* Posts by Robert Helpmann??

2583 publicly visible posts • joined 31 May 2011

US court rules IP address cloaks may break law

Robert Helpmann??
Joke

Re: IP cloaking illegal now?

Does this make Network Address Translation, and IP Masquerade illegal?

Many US government agencies use NATed networks, so my guess is "only for private citizens and foreign entities."

Mind-reading MRI reads letters in the brain

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: “looking up the answer in the back of the book”

"it has no direct application to anything that I am aware of"

Tell that to Stephen Hawkins! There may come a point at which the only way he can communicate is by reading his brainwaves.

By "no direct application" I mean "it will take quite a bit more effort to be several generations from anything that can be terribly useful in the real world." In the case of the good Dr Hawking (I assume you mean Stephen Hawking, the physicist paralyzed by ALS, not Stephen Hawkins, the Australian who took gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics), most everything he has is a prototype, so he would most likely be a good candidate for early testing. He is, after all, involved with similar research. His situation is such that interpreting what he is reading is not the issue; it is more finding out what he has to say.

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: “looking up the answer in the back of the book”

... the real usefulness of the technique is likely to be in mind control...

As with a large part of basic scientific research, the real benefit is that it lays the foundations for more research and development. While this is an impressive accomplishment, it has no direct application to anything that I am aware of. It furthers our understanding of how the brain works and how it relates to our environment. Trying to pigeonhole research as being useful or not often misses the point that simply gaining greater understanding of the subject can open doors that we did not know were even there.

One possible side benefit of this research, though: this the sort of thing that might get kids interested in science and technology.

Green German gov battles to keep fossil powerplants running

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Dragooned by Greenery

Germany could go for Greenpeaces ex-founders solution of wood burning (with replanting behind)...

Georgia (the US state, not the nation) is doing just this. They are moving to wood-burning power plants in conjunction with wind in a state that is firmly to the right of political center. It makes financial sense. Whether this would also work for Germany is beyond me, but it can be done.

Windows NT: Remember Microsoft's almost perfect 20-year-old?

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Made me smile

I got to test our equipment when NT 4 was Microsoft's big product. In fact, I migrated the company off a single Netware server onto NT departmental servers. I got my hands on a SSD (much more expensive and rare then than now) as a demo and set it up in a test box which I used for my workstation until they tore it from my clutches. That thing would fly. I bought several to support the video department who used them for editing, but had no luck getting one for myself for use in a support role.

Legal bible Groklaw pulls plug in wake of Lavabit shutdown, NSA firestorm

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Smartphones?

...how easy would it be... to introduce a back-door... that they could turn on the camera(s) and/or microphone and access what they picked up?

Not terribly. Complicity by service providers is not required, but makes it easier. For example, packaging the spyware as a game which interacts with the environment would be simple way to get lots of people to install this themselves. Warnings that the app requests permission to use the camera likely would be ignored even by people who bothered to read the EULA.

Mozilla's Metro-friendly Firefox for Win 8.1 to arrive in December

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: it’s unclear whether a version of Firefox is coming for ARM

They chastise Google for doing similar... when they've been doing this for years...

I think that the purpose of the operating system should be to create a framework under which any app the user chooses can run, not for the creator of the operating system to dictate which apps the user is allowed to run.

OS ≠ Orwellian System

New tool lets single server map entire internet in 45 minutes

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Of more interest.... @ Steven Raith

In the UK, possession of child porn is a strict liability offence, so it doesn't matter if the host is genuinely unaware, they're still guilty.

So it's the offense you can have someone else commit on your behalf, without their consent or knowledge? That's a pretty harsh penalty for cluelessness.

Snowden's email provider may face court rap after closing service

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: That's a good way to get charged with obstruction of justice

Hey, if banks can do it, and cloud providers can do it, then surely a small outfit stands no chance at all.

"No chance at all" as in "We don't care what happened, you screwed up and have no friends in high places to get you out of this." I think the course that has been taken walks as close to that legal line as possible and still can be argued not to have stepped over. The argument might not succeed, but it seems to be strong from my armchair.

Bug-finder chucked for posting to Zuck

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: WTF?

Is this a sign of incompetence or just laziness?

No, it's plain, old-fashioned BS.

