope that website operators would do everything in their ability to keep everything safe and confidential. This article was interesting to read because it really taught me that I need to be careful with what kind of websites I use and make their that they practice good network security before I do business with them.
Link to where I read this short article hosted on G4Tv's website:
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/683199/
Google_Hacking_Gets_Easier.html#readmore
Don't get me wrong though hackers have indeed been using Google as a means to hack information from unsuspecting individuals pretty much from its inception. But this task was manual and took time and experience to even begin to know where to look and what to look for. But with this new automated program designed to find the same mentioned data off Google can nearly cut the time in half which can allow hackers and thieves to steal your sensitive information quite easily. This worries many companies and the authorities on how this program can affect people who make many purchases over the Internet or who participate in online banking.
There is however a light of hope in this dark cloud however. Experts say that this program will do little damage if any at all if websites that store the sensitive information practice good networking and keep their security checks in place. As long as the website has good protection then this program will do little in breeching your identity. So the key is for companies to keep their websites more secure and keep private information off of publically accessible websites.
As a strong user of the internet I am always concerned about hackers stealing my information, and I hope that website operators would do everything in their ability to keep everything safe and confidential. This article was interesting to read because it really taught me that I need to be careful with what kind of websites I use and make their that they practice good network security before I do business with them.
Link to where I read this short article hosted on G4Tv's website:
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/683199/
Google_Hacking_Gets_Easier.html#readmore
It's right on the tip of our fingers!
In this article we will be discussing a nice piece of futuristic technology to make our lives a bit easier at the gas pump. Shell is introducing into just a few of its gas stations the ability to pay using a finger print reader that will be linked up to an account registered in your name. It's supposedly easy to enroll where you simply register your finger print, select your search code and you preferred choice of payment. The unfortunate part is that you don't get to many options in the form of choice towards payment option. Those options being eCheck, Shell card of Shell Mastercard. So those of you who do not have one of those 3 types of payment may not participate but I am sure those of you who want to take part would be welcomed to apply for one of the following listed above.
This is an interesting way for this technology to be used, no more having to dig around for your card or worry that if you misplaced your card that it could actually be stolen. It seems very secure and safe because no two fingerprints are identical, so nobody would be able to access your account. They add on to the security your account information will be stored and encrypted on IBM data centers. This is great news in the age of identity theft happening on a constant basis. I would have to think that being able to store so many records for customers it would require a very large and reliable database. The database would have to be accessed by all participate shells and be available when ever a shell is open for business. In theory could be 24/7.
I saw this information on a page on the Shell website which will be listed below. I think its amazing that we are finally starting to enter an age in technology that I once saw on tv shows on the Sci-fi channel. Hopefully flying cars are in the near future that don't run on gasoline!
Link to the page:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/us-en/shell_for_motorists/payments/pay_by_touch/
goldfinger_main.html
This is an interesting way for this technology to be used, no more having to dig around for your card or worry that if you misplaced your card that it could actually be stolen. It seems very secure and safe because no two fingerprints are identical, so nobody would be able to access your account. They add on to the security your account information will be stored and encrypted on IBM data centers. This is great news in the age of identity theft happening on a constant basis. I would have to think that being able to store so many records for customers it would require a very large and reliable database. The database would have to be accessed by all participate shells and be available when ever a shell is open for business. In theory could be 24/7.
I saw this information on a page on the Shell website which will be listed below. I think its amazing that we are finally starting to enter an age in technology that I once saw on tv shows on the Sci-fi channel. Hopefully flying cars are in the near future that don't run on gasoline!
Link to the page:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/us-en/shell_for_motorists/payments/pay_by_touch/
goldfinger_main.html
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
When simple sensorship goes wrong~
Hello everyone thank you for tuning in today. We shall be discussing when hacking + government goes wrong. So imagine yourself in a world where your government decides they do not want their citizens to view certain websites on the internet without your direct knowledge or consent...not to hard to picture I would imagine. Anyways supposing said government decides the only way to accomplish this is to block the website all together from reaching its citizens. How does one accomplish this you ask? Well there is a variety of ways you could in theory come to this conclusion. One of them being officially stating disapproval of this site and urge citizens to stay away from it. Request the website operators from allowing certain IP's coming from said country to access the website ( this would probably be more ethically accepted ). Or you can take matters into your own hands and hack the website and/or your citizens force block this website from accessing. Now you are probably wondering what website and what country would even consider taking steps towards Internet censorship. The website is YouTube, perhaps you have heard of it? You know a little video sharing site where users upload videos for people to watch and comment. And the country in question you ask? Well it is the country of Pakistan. Honestly I did not see that coming.~
What sparked the country wide banning of YouTube came from the recent increase of anti-Islamic type videos that have been popping up recently on YouTube's servers. Pakistan obviously no longer favored such videos being accessible by its citizens decided to take up the ban hammer in its own hands and attempted to block the site from being reached by anyone in their country. Now take a pause before reading on and ask yourself how does one ban a website? Well if you read the first paragraph I gave a couple of scenarios on how this possibly could be done but I am sure you can imagine which scenario Pakistan decided on. Yes they took the unethical approach and hacked into YouTube's servers and attempted Internet protocols that resulted in much more then a simple ban hammer for its citizens. The end result was Pakistan must of miscalculated its attempts at blocking just its nation and ultimately blocking the website to many of its users world wide.
