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Spoofing URLs With Unicode

Embedded Geek writes: "Scientific American has an interesting article about how a pair of students at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology registered "microsoft.com" with Verisign, using the Russian Cyrillic letters "c" and "o". Even though it is a completely different domain, the two display identically (the article uses the term "homograph"). The work was done for a paper in the Communications of the ACM (the paper itself is not online). The article characterizes attacks using this spoof as "scary, if not entirely probable," assuming that a hacker would have to first take over a page at another site. I disagree: sending out a mail message with the URL waiting to be clicked ("Bill Gates will send you ten dollars!") is just one alternate technique. While security problems with Unicode have been noted here before, this might be a new twist."

19 of 432 comments (clear)

  1. ep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    This early post for Ida! I love you!

  2. fp by SMN · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    w00t. I've got karma to burn.

    --
    -- Imagine how much more advanced our technology would be if we had eight fingers per hand.
  3. GO RED WINGS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    DIE AVS!

  4. Re:i see great potential by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    ?!? !?!? !?!! ?!!? !?! ?!?!?!

    This is ON-TOPIC. Read the ARTICLE. MORONS.

  5. Deodorant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Gel, stick, or spray?

    1. Re:Deodorant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      Tim and Jane got married and
      she was at the drug store
      looking at the men's toiletries.

      A clerk comes up to help her
      and asks if she needs assistance.

      "I'm looking for some deodorant
      for my new husband Tim, but I
      don't know what type he uses."

      The clerk says, "Is it the ball
      type?"

      "No," says Jane, "it's for his
      underarms."

  6. Re:The Futility of Slashdot's Business Model. by NanoGator · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I don't want to say no to the ads. I've seen 3 ads for stuff I was looking for. It sure beats watching Tampon ads during Star Trek.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  7. Terminology whine by tulare · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    "Russian Cyrillic?"
    The Cyrillic alphabet was developed a long time ago by a religious man (guess what his name was), because the Russian peoples he was trying to convert had no written alphabet. So it could be said that "Russian Cyrillic" is redundant. However, the cyrillic alphabet is in use by various languages today, and I seriously doubt the the "c" and "o" characters mentioned in the article are unique to the K018R charset.
    'Course, I could be wrong. If someone out there is a Unicode nerd and knows different, I will bow to the higher authority.

    --
    political_news.c: warning: comparison is always true due to limited range of data type
    1. Re:Terminology whine by VP · · Score: 2, Offtopic

      St. Cyrill developed the Glagolic alphabet, based on the slavic dialects spoken on the Balkan peninsula, and used it in translating the Christian holly scriptures for the slavic tribes in Moravia (today's Hungary/Slovakia). His student, St. Clement, developed the improved Cyrillic alphabet and spread its use in Bulgaria, from where it was adopted by Russia, Serbia, and others...

      Today there are several variants of Cyrillic - Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Russian, Ukrainian, and it was used even in some of the former soviet republics and Mongolia, whose languages are very far from Slavic.

      Also, KOI8 is not considered the Cyrillic codeset by other cyrillic-using nations, it is rather considered the Russian cyrillic code set. Other codesets are the Windows 1251, and ISO-8859-5. The latter would arguably be the standard Cyrillic code set.

    2. Re:Terminology whine by RelliK · · Score: 1, Offtopic
      St. Cyrill developed the Glagolic alphabet

      Uhhm, no. Glagolic is the alphabet that was used before Cyrill came along. It looks nothing at all like Cyrillic.

      and it was used even in some of the former soviet republics and Mongolia, whose languages are very far from Slavic.

      Yeah, that was really weird. You can recognize the letters but the words look like total abracadabra.

      --
      ___
      If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
    3. Re:Terminology whine by markov_chain · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I found out about Clement after more digging. For example according to this link, Clement took the glagolitic, invented by Cyrill and Methodius, rewrote it into cyrillic, and spread in Bulgaria. Later it spread further east and north.

