Security and DRM
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iTWire - Medibank bosses keep bonuses despite devastating network attack
Ransomware generally attacks only systems running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
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The Medibank attack is one of about 10 that have been reported recently and was announced on 14 October. When it first announced its systems had been breached, Medibank said there was no indication of any sensitive data having leaked. Later, it said the data stolen was limited to ahm and international students. Even later, it said data of all its 3.9 million customers could have been taken.
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Cisco Releases Security Updates for Identity Services Engine
Cisco has released security updates for vulnerabilities affecting Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). A remote attacker could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to bypass authorization and access system files. For updates addressing vulnerabilities, see the Cisco Security Advisories page.
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Using certificates for SSH authentication [LWN.net]
SSH is a well-known mechanism for accessing remote computers in a secure way; thanks to its use of cryptography, nobody can alter or eavesdrop on the communication. Unfortunately, SSH is somewhat cumbersome when connecting to a host for the first time; it's also tricky for a server administrator to provide time-limited access to the server. SSH certificates can solve these problems.
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Copy-Protection Schemes: Weird Formats, Wacky Encryption Tactics
Sometime in the early part of 1992, a film crew shot a commercial at Washington, D.C.’s, Cardozo High School at the behest of the software industry. With the help and funding of the Software Publishers Association, and filmed with the assistance of an actor and rapper named M.E. Hart, the ensuing film made a small ripple at the time of its release as the center of an anti-piracy campaign, but decades later, became a popular internet meme when the resulting video, a clip entitled “Don’t Copy That Floppy,” understandably went viral. (I mean, what else was it going to do, not be copied?) Nearly two decades later, the association, now called the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), shot a direct sequel with Hart again rapping his way through it. I think these videos highlight something that often gets taken for granted: copy protection, despite end users’ hatred of it, is worthy of nostalgia. And with that in mind, today’s Tedium pulls out ten copy protection schemes that didn’t make it—or maybe they did, but are so non-noticeable as to be invisible. Maybe you got around them in your day.