An interesting day in information security

A Mafia boss was caught because of his using Facebook, while unrelated to that the EFF released the result of their Freedom of Information request for material on how law enforcement uses social networking to investigate suspects. "under cover".

The SEC moved to freeze portfolios and accounts following attacks by a Russian hacker, who manipulated stocks.

InfoSecurity magazine has a story on espionage in sport, mentioning how where there's a motive, cyber-crime follows.

And of course, the leading story (which I discovered thanks to a post on Facebook by Dave Aitel) is how an hacker (if that is a descriptive word in this case) broke into 100 cars to cause inconvenience, such as honking, or immobilizing customer the cars.

He hijacked the remote control system ("web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments") by logging on with an account of an employee. He used to be an employee himself, until fired later on.

Also, check out this extremely interesting paper from Cormac Herley at Microsoft Research on why people reject security advice:
So Long, And No Thanks for the Externalities:
The Rational Rejection of Security Advice by Users

Gadi Evron,
ge@linuxbox.org.

Follow me on twitter! http://twitter.com/gadievron

Was the ClimateGate Hacker Justified? Join the Debate!

A few days ago a story broke where someone hacked into a global warming research institute and stole all emails from the past 10 years, proving a conspiracy.

In the vast amount of emails stolen, some emails were also found with clear-cut lies, showing how some scientists conspired to deceive in scientific research about data that did not fit their agenda of proving global warming.

I am opening the subject for debate on the debate mailing list. It is a fascinating topic covering several subjects such as 'does the end justify the means?', 'irresponsible disclosure of personal data', 'is it justifiable to break the law?' and 'civil disobedience and the hackers' role in keeping society honest'.

Here are some possible questions to get the wheels rolling:

- Is the action taken by the hacker legal, ethical, and/or moral? Was the action justifiable?

- Do you believe the harm done as a result is justified for the good (disclosure) that came out of it?

- Can this be treated as civil disobedience?

For background, check out this story:
http://www.examiner.com/x-25061-Climate-Change-Examiner~y2009m11d20-ClimateGate--Climate-centers-server-hacked-revealing-documents-and-emails

Another source:
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/leaked-foia-files-62-mb-of-gold/


Join the debate mailing list, now! :)
http://whitestar.linuxbox.org/mailman/listinfo/debate

Please state your opinions openly, and let's discuss!

Gadi Evron,
ge@linuxbox.org.

Follow me on twitter! http://twitter.com/gadievron