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  <channel>
    <title><![CDATA[[SecurityRatty] tag: cbc]]></title>
    <link>http://securityratty.com/tag/cbc</link>
    <description></description>
    <pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2007 02:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
    <generator>iRatty Engine</generator>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Carleton University phishing attack sends its population 10,000 messages linking to faked college site]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/bbfee6fb897d88858b63e46b0ca29900</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/bbfee6fb897d88858b63e46b0ca29900</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[In a fit of deja vu, I woke up to hear that Carletong University in Ottawa experienced a phishing attack of tens of thousands of email messages sent to email accounts related to the university....]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[In a fit of deja vu, I woke up to hear that Carletong University in Ottawa experienced a phishing attack of &#8220;tens of thousands of email messages&#8221; sent to email accounts related to the university.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/23/ot-carleton-080723.html?ref=rss
It&#8217;s not clear from the press release how the attackers got the email addresses, but in a June article on this [...]]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:47:40 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/university">university</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/carletong university">carletong university</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/email messages">email messages</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/email addresses">email addresses</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/attack">attack</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/june article">june article</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/press release">press release</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/email accounts">email accounts</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/tens">tens</category>
      <source url="http://securityviews.com/blog/2008/07/24/carleton-university-phishing-attack-sends-its-population-10000-messages-linking-to-faked-college-site/">Carleton University phishing attack sends its population 10,000 messages linking to faked college site</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Canadian farmer personal information on stolen CCGA laptop]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/59ad7c04243f6352dc04e5847a1515dd</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/59ad7c04243f6352dc04e5847a1515dd</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: Security Breach

Date Reported
6/4/08

Organization
Government of Canada

Contractor/Consultant/Branch
Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA

Victims
Farmers

Number Affected...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/security+breach" rel="tag">Security Breach</a><br><br>
<img src="http://breachblog.com/images/95781-88451/ccga.jpg" align="right" height="82" width="168"><font size="2"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date Reported: </span><br>6/4/08<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Organization: </span><br><a href="http://www.gc.ca/home.html">Government of Canada</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contractor/Consultant/Branch:</span><br><a href="http://www.ccga.ca/OrganizationHome.htm">Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA)</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victims:</span><br>Farmers<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number Affected:</span><br>~32,000<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Types of Data:</span><br>"social insurance numbers, bank account numbers and other data"<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Breach Description:</span><br>"OTTAWA, June 5 (UPI) -- Prairie farmers in Canada are upset the federal government waited two months to tell them a laptop computer containing their personal data was missing."<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference URL:</span><br><a href="http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4182176p-4771903c.html">Winnipeg Free Press</a> <br><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/06/05/canola-information.html">CBC News</a> <br><a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/05/Personal_data_on_32000_farmers_missing/UPI-66311212671633/">United Press International</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Report Credit:</span><br>Lindsay Wiebe, Winnipeg Free Press<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Response:</span><br>From the online sources cited above:<br><br>About 32,000 Canadian farmers are on the alert after learning a laptop containing their financial information has been stolen.<br><br>The laptop was stolen when a programmer working for the Canadian Canola Growers Association took the machine off-site for routine maintenance.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] No offense to programmers, but in my experience the ways they use information can be some of the most dangerous threats to information security.&nbsp; There is no reason for a programmer to EVER have access to confidential production information.&nbsp; Programmers should only be permitted to work with scrubbed information in a test and/or development environment.</span><br><br>CCGA general manager Rick White described the theft as a classic "smash and grab."<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Also classic as in another organization that either does not know how or is unwilling to properly secure confidential information.