Robert Lemos

…articles and musings of a technology and science journalist

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Legal experts wary of MySpace hacking charges

May 16th, 2008 · No Comments

Federal prosecutors charge the parent who allegedly badgered a girl to suicide with three counts of computer crime, but law experts worry about a dangerous precedent.
SecurityFocus

→ No CommentsTags: Cybercrime · Government · Legal · Security · SecurityFocus

Admins warned of brute-force SSH attacks

May 14th, 2008 · No Comments

Normally considered a low-level threat on the Internet, scans for default-configured secure shell servers spiked this week.
SecurityFocus

→ No CommentsTags: Cybercrime · Flaws and vulnerabilities · Security · SecurityFocus

Hack to the Future…

May 12th, 2008 · No Comments

As those who still manage to wade through the daily flames on Full Disclosure found out this weekend, the boys over at ZD0 managed to get access to the Administrator account on my blog. They posted the passwd file including the usernames and MD5 password hashes for about a score of users in the latest version of their brag rag, ZD04, and added a post to the site pointing to the newsletter.

[Read more →]

→ No CommentsTags: Blog · Security · Software

Groups warn travelers to limit laptop data

May 2nd, 2008 · No Comments

In a letter to Congress, nearly three dozen organizations protest the seizures of electronic devices by U.S. customs officials, an act upheld by a federal appeals court in a recent ruling.
SecurityFocus

→ No CommentsTags: Consumer Tech · Government · Homeland Security · Privacy · SecurityFocus

Patches pose significant risk, researchers say

April 23rd, 2008 · No Comments

A group of four computer scientists say Windows Update — and other patch services — should be redesigned, after they create a technique to quickly produce attack code from a distributed patch.
SecurityFocus

Follow-up: Patch paper redux: Move along please

→ No CommentsTags: Flaws and vulnerabilities · Research · Security · SecurityFocus · Software

Open Source ERP Grows Up

April 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

ERP has been a kind of final frontier for open source software. But now more IT leaders at midsize and smaller businesses are saying yes to open source software for ERP systems that pump the very heart of the business.
CIO.com

→ No CommentsTags: CIO.com · Enterprise · Open Source

5 Reasons to Say Yes to Macs, When Your Company Says No

April 3rd, 2008 · No Comments

Sometimes, IT leaders are told that the company runs Windows, period. But that doesn’t stop them from wishing for the forbidden fruit: One CIO explains why he’d like to bring Apple to his enterprise.
CIO.com

→ No CommentsTags: CIO.com · Enterprise · Macs

Five Reasons to Ditch the Mac and Return to PCs

April 1st, 2008 · No Comments

For some tech chiefs, the Apple magic wears off. Here’s why one IT leader recently came back to the Windows world, after spending years on the Mac side.
CIO.com

→ No CommentsTags: CIO.com · Enterprise · Macs

Retailers look to exorcise credit-card data

October 9th, 2007 · No Comments

The National Retail Federation sends a letter asking that its members be allowed to decide what credit-card data to keep.
SecurityFocus

→ No CommentsTags: Consumer Tech · Cybercrime · Security · SecurityFocus

Sputnik Stunned the World, and Its Rocket Scared the Pentagon

October 3rd, 2007 · No Comments

The standard Sputnik story goes like this: It was the launch of this metal ball that forced the United States to elevate the pursuit of science. But that’s not quite true. Technically speaking, Sputnik was no more sophisticated than a cheap transmitter from Radio Shack attached to 120 pounds of batteries. It was the R-7 launch vehicle that scared the pants off the U.S. military. The Soviets proved they not only had a rocket with precise guidance systems, but one that could launch a heavier payload than anything the Americans had.
Wired News

→ No CommentsTags: Launch systems · Space science · Wired News