News (11)

Vista security to be 'obliterated' at Black Hat

An IBM X-Force security researcher has promised to exploit massive holes in Windows Vista's defences at the upcoming Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. Read more »

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That isn't lovely code, it's an ugly monkey

It is possible to develop secure code but only if vendors use a robust software development process and aren't afraid to call a monkey when they see a monkey, according to the retired chief scientist of the National Security Agency (NSA). Read more »

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Is whitelisting the new blacklisting?

The IT security industry has come to a frank realisation that the current approach to preventing malware is simply not working. Is whitelisting, which is the reverse of our current approach, the answer? Read more »

Microsoft: Defence in depth is not enough

Defence in depth is simply not enough to create a secure computing environment, according to Microsoft's vice president of its Trustworthy Computing group, Scott Charney. Read more »

Has Windows Vista's UAC feature failed Microsoft?

Experts agree that Microsoft's Windows Vista is relatively well-protected but its security features — such as User Account Control (UAC) — have been highlighted by security experts as one reason why the operating system is far less popular than its predecessor, Windows XP. Read more »

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Is desktop security broken beyond repair?

At the AusCERT 2007 conference in Queensland last week, keynote speaker Ivan Krstić, who is the director of security architecture for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, told attendees that desktop security was fundamentally broken. We asked several security experts who attended the conference if they agreed and how the problem could be fixed. Read more »

Software should defend itself: Oracle CSO

Applications will have to defend themselves from attack in the future, according to Oracle's chief security officer Mary Ann Davidson. Read more »

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Microsoft admits Vista UAC prompts 'need work'

Scott Charney, head of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing division, admitted this week that Windows Vista's User Account Control (UAC) prompts are not intuitive and confuse users. Read more »

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Antivirus is 'completely wasted money': Cisco CSO

Companies are wasting money on security processes — such as applying patches and using antivirus software — which just don't work, according to Cisco's chief security officer John Stewart. Read more »

Rootkit threatens Cisco routers

Cisco and the security community are debating the reality of rootkits attacking the Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (IOS) after a researcher presented a proof of concept attack, which threatens Cisco routers and voice over IP phones. Read more »

More Auscert08, Conference News Results

Video (8)

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It's not lovely code, it's an ugly monkey

At the AusCERT 2008 conference in the Gold Coast, ex-NSA staffer Brian Snow, told ZDNet.com.au that software can be secure -- but only if vendors overhaul their development processes. Read more »

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Why security appliances can make you less secure

Security appliances can introduce vulnerabilities into an organisation's network because they often include older operating systems and vendors rarely inform customers how to properly update them, according to Microsoft's Roger Grimes, who was speaking at the AusCERT 2008 conference. Read more »

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CERN demos giant 3D digital camera

At the JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Derek Mathieson, project leader for the world's largest particle physics laboratory, CERN, shows off the Atlas detector, a six story high, 100-megapixel camera with 100 million data channels. Mathieson explains how the detector uses open-source Java applications to collect data and how grid... Read more »

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Nvidia chip with Java allows 3D modeling on cell phones

At the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco, Ken Russell and Sven Gothel of Sun Microsystems explain how the Nvidia APX2500 chip allows developers to write Java apps on a desktop and run them directly to cell phones. Users will be able to play games and navigate cities in 3D using... Read more »

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Exploring Mars with Java

At the JavaOne conference in San Francisco Friday, James Gosling, Sun Microsystems vice president and fellow, talks to Arizona State University geological sciences professor Phil Christensen about the school's geospatial software, JMARS. The open-source project is available to the public and used by NASA to find and gather scientific data... Read more »

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RSA 2008: Microsoft outlines Internet security strategy

At the RSA 2008 conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie describes a new plan for Internet security that includes the creation of a trusted stack. Each element can be authenticated, from the operating system to applications, people, and data. Read more »

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Is desktop security broken beyond repair?

At the AusCERT 2007 conference in Queensland last week, keynote speaker Ivan Krstic, who is the director of security architecture for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, told attendees that desktop security was fundamentally broken. We asked several security experts who attended the conference if they agreed and how the problem could be fixed. Read more »

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AusCERT 2008: Behind the scenes

ZDNet.com.au's Matt Oxley takes you behind the scenes at Australia's largest security conference. Find out why Microsoft's head of product security was afraid of being arrested, watch delegates swing at sheep on the driving range and discover who thinks security is like being chased by a bear — or is it a dog? Read more »

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  • Staff Crying, mooning and leaving

    In this week's roundup we see that continuous whining can get results, Linux users get 64-bit Flash and Moonlight previews, the latest in the Yahoo/Microsoft relationship and Senator Conroy ducks and weave in Senate Question Time. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Brendon Chase Sun eye Web developers with Netbeans 6.5

    Despite the recent employment axe hitting Sun the company has pushed out a new release of its Netbeans open source IDE with an eye to appeal more to Web developers. Read more »

    -- posted by Brendon Chase

  • Renai LeMay BarCamp buzz: Let the hacking continue

    Attending last weekend's BarCamp in Sydney, it was hard to escape the conclusion that a certain "dot-com bust" flavour had seeped into the kool aid previously being drunk by Australia's web 2.0 and early stage start-up sector. Read more »

    -- posted by Renai LeMay

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