One must question the ethic's in doing this. I can understand that they may want to block it for their own reasons but wouldn't simple communication between YouTube and the Pakistan government been a little simpler than "hijacking" a server? What kind of security threats could this have caused as a result? We all know hacking is hacking, it does not matter if you are stealing information or simply just disabling a website from viewers to see. Steps taken could end in the same way with risks to data integrity. Whose to say there was no hidden agenda? I am not pushing any blame towards anyone but simply asking questions that many would not think to ask. If I were to "hijack" a website to prevent those from viewing it, am I not taking censorship into my hands where the Internet it accessed by all not just by some? What would give me the right to do so?
Protecting data integrity is the goal of all people who run and maintain servers and databases. Is it not a crime in itself to force your way in without authorization and take certain actions into your own hands? These are questions we need to think about as Internet censorship takes steps closer to becoming a possible reality.
All credit goes to G4Tv and Wired News where I learned of and read the article. Both links will be shown below. Until next time everyone~
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/page2.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN_YOUTUBE_BLOCKED?
SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-02-24-09-04-19
What sparked the country wide banning of YouTube came from the recent increase of anti-Islamic type videos that have been popping up recently on YouTube's servers. Pakistan obviously no longer favored such videos being accessible by its citizens decided to take up the ban hammer in its own hands and attempted to block the site from being reached by anyone in their country. Now take a pause before reading on and ask yourself how does one ban a website? Well if you read the first paragraph I gave a couple of scenarios on how this possibly could be done but I am sure you can imagine which scenario Pakistan decided on. Yes they took the unethical approach and hacked into YouTube's servers and attempted Internet protocols that resulted in much more then a simple ban hammer for its citizens. The end result was Pakistan must of miscalculated its attempts at blocking just its nation and ultimately blocking the website to many of its users world wide.
One must question the ethic's in doing this. I can understand that they may want to block it for their own reasons but wouldn't simple communication between YouTube and the Pakistan government been a little simpler than "hijacking" a server? What kind of security threats could this have caused as a result? We all know hacking is hacking, it does not matter if you are stealing information or simply just disabling a website from viewers to see. Steps taken could end in the same way with risks to data integrity. Whose to say there was no hidden agenda? I am not pushing any blame towards anyone but simply asking questions that many would not think to ask. If I were to "hijack" a website to prevent those from viewing it, am I not taking censorship into my hands where the Internet it accessed by all not just by some? What would give me the right to do so?
Protecting data integrity is the goal of all people who run and maintain servers and databases. Is it not a crime in itself to force your way in without authorization and take certain actions into your own hands? These are questions we need to think about as Internet censorship takes steps closer to becoming a possible reality.
All credit goes to G4Tv and Wired News where I learned of and read the article. Both links will be shown below. Until next time everyone~
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/page2.html
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PAKISTAN_YOUTUBE_BLOCKED?
SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-02-24-09-04-19
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Is your school network safe??
In a world where we have to deal with the fear of campus shootings and crime, it only seems natural that the next step would take place over the internet. Now don't get me wrong I don't support any of these kinds of acts where a student's safety is compromised, especially being a student myself I feel this story can hit home just because of its nature. Being an I.T. major I can really feel sorry for the network administrator at the University of Harvard. Here is a guy whose entire career is based upon protecting, running and maintaining this network and here comes some random hacker to break it, copy an entire database worth of material and display it for the world to see. One could say this network admin. is going to be busy for quite a few days fixing security loop holes.
In this article we see that a hacker on this past Monday from the date of this article has allegedly broken it one of the University of Harvard's websites and compressed it into a 125mb file that appeared on BitTorrent a peer to peer file sharing application. It was hosted on the "Pirates Bay" a BitTorrent website. The database appears to be legit comprising of misc. files taken from Harvards servers. An attached note from the supposed hacker states that this stunt was used to demonstrate the weakness in security at Harvard. A very serious stunt indeed, one can only wonder how weak it truly was for someone to break into a school network without anyone catching it and stealing data of of their databases and then distributing it out onto the internet.
This kind of situation could in theory happen to anyone but it really makes you concerned since students rely on the security of their schools network to protect their important information. We as students use the school websites for virtually everything such as registration, paying tuition, managing student sensitive information. Suppose this hacker decided to take it a step further and steal personal data from the student body. As bad as this could be for the students it would be that much more worse for Harvard because of the impending lawsuits that may ensue from outraged individuals. I really worry about the rise of hackers in the recent years, although not all hackers are bad. There is ethical hackers these days but like anything in this world there will always be two sides to any coin.
Link to the article is here and all credit goes to PC World for its well written article. It's very informative and I urge anyone who is interested to check it out!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142589-page,1/article.html
In this article we see that a hacker on this past Monday from the date of this article has allegedly broken it one of the University of Harvard's websites and compressed it into a 125mb file that appeared on BitTorrent a peer to peer file sharing application. It was hosted on the "Pirates Bay" a BitTorrent website. The database appears to be legit comprising of misc. files taken from Harvards servers. An attached note from the supposed hacker states that this stunt was used to demonstrate the weakness in security at Harvard. A very serious stunt indeed, one can only wonder how weak it truly was for someone to break into a school network without anyone catching it and stealing data of of their databases and then distributing it out onto the internet.
