Category: Hacking

Posted on

VMyths: Truth About Computer Security Hysteria

Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Computer/online security, Cyberscams, malware, spam, Government, Hacking, Media, Misinformation & Propaganda, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests

http://vmyths.com/about

Vmyths traces its roots to a “Computer Virus Myths treatise” first published in 1988. It evolved into the critically acclaimed “Computer Virus Myths home page” in 1995, then it moved to Vmyths.com in 2000. Its name has changed over the years, but Vmyths remains true to its original goal: the eradication of computer security hysteria.

Vmyths sells the truth about computer security hysteria. We take no prisoners; we pull no punches; and we refuse computer security ads in order to maintain our independence.

Our editors:

Rob Rosenberger edits Vmyths and writes as a columnist. He is one of the “original” virus experts from the 1980s, and the first to focus on virus hysteria. Red Herring magazine describes him as “one of the most visible and cursed critics in computer security” today, and PC World magazine says he “is merciless with self-appointed virus experts and the credulous publications that quote them.” Rosenberger was one of only a dozen industry experts invited to the White House’s first-ever antivirus summit meeting in December 2000.

George C. Smith, Ph.D.
George C. Smith, Ph.D. serves as Vmyths‘ editor-at-large. He also writes as a columnist. His seminal book, The Virus Creation Labs, documents the insane early history of the antivirus world. He also published the critically acclaimed Crypt newsletter. The San Jose Mercury News recommends Smith’s work to “those who insist on at least a modicum of fact, accuracy and clear thinking in their tech news.”

Continue reading “VMyths: Truth About Computer Security Hysteria”

Posted on

Y Combinator Hacker News Community’s Model for Info-Sharing & Potential for Collective Intelligence

03 Economy, 04 Education, 11 Society, Academia, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Hacking, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Mobile, Non-Governmental, Peace Intelligence, Technologies

“Hacker News” has a welcome page and guidelines page offering an overview of what the organizers expect from those planning on posting comments and why it's good overall for the community.  I (Jason Liszkiewicz) was impressed with this. Hacker News has a solid number of participants and provides a simple and mature format for exploring and contributing thoughtful feedback, insight and resources.

It has a jobs link (mainly for engineers and programmers) and the “Ask Hacker News” link which enables the community to share information and reply to what is shared. Such a model (deemed an “experiment”) that provides mature and thoughtful information-sharing is something we need more of. Communities inter-linking with communities (or at least over-lapping) to spill over each others insights can be invaluable and potentially priceless.

Example: Ask HN: What do you perceive as worth spending money on?

This simple and useful model is something I hoped would emerge + converge from the SMS/text messaging developers at ChaCha.com (humans online responding to text messaged questions) or somewhere else. Converging multi-community info-sharing online, offline, and through the mobile world on a global scale is an exciting possibility.

The next level to all of this exists in the form of ideas or fragmented applications but it seems not beyond that, yet.

Email earthintelnet|at|gmail.com or post something at this new forum to discuss these ideas. Or, provide some mature and thoughtful feedback at the Hacker News community.

Posted on

Journal: Army Industrial-Era Network Security + Cyber-Security RECAP (Links to Past Posts)

Hacking, IO Multinational, IO Secrets, IO Sense-Making, Military, Peace Intelligence
Marcus Aurelius Recommends

Army Times article, second below, reports what the beginning of what I expect will be a major decline in functionality of Army computer systems.  While some sort of institutional response to the alleged Wikileaks traitor, Specialist Bradley Manning, is appropriate, I don't think this is it.  This is a simplistic approach, the sort of thing the KGB did and presumably the sort of the SVR continues to do.

By the way, IMHO, 91K classified documents on the Internet is not some sort of an inadvertent security violation.  It's almost certainly one of the national security crimes; I think it's treason. Better to concentrate on the perpetrator — try him, convict him, and then, maybe, violate in some significant ways his Constitutional protection against “cruel and unusual punishment” as a highly visible deterrent against espionage.

NOTE:  Image links to source generally as persistent link not available.

Below the line: PBI comment and cyber-security recap (34).

Continue reading “Journal: Army Industrial-Era Network Security + Cyber-Security RECAP (Links to Past Posts)”

Posted on

2010 PhD Author Dissects Intelligence Reformer Robert Steele [Click on Cartoon for 5 Pages]

About the Idea, Ethics, Hacking, Officers Call, Worth A Look
CLICK HERE For Myers on Steele 5 Pages

As published in Kent C. Myers, Reflexive Practice: Professional Thinking for a Turbulent World (New York, NY: Palgrave McMillan, 2010); pp. 82-86.

