From The Register:

An Aussie risk advisory services manager has issued a chilling security alert concerning the Jura F90 net-connected coffee machine, warning caffeine-heads that the hi-tech brewing device could open their Windows PC to exploitation by internet paedophiles and al-Qaeda*, CNET reports.

Craig Wright, who works for “professional services” outfit BDO, posted his alert yesterday on the BugTraq security email list, highlighting possible lines of attack, including buffer overflow menaces. The F90 (see pic) is apparently the “world’s first household espresso machine with internet capability”, which allows users to select “coffee specialities” via their PCs without having to walk the five feet between their desks and the machine.

Someone took the Trojan Room Coffee Machine idea and made it open to TERRORISM. Run screaming if you feel so compelled.

LOL! Yes there is a fair degree of tongue in cheek in this story. Thanks to Lester Haines for making my day. Be sure to read the full piece on the Reg.

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Sleep deprivation, caffeine overload and documentation. How long till I start hallucinating? Stay tuned.

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And now, the news…

1. Router-hacking Trojans spotted | Web User News
2. The ’secret’: Banks are freaked out by security | ZDNet
3. Malware not man blamed in child abuse download case | The Regsiter
4. Security Bonuses for Vista Programmers | eWeek
5. PCI DSS: Section 6.6 gets teeth – finally
6. IM Security’s Three Kings | CSO Online
7. Victim of its own success | BBC News
8. Dacre promises new look at rules on hacking by journalists Guardian

Tags: News, Daily Links, Security Blog, Information Security, Security News

From PC World:

Two months after their Web site was hacked, the organizers of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign are looking for a network security expert to help lock down their Web site.

“Obama for America is looking for a network security expert who wants to play a key role in a historic political campaign,” reads the ad, posted to the Barackobama.com Web site.

The requirements are pretty much what you’d read in any e-commerce security help-wanted ad: VPN (virtual private network) and Unix or Linux experience, along with a “deep understanding” of LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl) development. And of course, the successful candidate must be willing to “respond off-hours to high urgency security situations.”

Successful candidates will join Obama’s Boston team and should expect to find a new job come November.

So, find a new job in November cause its thanks for the memories? Or you can join the White House crew? So, if you can run on no sleep and you bleed caffeine then you might be a right fit.

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So after 2 months of this and more and more Google searches, I am changing my approach.  I’m leaving the monophasic world and entering the polyphasic.  With polyphasic sleep, you sleep for short periods multiple times a day, rather than one long sleep a day with monophasic.

There are a couple of different ways of doing it, from six 20-25 minute naps to three or four 90 minute naps.  I am going to try the latter approach, which I have done in the past when I had looming deadlines on important projects.  Basically I would sleep when I was tired, and as soon as I would wake up I’d go straight back to work.  In other words I took a 3 hour nap at night and two 90 minute naps during the day.  I never remember being tired when I was on those regiments, but I do remember being highly productive. 

Once the project was over I would immediately revert back to my monophasic ways, happy to be done with whatever project I was working on.  I never knew it was a way of life for some people. 

From reading about it, polyphasic sleep does make sense.  Almost all animals in nature exhibit polyphasic sleeping patterns.  Newborns are born polyphasic sleepers and have to be taught not to take naps as they grow up.  There are also studies of people who are isolated from an external environment that develop polyphasic behaviors without the sun or a clock to reinforce their traditional sleeping patterns.

So I am going to try it.  I just woke up from a 90 minute nap and I’m feeling refreshed.  I’ll have one caffeine drink now and will sleep for another 90 minutes when I tire.  Hopefully this will help me feel more rested.  I’ll report back in a few weeks to let you know how it goes, after a doctor’s checkup.