This kind of situation could in theory happen to anyone but it really makes you concerned since students rely on the security of their schools network to protect their important information. We as students use the school websites for virtually everything such as registration, paying tuition, managing student sensitive information. Suppose this hacker decided to take it a step further and steal personal data from the student body. As bad as this could be for the students it would be that much more worse for Harvard because of the impending lawsuits that may ensue from outraged individuals. I really worry about the rise of hackers in the recent years, although not all hackers are bad. There is ethical hackers these days but like anything in this world there will always be two sides to any coin.
Link to the article is here and all credit goes to PC World for its well written article. It's very informative and I urge anyone who is interested to check it out!
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,142589-page,1/article.html
Monday, February 18, 2008
Internet Pirates Vs. Big Brother
This article concerns me quite a bit. As an avid user of the Internet I always worry about my personal data being leaked or taken from me by an outside source. As much as I try to keep my data safe on my computer the fact is someone will always be ahead of the game knowing all the tricks of the trade to get past any attempt I put forth to protect myself.
We all know that online piracy has recently caused a bit stir in the last few years with people file sharing music, movies and programs. These people know they are copyrighted and must cope with the fact that they are subject to legal action. But despite all that when it comes right down to actually catching these individuals how does a company accomplish this? This ties into my article and video I found on the G4 network website. I will post the link first so that anyone interested may see the video.
http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/
682282/The_Loop_The_New_Web_Police.html#readmore
This article mainly deals with companies such as AT&T who are attempting to step up as internet police and discover who are the subscribers in their networks that are using the
as a way to pirate movies, music, etc. Many things come to mind when I think of an ISP trying to become internet police when it comes to illegal file sharing. For instance, how do they intend to accomplish this? Being an I.T. major focusing on networks one would have to think that one of the few ways to be able to do this is to actually spy into peoples computers and look around on their hard drives for the evidence. But does this actually infringe on our rights? I would say yes because what of those people that store sensitive information such as personal data, social's, credit cards or online banking? How can an ISP such as AT&T justify paying an individual who is basically classified as a hacker to enter your computer without permission and "look around for illegal file sharing." What if this "hacker" is a crook who uses his job to steal peoples identities or takes the time since hes already in your computer to read personal mail etc. I would think this can infringe on our rights 100% and can compromise our financial and personal data.
This concerns me because as someone who uses the Internet to make online purchases and uses email quite often I would not be comfortable knowing that my ISP (which is not AT&T- thank goodness) may enlist the aid of their networks admins. and possibly outsources hackers to infiltrate my network to attempt and discover is I file share or not (which I don't). How they plan to justify this action without fearing on lawsuits is beyond me. We can only sit and watch as these developments progress and hope that our online rights won't be denied when push comes to shove.
We all know that online piracy has recently caused a bit stir in the last few years with people file sharing music, movies and programs. These people know they are copyrighted and must cope with the fact that they are subject to legal action. But despite all that when it comes right down to actually catching these individuals how does a company accomplish this? This ties into my article and video I found on the G4 network website. I will post the link first so that anyone interested may see the video.
http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/blog/post/
682282/The_Loop_The_New_Web_Police.html#readmore
This article mainly deals with companies such as AT&T who are attempting to step up as internet police and discover who are the subscribers in their networks that are using the
as a way to pirate movies, music, etc. Many things come to mind when I think of an ISP trying to become internet police when it comes to illegal file sharing. For instance, how do they intend to accomplish this? Being an I.T. major focusing on networks one would have to think that one of the few ways to be able to do this is to actually spy into peoples computers and look around on their hard drives for the evidence. But does this actually infringe on our rights? I would say yes because what of those people that store sensitive information such as personal data, social's, credit cards or online banking? How can an ISP such as AT&T justify paying an individual who is basically classified as a hacker to enter your computer without permission and "look around for illegal file sharing." What if this "hacker" is a crook who uses his job to steal peoples identities or takes the time since hes already in your computer to read personal mail etc. I would think this can infringe on our rights 100% and can compromise our financial and personal data.
This concerns me because as someone who uses the Internet to make online purchases and uses email quite often I would not be comfortable knowing that my ISP (which is not AT&T- thank goodness) may enlist the aid of their networks admins. and possibly outsources hackers to infiltrate my network to attempt and discover is I file share or not (which I don't). How they plan to justify this action without fearing on lawsuits is beyond me. We can only sit and watch as these developments progress and hope that our online rights won't be denied when push comes to shove.
Are you Anon!
I saw this report on a show I watch on the G4 network, I am not 100% if it was displayed on the standard news on local channels but I thought this was an interesting article to relate to database. Now despite the fact that this involved real people and their fight towards a goal it has much to do with database as any of my other past topics.
As the title of this topic says....Are you Anon. Well for those out of the loop, Anon short for Anonymous is group of individuals who are completely unknown in what they look like but have a strong force backing over the Internet. They are a faceless, leaderless group that randomly choose organizations or individuals that don't quite meet up with their moral beliefs and ethical views of the world. Recently they has made public that they are now setting their sights on the Church of Scientology. They feel this organization needs to be completely dismantled and brought down for the alleged crimes against them. My article has to deal with some of the steps they took to take down Scientology.