</span><br><br>The laptop has the bank account numbers and social insurance numbers of farmers who applied for Agriculture Canada's advance payments program, which is administered by the CCGA on behalf of the federal government.<br><br>Although the theft happened March 30, Canadians weren't sent letters until last week informing them<br><br>The federal department has sent letters out to all farmers affected by the theft.<br><br>The letter said the laptop was stolen from an undisclosed, remote location in Manitoba.<br><br>"We treat this very seriously," White said. "This is an unfortunate incident, a very low-risk one."<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Mr. White is probably not well versed in risk analysis.&nbsp; Or incident response for that matter.</span><br><br>the strict security measures being used on the laptop reduce the chances of information being misused, White said.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Like what?</span><br><br>"There was a very strong password protection on it, [and] there was a biometric fingerprint reader on it," he said. "That would prohibit anyone other than the user or the person with the password to access the data on the laptop."<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] These are "strict security measures"?&nbsp; My emphatic answer is NO!&nbsp; These "strict security measures" are easily bypassed.</span><br><br>but the data was not encrypted<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] The missing piece of the puzzle.&nbsp; Why go through all of the (self-proclaimed) "strict security measures" and not employ encryption.&nbsp; What you get with full-disk encryption is pre-boot authentication and this defeats the boot to CD attack.</span><br><br>Agriculture Canada spokesman Sean Malone said there were security features on the laptop, but a sophisticated hacker could likely bypass them.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] No sophistication required.&nbsp; A novice could figure it out with Google, a CD, and 15 minutes.</span><br><br>So far, there have been no reports of identity theft among the farmers, the report said.<br><br>Pitblado LLP privacy lawyer Brian Bowman said the CCGA and agriculture department deserve credit for notifying people of the breach -- a move not required by Manitoba law.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Just because CCGA is not required by law, doesn't mean that they deserve any credit for notification.&nbsp; The information belongs to the victims not CCGA, and as owners of the information don't you think they should be informed of an incident that has the potential affect them personally?</span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victim Reaction:</span><br>"If they're devilish enough to steal a computer, maybe they're devilish enough to do something with the information," <br><br>"What frustrates me is that they've treated this like it's no skin off their back,"<br><br>"They've known this since then and they're only getting the letters out now?"<br><br>"I don't want to find out a mortgage has been taken out on our farm."<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Commentary:</span><br>It is bad enough for an organization to lose confidential information on a poorly protected laptop, but what makes this more troubling is the apparent fact that they still view the practice that led to the breach as a low risk.&nbsp; Clueless and sad. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Past Breaches:</span><br>Government of Canada:<br>December, 2007 - <a href="http://breachblog.com/2007/12/05/passport.aspx">Passport Canada web site suffers serious breach</a> <br>November, 2007 - <a href="http://breachblog.com/2007/11/26/servicecanada.aspx">Service Canada stolen laptop affects more than 1,600</a></font><br><br>
<script src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Es/breachblog?i=http://breachblog.com/2008/06/08/ccga.aspx" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:32:52 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/information">information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/laptop">laptop</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/financial information">financial information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/confidential information">confidential information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/laptop affects">laptop affects</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/computer">computer</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/strict security measures">strict security measures</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/ccga">ccga</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/laptop computer">laptop computer</category>
      <source url="http://breachblog.com/2008/06/08/ccga.aspx">Canadian farmer personal information on stolen CCGA laptop</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Clever Museum Theft]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/6a56823b5152f1872fe26e870cf20b38</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/6a56823b5152f1872fe26e870cf20b38</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Some expensive and impressive stuff was stolen from the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology: A dozen pieces of gold jewelry designed by prominent Canadian artist Bill Reid were...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Some <a href="http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=fc613f5f-3f35-467f-bf9d-0259586bf634">expensive and impressive</a> stuff was stolen from the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology:</p>

