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PATH: BS | Technology | Computers
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MPAA Caught Pirating Software
Posted by Pile
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 The Chairman of the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). You remember the MPAA right? This is the high-and-mighty organization that is in charge of convincing and threatening people with legal action if they violate copyright or licensing terms of movies and music.
It turns out the MPAA blog is run by a piece of software called "Forest Blog" - a Freeware blog, and one of the few things the author asks is that if you use the software in a commercial environment, pay about $40 for the registration, and don't remove the links to the author's original site.
Of course, the MPAA apparently installed the software, didn't register and removed the links and credits from it before they let their executives use the blog software to rant and rave about the evils of piracy.
To make matters worse, the MPAA ignored the author's initial requests to legitimize the software, until it became public, then they pulled the site and sent him a letter saying the blog they installed was a "proof of concept" and didn't have its own domain, so therefore it wasn't an issue. Even though then, they didn't pay for the software! |
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New "Hearse" Worm May Be Worst Yet
Posted by Pile
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As a data security specialist, Jeremy Pickett sees all kinds of digital tricks. So on Mar. 20, when he was tracing the origins of a computer worm that had been blocked the night before from entering a client's computer network, Pickett wasn't too surprised that it tried to connect with four sleazy Web sites, most of them, he believes, in Russia. Or that it then tried to load victims' PCs with as many as 30 new pieces of "malware," ranging from spam programs to those that automatically dial in to expensive phone-sex services.
But the real shock came when Pickett decided to test another bug by infecting his own PC with it. Out slithered a program that promptly installed itself deep inside his computer. There it became virtually immune to detection from the basic antivirus software that scans for dangerous code. The bug -- known as a "Trojan," which in turn was hidden inside a "rootkit" -- was designed to activate whenever a Web surfer typed in a user name or password for bank accounts or Web sites for dating, social networking, or e-mail. Pickett went to a bank site and entered fictitious log-in information. Right before his eyes, those data were sent streaming back to Russia, joining the IDs of thousands of real victims. His reaction: "absolute horror." |
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Bumper Sticker Store
With the Wii console due to be released in Europe tomorrow and already out in other major territories, Nintendo execs have acknowledged media reports of uncoordinated gamers causing damage to televisions, furniture, and even fellow players.
A person attending a conference in Japan sat just feet away from a Dell laptop computer that suddenly exploded into flames, in what could have been a deadly accident.
Some students at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts put together a really creative and entertaining skit for their talent show. A live reinactment of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros game.
After Katrina, maybe we shouldn't be surprised to learn that the Department of Homeland Security--in charge of setting the government's agenda on cyber security--scored an F for its own cyber protection, for the third year in a row. Overall, government computer systems remain at roughly the same level of security that they had in 2004--an average score of a D+.
A motorist was trapped in his car driving at almost 130mph for 60 miles after the accelerator jammed.
In an amusing jab at Microsoft and their lackluster ability to promptly identify and fix vulnerabilities in their software, an IT guy has placed up for auction on eBay "One 0-day Microsoft Excel Vulnerability".