This all started by a posting of a video posted onto YouTube that interviews Tom Cruise and him talking about Scientology. Scientology requests the video to be brought down under the argument of copy right infringement. Because of that the video leaks out to other websites where they show it in full and ignore the demands of Scientology to bring it down. Because of this they have aroused the eyes and ears of the group Anonymous who are fighting against Internet censorship, another big topic in the U.S. at the moment. The group Anon has many computer user and hackers in the group where they have effectively put the Church of Scientology on notice. Using computer mischief they have rendered many websites that belong to Scientology useless using Denial of Service attacks and data fax spamming. They have also created a computer voiced video that was posted on YouTube declaring their actions onto Scientology.
Though the article was short their were many instances of Network violations present. Though I am not sure I agree with their DoS ( Denial of Service ) method to take down alot of Scientology's websites I do however understand what they are trying to do. Using their own websites and completely bringing them down falls in the line of Network Security. At some point some of the Anon hackers must of gained either admin. privilege's or access their servers and overloaded them with commands and requests. At the same time this happening it was reported through another source that while they had access to their servers a number of their databases with copy written material, exclusive to Scientology, had been taken and distributed over the Internet. So we are dealing with a group who are very good with computers but can use them in very bad ways such as taking information off of others databases and servers etc. However it's not all criminal activities they are pursuing. To wrap this all up there was a huge protest at many of the Scientology owned facilities by hundreds of people all wearing some type of mask protesting Scientology. All of which claimed to be apart of Anon.
I thought this article was very interesting because of its ties with Database and Network Security. It even had a human side to it of what people will do so that their voice and opinion is heard. The fight will be a long one in my opinion with many casualties I fear. A protest like this that challenges laws in the U.S. where a group fights for human rights and the other fights for freedom of religion. It will be a tough fight for the both of them, and I fear not to voice my over all opinion because I have read of many others going to jail because of comments they made in the regard. So I will leave it at this and watch from the sidelines as this story further unfolds.
As the title of this topic says....Are you Anon. Well for those out of the loop, Anon short for Anonymous is group of individuals who are completely unknown in what they look like but have a strong force backing over the Internet. They are a faceless, leaderless group that randomly choose organizations or individuals that don't quite meet up with their moral beliefs and ethical views of the world. Recently they has made public that they are now setting their sights on the Church of Scientology. They feel this organization needs to be completely dismantled and brought down for the alleged crimes against them. My article has to deal with some of the steps they took to take down Scientology.
This all started by a posting of a video posted onto YouTube that interviews Tom Cruise and him talking about Scientology. Scientology requests the video to be brought down under the argument of copy right infringement. Because of that the video leaks out to other websites where they show it in full and ignore the demands of Scientology to bring it down. Because of this they have aroused the eyes and ears of the group Anonymous who are fighting against Internet censorship, another big topic in the U.S. at the moment. The group Anon has many computer user and hackers in the group where they have effectively put the Church of Scientology on notice. Using computer mischief they have rendered many websites that belong to Scientology useless using Denial of Service attacks and data fax spamming. They have also created a computer voiced video that was posted on YouTube declaring their actions onto Scientology.
Though the article was short their were many instances of Network violations present. Though I am not sure I agree with their DoS ( Denial of Service ) method to take down alot of Scientology's websites I do however understand what they are trying to do. Using their own websites and completely bringing them down falls in the line of Network Security. At some point some of the Anon hackers must of gained either admin. privilege's or access their servers and overloaded them with commands and requests. At the same time this happening it was reported through another source that while they had access to their servers a number of their databases with copy written material, exclusive to Scientology, had been taken and distributed over the Internet. So we are dealing with a group who are very good with computers but can use them in very bad ways such as taking information off of others databases and servers etc. However it's not all criminal activities they are pursuing. To wrap this all up there was a huge protest at many of the Scientology owned facilities by hundreds of people all wearing some type of mask protesting Scientology. All of which claimed to be apart of Anon.
I thought this article was very interesting because of its ties with Database and Network Security. It even had a human side to it of what people will do so that their voice and opinion is heard. The fight will be a long one in my opinion with many casualties I fear. A protest like this that challenges laws in the U.S. where a group fights for human rights and the other fights for freedom of religion. It will be a tough fight for the both of them, and I fear not to voice my over all opinion because I have read of many others going to jail because of comments they made in the regard. So I will leave it at this and watch from the sidelines as this story further unfolds.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Did technology create the next super man!
Sorry for the lack of posts lately folks, this past week I have been focusing on 4 different tests in most of my classes, so I am gonna try and pump out a few cool articles before weeks end to try and catch up with the pace I tried to set~
On that note lets get down to it with this very interesting article I found on robotics etc. Rest assured all things can have a place in the wonderful of database you just have to have a creative mind and logic when it comes to explaining it!
Today I would to present a new power suit that amplifies human strength. Wow it really can be like superman....one day maybe. But anyways this suit developed by some enginneers in Japan is being perfected and hope to begin its use in hospitals and nursing homes. But as you can probably guess such a use won't stop there. I am sure this marvelous piece of tech can be used in many different ways. Soilders on the battlefield, construction work, farming are just some of the many ideas that sprang to my head.