<blockquote>A dozen pieces of gold jewelry designed by prominent Canadian artist Bill Reid were stolen from the museum sometime on May 23, along with three pieces of gold-plated Mexican jewelry. The pieces that were taken are estimated to be worth close to $2 million.</blockquote>

<p>Of course, it's not the museum's fault:</p>

<blockquote>But museum director Anthony Shelton said that elaborate computer program printouts have determined that the museum's security system did not fail during the heist and that the construction of the building's layout did not compromise security.</blockquote>

<p>Um, isn't having stuff get stolen the very definition of security failing?  And does anyone have any idea how "elaborate computer program printouts" can determine that security didn't fail?  What in the world is this guy talking about?</p>

<p>A few days later, we learned that <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/06/04/bc-ubc-security-ruse.html?ref=rss">security did indeed fail</a>:</p>

<blockquote>Four hours before the break-in on May 23, two or three key surveillance cameras at the Museum of Anthropology mysteriously went off-line.

<p>Around the same time, a caller claiming to be from the alarm company phoned campus security, telling them there was a problem with the system and to ignore any alarms that might go off.</p>

<p>Campus security fell for the ruse and ignored an automated computer alert sent to them, police sources told CBC News.</p>

<p>Meanwhile surveillance cameras that were still operating captured poor pictures of what was going on inside the museum because of a policy to turn the lights off at night.</p>

<p>Then, as the lone guard working overnight in the museum that night left for a smoke break, the thief or thieves broke in, wearing gas masks and spraying bear spray to slow down anyone who might stumble across them.</blockquote></p>

