IT Developments Blog

    By Sara Turner - June 18, 2013 9:22 am

Some news from the world of IT...

B for busted: Students changed grades by tampering with professors' keyboards

NBC News - After four years of altering grades using credentials gained with keylogger equipment installed on professors' keyboards, three Purdue University students were finally busted when one of those professors complained that one of his passwords mysteriously changed.

NTT To Acquire Solutionary, Add Cloud Security Services

Dark Reading - Pure-play managed security services provider Solutionary will become part of NTT's cloud portfolio.

Yahoo discloses user data requests from US law enforcement agencies

Computer World - Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple have also provided similar data.

Batteries hold key to wearable device revolution

Yahoo - Longer-lasting batteries are crucial for a new crop of wearable computers whose rise may upend Apple and Google's dominance of mobile devices, two of the field's pioneers say.

ICS-CERT, FDA Warn of Security Flaws in Medical Devices

eSecurity Planet - Approximately 300 medical devices have hard-coded passwords that can be leveraged to change critical settings and/or modify firmware.

Apple Releases Details on US Data Requests

Security Week - US tech giant Apple revealed on Monday it received between 4,000 and 5,000 data requests in six months from US authorities, days after Facebook and Microsoft released similar information.

The first rule of cloud: Don't talk about cloud

ZD Net - Clouds may look soft and woolly, but they can be cold, dank places to find yourself lost in. Does the name 'cloud computing' help or hinder understanding of the underlying technology?

School iris-scanned students without telling parents

CNet - A Florida school admits that it made several mistakes when it allowed a security company to install iris scanners without telling parents -- and without even having a contract with the company.

BlackBerry security advisory details critical bug on Z10 phones

Ars Technica - BlackBerry has issued a security advisory to customers who have purchased the company's Z10 smartphone - the flagship device of BlackBerry's relaunch in February. A bug in the system designed to help users find their lost cell phone could be used to gain access to the phone, either physically or over Wi-Fi.

How Hijackers Commandeered Over 130 American Planes - In 5 Years

Wired - For several years during the Vietam Era, hijackings were astonishingly routine in American airspace. Desperate and deluded souls commandeered over 130 planes between 1968 and 1972, often at a pace of one or more per week.

Businesses urged to take control of public cloud security

PC World - Security monitoring - the type involving traditional security information and event management (SIEM) - can be done in some public cloud environments, according to Gartner. And businesses using public cloud services, it's time to think about doing it.

Wall Street sets example for testing security defenses

CSO - Quantum Dawn 2 will test institutions' playbooks while also finding more efficient ways to share real-time information.

Google Balloon Project: Crazy Like a Loon

InformationWeek - Google's latest experiment, Project Loon, uses high-altitude balloons to bring Internet access to undeveloped areas.

State photo-ID databases become troves for police

The Washington Post - The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver's-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.

Chromebook laptops on sale at Wal-Mart, coming to more retailers

LA Times - Google has teamed up with Wal-Mart and several other major retail partners to sell the company's Chromebook laptops at their stores.

Oracle to Patch 40 Java Bugs

Threat Post - There is a massive stack of Java patches on deck for tomorrow, with Oracle planning to fix 40 vulnerabilities in a number of different components of Java SE. Nearly all of the vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable.

Key obstacles to effective IT security strategies

Help Net Security - Drawing on data gathered from a total of 3,037 individuals - 1,944 technicians and 1,093 executives - in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany France and Japan, a Ponemon Institute survey revealed a clear disconnect between these groups within UK enterprises.

Auditors and IRS Pan Tax Regulations for Bitcoins

NextGov - Federal auditors are recommending that the Internal Revenue Service not issue regulations for taxpayers on filing returns for the money earned through the exchange of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoins.

7 essentials for defending against DDoS attacks

InfoWorld - With hackers who pull off take downs getting stealthier and more vicious, security leaders across all industries need to be prepared.

Graphical Tools Help Security Experts Track Cyber-Attacks in Real Time

eWeek - Cyber-sleuths use tools that appear to have come straight out of a science fiction movie in their quest to detect attacks in time to raise defensive shields.

7 apps to obsess over this summer

USA Today - Looking to swap Facebook for exercise or play less Bejeweled and do more to-dos? These apps will get you started.