Gone Phishin'

US consumers are still easy prey to fraudsters using phishing emails to lure consumers into handing over valuable financial information. In a survey sponsored by anti-spam outfit MailFrontier, 28 per cent of US adults were unable to distinguish phishing emails from legitimate correspondence.

I can't help but be amazed -- 28% average, with even more falling for specific scams. The fed is about to spend zillions of our tax dollars to make this illegal, too -- just like they did with spam. Spam has been illegal since the first of the year, and I just know you have seen it drop to a trickle, right? That one cost us hundreds of millions, I'm sure, and so far has netted a fine of $50,000. There's bang for your buck.

CAPPS is Dead! Long Live CAPPS!

From the July 15 issue of The New York Times:

The government is backing away from a plan to use commercial databases in its computerized system for determining which airline passengers might pose a security risk.

But it is pressing ahead with a new computer system that will rely on government databases.

The government has decided that this invasion of our privacy was just too hot an issue, so they have moved it closer to the chest, away from public scrutiny. Oh, they still want to know where we go and what we buy -- they just plan to do it behind closed doors. All in the name of "national security", of course.

FBI's Guide to Concealable Weapons

Throwing cards, titanium charge cards, plastic razor blades... This is a truly amazing collection of stuff -- all potentially deadly, complete with scaled photography and manufacturer's name.

A War Crime, by Any Other Name...

"The question put to lawyers was how the president and the others could commit war crimes and get away with it."

That statement was made by Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post the first week of June. I've linked to the memo written by the Assistant Attorney General, Jay S. Bybee, to Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the president.

It's apparent that no one truly adheres to the Geneva Convention, and it's only the losers that cry foul. And occasionally the media.

Quoting Bruce Schneier:

"I don't even want to debate the moral issues: Is it moral to torture a bomber to find a hidden ticking bomb, is it moral to torture an innocent to get someone to defuse a ticking bomb, is it moral to torture N-1 people to save N lives? What interests me more are the security implications of torture: How well does it work as a security countermeasure, and what are the trade-offs? ...Given that torture doesn't actually produce useful intelligence, why in the world are we spending so much good will on the world stage to do it?"

Fahrenheit 9/11 Notes + Sources

Michael Moore has published his notes and sources backing up his statements in "Fahrenheit 9/11". Does this make F911 "the truth"? No, it does not, but it makes his claims much more credible -- he wasn't pulling this stuff from thin air.

Scientists horrified by Bush's Bad Science

What started as a group of 62 scientists fighting what they saw as Bad Science being practiced by the Bush administration has now bloated to a body with more than 4,000 whitecoats calling for change.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), in a new report, has again expressed its feeling of "embarrassment and disgust" over the way the Bush administration uses - or misuses - science when making policy decisions. The scientists have found that the administration often ignores the recommendations of advisory panels and "suppresses, distorts and manipulates" scientific work. In particular, the group is concerned about Bad Science affecting environment, emergency contraception and endangered species policies .

Rather than link to the article from which the above text is taken I'm pointing back directly to the Union of Concerned Scientists web site where you can read their own press release and the original documents.

A DIY Cruise Missile

The New Zealand government has moved aggressively to shut down this project -- and by using quite unscrupulous methods which appear to be in breach of the law.

Having publicly admitted that the project broke no laws, and thereby making it very difficult for them to simply shut it down by direct methods, the government appears to have broken their own laws in an attempt to ensure that I can no longer continue this project -- and, as perhaps a purely punitive step, ensuring that I can no longer even continue developing my jet engines or maintain my websites.

They have even gone so far as to deliberately scuttle a licensing deal I had arranged with a US company who was to begin manufacture of my X-Jet engine -- despite the fact that this meant sacrificing jobs and export earnings.

The strange thing is that just a matter of months ago, they told me I could export the very same technology to Iran -- despite the fact that it is widely considered to be a terrorist sponsor and similar exports are prohibited in the USA.

On the up-side, the missile has been completed (apart from some minor work that is relatively inconsequential) and, to ensure that the testing will proceed at sometime in the New Year, it is no longer in my possession -- but it is in safe hands.

I've been watching this project for a very long time now -- and it did indeed look like Bruce Simpson was going to succeed. He has a clear understanding of jet turbine and pulse jet design. He has built several. But now it looks like his DIY cruise missile project has been scuttled by the gov't of New Zealand, perhaps as a result of pressure from the U.S. Much of the design information has been removed from his web site, but there remains a great deal of information in his project diary. It's not sufficient information to go out and build one of your own, so don't even think about it.

Security hole found in Mozilla browser

Developers at the open-source Mozilla Foundation have confirmed that the latest version of their Web browsers have a security flaw that could allow attackers to run existing programs on the Windows XP operating system.

The exploit will also run on a Windoze 2000 box, and it's been repaired. If you visit the Mozilla web site and download the latest version of their browser, the hole is plugged. The web site incorrectly identifies the download as a previous version, but what you get is new.

IE Users, Proceed with Caution -- If at All

It's also true that many Web-based enterprise applications have a preference for IE, but with your company's security on the line, it's time to send a message to these application vendors by going with cross-platform-friendly options.

Micro$oft's browser must be used if you want to access certain web sites, perhaps your own bank, for example. Install Firefox and try it. If you can't get into your bank let them know you are NOT happy and you question their ability to handle your money if they think so little of your security.

Microsoft half fixes serious IE vuln

Acting with law enforcement authorities, Microsoft was able to rapidly shut the Russian web site down, but the affair still highlighted security concerns with IE. Security clearing house CERT took the extraordinary step of advising users to ditch IE in favour of alternative browsers because of the problem.

I gave up MSIE years ago in favor of Netscape, and then when Netscape fell victim to AOL went back. I didn't stay long. I went over to Opera, and recently have been using Firefox. Firefox is truly an amazing tool from the Mozilla group -- a group spun off from Netscape back in the take-over days. Tiny and secure, it's my default browser (though I still use Opera for some heavy jobs).

Find Firefox here