<p>It's a particular kind of security failure, but it's definitely a failure.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/schneier/fulltext?a=YwAwhI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/schneier/fulltext?i=YwAwhI" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/schneier/fulltext?a=Uvs3aI"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/schneier/fulltext?i=Uvs3aI" border="0"></img></a>
</div>]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:04:38 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/compromise security">compromise security</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/security">security</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/museum">museum</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/campus security">campus security</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/security failure">security failure</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/security system">security system</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/computer program printouts">computer program printouts</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/system">system</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/key surveillance cameras">key surveillance cameras</category>
      <source url="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/clever_museum_t.html">Clever Museum Theft</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Academy Learning Centres stolen computers affect seniors]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/89621d79e70c35f86c3ad4252fd551ad</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/89621d79e70c35f86c3ad4252fd551ad</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: Security Breach

Date Reported
5/22/08

Organization
Academy Hearing Centres

Contractor/Consultant/Branch
None

Victims
Patients (mostly seniors

Number Affected
Dozens

Types of...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/security+breach" rel="tag">Security Breach</a><br><br>
<img src="http://breachblog.com/images/95781-88451/academy.jpg" align="right" height="51" width="200"><font size="2"><strong>Date Reported: </strong><br>5/22/08<br><br><strong>Organization: </strong><br><a href="http://www.academyhearing.ca/index.htm">Academy Hearing Centres</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contractor/Consultant/Branch:</span><br>None<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victims:</span><br>Patients (mostly seniors)<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number Affected:</span><br>"Dozens"<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Types of Data:</span><br>Names, addresses, credit-card numbers, health information and health-card numbers<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Breach Description:</span><br>"Dozens of Calgary seniors are alarmed after learning their credit-card numbers, addresses and health-card numbers were stored on computers that were stolen recently. The Academy Hearing Centre in Brentwood Mall, which provides hearing tests and equipment, mostly to seniors, recently mailed out letters warning of the theft."<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference URL:</span><br><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/05/22/cgy-info-theft.html?ref=rss">CBC News</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Report Credit:</span><br>CBC News<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Response:</span><br>From the online source cited above:<br><br>Dozens of Calgary seniors are alarmed after learning their credit-card numbers, addresses and health-card numbers were stored on computers that were stolen recently.<br><br>The Academy Hearing Centre in Brentwood Mall, which provides hearing tests and equipment, mostly to seniors, recently mailed out letters warning of the theft.<br><br>The Academy Hearing Centre refused the CBC's request for an interview, saying only that there is no need for clients to be alarmed.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] This is it?&nbsp; Is this indicative of the service that one could expect from Academy Hearing Centres?&nbsp; Organizations should be more open and willing to talk about what they do to protect confidential information, unless they don't know themselves.&nbsp; Shame shame.</span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victim Reaction(s):</span><br>"I got scared," said one elderly female client who purchased a hearing aid from the company.<br><br>She requested that her name not be released because she is worried about her security.<br><br>The woman said the thieves nabbed her name, address, health information and Alberta health-care number.<br><br>"It's the same thing, like somebody steals your social insurance number," she said.<br><br>She added that she was unable to change her health-card number.<br><br>"I called up Edmonton, the health insurance centre, and she said you have to wait about six months. Just have to notify your doctor, the family doctor. So somebody might be using my number, so let's hope it won't happen."<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Commentary:</span><br>I wish I had more information to share about this breach, but this is all that is publicly available.&nbsp; In anyone has anything more to share, please feel free to comment.&nbsp; Posted on the Academy Learning Centres <a href="http://www.academyhearing.ca/index.htm">web site</a>:<br><br>"if there is any question left unanswered, please do not hesitate to contact one of our team directly by calling: ph: 403. 210. 2482."<br><br>If you suspect that you may be affected by this breach, or if you want more information, I suggest that you call.&nbsp; Victims can demand answers; after all they are the data owners.&nbsp; What makes this breach especially difficult is the fact that it affects customers that are generally easy victims of fraud and deception.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Past Breaches:</span><br>Unknown</font><br><br>
<script src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Es/breachblog?i=http://breachblog.com/2008/05/29/academy.aspx" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 May 2008 05:14:25 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/seniors">seniors</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/academy">academy</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/centres">centres</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/protect confidential information">protect confidential information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/information">information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/breach description">breach description</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/breach">breach</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/calgary seniors">calgary seniors</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/health information">health information</category>
      <source url="http://breachblog.com/2008/05/29/academy.aspx">Academy Learning Centres stolen computers affect seniors</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/d47e0757b7a447223299541c460a193c</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/d47e0757b7a447223299541c460a193c</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Synopsis: Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more
Welcome to Blue Box: The VoIP Security...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<p><strong>Synopsis:</strong>&nbsp; Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more</p><hr /><p>Welcome to <strong>Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast</strong> #78, a 40-minute podcast&nbsp; from Dan York and Jonathan Zar covering VoIP security news, comments and opinions.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p>