Cartoon Credit: Inebriated Press also quoted below

My first post was on June 21, 2007: “Mad Cows Terrorize London“   For all I know they still do.

PS: Hang tough and live your beliefs.  Remember what Edmund Burke said:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Phi Beta Iota: Alvin Toffler in “The Future of the Spy” (1993) and Anthony Kimery in “Vet with a Vision” (2009) are the precursors to Dr. Myers' definitive dissection.  Browse the many items in About the Idea for a broad overview.  The concluding quote from Steele by Myers can be found at Journal: Politics & Intelligence–Partners Only When Integrity is Central to Both as posted 13 October 2009.

Posted on

Profiling Hackers (or Attackers?)…Further Blurring of lines Between Crime & Hacking

10 Transnational Crime, Cyberscams, malware, spam, Hacking
The Hackers Profiling Project (HPP)

The project aims to improve the response to ICT crime and the transnational organised crime groups that may be involved in it, by outlining the criminal profiles of the different types of hackers, with particular emphasis on their possible involvement in transnational organised crime activities and cyber-terrorism. Through a better understanding of hackers, HPP will facilitate the prevention and countering of ICT crimes and will improve the operational methods that may lead to the identification of computer intruders.
||

85 page overview

This book is an attempt to apply the behavioural science of Criminal Profiling to the hacking realm. Its main objective is to provide a new means of investigation in order to deal with issues related to cybercrime. But there is a lot more to discover…

Computer networks are commonly thought of as unfathomable and invisible, beyond our grasp; a hacker is someone who can still see the joins and this is what makes him interesting though remaining a complex, original and controversial personality.

Aware of the lack of information, which prevents people from adequately understanding the phenomenon of hacking and its many related aspects, the authors' desire is to provide more insight into this realm by telling interesting anecdotes as well as describing bizarre characters that practice hacking and cracking as an art, following different but established ethical models. Providing an in-depth exploration of the hacking realm, focusing on the relation between technology and crime, the authors reveal hidden aspects and many interesting details answering questions like: Who are real hackers? What life does a hacker lead when not on line? Is it possible to determine a hacker's profile on the basis of his behaviour or types of intrusion?

Posted on

Handbook: Synergy Strike Force, Dr. Dr. Dave Warner, Round II

About the Idea, Advanced Cyber/IO, Analysis, Analysis, Geospatial, Geospatial, Hacking, Historic Contributions, ICT-IT, info-graphics/data-visualization, InfoOps (IO), Innovation, Maps, Methods & Process, Peace Intelligence, Research resources, Technologies, Tools
 

Dr. Dr. Dave Warner

Phi Beta Iota:  STRONG ANGEL was the other major innovation besides CATALYST, Analysis 2000, and MCIA JNID.  Below is Round II from STRONG ANGEL, with Round II from M4IS2 soon to be made public, built around SILOBREAKER (actually, Son of SILOBREAKER).  We considered forcing visits to the Synergy Strike Force home page, but decided that the richness of the content there needed to be displayed here. 

I. Introduction

Welcome to the MESS-KIT wiki: Minimum Essential Software Services for Knowledge and Information Transfer

II. Structure

The MESS-KIT system is composed of three basic components — the software package, the virtual environment and the hardware:

a. APPLICATION SOFTWARE PACKAGE: One or more Virtual Machine Instances that package together an operating system with a web server environment and all free-and-open-source/commercial-off-the-shelf software modules. Example: A VMware instance of an Ubuntu Linux installation with a full LAMP web server hosting environment and associated web software.

b. VIRTUAL MACHINE CLIENT SOFTWARE: One Virtual Machine Software Client to package, distribute, and host one or more Application Software Packages and abstract the application software from the host operating system. Examples: VMWare Fusion and Sun VirtualBox.

c. HARDWARE: Hardware on which the Virtual Machine Client Software and Application Software Package will run. The Hardware will include a host operating system. Examples: MacMini running OSX, ASUS eeePC Netbook running eeeBuntu Linux.

Continue reading “Handbook: Synergy Strike Force, Dr. Dr. Dave Warner, Round II”