I got a hold of this through Stew. Cracks me up immensely. From http://xkcd.com/c149.html

Labels: comics

So I was listening to SecurityNow and I must say I was quite surprised to hear how both Leo and Gibson were taking some pride in not running any advanced security applications on their machines. I know they're not the only ones, but I do have a general message to those people that think there's nothing that could touch them because they've configured their systems to some level of apparent security:

I can't wait for the day you get owned massively and you lose all your data, maybe get subjected to some identity theft etc. "Because we know what we're doing" is not sufficient.

Enjoy a slow, painful humiliation.

Caveat: I do not consider XP SP2 firewalling to be nearly enough for somebody that's as security conscious as Gibson comes off. Or anyone else for that matter.

security

podcast

Labels: podcast, security

Mad props for the MacHeist challenge, it's fun thus far - I've just collected my first loot yesterday and it looks pretty good - and I hope it will continue to be diverse throughout... cause frankly, I'm not in it just for the prizes :)

Mac

Last post I was recommending RIck Dakan's G33k Mafia as what might have been an interesting book for people fascinated about techie-related fiction. I was wrong on a few points that I'd like t rectify.

I read the book today. That should speak to some length regarding my enjoyment of it I suppose. So I am no longer recommending the book. I am telling you to fucking read it. I mean, it's free, right? There's little in the way of time what you might have to lose, possibly some time if you don't end up enjoying the novel.

First off, this book will not answer any philosophic, romantic or otherwise 'deep' questions you might have; for that, look into the properties of the number 42. The novel is, however, abound with social engineering, gadgetry and strung together by a verisimilar plot and a fair load of humour. It is not solely addressed to geeks in any manner and it stays clear of deep technical content - although it could have easily included such content in a manner akin to Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon'.

I do not want to give much away in terms of plot but it is not quite as predictable as I imagined at a certain point. It will make you try and guess its ending numerous times and that will still not spoil your fun; more than anything, it is an indication that you are trying to get in the characters' mindset. Dakan immerses the reader with such exquisite mastery that it is hard to believe this is his first novel [some details regarding his past work can be found on his website.] 'G33k Mafia' will go on the shelf besides 'Cryptonomicon' and I foresee purchases with logo-ized items to follow soon [because, yes, it is a kick-ass logo =) .]

Unless my memory deceives me the movie rights have already been sold and I couldn't wait sooner to see how that pans out; needless to say I would love to see that - despite, naturally, the risks involved in terms of bastardizing the content and whatever other expectations I might make up in the interim.

I had a lot of fun with this novel. I hope it works out well for Dakan and, who knows, maybe there will be a sequel [risks there too.]

books
geeks
social engineering