Card-cloning crooks use 3D printers to make ever-better skimmers

Robert Helpmann??
Joke

Security through Complexity

ATM makers will just need to make the front of the machine more complex.

Adding another few factors to the authentication process ought to sort things out. To the thing we already have (card) and the thing we know (key code), lets add a DNA swipe, retinal scan, finger toe print, facial recognition, state-issued ID, plus a short written test. One of those might do the trick.

China mulls probe into IBM, Oracle, EMC after NSA hack claims - report

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Deja vu

Projecting your own failings on others seems to be routinely used to deflect scrutiny.

I was going to say, "Takes on to know one," but that works too.

NSA Customer Service Motto: You Speak, We Listen.

So fondleable Windows 8 didn't work out so well: Why not try it IN 3D?

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Laying the Groundwork

This will come in handy with the invention of the practical holographic projectors.

NASA: Earth II may be hiding in unexamined data from injured Kepler

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Now if one of those "Earth II" planets was within a human lifetime at say 0.1c

Whatever happened to the speculation about Barnard's Star?

Alas, Barnard's seems to lack planets. Good point, though. As soon as a planet or set of planets is discovered that reasonably can be argued will support life, the dynamic of the conversation will change.

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Calling Roadside Assistance

I could not find where a repair mission was considered, even if to explain why it was too expensive. The Hubble Space Telescope required repairs to be made after it had been deployed. Why not do something similar for the Kepler scope? Call it a scheduled 10^7 mile tuneup.

YouTube Wars: Microsoft cries foul as Windows Phone app pulled again

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

BB YouTube App

If BB can build a youtube app with HTML5, why can't MS?

Because the BB YouTube app has driven their sales right on through the roof, right? This is an obvious play to make the competition waste resources. Like or dislike it, there is nothing more to it than that. Google is kicking RIM while they are down, and kicking MS in hopes of taking them down at least a notch. This will almost certainly end up in court. It will most likely be settled out of court. As previously noted, consumers are inconvenienced.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Just add creepiness: Google Search gets even more personal

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Exactly the Point

Google wants you to use their apps to get this kind of search, and the savvy user doesn't need a search engine to find information if he knows where he stored it to begin with.

The thing is the savvy user is not the average user (AU). Your standard, bog level AU will dump everything in one folder, with no sort of naming conventions or any way to tell one file from the other, and then use this handy offering to work it all out. The AU is quite lazy about this sort of stuff, and that is exactly what Google uses to their advantage. As with spam and other unwelcome internet services, it's a numbers game.

Brits: We can stop trolling if we know where they live - poll

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Anyone see a Trojan Horse here ?

We are not talking about a site where people complain about injustice, maltreatment or failures of people to do what the law says they should.

I think recent history would contradict you pretty thoroughly. Do a quick search for the role that social media sites have played in the Arab Spring. Explain why some countries such as [redacted] and [redacted] are very interested in monitoring and censoring these sites. These are just the sort of uses to which these fora get put.

KABOOOM! Space-faring dwarf's galactic pile-up snapped by X-ray boffins

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: 3 million times

The cited source gives the region as area 7.25 kpc in diameter. A quick internet search reveals "The sun has a diameter of 865,000 miles (1.39 million km)." A second search reveals that 1 kpc = 3.08567758 × 10^16 kilometers. I will leave it to you to complete the exercise of converting kiloparsecs to a linguini or other unit of measurement of your choice and to work out whether this pertains to distance or volume.

Is that a flash stick in your pocket, VMware, or are you pleased to see us?

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

More for Virtual Desktops

I would guess this will have more impact on VDI efforts than for servers as more organizations move toward virtualizing the desktop. At least that is my guess as there should be proportionately more workstations than servers in a given organization. Too, I wonder what impact, if any, it might have on application virtualization.

Rate-my-boink app scores frisky fanbois, fangurlz' SCREAMS, VIBRATIONS

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Decibel peak?

Also, the dB level varies wildly from person to person and with the mood, hardly an objective measurement.

No, it is an objective measurement. The problem I think you are expressing is that an objective measurement is probably not useful in a situation in which the subjective experience is more pertinent.

Philips' smart lights left in the dark by dumb security

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Er...

Why FFS do I want an internet connected light bulb?