<p><a rel="enclosure" href="http://media.libsyn.com/media/lodestar/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3">Download the show here</a> (MP3, 17MB) or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BlueBox">subscribe to the RSS feed</a> to download the show automatically.&nbsp; </p>

<p><strong>NOTE: </strong><em>This show was originally recorded on February 25, 2008. Yes, that was two months ago... we know!</em></p> 

<p>You may also listen to this podcast right now:</p> 

<p><object width="200" height="20" data="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/dewplayer.swf?son=http://media.libsyn.com/media/lodestar/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param value="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/dewplayer.swf?son=http://media.libsyn.com/media/lodestar/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3&amp;bgcolor=#FFFFFF" name="movie" /></object> </p> 

<p><strong>Show Content:</strong></p> 
 

<ul> <li>00:20 - Intro to the show, contact information and how to provide comments.&nbsp; Welcome to all the new listeners - and to all those listeners who have been here for so long!&nbsp; </li>

<li><a href="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/2007/12/new-audio-comme.html">new comment line +1-415-830-5439</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/2008/02/blue-box-se023.html">Special Edition #23</a> with Sonus Networks</li>
	<li><a href="http://saunderslog.com/2008/02/25/squawk-box-february-25-the-voice-phishing-call/">Squawk Box podcast about voice phishing</a> ??? also this article <a href="http://www.bmighty.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800660">Vishing: The Latest, and Greatest, Security Concern</a></li>
<li>Cisco: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20080213-phone.shtml">Cisco Unified <span class="caps">IP </span>Phone Overflow and DoS Vulnerabilities</a> and <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/14/ciscos-slew-of-vulnerabilities/">Dustin Trammell???s coverage</a></li>
		<li>ZDNet: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=896">Design flaw in wireless VoIP handsets endanger the enterprise</a> followed by <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=901">Cisco confirms vulnerability in 7921 WiFi IP phone</a></li>
<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/20/slides-about-peer-to-peer-sip-p2psip-security-now-available/">Slides about <span class="caps">P2PSIP</span> security new available</a></li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/15/join-the-new-rucus-mailing-list-if-you-want-to-look-at-ways-to-end-spit/">RUCUS mailing list &amp; <span class="caps">BOF</span></a></li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/11/end-to-end-voip-security-using-dtls-srtp-a-new-proposal/">End-to-end VoIP security using <span class="caps">DTLS</span>-SRTP</a></li>
		<li>Also a whole bunch on <span class="caps">SIP </span>Identity</li>
		<li><a href="http://blogs.voxeo.com/speakingofstandards/2008/02/12/sip-torture-tests-for-ipv6-now-out-in-rfc-5118/">SIP Torture Tests for IPv6 now out in <span class="caps">RFC 5118</span></a></li>
		<li><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcmarkup?doc=draft-york-spit-similarity-scenarios">SIP Usage Scenarios Similar to <span class="caps">SPIT</span></a></li>
		<li><a href="http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-niccolini-speermint-voipthreats-03.txt">SPEERMINT Security BCPs</a></li>
		<li><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcmarkup?doc=draft-kaplan-sip-baiting-attack">SIP Identity Baiting Attack</a></li>
		<li><a href="http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rosenberg-sip-rfc4474-concerns-00.txt">Concerns around Applicability of <span class="caps">RFC 4474</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/101/488311/30/30/threaded">VoIP Hopper 0.9.9 released</a> (<a href="http://voiphopper.sourceforge.net/">site</a> ) ??? Thanks to Frank Leonhardt for the info.</li>
		<li>VoIP News: <a href="http://www.voip-news.com/feature/is-someone-listening-022208/">Is Someone Listening to Your VoIP Calls?</a> (linked to from <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=3294">ZDNet</a> )</li>
		<li>ZDNet: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=895">Cracking <span class="caps">GSM</span></a></li>
		<li>TMCnet- <a href="http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/sip/articles/21394-ocs-exposed-practicing-safe-ocs.htm">Practicing Safe <span class="caps">OCS</span></a></li>
		<li>TMCnet- <a href="http://sip.tmcnet.com/topics/sip-and-open-standards/articles/21397-security-attack-the-day.htm">Security Attack of the Day</a> (Tom Cross starts blogging for TMCnet)</li>
		<li>Speaking of Tom, <a href="http://sip.tmcnet.com/topics/featured-articles/articles/21137-techtionarycom-releases-sip-security-checklist.htm">Techtionary.com Releases <span class="caps">SIP </span>Security Checklist</a></li>
	<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/21/siptap-author-forms-voip-security-company/">SIPTap Author forms VoIP Security Company</a> (by Craig Bowser!)</li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/21/underpowered-hardware/">Underpowered Hardware</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.projectspider.org/">Project Spider</a> ??? about <span class="caps">SPIT</span></li>
	<li><span class="caps">CBC</span>: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/12/bell.html?ref=rss">Bell recovers stolen data on 3.4 million customers</a></li>
<li>Comment (email) from Larry Farmer</li>
		<li>Comment (email) from Shlomo Dubrowin</li>
		<li>Comment (email) about <span class="caps">SE </span>#23</li>
<li>Review of the last week's traffic on the <a href="http://www.voipsa.org/VOIPSEC/">VOIPSEC </a>public mailing list&nbsp; </li>
<li>Wrap-up of the show </li>
<li>40:01 - End of show&nbsp; </li></ul> <p>Comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome either as replies to this post&nbsp; or via e-mail to <a href="mailto:blueboxpodcast@gmail.com">blueboxpodcast@gmail.com</a>.&nbsp; Audio comments sent as attached MP3 files are definitely welcome and will be played in future shows.&nbsp; You may also call the listener comment line at either +1-415-830-5439 or via SIP to '<a href="sip:bluebox@voipuser.org">bluebox@voipuser.org</a>' to leave a comment there.&nbsp; </p> <p>Thank you for listening and please do let us know what you think of the show. </p></div>
]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:56:49 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/voip security news">voip security news</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/news">news</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/listener comment line">listener comment line</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/comments">comments</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/listener comments">listener comments</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/comment line">comment line</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cisco">cisco</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/phone">phone</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/podcast">podcast</category>
      <source url="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/2008/04/blue-box-78-cis.html">Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/5012fddf567c518c66082afa468b2250</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/5012fddf567c518c66082afa468b2250</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Synopsis: Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more
Welcome to Blue Box: The VoIP Security...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p><strong>Synopsis:</strong>&nbsp; Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more</p><hr /><p>Welcome to <strong>Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast</strong> #78, a 40-minute podcast&nbsp; from Dan York and Jonathan Zar covering VoIP security news, comments and opinions.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p>