      --
      Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    4. Re:Terminology whine by VP · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I said:
      St. Cyrill developed the Glagolic alphabet

      RelliK said:
      Uhhm, no. Glagolic is the alphabet that was used before Cyrill came along. It looks nothing at all like Cyrillic.

      I am sorry, but you are wrong. The Glagolic did not look anything like the Cyrillic, but it was the alphabet created by St. Cyrill and his brother Methodius. The Glagolic looked somewhat like the ancient Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopian alphabets, also developed by Byzanthine missionaries for the native languages in these areas.

      The Cyrillic was created by St. Clement, a student of St. Cyrill. Thew alphabet was much simpler - for all the common sounds, it used the Greek letters, and only made up new letters for the sounds specific to the Slavs.

      Here is a link, although not everything there is historically accurate (if there is such a thing):
      http://www.volgawriter.com/VW Cyrillic.htm

      Another, with a definitive set of Cyrillic encodings is here: http://czyborra.com/charsets/cyrillic.html.

  8. spray by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    spray

  9. Re:Eric Bin Raymond: The Sept 11th Conspiracy Reve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle yesterday recanted his May 16 charge that President Bush had advance warning of the September 11 terror attacks, the latest example of a top Democrat backing off from such a claim. Top Stories
    rebels face crackdown
    "We were told on that particular morning that the president had received a particular set of facts that he may or may not have received. He has denied having received that information. And we accept that," the South Dakota Democrat said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
    Mr. Daschle added: "If he says he didn't receive it, I'm not going to challenge that. What I'm going to say is, why didn't he receive it?"
    His statement yesterday was in marked contrast to what he said on May 16, when he declared: "I'm gravely concerned about the information provided us just yesterday that the president received a warning in August about the threat of hijackers by Osama bin Laden."
    The backtracking by Mr. Daschle came one week after House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, Missouri Democrat, walked away from his earlier statements suggesting that Mr. Bush had warnings before September 11 that might have prevented the deadly terrorist attacks.
    Mr. Daschle and other senators appearing on network talk shows yesterday criticized the FBI's handling of pre-September 11 intelligence. Mr. Daschle was particularly critical of what he called "fouled-up information sharing" between the FBI and CIA.
    "I don't think anyone implicates the president in this. The question is, why didn't he have this information?" asked Mr. Daschle.
    The Senate leader insists he still has confidence in FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. But he said Mr. Mueller's attempts to reorganize the FBI must go beyond "shuffling the chairs." There must be a "change of attitude, a change of environment, a change in the mentality," Mr. Daschle said.
    "That lack of sharing [of intelligence between agencies] is something we've got to address," said Mr. Daschle, who renewed his call for an independent blue-ribbon commission to investigate intelligence lapses before September 11. The Bush administration opposes such a commission.
    After Mr. Daschle claimed on May 16 that the president had advance knowledge of the September 11 attacks, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said it was "incendiary," "thoroughly irresponsible" and false for anyone to suggest Mr. Bush had information that could have prevented the attacks.
    Asked if he felt his patriotism was being questioned by the vice president, Mr. Daschle said, "Sometimes, I think the administration steps over the line when they make these kinds of accusations."
    Pressed as to whether Mr. Cheney's remarks were "over the line," Mr. Daschle said: "I think it's getting close to the line. I think we have a responsibility to ask questions."
    In the NBC interview, Mr. Daschle said Democrats and Republicans alike need to "tone down" the "incendiary rhetoric" they've displayed about media leaks or other issues related to September 11.
    Mr. Daschle was asked several times if he viewed statements by Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney, Georgia Democrat, as being incendiary and irresponsible. She charged that people died needlessly on September 11 because administration officials had advance warnings about the danger but did not act because they stood to gain financially.
    Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, has characterized Miss McKinney's comments as "looney, dangerous and irresponsible." But Mr. Daschle yesterday declined to say if he shared that opinion.
    Mr. Daschle said he does not know if he has the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation to create a blue-ribbon commission to investigate missed intelligence opportunities prior to September 11.
    "But I'm encouraged by the growing number of Republicans in the Senate who have come forth to say they now support it," he said, adding that he is "reasonably confident" the votes will be there to pass the legislation when it comes to the floor sometime next month.
    But key Republicans who appeared on talk shows yesterday, such as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott and Rep. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the House intelligence committee, opposed the idea of an outside investigation.
    On "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Goss, Florida Republican, said he thinks it would be hard to pull together an independent panel, and he worries it could be responsible for "egregious leaks."
    Mr. Lott, who appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," said that in the past six years, "something like six commissions" have studied aviation safety and other security issues. He suggested Congress read those reports, which cost "millions of dollars" to prepare, before creating yet another commission.
    Mr. Daschle said Mr. Bush asked him on Jan. 28 not to seek an outside commission to investigate the September 11 attacks. Mr. Daschle said previously that Mr. Cheney made a similar request Jan. 24.
    "They were concerned about the diversion of resources," Mr. Daschle said on NBC, adding that the request was repeated on other dates.
    Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney said last week that Congress' intelligence committees -- which can keep secret the classified information supplied by the administration -- are the proper panels for an investigation.
    National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reinforced that position yesterday, saying the administration worries "about anything that would take place outside of the intelligence committees."
    Miss Rice said ongoing FBI investigations shouldn't be jeopardized by information "spread to the first pages of the newspapers."

