Government Techno-magicians

There is not shortage of people who want to believe Pharoah's magicians - or these days, technology salesmen.

Folk who want to believe that they have a magic computer box that will tell them something helpful - but which in fact are generally about as trustworthy as an ouija board or a anonymous internet chat.

A principle at stake, is that the more worthwhile it is to crack something, the more likely it is to be cracked.

Cryptographers crack system for verifying digital images • The Register

Russian password-cracking company ElcomSoft said on Tuesday that it's able to extract the original signing key from the Canon Original Data Security Kit and use it to validate fake photos. Canon has billed the service as a way to verify the originality of an image and to confirm that global positioning coordinates, data, time, and other metadata hasn't been changed.

The voice in the phone told me to...

Here's why you don't just obey strangers who call you up over the telephone. You also should beware about advice forward from strangers via email.

Motel guest trashes room to free imaginary 'midget' • The Register

A man trashed his South Carolina motel room on orders from a prank caller, who told him there was a "midget" imprisoned next door.

Wait for the theory

If you find a theory you don't like, just wait - there'll be another one along in a while.

Scientists glimpse universe before the Big Bang

www.physorg.com

‎(PhysOrg.com) -- In general, asking what happened before the Big Bang is not really considered a science question. According to Big Bang theory, time did not even exist before this point roughly 13.7 billion years ago. But now, Oxford University physicist Roger Penrose and Vahe Gurzadyan from the Ye

Body scanners for the trains?

Physic mind probes next, to try and catch the sort of strong principled reactionary who might turn terrorist while on the train as a consequence of something they read in the paper. (Or possibly by the bad service).

Slashdot IT Story | Next Step For US Body Scanners Could Be Trains, Metro Systems

Hugh Pickens writes "The Hill reports that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says terrorists will continue to look for US vulnerabilities, making tighter security standards necessary. '[Terrorists] are going to continue to probe the system and try to find a way through,' Napolitano said

Could you spot a skimming cash machine?

Do you think you could spot a dodgy cash machine? I don't think I could - look at these pictures and see for yourself.

Crooks Rock Audio-based ATM Skimmers — Krebs on Security

Criminals increasingly are cannibalizing parts from handheld audio players and cheap spy cams to make extremely stealthy and effective ATM skimmers, devices designed to be attached to cash machines and siphon card + PIN data, a new report warns.

Dangers of using general purpose computers for specific purposes

The benefits of being able to use a general purpose computer for online banking is also the curse of being able to use a general purpose computer for online banking - namely all the other purposes for which the computer is used and by which it can be exploited.

Krebs on Security

An escrow firm in Missouri is suing its bank to recover $440,000 that organized cyber thieves stole in an online robbery earlier this year, claiming the bank’s reliance on passwords to secure high-dollar transactions failed to measure up to federal e-banking security guidelines.

MP's afraid to investigate News of the World?

"something is dangerously out of kilter" when MPs such as Adam Price on the Commons culture, media and sport select committee confess they have been "held back" from probing into News Corporation's affairs because of "fear of what that company might do to them" – or when former employees are "too frightened to speak publicly about what they know" .

Support your possibly independant lobbyists-for-hire; they will harass OFCOM and your MP's for you.

It's worth a fiver from me, and they take paypal. Standing up to be counted (if that's what it is) was never so easy.

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/m/74c05d05/2d442c4a/58ac402e/4674fb5d/2183962099/VEsF/

Rusbridger warns of 'chilling effect' of News Corp's bid for BSkyB | Media | guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Guardian editor-in-chief argues that no individual or organisation should be allowed 'that much power'. By Dan Sabbagh