Security Projects - Page 8.5

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Is Firefox's Notification Lag Necessary?

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In a previous post about Firefox I proposed that the lack of automatic deployment of Firefox software updates is a disservice to the vast majority of Firefox users who may not bother to check in for updates. Today I found out another interesting tidbit: the Mozilla Foundation doesn't turn on Firefox's automatic notification feature for several hours after a new Firefox version is available.

Car Whisperer

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The carwhisperer project intends to sensibilise manufacturers of carkits and other Bluetooth appliances without display and keyboard for the possible security threat evolving from the use of standard passkeys. A Bluetooth passkey is used within the pairing process that takes place, when two Bluetooth enabled devices connect for the first time. Besides other public data, the passkey is a secret parameter used in the process that generates and exchanges the so-called link key. In Bluetooth communication scenarios the link key is used for authentication and encryption of the information that is exchanged between the counterparts of the communication.

Interview with Fyodor of Nmap

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Nmap ("Network Mapper") is a free utility for network exploration and security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. Nmap runs on most types of computers and both console and graphical versions are available. Nmap is free software, available with full source code under the terms of the GNU GPL. Read at TuxJournal.net

Linux Distribution Tames Chaos

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Chaos, a Linux distribution developed by Australian Ian Latter, harnesses the unused processing power of networked PCs, creating a distributed supercomputer that can crack passwords at lightning speed. The program remotely boots Linux on a PC without touching the hard drive, leaving the "slave" PC's operating system and data secure and untouched. Thirty PCs connected as a cluster create enough processing power to complete complex mathematical equations or high-level security tasks like password cracking that no individual PC could handle alone.

Are You Safer With Firefox?

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Is Firefox a more secure web browser than Microsoft's Internet Explorer? The answer may be yes, but the issues are more complicated than most people realize. In fact, Firefox has its share of security problems, and has probably been saved from real-world attack so far only by its single-digit market share,

More-Secure Linux Still Needs To Win Users

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The National Security Agency built a version of Linux with more security tools that its technologists believe could help make the country's computing infrastructure less vulnerable. They've won over the Linux developer community with the changes. But success depends on its adoption by U.S. companies and government agencies, something that remains very much in doubt.

Honeypot Project finds decline in Linux attacks

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Unpatched Linux systems are lasting longer on the internet before being compromised, according to a study by the Honeynet Project, a nonprofit group of security professionals that researches online attackers' methods and motives. Data from 12 honeynets showed that the average "life expectancy" of an unpatched Linux system has increased to three months from 72 hours two years ago.

Arkeia Network Backup Agent Remote Access (Exploit?)

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On February 18th, 2005 "John Doe" posted a remote buffer overflow exploit for the Arkeia Network Backup Client. This vulnerability affected all known versions of the software, going back as far as the 4.2 series (when the company was called Knox). The buffer overflow occurs when a large data section is sent with a packet marked as type 77. The Arkeia Network Backup Client is your typical backup agent; it runs with the highest privileges available (root or LocalSystem) and waits for a connection from the backup server. The Arkeia client and server both use TCP port 617 for communication. According to the SANS ISC, the kids are wasting no time.

IBM study tests Linux security

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To test open source security products, a study was conducted over a period of three months at the IBM Linux Test Integration Center. The goal for the security study was to deploy and compare various open source security tools that were available for free in the industry, and provide solution recommendations.v

Coyotos, A New Security-focused OS & Language

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For those who haven't been following the EROS project, it has now migrated to the Coyotos project. EROS, the Extremely Reliable Operating System, was a project to create an operating system whose security relied on capabilities rather than the traditional Unix model of root or non-root.

Linux, security skills projected hot skills for 2005

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Security, Web services and Linux jobs continue to dominate the IT help wanted ads and are projected to remain among the hottest skill and certification areas in 2005, according to research firms that specialize in tracking skills and certifications. Researchers said companies continue to invest in security-related projects while looking to eliminate aging legacy systems, and are exploring less expensive, newer platforms such as Linux.

Honeypot Project Finds Unpatched Linux PCs Stay Secure Online For Months

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The average unpatched Linux system survives for months on the Internet before being hacked, a report recently issued by the Honeypot Project claims. The life expectancy of Linux has lengthened dramatically since 2001 and 2002, the project said, from a mere 72 hours two and three years ago to an average of three months today. Honeypot Project is a non-profit that, as its name suggests, connects vulnerable systems to the Internet in the hope of drawing attacks so that they can be studied. To figure out the lifespan of a Linux system, the group set up a dozen "honeynets" -- the project's term for a system that hosts numerous virtual honeypot machines -- in eight countries, then tracked the time it took for those machines to be compromised.

Know Your Enemy: Trends

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New Honeynet Project KYE paper released "Know Your Enemy: Trends". This paper documents how the life expectancy of unpatched or vulnerable deployments of common Linux systems has increased from 3 days to 3 months. This is surprising based on the increase of malicious activity seen in the past 18 months.  

P2Pwall's Rope - IpTables scripting language

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ROPE is an IpTables packet matching module that allows complex logic to be defined using a simple scripting language. ROPE scripts run in the linux kernel, triggered by an IpTables rule and can inspect any portion of the IP packet - both headers and data payload.

Linux Netwosix 1.2 Jinko is released

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I'm ready to announce that Linux Netwosix 1.2 is ready. I have completely rebuilt , upgraded and secured the system. Please, read the Announcement Release. Is based on the powerful and reliable Kernel 2.6.9 and has been created for the requirements of every SysAdmin. Nepote contains the updated packages. You can download Netwosix from our Download Center or from one of our mirrors. Thank you! . . .

Interview: The men behind ettercapNG

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In 2001 two Italians released the first beta version of ettercap, a network protocol analyzer. This summer they released ettercapNG, which was completely rewritten from scratch with better, modular code, making it easier to add new features and write and submit patches. . . .

In search of security event standards

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Integrating SEM (security event management) technology with existing security and system management infrastructure can be a hair-raising experience. Security point products such as IDSes, anti-virus gateways, and vulnerability scanners tend to use proprietary formats for reporting, recording network events, and issuing alerts. . . .