  10. Re:The Futility of Slashdot's Business Model. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle yesterday recanted his May 16 charge that President Bush had advance warning of the September 11 terror attacks, the latest example of a top Democrat backing off from such a claim.

    "We were told on that particular morning that the president had received a particular set of facts that he may or may not have received. He has denied having received that information. And we accept that," the South Dakota Democrat said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
    Mr. Daschle added: "If he says he didn't receive it, I'm not going to challenge that. What I'm going to say is, why didn't he receive it?"
    His statement yesterday was in marked contrast to what he said on May 16, when he declared: "I'm gravely concerned about the information provided us just yesterday that the president received a warning in August about the threat of hijackers by Osama bin Laden."
    The backtracking by Mr. Daschle came one week after House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, Missouri Democrat, walked away from his earlier statements suggesting that Mr. Bush had warnings before September 11 that might have prevented the deadly terrorist attacks.
    Mr. Daschle and other senators appearing on network talk shows yesterday criticized the FBI's handling of pre-September 11 intelligence. Mr. Daschle was particularly critical of what he called "fouled-up information sharing" between the FBI and CIA.
    "I don't think anyone implicates the president in this. The question is, why didn't he have this information?" asked Mr. Daschle.
    The Senate leader insists he still has confidence in FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. But he said Mr. Mueller's attempts to reorganize the FBI must go beyond "shuffling the chairs." There must be a "change of attitude, a change of environment, a change in the mentality," Mr. Daschle said.
    "That lack of sharing [of intelligence between agencies] is something we've got to address," said Mr. Daschle, who renewed his call for an independent blue-ribbon commission to investigate intelligence lapses before September 11. The Bush administration opposes such a commission.
    After Mr. Daschle claimed on May 16 that the president had advance knowledge of the September 11 attacks, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said it was "incendiary," "thoroughly irresponsible" and false for anyone to suggest Mr. Bush had information that could have prevented the attacks.
    Asked if he felt his patriotism was being questioned by the vice president, Mr. Daschle said, "Sometimes, I think the administration steps over the line when they make these kinds of accusations."
    Pressed as to whether Mr. Cheney's remarks were "over the line," Mr. Daschle said: "I think it's getting close to the line. I think we have a responsibility to ask questions."
    In the NBC interview, Mr. Daschle said Democrats and Republicans alike need to "tone down" the "incendiary rhetoric" they've displayed about media leaks or other issues related to September 11.
    Mr. Daschle was asked several times if he viewed statements by Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney, Georgia Democrat, as being incendiary and irresponsible. She charged that people died needlessly on September 11 because administration officials had advance warnings about the danger but did not act because they stood to gain financially.
    Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, has characterized Miss McKinney's comments as "looney, dangerous and irresponsible." But Mr. Daschle yesterday declined to say if he shared that opinion.
    Mr. Daschle said he does not know if he has the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation to create a blue-ribbon commission to investigate missed intelligence opportunities prior to September 11.
    "But I'm encouraged by the growing number of Republicans in the Senate who have come forth to say they now support it," he said, adding that he is "reasonably confident" the votes will be there to pass the legislation when it comes to the floor sometime next month.
    But key Republicans who appeared on talk shows yesterday, such as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott and Rep. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the House intelligence committee, opposed the idea of an outside investigation.
    On "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Goss, Florida Republican, said he thinks it would be hard to pull together an independent panel, and he worries it could be responsible for "egregious leaks."
    Mr. Lott, who appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," said that in the past six years, "something like six commissions" have studied aviation safety and other security issues. He suggested Congress read those reports, which cost "millions of dollars" to prepare, before creating yet another commission.
    Mr. Daschle said Mr. Bush asked him on Jan. 28 not to seek an outside commission to investigate the September 11 attacks. Mr. Daschle said previously that Mr. Cheney made a similar request Jan. 24.
    "They were concerned about the diversion of resources," Mr. Daschle said on NBC, adding that the request was repeated on other dates.
    Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney said last week that Congress' intelligence committees -- which can keep secret the classified information supplied by the administration -- are the proper panels for an investigation.
    National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reinforced that position yesterday, saying the administration worries "about anything that would take place outside of the intelligence committees."
    Miss Rice said ongoing FBI investigations shouldn't be jeopardized by information "spread to the first pages of the newspapers."

