Christopher Mackay's Blog » Security

Dara O’Briain bit on woo

Chris — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:18:47 +0000

Boy, he covers a lot of ground in this 6-minute bit, but he speaks the truth.

Schneier on Security: ‘Digital Manners Policies’

Chris — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:17:23 +0000

‘Digital Manners Policies’ is a marketing term. Let’s call this what it really is: Selective Device Jamming. It’s not polite, it’s dangerous. It won’t make anyone more secure — or more polite”

Best argument for open-source software; now what about open-source hardware?

TidBITS Safe Computing: How to Protect Yourself From The New Mac OS X Trojans

Chris — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:32:14 +0000

How to Protect Yourself From The New Mac OS X Trojans

The first rule of using a Mac is to always trust Adam Engst. I’ve been trusting him for 15 years, and I’ve never regretted it.

This issue isn’t likely too likely to bite any individual user, but the precaution is easy to take.

All that remains to be seen is whether the next patch from Apple requires us to put ARDAgent.app back before patching.

Mac OS X first to fall

Chris — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:08:49 +0000

Mac OS X first to fall: “In the first attempted attack in the PWN2OWN contest, a security analyst breached the defenses of Apple’s Mac OS X using a bug in the Safari browser and won $10,000 as well as the computer that he compromised.”

(Via SecurityFocus.com.)

iTunes 7.3 issues

Chris — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:56:21 +0000

iTunes 7.3 has been, for me, the worst version ever.Yes, there was a version that wiped out some people’s hard drives, but I wasn’t one of them, so that release doesn’t count.7.3, though, can’t update my iTunes Library file. That means I can’t revise any playlists, or add any music to my library (including the 1 song I bought from iTunes Music Store before discovering this bug). Or revise anything about my Library, actually; playcounts, ratings, the works.The silence from Apple, as usual with these sorts of things, is deafening.Maxfixit.com, the venerable mac, um, fix-it site, along with folks on Apple’s discussion boards, has been recommending reverting to iTunes 7.2 (a sensible enough suggestion).They even provide a link — to a site called OldApps.com! Now, I don’t know thing one about this web site or its reputation — I haven’t even visited it — but installing Apple software that’s been downloaded from SomeRandomWebSite?

AmeriTrade Spam: Toronto Dominion Affected?

Chris — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:38:21 +0000

This story on Slashdot suggests that email addresses used for ameritrade accounts wind up getting spammed. A quick visit to ameritrade.com shows that it’s owned/co-branded TD — Toronto Dominion — AMERITRADE. Have Canadians had similar experiences with online TD accounts? I’ve certainly never heard of any Canadian banks behaving like this…

Adobe’s Awful Installers Are Security Risk

Chris — Sat, 19 May 2007 16:06:18 +0000

Not only do Adobe’s recent installers suck from a usability perspective (see John Welch’s piece on the Adobe Reader 8 installer), they’re now a security risk. This is completely unacceptable.

Adobe Security bulletin