This suit is driven by portable batteries, small body senors and micro air pumps. As I stated about helping hospital workers one wearing a perfected version of this suit could easily lift a patient at a suggested weight of 180 pounds with half the effort of lifting someone that weighs that much. Imagine this...your small petite in stature and usually never would be able to lift 180 pounds much less even weight that much, but perhaps you could manage to lift 90 pounds with some help. Well if you had perhaps two people each wearing this suit each of you lifting this 180 pound person would literally be splitting the weight in half and using half the strength to do it, in essense you could be lifting 90 pounds instead of the 80 pounds. Talk about taking some of the slack off. The only draw back I see is that the suit itself in its current state weights about 66 pounds. But I am sure with future technology advancements everyday the weight of the suit will drop while its power increased. One of the testers comment in saying "When I wear it, I don't feel that it's heavy at all," He also commented in saying that "The sensors can tell the muscle power needed to lift an object."
Now that being said about the sensors we think to ourselfs sensors store information taken from the host. When your muscles react to begin lifting the sensors read this information into the suit where then the suit begins to adjust the power needed to lift. In a way its almost as if the suit stores the calculated strength to a table where it then references how much power is in turn needed to help its host lift the desired item. This is sort of like a database holding information where you then query the suits sophisticated database to attain the desired result. I believe that is a good way to explaing exactly how this suit can relate to database.
For those not 100% sure of how this suit works I will try and elaborate as best as possible. A network of senors track the limbs of the host then relay any and all data to the onbaord microchip. Once that is done the microchip regulates air flow into the micro air pumps where it then expands to give the desired lifting. To note an earlier comment about the suit weighing 66 pounds, to elaborate more the suit is self sustaining which means it can support its own weight and still having a battery support lift of about 30 minutes. Future versions of this suit are still in progress to help it overall perform and look better with more flexibility and looks.
This suit looks and seems amazing to me, with the right imagination and a little work this suit can go far beyond its intended target and reach new heights in not only supplementing ones own strenght but perhaps to help those rehabilate damaged limbs or even help those who lost the ability to walk on their own. I am very interested to see how this suit evolves in our technologically inclined world and perhaps one day we all can mimic what one would call true super human strength!
All credit etc. go to the author of this article from the article link provided below~
http://www.livescience.com/technology/060928_power_suit.html
On that note lets get down to it with this very interesting article I found on robotics etc. Rest assured all things can have a place in the wonderful of database you just have to have a creative mind and logic when it comes to explaining it!
Today I would to present a new power suit that amplifies human strength. Wow it really can be like superman....one day maybe. But anyways this suit developed by some enginneers in Japan is being perfected and hope to begin its use in hospitals and nursing homes. But as you can probably guess such a use won't stop there. I am sure this marvelous piece of tech can be used in many different ways. Soilders on the battlefield, construction work, farming are just some of the many ideas that sprang to my head.
This suit is driven by portable batteries, small body senors and micro air pumps. As I stated about helping hospital workers one wearing a perfected version of this suit could easily lift a patient at a suggested weight of 180 pounds with half the effort of lifting someone that weighs that much. Imagine this...your small petite in stature and usually never would be able to lift 180 pounds much less even weight that much, but perhaps you could manage to lift 90 pounds with some help. Well if you had perhaps two people each wearing this suit each of you lifting this 180 pound person would literally be splitting the weight in half and using half the strength to do it, in essense you could be lifting 90 pounds instead of the 80 pounds. Talk about taking some of the slack off. The only draw back I see is that the suit itself in its current state weights about 66 pounds. But I am sure with future technology advancements everyday the weight of the suit will drop while its power increased. One of the testers comment in saying "When I wear it, I don't feel that it's heavy at all," He also commented in saying that "The sensors can tell the muscle power needed to lift an object."
Now that being said about the sensors we think to ourselfs sensors store information taken from the host. When your muscles react to begin lifting the sensors read this information into the suit where then the suit begins to adjust the power needed to lift. In a way its almost as if the suit stores the calculated strength to a table where it then references how much power is in turn needed to help its host lift the desired item. This is sort of like a database holding information where you then query the suits sophisticated database to attain the desired result. I believe that is a good way to explaing exactly how this suit can relate to database.
For those not 100% sure of how this suit works I will try and elaborate as best as possible. A network of senors track the limbs of the host then relay any and all data to the onbaord microchip. Once that is done the microchip regulates air flow into the micro air pumps where it then expands to give the desired lifting. To note an earlier comment about the suit weighing 66 pounds, to elaborate more the suit is self sustaining which means it can support its own weight and still having a battery support lift of about 30 minutes. Future versions of this suit are still in progress to help it overall perform and look better with more flexibility and looks.
This suit looks and seems amazing to me, with the right imagination and a little work this suit can go far beyond its intended target and reach new heights in not only supplementing ones own strenght but perhaps to help those rehabilate damaged limbs or even help those who lost the ability to walk on their own. I am very interested to see how this suit evolves in our technologically inclined world and perhaps one day we all can mimic what one would call true super human strength!
All credit etc. go to the author of this article from the article link provided below~
http://www.livescience.com/technology/060928_power_suit.html
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Go Green! Go Security!!
As broad as my articles have been for the last few posts, I can't stress enough the importance of Going Green! We only have one earth and I think it's great the I.T. world steps up with new advancements in technology that is safe and yet good for the environment.
Without further ado allow me to present for your reading pleasure.....A new low powered Microchip. Let's discuss this chip and its features a little bit more and discuss how we can relate this in the grand scheme of Database!
