Happy Friday all! Here’s what grabbed my attention this morning in Tech News:
- Microsoft to plug critical IE hole targeted by exploit code
“Microsoft said on Thursday that it will offer six updates for 12 vulnerabilities next week including a critical hole in Internet Explorer that affects Windows 7 and other current versions of the operating system for which exploit code has been released.” (source: cnet)- HTD: I think that Microsoft is doing a great job with the weekly security patches. They seem to be fairly quickly addressing issues that crop up. However, the other side of me says why oh why is the OS so prone to exploits, etc. I guess since it is the most used OS around, people want to find as many holes and expose them as possible. I do appreciate those “hackers” who expose these vulnerabilities, but do not exploit them. That being said, I always recommend to not only installs these updates regularly, but also have a strong anti-virus and firewall software suite installed and updated. Personally, I use Kaspersky, but there are a bunch of other great (and some even free) security software suites out there, so get one and keep it current!
- First commercial tool to crack BitLocker arrives
“BitLocker Drive Encryption can now be successfully cracked with Passware Kit Forensic version 9.5, though it will set you back $795. Passware, a software firm that provides password recovery, decryption, and evidence discovery software for computer forensics, has updated its flagship application this week to support breaking Microsoft’s BitLocker hard drive encryption. Passware Kit Forensic version 9.5 can recover encryption keys for hard drives protected with BitLocker in just a few minutes.” (source: ars technica)- HTD: So my previous Tech News note was about how good Microsoft has been about addressing vulnerabilities. This article talks about how Microsoft’s BitLocker Encryption can now be cracked…at a (high) price. While the story does go on to talk about how this is a “good” thing for Law Enforcement, since it has been difficult if not impossible for various agencies to gain access to BitLockered hard drives during investigations. The problem is now, this software by Passware will be widely available to those on the other side of the spectrum (e.g., hackers). While I think the release of this software is a good thing for law enforcement, it will be only a matter of time before Microsoft addresses this issue and corrects it…thus the cat and mouse game will continue.
- Twitter Debuts New Mobile Site, Eats Its Own Dogfood
“If you use Twitter frequently on your smartphone, there’s a good chance you use a native Twitter client. Between apps like Tweetie on the iPhone, Twidroid on Android, and Seesmic on Blackberry, there’s no shortage of quality apps that put advanced features at your fingertips. But, according to a post that just went live on the Twitter blog, there are still plenty of people who navigate to m.twitter.com, the Twitter mobile site that’s about as spartan as they come. Tonight, Twitter is showing off a preview of the new mobile site it’s working on, housed at mobile.twitter.com. And it’s a big improvement.” (source: TechCrunch) [click to continue…]
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