Security News Highlights
Lately, I've been running across stories about computer security that run the gamut from trivial to terrifying. For example:
- NPR had a segment about those annoying CAPTCHAs and how they can be used to help digitize old books.
- Sophos confirmed that we aren't very good at protecting our own privacy -- 41 percent of Facebook users gave up personal information to a small green plastic frog. As a part of this research, Sophos put together a list of best practices for protecting your privacy on Facebook.
- The NSA published a report on How to Safely Publish Sanitized Reports Converted From Word 2007 to PDF. And if you are looking for additional security how-tos, check out their security configuration guides.
- Wired ran a story about how to protect yourself from snoops when you are using Gmail.
- The New York Divorce Law Blog reviewed a ruling where a wife was allowed to use evidence of her husband's Internet activities in the proceedings.
- The ABA Journal reported that the MIT students who hacked the transit system can talk publicly about the security flaws.
- The BBC wrote about a new exploit that inserts a malicious link into clipboards. (My favorite line: "Our work would be so much easier if our enemy would be stupid." It's so true under so many circumstances.)
- VentureBeat passed on information that pacemakers can be hacked. This hack was presented at from DefCon, a huge security conference.
The good news is that TechSoup.org is currently putting on a Special Security Event, so you can learn about what you need to do to protect yourself. - K