Now despite this article being a bit dated I am sure even in this day the technology is being improved upon even further than this articles gives justice. But for the sake of just being informed its important to note some of the key points it had to offer when the article was first published! The chip I am discussing is a PIC 8-bit flash micro controller with integrated KEELOQ® cryptographic peripheral. This chip uses a combination of low power consumption and a reliable battery powered operation. This chip boasts that it is the total solution for secure data transmissions and authentication applications. That I think is very important for those with sensitive information stored in databases and servers. I do not think anyone else would disagree with me on that notion. But we must know, is this all it can do? Sure there has to be other features that set it apart from the rest! What possible applications could the new PIC12F635 and PIC16F636 microcontrollers have in store?
It is important to note that these chips can be used for Remote security control which in turn is basically Remote Keyless entry, an example would be perhaps the lock/unlock feature on your automobile. Passive Keyless entry and remote door locks and gate openers are other Remote security control types associated with these microchips. These microchips don't stop there, they can also be used for Authentication purposes for example property and identity. The microchips also boast of being associated with remote sensor and their intercommunications for Security Systems. So we see that it has some many general purposes to those listed but the real question we should be asking for those not completely tech inclined is " What does this all mean and why is it better then my wireless door locker in my car or my garage door opener in my house?" Well I am glad you asked that, you see in this day and age new devices exist that can intercept signals given off by your garage door opener or current keyless entry controllers for your car. With the properly equipped thief and the right tool for intercepting this signal they can take that signal and store it into their signal stealing device and use it to gain access to your car or home when you are away and unsuspecting. I don't think I have to tell you what that means when an outsider gains access to your belongings! So how does this tie back into these microchips now that I have seemingly gone off into a tangent. Well fear not a direct quote from the article states that
" KEELOQ technology is based on a proprietary, non-linear encryption algorithm that creates a unique transmission on every use, rendering code capture and resend schemes useless. The new devices now feature this encryption algorithm as an integrated hardware peripheral to the PIC microcontroller core. " ( credit to Eric Lawson on this well stated article ) Article web address to be found by clicking on "here"
So there you have it, a new kind of chip that boasts lower energy consumption for our environment and some great features to help better protect those sensitive files in your database or even in your own home! I personally enjoyed this article because it basically killed two birds with one stone. Microchip Technology Inc. developed a way to go green while increasing security for anything that has these microchips integrated!
Without further ado allow me to present for your reading pleasure.....A new low powered Microchip. Let's discuss this chip and its features a little bit more and discuss how we can relate this in the grand scheme of Database!
Now despite this article being a bit dated I am sure even in this day the technology is being improved upon even further than this articles gives justice. But for the sake of just being informed its important to note some of the key points it had to offer when the article was first published! The chip I am discussing is a PIC 8-bit flash micro controller with integrated KEELOQ® cryptographic peripheral. This chip uses a combination of low power consumption and a reliable battery powered operation. This chip boasts that it is the total solution for secure data transmissions and authentication applications. That I think is very important for those with sensitive information stored in databases and servers. I do not think anyone else would disagree with me on that notion. But we must know, is this all it can do? Sure there has to be other features that set it apart from the rest! What possible applications could the new PIC12F635 and PIC16F636 microcontrollers have in store?
It is important to note that these chips can be used for Remote security control which in turn is basically Remote Keyless entry, an example would be perhaps the lock/unlock feature on your automobile. Passive Keyless entry and remote door locks and gate openers are other Remote security control types associated with these microchips. These microchips don't stop there, they can also be used for Authentication purposes for example property and identity. The microchips also boast of being associated with remote sensor and their intercommunications for Security Systems. So we see that it has some many general purposes to those listed but the real question we should be asking for those not completely tech inclined is " What does this all mean and why is it better then my wireless door locker in my car or my garage door opener in my house?" Well I am glad you asked that, you see in this day and age new devices exist that can intercept signals given off by your garage door opener or current keyless entry controllers for your car. With the properly equipped thief and the right tool for intercepting this signal they can take that signal and store it into their signal stealing device and use it to gain access to your car or home when you are away and unsuspecting. I don't think I have to tell you what that means when an outsider gains access to your belongings! So how does this tie back into these microchips now that I have seemingly gone off into a tangent. Well fear not a direct quote from the article states that
" KEELOQ technology is based on a proprietary, non-linear encryption algorithm that creates a unique transmission on every use, rendering code capture and resend schemes useless. The new devices now feature this encryption algorithm as an integrated hardware peripheral to the PIC microcontroller core. " ( credit to Eric Lawson on this well stated article ) Article web address to be found by clicking on "here"
So there you have it, a new kind of chip that boasts lower energy consumption for our environment and some great features to help better protect those sensitive files in your database or even in your own home! I personally enjoyed this article because it basically killed two birds with one stone. Microchip Technology Inc. developed a way to go green while increasing security for anything that has these microchips integrated!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Is it a bird...Is it a plane??
No it is not a bird or a plane, and thank goodness it is not the sky falling either. Reports have confirmed that a U.S. spy satellite that was orbiting Earth has lost power and has begun to descend into the atmosphere. Where this monster of a satellite will crash has many pondering that same question. The satellite in question is about the size of a small bus and weighs about 20,000 pounds. How much collateral damage can this satellite cause is the question of concern to many individuals, though statistically it has just as much chance of falling harmlessly into the ocean as it does landing in any part of land mass throughout the world. Not many details are being released about the satellite because it is assumed to be an "eye in the sky" type where it's used for spying and reconnaissance among other non-military applications. There are talks that the satellite may contain on board harmful agents that could cause problems. Such is the case as one report claims the satellite might contain beryllium a light weight metal with a high boiling point that if heated could cause harmful effects if breathed by people. But these are speculation's because not much is known about the craft as it is deemed as top secret by the government. Rest assured the appropriate government groups are monitoring the situation very closely and hope to have a possible solution as the satellite begins its fall into the atmosphere.
