Archive for August, 2009

Video Game Villain of the Month: August 2009 – Bowser

Last Updated on Monday, 31 August 2009 12:00 Written by Wrathie Monday, 31 August 2009 12:00

One of the legendary video game villains out there, Bowser is perhaps one of the more “infamous”. Also know as King Koopa, Bowser is the main villian in the Mario franchise. Although he is a rotund and menacing figure, he also has a comical side associated with him (an oafish, muscle head) that has made him a lovable villain we could not do without. He has also played the role of hero along with Mario in critically acclaimed Super Mario RPG, making him one of the few characters to ever switch sides (although briefly).

With his “sharp” look and “fiery” ways, this king will always have his place (albeit forcibly) in the Mushroom Kingdom lore. The Spiky, Hard-Shelled King of the Koopas, Bowser.

August 2009: Bowser – The Spiky, Hard-Shelled King of the Koopas.

King of the Koopas

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Altered WPA Attack

Last Updated on Saturday, 27 March 2010 11:52 Written by DarkKnightH20 Sunday, 30 August 2009 07:20

Japanese computer scientists have improved on an older attack method to get passed WPA encryption. Do not be alarmed though, as protecting yourself is easy to do and takes minimal knowledge…Plus, it isn’t likely that you’ll run into such an attack since it requires a tad bit more work than script kiddies may be willing to do.

Computer scientists in Japan say they’ve developed a way to break the WPA encryption system used in wireless routers in about one minute.

The attack gives hackers a way to read encrypted traffic sent between computers and certain types of routers that use the WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption system. The attack was developed by Toshihiro Ohigashi of Hiroshima University and Masakatu Morii of Kobe University, who plan to discuss further details at a technical conference set for Sept. 25 in Hiroshima.

Enterprise Wi-Fi networks typically include security software that would detect the type of man-in-the-middle attack described by the Japanese researchers, said Robert Graham, CEO of Errata Security. But the development of the first really practical attack against WPA should give people a reason to dump WPA with TKIP, he (Davis-Felner) said. “It’s not as bad as WEP, but it’s also certainly bad.”

Users can change from TKIP to AES encryption using the administrative interface on many WPA routers.

Read the Full Article: Here

Okay…So this isn’t at all as dangerous as it sounds. They recommend that you switch to WPA2 (CCMP instead of TKIP) or change from TKIP to AES encryption. This is in no way comparable to the weakness of WEP, but hopefully it’ll give you the push to just go ahead and change to WPA2 if possible. Loads of router firmwares support it (or will after upgrading). The article sort of pushes readers to think that this is just terrible, but it really isn’t. TKIP is just simply outdated. Also, you must perform a man-in-the-middle type of attack using your computer as a repeater. This entirety of it all is a bit iffy, but it’s better to be safe than sorry so protect yourself.

Tags: Security | Posted under Security | No Comments

IE 8.0 Exploit Proof of Concept (PoC)

Last Updated on Saturday, 27 March 2010 11:52 Written by DarkKnightH20 Sunday, 30 August 2009 04:20

I hate Internet Explorer 8.0…And I mean HATE. It crashes frequently for really no good reason, and is just overall not wanting to perform any of the actions I want it to do. In an unrelated post, here’s a PoC (Proof of Concept) code for crashing Internet Explorer 8.0–

Internet Explorer 8.0 users should await a patch and be careful of websites that they visit. Though this specific example only crashes the browser, it may be possible to alter it to cause even more damage such as the execution of malicious code. This Proof of Concept should not be used maliciously and should only be used for research, self-testing, etc.
Credit: schnuddelbuddel

Tags: Security | Posted under Security | No Comments

Apple Adds Anti-Malware into Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Last Updated on Saturday, 27 March 2010 11:53 Written by DarkKnightH20 Sunday, 30 August 2009 01:06

Looks like Mac has added anti-malware to their newest operating system, Snow Leopard. I’ve heard great things about this OS so hopefully it won’t disappoint. Most of our visitors don’t use Mac though so I doubt this will be interesting to a lot of you.

The protection was quietly added earlier this month to Snow Leopard 10A432, the most recent build of the new version of Mac OS X that is due for release this Friday, according to someone who has tested the feature and asked not to be identified because pre-release versions of Snow Leopard come with non-disclosure clauses. A separate Snow Leopard tester said the functionality is included in 10A421a, an even earlier build.

The feature causes users who try to install applications known to be malicious to receive a pop-up window warning that the file will damage the computer and should be moved to the Trash.

At the moment, though, the feature offers fairly limited protection. Based on an analysis of a corresponding preferences file called XProtect.plist, it appears that the feature checks for only two known Mac trojans. And it only flags those files if they were downloaded from the internet using Entourage, iChat, Safari, and a handful of other applications, according to this person. Files that were downloaded using Skype and dozens of other net-facing applications aren’t covered, nor are files on DVDs and thumb drives.

Nothing impressive really, but hopefully things will be changed around sooner rather than later. This isn’t a full release after all and there is time for improvement.

Credit: Dan Goodin

Tags: apple, Security | Posted under Security | No Comments