I can only guess why you might, but I can guess at a couple of reasons why including lighting in an automation scheme might be beneficial. In fact, instead of discussing lighting as a single issue, perhaps it would be better to look at why automating appliances might be worthwhile. First, differentiate between home and office use. Much of what goes into home automation is a combination of the cool factor and pure ostentation. Yes, there are plenty of truly worthwhile things to be done with home automation. What these are is likely to be defined as a function of taste more than anything else, I suspect. Setting it up so your lighting flashes to music or dims during a certain period probably has some use somewhere for someone. On the corporate side of the world, there is pressure for efficiencies which may be tracked and controlled through the use of automation. Image is also important.

I would expect the trend to be automate everything and control it all through a common interface. That interface will almost certainly be available remotely... which leads us back to light bulbs on the internet.

Norway BANS Apple from Oslo's skies: No aerial Maps app snaps allowed

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: But...

who on earth is going to going to Norway to commit terrorist acts?

If you have to ask this question, the terrorists have already won.

Beware the ad-punting crapware-laden Firefox, warn infosec bods

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Conspiracy

They are obvious targets as they are less likely to understand the language in which the scam is pitched (I am assuming that this is done in English), less likely to be computer literate, and less likely to call attention to themselves by asking for help from any official entity within the US. This is a formula for a higher percentage of successful victimization in something that is a numbers game. Too, I would not expect the victims in these cases to be the ultimate targets, but to provide computing power and platforms from which to launch other attacks.

NSA-proof email encryption? Cobblers, sniff German hackers

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Another possibly secure-ish system?

Spam. Generate a 'fake' email address...

So stenography for the key with a lot of collateral damage thrown in for good measure. Pretty amusing.

I haven't seen any discussion of peer-to-peer e-mail. I know less about the vulnerabilities and risks involved, but it would seem on the face of it to be a solution to many of the issues using services owned by someone else. What are the drawbacks to such an approach? Would they outweigh the advantages of doing away with an untrusted e-mail provider?

100,000+ Earthlings star in 'reality TV contest' for ONE-WAY ticket to MARS

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Radiation Levels Still a Problem

Something that is not talked about much in the discussion of shielding for the spacecraft is that Mars atmosphere and magnetosphere do not do as good a job blocking radiation as do Earth's. Until this is solved, it seems more likely that any settlement on Mars will be underground. Exploration would more likely be done using remote control bots. Given that, an argument could be made that it makes more sense to set up shop on one of the moons, which would also make a return flight much more of a possibility.

Waiting for a Windows Phone update? Let's talk again next year

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: hmm...

...I don't think it's really fair to blame the companies...all required by law to hand over anything the government asks for...

This implies that this is the only invasion of privacy and that these same companies do not and would not do gather all that data on their own. However, every one of them do, though for different purposes. We should not become so focused on one perceived threat to our civil liberties that we lose them to another along the way.

Admins warned: Drill SSL knowledge into your Chrome users

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Useless certificate system

...how do you mount a man in the middle attack on smoke signals?!

With mirrors?

Android bug batters Bitcoin wallets

Robert Helpmann??
Joke

Who's Johnny?

Use the camera to generate a seed.

Is that William Gibson?

Notorious Mexican drug kingpin nabbed thanks to drones and spyware

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

The war on drugs

If "The war on drugs" was ended...these nasty bastards would be put out of business over night.

It wouldn't happen overnight and it would not happen quietly. Organized crime has a long history of going where the money is. If it is no longer in drugs, it will be somewhere else. Prohibition The war on drugs just provided an entrance for these bastards. Certainly decriminalization of drug use will hurt them. It is important to follow up with increased pressure while they are short of cash flow.

Bill Gates's barbed comments pop Google's broadband balloons

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Intelligence!

"World health experts say that using the nets can reduce child mortality in malarial regions by 20%."

A whopping 20%?

...

Ahhh, that is why they just want assistance, use the guise of hard work causes malaria as an excuse not to work.

... or perhaps these are all stopgap measures until a true cure can be developed. Also, education plays a role in any disease eradication program. You seem to be blaming the victim a bit here.

Apple: Of course we stalk your EVERY move. iOS 7 has a new map to prove it

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Paying for What You Get

Setting aside the issue of companies disclosing what information they gather and when, I think there is a potential business model that someone ought to pursue: services that are paid for by the customer that do not include anything other than the services themselves - no tracking for marketing, surveillance, resale, or any other purpose.