So what does this mean for us all? Can this cause minor or major damage? The potential is there depending on where it lands. What happens if it hits the U.S.? What kind of harmful effects can we expect from this and what would be the appropriate actions to take for us citizens? But let's not stop the train of thought there. Despite as bad of a scenario this presents there is more bad news. Because this satellite is a spy satellite what does this mean for National Security? We all know there are groups out there to who do not feel all warm and fuzzy for the U.S. But how does this tie in with the satellite you ask? The spy satellite obviously used to gather information around the world, how could lets say a terrorist group use this information? If they were to acquire our spy satellite could they not use it for their own agenda's? Would this satellite dropping into their lap, metaphorically speaking, harm the U.S. far more then it simply dropping into a secured area that we control? It has been noted that U.S. spy satellites when no longer of use are brought in through a controlled reentry and disposed of because of the harmful secrets they could possibly carry. So that leaves us to ponder what could a group who does not favor the U.S. possibly gain from a falling spy satellite. My guess would be technology that they might not presently have, government secrets, access to computer networks via the satellites computer. In theory, speaking as a networking major, if you have a piece of software and/or technology that regularly access a particular network then you gain control over said software then you in turn can use its ability to access said network.
Among the many worries the U.S. government should have, crashing down to the earth should not be the only worry they have, allowing government technology and secrets into the hand's of those not aligned with the U.S. could be devastating for U.S. security and all of it's citizens. Let's hope for the sake of all the U.S. that our government can find a positive solution so that collateral damage and the loss of government secrets does not occur from this unfortunate event.
**Edit**
forgot to show where I read this article about, sorry about that folks~
Article to be found by clicking " Here "
So what does this mean for us all? Can this cause minor or major damage? The potential is there depending on where it lands. What happens if it hits the U.S.? What kind of harmful effects can we expect from this and what would be the appropriate actions to take for us citizens? But let's not stop the train of thought there. Despite as bad of a scenario this presents there is more bad news. Because this satellite is a spy satellite what does this mean for National Security? We all know there are groups out there to who do not feel all warm and fuzzy for the U.S. But how does this tie in with the satellite you ask? The spy satellite obviously used to gather information around the world, how could lets say a terrorist group use this information? If they were to acquire our spy satellite could they not use it for their own agenda's? Would this satellite dropping into their lap, metaphorically speaking, harm the U.S. far more then it simply dropping into a secured area that we control? It has been noted that U.S. spy satellites when no longer of use are brought in through a controlled reentry and disposed of because of the harmful secrets they could possibly carry. So that leaves us to ponder what could a group who does not favor the U.S. possibly gain from a falling spy satellite. My guess would be technology that they might not presently have, government secrets, access to computer networks via the satellites computer. In theory, speaking as a networking major, if you have a piece of software and/or technology that regularly access a particular network then you gain control over said software then you in turn can use its ability to access said network.
Among the many worries the U.S. government should have, crashing down to the earth should not be the only worry they have, allowing government technology and secrets into the hand's of those not aligned with the U.S. could be devastating for U.S. security and all of it's citizens. Let's hope for the sake of all the U.S. that our government can find a positive solution so that collateral damage and the loss of government secrets does not occur from this unfortunate event.
**Edit**
forgot to show where I read this article about, sorry about that folks~
Article to be found by clicking " Here "
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The future is within ones eye...
So as the topic states I was being literal. Imagine being able to web surf while walking down the street...now some of you are probably thinking to yourself...." Meh I do that already with my cell phone or PDA..." Ok fair enough but I meant it more figuretively. Try this one for size for those with all the gizmos to web surf, imagine websurfing and not holding a single piece of technology in your hand. Everyone still with me? Good because the future is just around the corner and I stress everyone to take a good look at it with your very own eyes. Now I guess enough beating around the bush allow me to introduce the next wave of technology...Super Human vision via contact lens! Yes you heard me right, embedded circuits within a simple contact lens either regular or corrective that allows you to do a multitude of functions simply with your eyes!
To get an understanding of what this could mean, if anyone has ever seen shows such as the Million Dollar Man or the Bionic Woman, then you probably already have a much better idea of what this truly is. Now your probably wondering what exactly does this eye do if anything? Well thats an excellent question, this eye can do just about anything that it will be programmed for, its limits are non-existant. The eye could potentially allow you to zoom your vision as if you were using a digital camera. Like mentioned above the eye could allow one to surf the internet via a visible interface to the user only right infront of your eyes. Surfing the internet is just the beginning, one could even hope of accessing basic computer functions from perhaps your own computer. Police could take advantage of this kind of technology if they needed to target a certain individual within a crowd or even scan a persons face to display a database before their eyes to see if a perp. matches whats on file. The sky's the limit when it comes to this futuristic piece of technology. Recognition software can be taken to the next level with actual people performing the recognition of other individuals live.
