TrueCrypt, Resurrected →

September 22, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Computer Science, Cryptography, Information Security, Mathematics, Security, Security Tooling

News, via Paul Rubens writing at eSecurity Planet, of the apparent resurfacing of the TrueCrypt project, this time, with more eyes on the prize, so to speak. Look for a resurrected TrueCrypt 7.1a code-base with a new re-branded name: CipherShed. Hat Tip to Firewall Consultants.

How Not To Thursday: WiFi →

September 04, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Cruft, Cryptography, Data Security, Information Security, Network Security

Meanwhile, in vulnerable-wifi-router-news, offline attacks are proven successful, again.

MonsterMind

August 14, 2014 by Marc Handelman in National Security, All is Information, Cryptography, Intelligence, Computer Science, Government, Information Sciences, Information Security, Data Security

via the inimitable Kim Zetter, Senior Staff Writer at Wired, comes this staggeringly well crafted piece on the United States National Security Agency / Central Security Service's work to create a tool known as MonsterMind. The natural progeny of encompassing surveillance, is the capability to detect and mitigate malware in the wild.

Pwnd

August 11, 2014 by Marc Handelman in SSL / TLS, Intelligence, Network Security, Blatant Stupidity, Malware, Physical Security, All is Information, DevOps, Cryptography, Security Prophylaxis, Sarcasm, Humor, Information Security

Today's BlackHat Las Vegas 2014 news brings the annual security confabs' bestowment of the Pownie awards; so, without further ado, examine Sophos' take on the award. So apropos.

News of Bletchley Park

August 11, 2014 by Marc Handelman in National Security, Intelligence, Computation, All is Information, Information Security, Computer Science, Cryptography, Information Sciences, United Kingdom, Espionage

Bletchley Park has released the August 2014 edition of the Trusts' podcast series, this time, entitled 'Inspiring Women' in cryptanalysis; in which, the Trust focuses on the work women accomplished at Bletchley Park during World War II.

Mnemonic Wheel

July 23, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Computation, Cryptography, Information Sciences, Information Security, Physical Security, Network Security, Research, Science

An aged mnemonic given new life. In this case, the utilization of artifacts [color wheels] which inform memory regarding password data entry. Today's' Must Read.

Insert Here

July 10, 2014 by Marc Handelman in All is Information, Application Security, Cryptography, Data Security, Information Security, Network Security, Racketeering, Physical Security, Financial Security

Via the inimitable Brian Krebs, of Krebs on Security, comes reports of insert, thin and mini card skimmers, and the perils of automated banking and commerce for consumers worldwide. The astonishing component to this litany of miscreant evil-doers is the apparent inability of hardware manufacturers' to detect, notify and terminate these devices at will [or, at the very least, reject all cards on the machine when nefarious activities are suspected].

Android Cryptography Woes

July 01, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Information Security, Messaging Security, Research, Cruft, Web Security

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.* Apparently all the makings [crypto flaws] of an extraordinary breach of sensitive data, this time contained within an enormous number of Android devices, has been discovered. Astonishingly, upwards of eighty-six percentile of all Android devices may be vulnerable.

*[Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!' speech of Shakespeare's Henry V, Act III, 1598., evidently all the more relevant today...]

BitCoin Security, Kaput

June 23, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Application Security, Cryptography, Data Security, Database Security, Government, Information Security, Mathematics

Fascinating screed, via ArsTechnica, by the inimitable Dan Goodin. In which, the well-lettered Mr. Goodin details the discovery of the paucity of BitCoin security. Surprised? Read more at Ars.

Narcissim, On Display

June 17, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Data Security, Espionage, Government, Information Security, Infosec Policy, Intelligence, Physical Security, US Armed Forces

Well wrought opinion piece eyeballing the narcissism of one Edward Joseph "Ed" Snowden. Today's' Must Read.

Ristić's Model

June 05, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Data Security, SSL / TLS

Ivan Ristić's SSL Threat Model. Hat Tip to Firewall Consultants.

PermaCoin...

June 05, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Information Security

Evidently, the focus could be [if the proposal is to be taken seriously] to combine, if you will, the standard BitCoin mining technique of SOP (or, the scratch-off-puzzle routine) and the notion of distributed data storage...

News from the Crypt

June 03, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Computation, Data Security, Cryptography, Information Security

TrueCrypt, that is...

Now in it's second round of safety audits, the Open Crypto Audit Project is remaining on track (notwithstanding the apparent closure of the original TrueCrypt project) targeting TrueCrypt for their planned audit, based on the highly successful on-line generated bankrolled. The already published Phase 1 Audit Report (in PDF format), reveals little on the downside, unless you expect ruthless attention to detail, and tight coding best practices...

Kali Linux, The Update Chronicles

June 02, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Information Security, Application Security, Data Security

News, of the release of the latest update of security distribution Kali Linux [now at 1.0.7]; just in time for a proverbial weekend update-fest, methinks!

TrueCrypt, Kaput

May 30, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Cryptography, Computer Science, Computation, Data Security

Unfortunate news, for TrueCrypt users, and project contributors... Apparently, the developers of the full disk encryption (FDE) open source product are in the process of shuttering the projects SourceForge site, along with directions targeting the product's users to migrate TrueCrypt partitions to BitLocker.

Distribution, Quantum Key, that is...

May 27, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Quantum Mathematics, Web Security, National Security, Cryptography, Science, Research, Information Security, Messaging Security, Identity Theft

via Nature [Toshihiko Sasaki, Yoshihisa Yamamoto and Masato Koashi) and reported by Wired's Chris Lee comes this fascinating tale of the tribulations enveloping quantum key distribution [QKD]. The proof, as they say in the vernacular, resides within the experiment...

Darkcoin, Riseth

May 22, 2014 by Marc Handelman in Application Security, Cryptography, Data Security, Information Security

Darkcoin is apparently- if you believe the chatter- the truly anonymous, successor to Bitcoin. May the Bestcoin win...

The money quote (pun only partially intended):

'Darkcoin adds an extra layer of privacy by automatically combining any transaction its users make with those of two other users–a feature it calls Darksend–so that anyone analyzing the blockchain has a harder time figuring out where a particular user’s money ended up' - via Wired's Andy Greenburg

MetaSnowden

May 13, 2014 by Marc Handelman in National Security, Cryptography, Espionage, Secrets Purloined

Via bon vivant, prolific speculative fiction author, and polemic poster of Items of Interest, What-Not and Fanciful Futures - Charlie Stross; comes a diatribe of a sort, in which, Serious Import is Conveyed, discussing the oft-described, little understood and illusive, Edward Snowden. Today's Must Read.