Following up on my recent post about computer security (and my comment about phishing scams being cross-platform), Bruce Schneier has posted an entry about "Drive-By Pharming". It has a stupid name, and it's nothing to do with wireless access; there is also some doubt about how feasible the attack vector actually is. Still, it's worth reading about ( Read more... )

Since my email address is public, I get a lot of spam: typically 100 messages per day. The Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail filter does a decent job of catching most of it, but there are still some that slip through; I also keep an eye on the spam folder itself, in case of false positives. Generally speaking, these messages fall into three categories ( Read more... )

I see that there's now a UK version of the "PC vs Mac" adverts. These are pretty similar to the original American versions, although there are fewer UK ones so far. Still, I think that they're quite funny, and I actually prefer the UK ones, mainly due to the actors involved; the "I'm a PC" guy is very enthusiastic about his stupid ideas. Sample ( Read more... )

Hmm, this is odd. If I go to:
https://www.paypal.com/
I get a warning telling me that the SSL certificate has expired. More specifically, the PayPal certificate itself is valid from 2006 to 2008 (i.e. that's fine), but it's issued by Ebay Verisign and their certificate was only valid from 1997 ( Read more... )

This afternoon I went along to give my DNA/fingerprints to the police. This is related to the Sally Anne Bowman murder from last September, and the basic profile for the murderer is "male, white, 20-40, living/working in South Croydon". So, the police have been asking for people to come forward voluntarily to give samples that can be used to narrow ( Read more... )

While I catch up on my backlog of emails etc. at work, a couple of amusing links from other security blogs I read:

"Doing a Dave" - cute little Flash animation about a developer and his goldfish (from Michael Howard)

"Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico ( Read more... )

Another weekend, another SJA duty. I was back at football today, for the Crystal Palace vs Southampton match. It turned out to be pretty quiet (from my point of view), although there was a large police presence, and we all got a special security briefing at the start (e.g. "if the police horses are sent in, get your arse out of there, because they ( Read more... )

Some good news: I took another Microsoft exam this evening (70-272), which I passed with 89%. I'm taking 70-271 next Thursday, and if I pass that then I become an MCDST (Desktop Support Technician). As with the ECDL, this kind of thing isn't strictly necessary, since it's a lower qualification than the MCSD that I already have, but there is a ( Read more... )

I spent today working off-site again, which involved lugging a PC home from work last night on the tube, then into the other office this morning. I've sorted out some issues on their network, so they're all happy. I also tidied up a complete rats nest of cables underneath one desk, reclaiming various unnecessary items in the process (a kettle lead ( Read more... )

Hmm, I wasn't intending to post another entry this soon, but I just got a rather worrying email. It appears to be from PayPal, but I think it's a hoax, so be very cautious if you receive something similar.

Key things that made me suspicious:

• They are asking for my password, which PayPal say they will never do.
• They shouldn't need my credit card ( Read more... )