LED Lights: Friend or Foe?

elfdump writes: "In an article (pdf) soon to be published in ACM Transactions on Information and Systems Security, security researchers have discovered that data transmitted through modems and routers can be remotely reconstructed from the equipment's LED status indicators. According to experiments, their light-to-information retrieval method is successful even when the light is captured 'at a considerable distance' from the source. If you want to prevent people from spying on your data, you may want to tape up those blinking LEDs!"

Comments

Sex Lies and Videotape

[TrollMan 5000]

Woman: So how do you explain the pr0n you've downloaded?

Man: What pr0n? How do you know?

Woman: With this (shows him videotape). I've been taping the blinking lights on your router!

For old times sake

[Gaewyn L Knight]

What an appropriate article... Now we will have to change the old Blinkenlichten so as to protect our information...

ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS!
Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten-pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.

From:
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/blink enlights.html

Did anyone else notice this?

[Ghoser777]

I was reading another slashdot story (I think the one about gpl violations), and I saw a business add in the middle of the post! I was like, "WTF"? I was really scared for the future of slashdot... but after reloading and checking some other stories, the add was gone. So, am I hallucinating, or is someone playing with the slashcode and, more importantly, is this something we'll actually see in the future (please say no... please say no...)

Preparing to lose karma for a noble cause...
F-bacher

You missed the story several days ago.

[Erv Walter]

Check the list of old stories for the details of the new adds that are being implemented and the subscription system you can use in order to avoid them.

The current poll is also related to these new adds.

What, you hadn't noticed

[wiredog]

All the discussion of the Coming of the Ads over the past week?

Doesn't bother me

[Dark Paladin]

Personally, I'm not bothered by the whole "ads sitting in an article" system, and I have no problem if Slashdot wants to do it. I noticed an IBM ad stuck at the end of this article, and just kept scrolling down.

I really don't think the addition of in-article ads are going to change slashdot in any significant way. Why?

1. My eyes, trained from years of web browsing, usually filter out the ads and just focus on text. Heck, I've noticed that I usually skip bold text, and have to force myself to go back and read it (probably since bold usually == shouting, ads, or stupidity).
   
2. Slashdot provides a useful service for me (I've learned more about computer systems from people's comments and the links they put here than nearly anywhere else). Do I like it enough to register? Maybe, maybe not. But even if they wrap the comments around ads, I still don't think that will bother me.
   
3. I don't have to buy what's advertised. A strange idea for some people, but it's true. Usually the only one's I click on are game/thinkgeek related.
   

So I say "Bring it on, Slashdot." I'll probably use the site just as much as in the past, ads or not, and I trust the admins to not do them stupidly (ie: pop-ups, etc).

Translation of Parent Post

[Jucius Maximus]

Score: -1, Offtopic

For those who are having trouble reading the germanized parent post, please refer to his handy translation reference:

EuroEnglish

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5 year phase-in plan that would be known as "EuroEnglish": --

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c".. Sertainly, this will make the sivil sevants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favor of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with the "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"'s in the language is disgraceful, and they should go away.

By the 4th yar, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaning "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.

ZE DREM VIL FINALI KUM TRU!!

re: 1989 offtopic.

[castlan]

Linux would have been useless with the GNU project. Even if the GNU project had never completed their Free OS kernel, the 386BSD branch was a full Free Software reimplementation of Unix. You might have arguably helped the world of personal computing by removing the Cult of Personality focus from feasibility. After all, Linus is easy to love when compared to most grizzled Unix wizards. I almost wish you could, just so I can find out if Stallman would have insisted on GNU/BSD. I doubt it, but I still am a bit curious. Another benefit is that we would not have the WWW as we know it today! And are you really implying that there aren't any Windows nerds? Most "Linux" nerds are just last year's Windows nerds.

An do you really think you could have defeated Jessie Owens?