This model will only work if there are enough customers who care about basic privacy as there are many, many "free" apps that are paid for through the data they harvest. My guess is that this might make it as a niche market, but nothing more. The depressing truth is that most people just don't get why this might be important. Even worse, among those that do understand what is being given away, most still do not care.

Sure, a lot of people are up in arms (at least figuratively) over the NSA data gathering program. But the vast majority of these same folks will click whatever pop-up button appears on the screen when installing a new app on their phones without a thought as to what they are allowing. As the saying goes, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." I guess the world is just working out the currency for payment.

They don't recognise us as HUMAN: Disability groups want CAPTCHAs killed

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Form radio buttons - I am a spammer=default

I have seen this used on a number of sites. I suspect that this method will not hold up very well if it becomes more widespread. Given four choices, a bot that chooses randomly will get through 25% of the time, which will add up pretty fast stacked up against an automated attack. Perhaps if used in conjunction with another method, this might have some value.

Gmail, Outlook.com and e-voting 'pwned' on stage in crypto-dodge hack

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Pretty Minor

...the attacker needs physical access to the network and computer.

That is not what was described. This is a man-in-the-middle attack which requires access to the network, not the computer. The point of using a "naughty" access point is to get a victim to attach to the wrong network, so advice to the effect of not connecting to networks you don't know if good in as much as the target notices the cloned name showing up is somehow different than expected.

As far as G-mail requiring that the old password be typed in before changing it, I wonder how difficult it would be to display a bogus page requesting the current password be input. Not everyone would bite, but this sort of thing is a numbers game: attack millions, but only affect thousands. It still adds up.

FBI spooks use MALWARE to spy on suspects' Android mobes - report

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: how long....

Before the FEDS mandate that they must have this built into the Operating System on all Mobiles?

Just like all US Phones MUST have GPS built in so that the phone's location can be tracked.

I think that it would be extremely difficult to make a requirement like this stick as there are a number of ways to get around OS "issues." Your point is well taken, though, as I am sure it is on any number of agencies' wishlists. Also, the tracking function is not based on GPS, or not entirely, and can be disabled in a number of ways. This can cause issues with legitimate apps; doing so it can be a bit of a trade-off.

Bill Gates' nuclear firm plans hot, salty push into power

Robert Helpmann??
Joke

Re: No Radiation?

There are no useful (more energy out than in for more than a few seconds) fusion reactors yet.

We have a free fusion reactor. It is called "the sun." It is scheduled for decommission in a few billion years.

Raid millions of bank accounts. New easy-to-use tool. Yours for $5,000

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: using RDP

If RDP were the only vector for this to spread or communicate, then it would not be a problem. More likely, it is just one way out of several, so this could be a real problem once it has gotten into a corporate network. Using an alternative to RDP or changing the default port it uses might have more effect.

DON'T PANIC about methane

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Quite Safe

Nuclear... has been shown to be quite safe by the Fukushima incident (which is set to cause absolutely no measurable health consequences to anyone from radiation)....

This is a bit disingenuous given that there is a 20km exclusion zone around the site. There have been plenty of problems caused by the mass displacement of the people who used to live there. There might have been no direct consequences to people's immediate physical well-being due to the incident, but there are plenty of indirect effects. There have been demonstrable effects to the mental health of displaced individuals. Too, it is a bit harsh the wholesale dismantling of local communities resulting from the incident.

I back nuclear power. However, the only thing accomplished by not making a reasonably complete disclosure of risk is that anyone in a position to make a decision on it will simply ignore proponents in favor of other options.

Cisco coughs $2.7bn for Sourcefire

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: How did computer security come to this?

Malware protection is next to useless as it only identifies known badware, the solution is to *not* run software you download from the Internet by clicking on a URL or opening an email attachment. Same with the firewall, is next to useless as you run some remote script on your computer hoping the AV software catches it. How did the state of computer security come to this?

This is decidedly not the way current anti-malware solutions work, especially enterprise solutions. Yes, using some common sense about what to run on your workstation is helpful, but in a corporate environment, most admins are trying to get things to work properly in spite of their customers' collective actions. Too, firewalls are not typically the same as antivirus software.