  11. Re:The web is a disaster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Senate Majority Leader (and pre-eminent asshole) Tom Daschle yesterday recanted his May 16 charge that President Bush had advance warning of the September 11 terror attacks, the latest example of a top Democrat backing off from such a claim. Top Stories rebels face crackdown "We were told on that particular morning that the president had received a particular set of facts that he may or may not have received. He has denied having received that information. And we accept that," the South Dakota Democrat said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Mr. Daschle added: "If he says he didn't receive it, I'm not going to challenge that. What I'm going to say is, why didn't he receive it?" His statement yesterday was in marked contrast to what he said on May 16, when he declared: "I'm gravely concerned about the information provided us just yesterday that the president received a warning in August about the threat of hijackers by Osama bin Laden." The backtracking by Mr. Daschle came one week after House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, Missouri Democrat, walked away from his earlier statements suggesting that Mr. Bush had warnings before September 11 that might have prevented the deadly terrorist attacks. Mr. Daschle and other senators appearing on network talk shows yesterday criticized the FBI's handling of pre-September 11 intelligence. Mr. Daschle was particularly critical of what he called "fouled-up information sharing" between the FBI and CIA. "I don't think anyone implicates the president in this. The question is, why didn't he have this information?" asked Mr. Daschle. The Senate leader insists he still has confidence in FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. But he said Mr. Mueller's attempts to reorganize the FBI must go beyond "shuffling the chairs." There must be a "change of attitude, a change of environment, a change in the mentality," Mr. Daschle said. "That lack of sharing [of intelligence between agencies] is something we've got to address," said Mr. Daschle, who renewed his call for an independent blue-ribbon commission to investigate intelligence lapses before September 11. The Bush administration opposes such a commission. After Mr. Daschle claimed on May 16 that the president had advance knowledge of the September 11 attacks, Vice President Richard B. Cheney said it was "incendiary," "thoroughly irresponsible" and false for anyone to suggest Mr. Bush had information that could have prevented the attacks. Asked if he felt his patriotism was being questioned by the vice president, Mr. Daschle said, "Sometimes, I think the administration steps over the line when they make these kinds of accusations." Pressed as to whether Mr. Cheney's remarks were "over the line," Mr. Daschle said: "I think it's getting close to the line. I think we have a responsibility to ask questions." In the NBC interview, Mr. Daschle said Democrats and Republicans alike need to "tone down" the "incendiary rhetoric" they've displayed about media leaks or other issues related to September 11. Mr. Daschle was asked several times if he viewed statements by Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney, Georgia Democrat, as being incendiary and irresponsible. She charged that people died needlessly on September 11 because administration officials had advance warnings about the danger but did not act because they stood to gain financially. Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, has characterized Miss McKinney's comments as "looney, dangerous and irresponsible." But Mr. Daschle yesterday declined to say if he shared that opinion. Mr. Daschle said he does not know if he has the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster and pass the legislation to create a blue-ribbon commission to investigate missed intelligence opportunities prior to September 11. "But I'm encouraged by the growing number of Republicans in the Senate who have come forth to say they now support it," he said, adding that he is "reasonably confident" the votes will be there to pass the legislation when it comes to the floor sometime next month. But key Republicans who appeared on talk shows yesterday, such as Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott and Rep. Porter J. Goss, chairman of the House intelligence committee, opposed the idea of an outside investigation. On "Fox News Sunday," Mr. Goss, Florida Republican, said he thinks it would be hard to pull together an independent panel, and he worries it could be responsible for "egregious leaks." Mr. Lott, who appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," said that in the past six years, "something like six commissions" have studied aviation safety and other security issues. He suggested Congress read those reports, which cost "millions of dollars" to prepare, before creating yet another commission. Mr. Daschle said Mr. Bush asked him on Jan. 28 not to seek an outside commission to investigate the September 11 attacks. Mr. Daschle said previously that Mr. Cheney made a similar request Jan. 24. "They were concerned about the diversion of resources," Mr. Daschle said on NBC, adding that the request was repeated on other dates. Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney said last week that Congress' intelligence committees -- which can keep secret the classified information supplied by the administration -- are the proper panels for an investigation. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reinforced that position yesterday, saying the administration worries "about anything that would take place outside of the intelligence committees." Miss Rice said ongoing FBI investigations shouldn't be jeopardized by information "spread to the first pages of the newspapers."

