When I first went to Defcon in 1995, the halls were mobbed with teenagers and attendees seemed more concerned with freeing Kevin Mitnick and seeing strippers than hacking each others' computers. Jump forward to Defcon 17 this year, which was held over the weekend in Las Vegas, things certainly have changed. The attendees are older and wiser and employed, most of the feds aren't in stealth mode, and even the most savvy of hackers is justifiably paranoid.. "Welcome to the hacker world," said Defcon founder Jeff Moss. The evolving demographic of Defcon attendees shows that the hacker community, like all of us, is aging. But it's also a reflection of how the threat landscape has changed. Web site defacements have given way to much more serious risks like financial fraud and unaddressed critical infrastructure weaknesses. The link for this article located at CNN is no longer available. . 'Welcome to the hacker world,' said Defcon founder Jeff Moss. The evolving demographic of Defcon att. first, defcon, halls, mobbed, teenagers, attendees, seemed. . Anthony Pell
The term snake oil is often used to describe cryptography that does not actually provide the level of security that its proponents claim. The origin of the term is somewhat unclear, but one story is that it can be traced back to one of the traditional remedies for joint pain and inflammation that was brought to the US in the nineteenth century by Chinese immigrants. The fat from Chinese water snakes is high in eicosapentaenic acid (EPA), which has been shown to have some medicinal properties, so there may be some basis for believing that the traditional remedy actually had useful effects. Like the effects of many medications, however, the benefits from the traditional snake oil were subtle and varied significantly from person to person, making it difficult to rigorously prove the effectiveness of the remedy. . The link for this article located at IT Observer is no longer available. . The world of cryptography is fraught with dubious claims, resulting in a snake oil contagion within security practices that misleads organizations seeking protection. Cryptography Analysis,Safety Claims,Skeptical Insights,Threat Perception. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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