<p><a rel="enclosure" href="http://ripple.radiotail.com/409/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3">Download the show here</a> (MP3, 17MB) or <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BlueBox">subscribe to the RSS feed</a> to download the show automatically.&nbsp; </p>

<p><strong>NOTE: </strong><em>This show was originally recorded on February 25, 2008. Yes, that was two months ago... we know!</em></p> 

<p>You may also listen to this podcast right now:</p> 

<p><object width="200" height="20" data="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/dewplayer.swf?son=http://ripple.radiotail.com/409/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><param value="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/dewplayer.swf?son=http://ripple.radiotail.com/409/BBP-078-2008-02-25.mp3&amp;bgcolor=#FFFFFF" name="movie" /></object> </p> 

<p><strong>Show Content:</strong></p> 
 

<ul> <li>00:20 - Intro to the show, contact information and how to provide comments.&nbsp; Welcome to all the new listeners - and to all those listeners who have been here for so long!&nbsp; </li>

<li><a href="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/2007/12/new-audio-comme.html">new comment line +1-415-830-5439</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.blueboxpodcast.com/2008/02/blue-box-se023.html">Special Edition #23</a> with Sonus Networks</li>
	<li><a href="http://saunderslog.com/2008/02/25/squawk-box-february-25-the-voice-phishing-call/">Squawk Box podcast about voice phishing</a> – also this article <a href="http://www.bmighty.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206800660">Vishing: The Latest, and Greatest, Security Concern</a></li>
<li>Cisco: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20080213-phone.shtml">Cisco Unified <span class="caps">IP </span>Phone Overflow and DoS Vulnerabilities</a> and <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/14/ciscos-slew-of-vulnerabilities/">Dustin Trammell’s coverage</a></li>
		<li>ZDNet: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=896">Design flaw in wireless VoIP handsets endanger the enterprise</a> followed by <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=901">Cisco confirms vulnerability in 7921 WiFi IP phone</a></li>
<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/20/slides-about-peer-to-peer-sip-p2psip-security-now-available/">Slides about <span class="caps">P2PSIP</span> security new available</a></li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/15/join-the-new-rucus-mailing-list-if-you-want-to-look-at-ways-to-end-spit/">RUCUS mailing list &amp; <span class="caps">BOF</span></a></li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/11/end-to-end-voip-security-using-dtls-srtp-a-new-proposal/">End-to-end VoIP security using <span class="caps">DTLS</span>-SRTP</a></li>
		<li>Also a whole bunch on <span class="caps">SIP </span>Identity</li>
		<li><a href="http://blogs.voxeo.com/speakingofstandards/2008/02/12/sip-torture-tests-for-ipv6-now-out-in-rfc-5118/">SIP Torture Tests for IPv6 now out in <span class="caps">RFC 5118</span></a></li>
		<li><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcmarkup?doc=draft-york-spit-similarity-scenarios">SIP Usage Scenarios Similar to <span class="caps">SPIT</span></a></li>
		<li><a href="http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-niccolini-speermint-voipthreats-03.txt">SPEERMINT Security BCPs</a></li>
		<li><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcmarkup?doc=draft-kaplan-sip-baiting-attack">SIP Identity Baiting Attack</a></li>
		<li><a href="http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rosenberg-sip-rfc4474-concerns-00.txt">Concerns around Applicability of <span class="caps">RFC 4474</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/101/488311/30/30/threaded">VoIP Hopper 0.9.9 released</a> (<a href="http://voiphopper.sourceforge.net/">site</a> ) – Thanks to Frank Leonhardt for the info.</li>
		<li>VoIP News: <a href="http://www.voip-news.com/feature/is-someone-listening-022208/">Is Someone Listening to Your VoIP Calls?</a> (linked to from <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=3294">ZDNet</a> )</li>
		<li>ZDNet: <a href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=895">Cracking <span class="caps">GSM</span></a></li>
		<li>TMCnet- <a href="http://internetcommunications.tmcnet.com/topics/sip/articles/21394-ocs-exposed-practicing-safe-ocs.htm">Practicing Safe <span class="caps">OCS</span></a></li>
		<li>TMCnet- <a href="http://sip.tmcnet.com/topics/sip-and-open-standards/articles/21397-security-attack-the-day.htm">Security Attack of the Day</a> (Tom Cross starts blogging for TMCnet)</li>
		<li>Speaking of Tom, <a href="http://sip.tmcnet.com/topics/featured-articles/articles/21137-techtionarycom-releases-sip-security-checklist.htm">Techtionary.com Releases <span class="caps">SIP </span>Security Checklist</a></li>
	<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/21/siptap-author-forms-voip-security-company/">SIPTap Author forms VoIP Security Company</a> (by Craig Bowser!)</li>
		<li>Voice of <span class="caps">VOIPSA</span>: <a href="http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/02/21/underpowered-hardware/">Underpowered Hardware</a></li>
	<li><a href="http://www.projectspider.org/">Project Spider</a> – about <span class="caps">SPIT</span></li>
	<li><span class="caps">CBC</span>: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/12/bell.html?ref=rss">Bell recovers stolen data on 3.4 million customers</a></li>
<li>Comment (email) from Larry Farmer</li>
		<li>Comment (email) from Shlomo Dubrowin</li>
		<li>Comment (email) about <span class="caps">SE </span>#23</li>
<li>Review of the last week's traffic on the <a href="http://www.voipsa.org/VOIPSEC/">VOIPSEC </a>public mailing list&nbsp; </li>
<li>Wrap-up of the show </li>
<li>40:01 - End of show&nbsp; </li></ul> <p>Comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome either as replies to this post&nbsp; or via e-mail to <a href="mailto:blueboxpodcast@gmail.com">blueboxpodcast@gmail.com</a>.&nbsp; Audio comments sent as attached MP3 files are definitely welcome and will be played in future shows.&nbsp; You may also call the listener comment line at either +1-415-830-5439 or via SIP to '<a href="sip:bluebox@voipuser.org">bluebox@voipuser.org</a>' to leave a comment there.&nbsp; </p> <p>Thank you for listening and please do let us know what you think of the show. </p></div>