Your post, however, illustrates one of the biggest issues in information security: education. I would not suggest that everyone on the internet ought to study up for the CISSP, but some basic knowledge can go a long way in getting people to act right.

Bloke raises hand in vid, claims: I sparked Apple dev site hack panic

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Business as usual...

Maybe the hackers shuld take a lesson from them and keep mum about the bugs they find...

This would be one of the defining differences between a white hat and a black hat. Better practice for large software firms would be to post, in clear terms, what they consider legitimate security research activities and which they consider not. It also seems fair for them to post how much they are willing to pay for bugs. Google seems to have it right. I couldn't get to Apple's equivalent without registering and signing in, which is pretty much the same as their covering their hears and going "La la la la la."

ACLU warns of mass tracking of US drivers by government spycams

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

And as for the private sector?

Well, after surreptitiously scooping up information on Wi-Fi points for years via Street View vans Google was hit by a probe from UK watchdog the ICO, but was merely ordered to delete the data and faced no fine.

Perhaps this was a case of the government not wanting to have things blow up in court in case it came out in front of a judge that the guvies were doing even more than Google was being prosecuted for.

T-Rex tooth find shows dino may have been a pussy

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

No Ko Mo Do

Could be a bit like a komodo dragon. Mouth filled with bacteria, bites its prey and dislodges teeth which cause infection and eventually death in the animal.

Not so much in this case as the bone was starting to heal.

Security bods boycott DEF CON over closed door for feds

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Hmmm, how empty does he want the event to be?

...a lot of white-hats think the government agencies are the black-hats.

What could possibly make them think that?

Microsoft lathers up Windows 8.0 Surface RT for quick price shave

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: shave

Well "throwing the RTs at attendees" is less lethal than throwing chairs

So not even useful in the event of a zombie apocalypse? Ouch.

US Navy robot stealth fighter in first unmanned carrier landings

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: phuzz

...the Chinese will bypass trying to field their own manned jet fighters against it and opt for drones or other approaches themselves. Don't fight to your enemy's strengths.

I think an apt comparison from the tank world might be the Panzer versus the Sherman. How impressive would it be for 100s of highly trained pilots flying very expensive birds to wipe out 1000s of cheap UAVs, but still go down to the rest after all the crewed vehicles ran out of munitions? I guess it would take a tragedy of this magnitude to get some minds changed.

Is it a BIRD? Is it a plane? Right first time – and she's in SPANDEX

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: This is Kick-Ass!

More like Captain Amazing from Mystery Men given the corporate tie-in.

BlackBerry gives Indian spooks BBM and BIS access

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: Lawful Interception?

Would you trust any Government that says this?

Should you trust any government?

Crowdsourced flaw-finding cheaper than in-house bug hunters

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: What's the total cost of disownership?

Yeah, I'm sure not giving a damn about shipping secure software is cheaper than giving a damn.

I am not so sure. During a training session in 2011 for McAfee's ePO product, we were told that the severity rating of vulnerabilities for most companies had to do with how bad it would be for the users if a given vulnerability were exploited. For most companies, that is, except Microsoft. In their case, the rating is based upon their liability, at least according to our trainer. So it seems that they do give a damn, in as much as they are on the hook for something bad happening as a result of their code's flaws.

I have not tried to confirm this, but I have no reason to believe the person involved would either not know or would mislead us.

US gov SMASHES UP TVs and MICE to nuke tiny malware outbreak

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

New PCs for Old

Someone saw a way to get all their ancient PCs replaced with brand new ones.

The way to tell is if a lot of folks lose their jobs over this... unless someone decides to do other kinds of housecleaning, too.

France's 'three strikes' anti-piracy law shot down

Robert Helpmann??
Childcatcher

Re: @ Daniel B. - Nice.

You forgot about the 15 minutes of life wasted with every movie due to being forced to watch all the unskipable copyright notices, coming-soon-adverts and anti-piracy clips first.

But they can be skipped! All that is needed is to download a copy that someone else has ripped for you off the net. These never have those ads at the beginning. As long as you pay the tax, the government is OK with it, so no problem there. The only people left out in the cold are the artists, but no-one is paying them anyway, it seems.

This scheme would feel a lot better if the tax went right back to the artists, but what government is going to give back money it has already added to its coffers if no-one seems to care about the people who are being harmed?