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Security Predictions of 2004
scubacuda writes "Computer World's security predictions for 2004: R.a..n,d,o.,m p,u,,n,c.t,,u_a.t.1..0.n evading spam filters, Internet access filtering, better desktop management, enterprise personal firewall deployment, tools that securely scrub metadata, corporate policies against USB flash drives, Wi-Fi break-ins, Bluetooth abuses, cell phone hacking, centralized control over IM, public utility breakin publicized, government defense against cybercriminals, organized cybercrime, and a shorter time to exploitation."
OK... so they predict...
More Of The Same!
Astounding.
Remind you of something?.
My filter just checked for excessive punctuation.
\w[();\[\]:]\w
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
My experince since we changed from Windows 3.1 to NT and now 2000 is that the few cases where users screwed up their PCs have been outweighed by the constant demands for an engineer visit to carry out a trivial task using the admin password. And no-one can defrag their hard disks. Ever.
When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
Stop spam at the source, stupid!
Don't use your email address, period. Other solutions like filters only address part of the problem, I wrote a little Javascript Turing email blocker , which prevents you using email!
No more email means no more spam, spam harvesters use viruses that collect email adresses from the computers of people that know you.
People that don't know how to use bcc spread your adress all over the net. So dont give out your email adress at all. Just send lonely test messages to yourself. mmm, a dictionary attack could still find you..... Stop checking your email!!!
Problem solved.
An ounce of prevention...
So you're the one responsible for 'I was hit!' comming out 'I wa* ***!'
Filters like that ruin normal text.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
faux queue man!
[Set Cain on fire and steal his lute.]
I wrote a little Javascript Turing email obfuscator, which prevents renders your email address invisible to bots, even those that can execute javascript.
That only works for people who think that sending you e-mail is such an enormous honor that they're willing to jump through flaming hoops backwards to accomplish it. The first spammer that's desperate enough to "decrypt" your e-mail address will add it to an address list and that's the end of that chapter.
Ever notice how entities that erect all sorts of extraneous barriers to communicating with them tend to get your blood boiling? I call it the "you must fax us this form in triplicate with a notarized form and a copy of your driver's license during office hours in Burma on the third tuesday of April during a leap year that doesn't have the number six in it"-syndrome.
> And really, even if you use a Bayesian filter, how many emails contain the words "majesty" "ellipsoid" and "lippincott"?
Why, just yesterday I got one that said "Her Majesty wants you to polish the ellipsoid on her Lippincott, and then bring it around front."
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
> My boss (hardcore BSD hacker and anti-spam activist) added a simple rule to our spam filters: more than 5 consonants in a row in the From: field and it's tagged as spam.
Hope he's not expecting any important messages from anyone born in Eastern Europe...
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
But will it filter the town name Scunthorpe as being offensive? AOL had this problem where people living in Scunthorpe suddenly found they could no longer use their town name.
Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
The more I read on this, the more I become convinced that AI will come about as a result of the spam wars.
Hmm...if the greatest email filter (the delete key) isn't working for you and your time is soooo precious because you are a corporate big wig then you always can use your "secretary" to preview the emails and delete the crap. Or have we learned nothing from years of postal services and mailrooms?
blocking all spam is like saying the RIAA can stop you from burning a cd. its just not going to happen
Almost all of these are just "we'll see the current trend continue".
...
Ironically, my own prediction isn't much different:
In 2004, lots of interesting things will happen in security, and none of the things that would matter will change. Instead, a lot of time, money and effort will be thrown at the wrong non-solutions.
i.e. more of 2003, or 2002, or 2001,
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
I got a random punctuation spam the other day. One line read like this: Guar,anteed 1.00% effecti;ve! Needless to say, my confidence in the product was not very high
See, what is exactly why it wouldn't work. I wouldn't get any mail from you or my good-for-nothing brother-in-law.
Never mind, I'll get coding immediately. Thanks for the suggestion!
That's sofa kingdom.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Spammers send me volumes of dada poetry like this, and it's all stuff that appears before HTML, which I assume is the main content of the mail. Pity that I filter out HTML. And here I was hoping that there was an international dada poetry guerrilla group...
What we call folk wisdom is often no more than a kind of expedient stupidity.-Edward Abbey