<p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/BlueBox?a=GdoBf2"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/BlueBox?i=GdoBf2" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlueBox/~4/280262754" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:56:50 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/voip security news">voip security news</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/news">news</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/listener comment line">listener comment line</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/comments">comments</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/listener comments">listener comments</category>
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      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cisco">cisco</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/phone">phone</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/podcast">podcast</category>
      <source url="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlueBox/~3/280262754/blue-box-78-cis.html">Blue Box #78: Cisco IP phone vulnerabilties, WiFi handset insecurity, IETF security-related news, VoIP security news, listener comments and more</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Got Entropy ?]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/e241bfde32ce971a3341a22fcb76c27d</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/e241bfde32ce971a3341a22fcb76c27d</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[So I have been planning a series of podcasts on Cryptographic Controls. In the process of this planning, I fell into one of the classic traps that crypto-geeks fall into: obsessing about random number...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So I have been planning a series of podcasts on Cryptographic Controls. In the process of this planning, I fell into one of the classic traps that crypto-geeks fall into: obsessing about random number  generators (RNGs).</p>
<p><em>(FYI, for the impatient, <a href="http://gotentropy.artofinfosec.com/" >click here</a>.)<br />
</em></p>
<p>There are two ways to generate random numbers on computers: (1) use a software program called a Pseudorandom Number Generator (PRNG) or (2) use a hardware random number generator. A Pseudorandom Number Generator uses a seed value to generate a sequence of numbers that appear random. The problem is that the same seed generates the same random sequence. The hardware based RNG observes and samples some physical phenomenon which is random, such as cosmic rays, RF noise, etc. (aka Entropy).</p>
<p>RNGs are important in Information Security because they are used to generate encryption keys, salts, etc. Historically, attacking RNGs has proven effective, such as the defeat of <a href="http://community.webreview.com/windows/184409807" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://community.webreview.com/windows/184409807');">Netscape&#8217;s HTTPS sessions</a>.</p>
<p>Most operating systems utilize a hybrid approach, implementing a PseudoRandom Number Generator that has a seed that is regularly updated through the collection of random hardware events. This process is called Entropy Collection or Entropy Harvesting. <strong>For most applications, this approach should be completely sufficient.</strong> However, one of the key assumptions is that the operating system has been up and running long enough for the seed value itself to become hard to predict through the collection of Entropy. Also, many of the Entropy collecting events come from properties of hardware devices, such as the minor variations in hard drive rate of rotation. As such, there are a few circumstances where the OS RNG may not be good enough for strong cryptographic key generation:</p>
<ul>
<li>Live Boot CD ( The start state of the RNG may be predictable. )</li>
<li>Virtualized Hosts ( OS may be dependent on simulated events for randomness. )</li>
</ul>
<p>( Given the exploding popularity of virtualization, this is an area worthy of research. Stay tuned. )</p>
<p><strong>Design of the Got Entropy Service</strong></p>
<p>Many RNGs (such as the one included in Linux, as well as OpenSSL&#8217;s) allow the addition of entropy from outside sources. So I started looking to Entropy sources I could use to bolster the RNGs on my virtual hosts (and other uses&#8230;). While I was looking into this, it occurred to me that I had an unused TV tuner card, a PVR-350.</p>
<p>When a TV is tuned to a channel with no local station, the &#8217;snow&#8217; on the screen is RF noise (the same as the static between stations on AM radios). But, for reasons beyond our scope, you never use a direct physical observation as the RNG. You have to &#8216;de-skew and whiten&#8217; the data prior to sampling it. Here is the process that I use:</p>
<ol>
<li>Collect about 3 minutes of video ( about 130 MB data ).</li>
<li>Using a random key and IV, encrypt the data ( using openssl &amp; AES-128-CBC ).</li>
<li>Discard the first 32k of the file.</li>
<li>Use each of the following 32k blocks as samples.</li>
<li>Compress each sample with SHA-256.</li>
<li>Discard the last block.</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Steps 2 and 3 remove any patterns, such as MPEG file formatting, from the data.</li>
<li>Steps 4 and 5 generate a 32-byte random value ( 1024 to 1 compression in the hash ).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Check it out at <a href="http://gotentropy.artofinfosec.com" >http://gotentropy.artofinfosec.com</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Can an Attacker Broadcast a Signal to Undermine This?</strong></p>
<p>Such an attacker could not remove RF noise from the received signal. Our eyes and brains are good at filtering out the noise in the TV video, but there is a lot of it. Part of the noise comes from the atmospheric background RF, but there are also flaws (noise) in the tuner&#8217;s radio and analog-to-digital capture circuitry.</p>
<p>I think this is a pretty strong RNG, and I have provided an interface for pulling just the values.</p>
<p>Also, I have written a script ( <a href="http://gotentropy.artofinfosec.com/getEntropy.sh" >getEntropy.sh</a> ) that will pull Entropy from the service and seed it into /dev/random on Linux.</p>
<p><strong>Results from ENT</strong></p>
<p>Here are results, from a sample run of the Got Entropy, analyzed by  <a href="http://www.fourmilab.ch/random/" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://www.fourmilab.ch/random/');">ENT</a> ( A Pseudorandom Number Sequence Test Program provided by John Walker of www.fourmilab.ch - Thanks, John! ).</p>
<ul>
<li>Entropy = 7.999987 bits per byte</li>
<li>Optimum compression would reduce the size of this 13366112 byte file by 0 percent.</li>
<li>Chi square distribution for 13366112 samples is 233.85, and randomly would exceed this value 82.48 percent of the time.</li>
<li>Arithmetic mean value of data bytes is 127.4767 (127.5 = random).</li>
<li>Monte Carlo value for Pi is 3.143054786 (error = 0.05 percent).</li>
<li>Serial correlation coefficient is -0.000078 (totally uncorrelated = 0.0).</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Resources for the Curious&#8230;</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudorandom_number_generator" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudorandom_number_generator');">Wikipedia - Pseudo-random Number Generator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator');">Wikipedia - Hardware Random Number Generator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/rng/index.html" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/ST/toolkit/rng/index.html');">NIST - Random Numbers Page</a></li>
<li><a href="http://community.webreview.com/windows/184409807" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://community.webreview.com/windows/184409807');">Netscape RNG Attack</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.vanheusden.com/ved/" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outbound/article/http://www.vanheusden.com/ved/');">van Heusden Video Rand</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Cheers, Erik</p>
<p><a href="http://artofinfosec.com" >Art of Information Security</a> would <a href="http://artofinfosec.com/feedback/" >love your feedback</a> !</p>
<p><a href="http://artofinfosec.com/?p=53" >Got Entropy ?</a></p>
<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/artofinfosec/~4/262366868" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:55:47 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/entropy">entropy</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/random">random</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/32-byte random">32-byte random</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/byte">byte</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/hardware random">hardware random</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/entropy sources">entropy sources</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/sequence">sequence</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/random sequence">random sequence</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/pull entropy">pull entropy</category>
      <source url="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/artofinfosec/~3/262366868/">Got Entropy ?</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Four stolen laptops at the Eastern School District]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/e1598ac8c7e2c26266aaf0ed0209fba7</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/e1598ac8c7e2c26266aaf0ed0209fba7</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: Security Breach