The contact lens is an actual contact lens that has been tested on rabbits for multiple minutes at a time and deemed no harmful effects. The lens is easy to pop in and out as a normal contact lens. Though no official use is determined one could imagine the grand uses for such a high tech piece of equipment. They actually in bed circuits within the lens to allow it to do what its programmed to do. Don't worry about power though as the articles hints at solar panel technology embedded on the surface of the lens to gain energy from the sun to power it and a combo of radio frequency waves. Amazing!
What can this mean for people? We could very well see the opening of many things, so many that the list can go on. Face recognition, database accessing via a systems files., surfing the internet, military and recon application, even camera zoom technology which could help doctors when performing very delicate surgery, even in the entertainment industry with video games holds a place within this eye.
Don't run out to your local Pearle Vision just yet, this are not ready for the market much testing is still in the works and future improvements and additions are still being worked on. Though this is a great step forward for technology, what does this really mean for people? Sure we have glasses and corrective lens, but now computer circuit powered lens...will we all gain super human sight or x-ray vision by simply wearing this contacts? Don't hold your breath yet, I am sure researchers and scientists have much more better uses for these contacts then simply pleasing individuals with their own agendas! So what are your opinions of this great leap in human-computer technology? Though I have opening feelings about it, there are still many questions I have just like anyone else would. But ultimately my question would be when can I exchange my glasses for such a wonderful tool?
For anyone else interested in reading this topic here is the weblink and perhaps you can do your own research on it and come up with your own opinion on this subject~
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uow-clw011708.php
To get an understanding of what this could mean, if anyone has ever seen shows such as the Million Dollar Man or the Bionic Woman, then you probably already have a much better idea of what this truly is. Now your probably wondering what exactly does this eye do if anything? Well thats an excellent question, this eye can do just about anything that it will be programmed for, its limits are non-existant. The eye could potentially allow you to zoom your vision as if you were using a digital camera. Like mentioned above the eye could allow one to surf the internet via a visible interface to the user only right infront of your eyes. Surfing the internet is just the beginning, one could even hope of accessing basic computer functions from perhaps your own computer. Police could take advantage of this kind of technology if they needed to target a certain individual within a crowd or even scan a persons face to display a database before their eyes to see if a perp. matches whats on file. The sky's the limit when it comes to this futuristic piece of technology. Recognition software can be taken to the next level with actual people performing the recognition of other individuals live.
The contact lens is an actual contact lens that has been tested on rabbits for multiple minutes at a time and deemed no harmful effects. The lens is easy to pop in and out as a normal contact lens. Though no official use is determined one could imagine the grand uses for such a high tech piece of equipment. They actually in bed circuits within the lens to allow it to do what its programmed to do. Don't worry about power though as the articles hints at solar panel technology embedded on the surface of the lens to gain energy from the sun to power it and a combo of radio frequency waves. Amazing!
What can this mean for people? We could very well see the opening of many things, so many that the list can go on. Face recognition, database accessing via a systems files., surfing the internet, military and recon application, even camera zoom technology which could help doctors when performing very delicate surgery, even in the entertainment industry with video games holds a place within this eye.
Don't run out to your local Pearle Vision just yet, this are not ready for the market much testing is still in the works and future improvements and additions are still being worked on. Though this is a great step forward for technology, what does this really mean for people? Sure we have glasses and corrective lens, but now computer circuit powered lens...will we all gain super human sight or x-ray vision by simply wearing this contacts? Don't hold your breath yet, I am sure researchers and scientists have much more better uses for these contacts then simply pleasing individuals with their own agendas! So what are your opinions of this great leap in human-computer technology? Though I have opening feelings about it, there are still many questions I have just like anyone else would. But ultimately my question would be when can I exchange my glasses for such a wonderful tool?
For anyone else interested in reading this topic here is the weblink and perhaps you can do your own research on it and come up with your own opinion on this subject~
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/uow-clw011708.php
Monday, January 21, 2008
A not so wonderful day for ebay
One of the worse things that could happen to any business is to have their companies database accessed by an outsider of the company, usually a hacker. It seems ebay has been plagued by a certain individual who goes by the name of 'Vladuz.' It is unknown if this hacker is one or many who each call them self as this Vladuz hacker. There are many instances in the articled listed below of this hacker listening in on conversations held by officers and CEO's of eBay. This Vladuz over the years has maintained use of eBay's super account functions in an attempt of hurting the company and its users for financial gain. There were many instances where this user would sell software that its primary use was to be used to hack into eBay's infrastructure. Using the database that is accessed by eBay employees Vladuz has gained insight on super user controls and other tools to access user information and personal data and leaving them exposed for the general public and other hackers to use. Many of eBay's employees and users are concerned, if so many of eBay's super user functions are so easily accessed by an outside party then long has this been going on? Are the users confidential information safe? As any who have signed up for eBay would be aware, you require a credit card to sign up and that means your financial data is at this Vladuz's grasp. Concerned? Yes I would be, and so should anyone else who is a registered member of eBay. How and when eBay arranges to have these security loop holes corrected throughout their database should be the next question floating around. Despite that, how long will it take for this hacker(s) take before they reveal a new method for entering eBay's database. The questions are out there and obviously eBay needs to own up and have these concerns, from their millions of users who trade and sell items every day for millions of dollars, answered.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/ebay.hacking
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/25/ebay.hacking
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