software development, security, opinion
Archive for the ‘LINKS’ Category.
Steve Gibson has just released a simple tool that allows anyone — no
matter how junior and inexperienced — to quickly disable or enable
the Universal Plug & Play Internet server that runs by default —
even after applying Microsoft’s patch — in every copy of Windows XP.
“I’ve received a fair amount of pushback on my Boingo article from Wednesday from readers and fellow Webloggers on how superfluous Boingo seems. Why not just do what they’re doing in software via a browser window, they ask? Why lock into a specific proprietary software package thus creating the potential for a non-standard network?…”
Application Single-Sign On: Netegrity, Securant, or Evidian?
-by L. Taylor
As security breaches become increasingly more frequent, minimizing user
access to back-end systems and web applications without impacting
legitimate usage is more important than ever before.
| This is a nice scoop by Glenn, who calls it a “transforming event.” WiFi everywhere, thanks to Earthlink and it’s Boingo Wireless spin-off. But::::: only for Windows clients: |
| By requiring client software, initially available only for Windows, Boingo offers a variety of features in one bundle: single user login, WEP key management, Wi-Fi network profile management, preferred network priority, VPN (virtual private network) service to Boingo’s public servers, quality of service (QoS) tracking, and connection logging. |
| Boingo also throws in authenticated SMTP mail service, which allows outbound email service anywhere on the Internet. |
| Excuse me for saying this truly sucks. |
| This launch will most likely transform Wi-Fi public space access from a niche market to a national infrastructure and hasten the integration with cellular networks. |
| No, it will create a big private WiFi space for Boingo customers with special client software that only Boingo provides. |
| What’s wrong with the way WayPort and MobileStar and the others do it now (including whatever the outfit is that provides service at Mariott hotels), which is with DHCP and a browser-based sales & authentication scheme? With those guys you just set your laptop (or whatever) up for wireless DHCP, fire up a browser, go through a pay-in and/or login routine (if you’re already paid up) in your browser window, and bang: you’re on the Net, ready to do whatever you like (including your own damn SMTP and POP mail). |
| Here’s what’s wrong with it: there’s no lock-in. It’s just a service. And if you’re AOL or Microsoft or Earthlink, it isn’t enough just to provide a service. You need to own the user by owning the client. The user is a steer that isn’t yours without your brand on its hide. |
| These guys still see the Net as nothing more than a convenient transport system for their own private online services. They constantly want to to fence off their own green pastures in the midst of the Net’s wide open spaces. And they think they can only do that with a locked-in client: |
| A Macintosh version of the connection software is planned for 2002, but the company did not want to issue a prediction for delivery. (Dayton himself is a committed Macintosh user.) |
| I’m a Mac user too. Also Linux. But so the fuck what? Why should the system care? The client shouldn’t matter. If it can connect by DHCP over a WiFi link and run a browser, it should be ready to use the Web anywhere, anytime. Earthlink deserves good PR for rolling out a big-ass WiFi service. They deserve a chorus of raspberries for making it a lock-in strategy. |
Magic Lantern is Wakeup Call. FBI has reluctantly admitted it is developing “Magic Lantern” as part of a series of enhancements to the Cyber Knight project. The software is capable of gaining access to your encryption keys by stealing passwords used to secure them. It is a trojan horse that once inserted into an internet connected computer logs your keystrokes and relays your data to FBI. FBI hopes that users who are smart enough to use encryption for their communication will fall a pray to Magic Lantern by overlooking their personal system’s security. So how is it a wakeup call you ask? Just a minute. [kuro5hin.org]
Intel Open Source Vision Library. Intel has announced
a new release of the Open Source
Computer Vision Library (OpenCV) developed by researchers at their
Software Development Center in
Nihzniy Novgorod, Russia. OpenCV provides “human-like” stereo vision
capabilities that include depth perception, gesture recognition, object
tracking, and face recognition. The library source code is
available under a GPL-compatible license which has been approved by both
the Free
Software Foundation and Open Source
Initiative.
[robots.net]
Hewlett-Packard Launches Blade Network Computers. New York Times Dec 4 2001 4:56AM ET [Tech latest]
Paul Nakada started a Segway blog. That was quick! 
[Scripting News]
Gartner Research Note via TechRepublic:
HIPAA survey 2Q01 results: Spending and consulting use
Gartner’s third iteration of its quarterly Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) panel survey was completed in June 2001. As previously reported, many healthcare organizations (HCOs) are simply not going to achieve complete compliance with HIPAA’s transaction and code set regulations by the 16 October 2002 deadline.
However, now that 85 percent of payers and 69 percent of providers have at least started conducting formal assessments of their readiness with the first set of HIPAA mandates, more information is emerging regarding HCOs’ expected HIPAA costs, as well as their current and projected use of outside consulting help.
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