  12. Re:cyrillic trivia Re:Terminology whine by os2fan · · Score: 3, Offtopic
    I'm aware of all of this. But even in the soviet empire, there were extra letters. Compare this in the west, where Icelandic still uses thorn and etha. Thorn was used in english before the latin alphabet arrived, and continued afterwards. edda or etha is a crossed d. Capital thorn looked something a Y with a vertical left stroke. Hence "Ye Olde Shoppe".

    Ohter english letters to fade is yoch [looks like a 3] - this is the z in Menzies = Men3ies "Menges".

    Also of note is digamma. In the greek number system, this is 6, that is, the 6th letter of the alphabet. As a letter, it appear between epsilon and zeta. Since our alphabet is derived from the greek, one notes the letter here not only looks like digamma, but preserves much of the original sound: F. Phi was an asperated p.

    Cyrillic bears a much closer resemblance to the classical greek letters, and the theta, indeeds represents an f here.

    Unicode reflects current realities. There is more than one Cyrillic Alphabet, just as there is more than one Latin alphabet.

    --
    OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
  13. Re:KOI8-R by shepd · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    >In my language, it means "testicle"

    I didn't know there were languages that used numbers in the spelling of words. Wonders will never cease to amaze...

    Well, at least your name doesn't translate to New Ching Shit in another language.

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  14. Re:Eric Bin Raymond: The Sept 11th Conspiracy Reve by ShawnDoc · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm sorry, but what the he** does this have to do with the story at hand? Where are the moderators when you need them?