Security weblog

DNA of young children in database
The police of England wants to take the DNA of young children if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life. And if they had the time and money, they would like to put the DNA of everyone in the UK in that database. Children who exhibit bad behaviour are better of with some proper upbringing and education instead of being marked as 'potential criminal' in some DNA database. Its very dangerous to accuse them of things they have not done yet. Things which also can be done by 'good' people. The English government is doing some scary things lately. They are looking at the English citizens through their databases, instead of looking at the actual people. They want to control the English people, instead of organizing the country for them. England is very close to becoming a police state.
view comments (0) \| 21 March 2008

DNA of young children in database

The police of England wants to take the DNA of young children if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life. And if they had the time and money, they would like to put the DNA of everyone in the UK in that database.

Children who exhibit bad behaviour are better of with some proper upbringing and education instead of being marked as 'potential criminal' in some DNA database. Its very dangerous to accuse them of things they have not done yet. Things which also can be done by 'good' people.

The English government is doing some scary things lately. They are looking at the English citizens through their databases, instead of looking at the actual people. They want to control the English people, instead of organizing the country for them. England is very close to becoming a police state.

view comments (0) | 21 March 2008

Blu-ray copy protection hacked
SlySoft, the makers of AnyDVD HD, have released an updated version of the copy-protection removal tool which allows Blu-ray owners to copy Blu-ray discs. It amazes me companies still use copy protection on their CDs, DVDs, MP3s, etc. There is a simple rule: what can be read, can be copied. For every new copy protection method, the question is not: "will this one work?", but "how long before it gets hacked?".
view comments (2) \| 19 March 2008

Blu-ray copy protection hacked

SlySoft, the makers of AnyDVD HD, have released an updated version of the copy-protection removal tool which allows Blu-ray owners to copy Blu-ray discs.

It amazes me companies still use copy protection on their CDs, DVDs, MP3s, etc. There is a simple rule: what can be read, can be copied. For every new copy protection method, the question is not: "will this one work?", but "how long before it gets hacked?".

view comments (2) | 19 March 2008

MI5 wants access to travel records
The secret service of England, MI5, wants to have fully access to travel records of the seventeen million people traveling by underground, bus and train. With that, MI5 can see the comings and goings of all those people. And of course, the 'fight against terrorism' is again used as an excuse. An important question for the English people is how this is going to make their lifes safer. They still have the chance of being killed during a car accident, getting shot during a shop or bank robbery or die from a heart attack because of eating to much unhealthy food. How do those dangers compare to the change of being wounded or killed during a terrorist attack? How really big is that chance? MI5 says they need the travel records in their fight against terrorism. But they didn't say why. How is travel information going to be helpful? How can it say anything about whether someone is a potential terrorist or not?
view comments (0) \| 17 March 2008

MI5 wants access to travel records

The secret service of England, MI5, wants to have fully access to travel records of the seventeen million people traveling by underground, bus and train. With that, MI5 can see the comings and goings of all those people. And of course, the 'fight against terrorism' is again used as an excuse.

An important question for the English people is how this is going to make their lifes safer. They still have the chance of being killed during a car accident, getting shot during a shop or bank robbery or die from a heart attack because of eating to much unhealthy food. How do those dangers compare to the change of being wounded or killed during a terrorist attack? How really big is that chance?

MI5 says they need the travel records in their fight against terrorism. But they didn't say why. How is travel information going to be helpful? How can it say anything about whether someone is a potential terrorist or not?

view comments (0) | 17 March 2008

Pacemaker hacking
Researchers have discovered it's quite easy to hack pacemakers. Modern pacemakers are able to communicate wirelessly. There is no form of encryption used for the communication. This gives hackers the ability to steal private information stored in the pacemaker or, even worse, shutdown the pacemaker or reprogram it to make it give a deadly electric shock to its wearer. It's often said: security is a state of mind. Computers and electronics are more and more used to make life easier, but it's often forgotten to prevent bad people from abusing these computers and electronics. I'm sure many people will ask "who would have expected that hackers want to hack a pacemaker?". The answer is probably: "no one". And that's exactly why hackers will do it.
view comments (0) \| 12 March 2008

Pacemaker hacking

Researchers have discovered it's quite easy to hack pacemakers. Modern pacemakers are able to communicate wirelessly. There is no form of encryption used for the communication. This gives hackers the ability to steal private information stored in the pacemaker or, even worse, shutdown the pacemaker or reprogram it to make it give a deadly electric shock to its wearer.

It's often said: security is a state of mind. Computers and electronics are more and more used to make life easier, but it's often forgotten to prevent bad people from abusing these computers and electronics. I'm sure many people will ask "who would have expected that hackers want to hack a pacemaker?". The answer is probably: "no one". And that's exactly why hackers will do it.

view comments (0) | 12 March 2008

Germany and USA sharing biometric information
Germany and the USA have agreed to share biometric information about their citizens. The excuse for this is the well known 'fight against terrorism'. For citizens, there are several dangers about the data mining done by governments: you have no right to see what information is being kept about you and you certainly have to right to correct any mistakes. This danger will become even bigger when more types of information are being gathered and combined and countries start sharing this information. The greatest danger is when in the near future you will no longer be who you really are, but you become only what the government knows about you. Whether this is correct or not.
view comments (0) \| 12 March 2008

Germany and USA sharing biometric information

Germany and the USA have agreed to share biometric information about their citizens. The excuse for this is the well known 'fight against terrorism'.

For citizens, there are several dangers about the data mining done by governments: you have no right to see what information is being kept about you and you certainly have to right to correct any mistakes. This danger will become even bigger when more types of information are being gathered and combined and countries start sharing this information. The greatest danger is when in the near future you will no longer be who you really are, but you become only what the government knows about you. Whether this is correct or not.

view comments (0) | 12 March 2008

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