This is funny.
Over on the “Thoughts of a Technocrat” blog there is a posting that I recommend you see for yourself. It’s one of the hundreds of sites that I read on a regular basis. It’s worth reading.
Now, I won’t ruin it for you.
Go check it out.
Tags: CIA Humour, Funny, Amusing
Bruce Schneier has a great commentary on Wired this morning that tackles the security practitioners mindset.
Here’s a snippet from Wired:
Uncle Milton Industries has been selling ant farms to children since 1956. Some years ago, I remember opening one up with a friend. There were no actual ants included in the box. Instead, there was a card that you filled in with your address, and the company would mail you some ants. My friend expressed surprise that you could get ants sent to you in the mail.
I replied: “What’s really interesting is that these people will send a tube of live ants to anyone you tell them to.”
Security requires a particular mindset. Security professionals — at least the good ones — see the world differently. They can’t walk into a store without noticing how they might shoplift. They can’t use a computer without wondering about the security vulnerabilities. They can’t vote without trying to figure out how to vote twice. They just can’t help it.
A thoroughly entertaining read.
We seem to overly fascinated with lists. Any “Top 10″ something or other. Well, in a effort to help enforce that perception here is a top 10 list of weird data disasters. Enjoy.
From Silicon.com:
Ant infestations, oil and failed parachute jumps are some of the unusual fates which have befallen innocent data storage devices recently, according to data recovery company Kroll Ontrack’s list of the most unusual recovery jobs it has faced in the last year.
This year the company has seen more damaged portable devices than ever before. Strange ways of damaging hardware in the company’s top ten countdown this year include:
10. All in a spin: A customer who told engineers she had ‘washed away all her data’ after putting a USB stick through a cycle in her washing machine.
Tags: Data Disasters, Data Loss, Data Security, Funny
More podcasty goodness.
Get the MP3 here…
Put it in your RSS here…
Add it to iTunes here…
Tags: csirt, security podcast, ranting, steve katz
This was an email that was on the SCADA mailing list this week. Remember that these are the folks that keep the water flowing, sewage moving, traffic lights working and the lights on.
From the list:
FWIW, cyber security penetration testers, AKA “tiger” teams, have been known to sprinkle a general work area like a parking lot, building lobby, etc., with USB drives and in almost all cases have found that most employees will immediately hook them up to their workstations.
The pre-loaded software on the USB drives immediately “phone home” and the tiger team has a nice report available for upper management to justify the high costs of hiring them.
For some enjoyment check it out.
Tags: SCADA List, Security Afterthoughts
Kai Roer has an amusing post on this blog today about an interesting error message that Plaxo gave him.
But, shhh, don’t tell anyone.
From Kai’s blog:
I have been using the new Plaxo Pulse feature - an attempt Plaxo is making to turn the address book update tool into a social and business network tool.
PlaxoI see many issues, but those do not belong to my blog.
What do belong here is this error message I have received a few times. It says:
“Oops! There seems to be a problem. I’ll tell you what… let us fix it and this can be our little secret.”
I do like the fact that I do not have to see all the programming error message blah-blah that usually turns up when a web application have a hick-up. Doing so means the Plaxo team tries to make an effort to make their tool user friendly - a must for a web application IMO.
The problem with this error is the last part of it:
“Let us fix it and this can be OUR LITTLE SECRET.”
Tell you what - if you do have a problem, you should fix it. Sure thing. But to ask me to keep it a secret? Wow, thank you but not thanks. If I keep it a secret, here is what might happen:
* You do not fix it
* Someone exploit it
* it is not one error, but many
* I get suspicious about your service (keep the error a secret - so no one else will know there is a problem)
* I will never know when you fix it (if you do - see above)
* I will stop trusting you
* others will stop trusting you
For the full posting read on.
Tags: Application Developers, Stupid Error Messages, Error Messages
It is amazing what you can find when you move into a new place. This old Cisco router was lurking in the basement. I had forgotten it was down there. The logo is hand painted. The real kicker…it still works!
Tags: Cisco Routers, Old Cisco Routers, Cisco, Funny
Here is some security humour for your Friday afternoon. Dogbert as a security consultant.
Enjoy.
This is interesting timing on this story. This information came out in when it was marked into evidence during a mob trial. In the run up to the selection for the ‘08 US election we find that the mob wanted to whack Rudy Guiliani when he was a prosecutor.
From the Smoking Gun:
A top echelon mob informant told the FBI that the Mafia’s ruling commission once discussed killing Rudolph Giuliani, but that despite support for the hit from John Gotti and Carmine “The Snake” Persico, the proposal was voted down. Details about the alleged murder scheme against Giuliani, then a New York federal prosecutor, were provided to the FBI in September 1987 by snitch Gregory Scarpa, a bloodthirsty Colombo family captain. A memo memorializing Scarpa’s claim was placed in the gangster’s voluminous informant file, a copy of which was marked into evidence yesterday at the criminal trial of Lindley DeVecchio, a former FBI agent facing charges that he leaked confidential information to Scarpa and helped arrange underworld rubouts.
Will Rudy seize upon this in favour of his nonstop tape loop of “Hi, 9/11. How the 9/11 are you 9/11?”
Read on.
Tags: Rudy Giuliani, Mob and Giuliani, Mob Trial
This is bizarre. Now, over the years I have seen some odd marketing ploys even some potentially dangerous ones. One vendor, whose name escapes me at this point, sent me a mouse trap. An actual mousetrap. While I could see their angle I don’t think that they really looked at this from a potential legal liability standpoint.
Now, this morning while checking my email (thx, John) I find this weird offering from Symantec. As part of a marketing campaign in Japan they have enlisted the help of “Norton Fighter”. No harm in that.
This is funny as hell.
Tags: Norton Fighter, Symantec, Security Marketing, Malware Marketing
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