Date Reported
2/21/08

Organization
Eastern School District (St. John's, Newfoundland, CA

Contractor/Consultant/Branch
None

Victims
Students

Number Affected
28,000...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[Technorati Tag: <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/security+breach" rel="tag">Security Breach</a><br><br>
<img src="http://breachblog.com/images/95781-88451/easternsd.jpg" align="right" height="90" width="199"><font size="2"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Date Reported: </span><br>2/21/08<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Organization: </span><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.esdnl.ca/">Eastern School District (St. John's, Newfoundland, CA)</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contractor/Consultant/Branch:</span><br>None<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victims:</span><br>Students<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number Affected:</span><br>~28,000<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Types of Data:</span><br>Names, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.health.gov.nl.ca/mcp/html/mcp.htm">Medical Care Plan (MCP) numbers</a>, addresses, grade levels, phone numbers, and names of parents/guardians.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Breach Description:</span><br>Four laptop computers were stolen from the Eastern School District Atlantic Place offices during a break-in that was discovered on February 17th, 2008.&nbsp; One of the stolen laptops contained personal information belonging to students bussing to and from schools in the district.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference URL:</span><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.esdnl.ca/pdf/pdf1203612349820.pdf">Eastern School District Media Release</a> <br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/02/21/student-breach.html">CBC News online story</a> <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Report Credit:</span><br>Mary Tucker, Eastern School District<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Response:</span><br>From the online sources cited above:<br><br>On Sunday, February 17, 2008 it was discovered that four laptop computers were stolen from the Eastern School District’s Atlantic Place offices. <br><br>The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary was contacted immediately and they are currently investigating this incident as a Break, Entry and Theft.<br><br>As part of the District’s internal investigation, it was discovered that one of the stolen computers contains an electronic database of bussing information regarding approximately 28,000 students.<br><br>This information includes student names, MCP numbers, addresses, grade levels, phone numbers and names of parents/guardians.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Is all of this information needed in order to track kids on busses?&nbsp; I suppose most of it is in case of emergency.&nbsp; Not a good idea to store it on an unencrypted laptop though, eh?</span><br><br>The stolen computers are password protected, thus limiting access to information. Additionally, the Eastern School District has been advised by the MCP Commission that access to individual medical records is not at risk.<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] Don't be fooled into thinking that the password is going to stop anyone except complete novices or the unmotivated.</span><br><br>"We are very concerned about this theft and possible breach of private information," says Darrin Pike, CEO/Director of Education, Eastern School District. "We have notified all authorities and school administrators and have also taken immediate action with our landlord at Atlantic Place to strengthen our physical security measures."<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] AND encrypt confidential information, AND prohibit the storage of confidential information on mobile devices whenever possible, AND evaluate our internal information security controls, AND…</span><br><br>"We are very concerned," chief executive officer Darrin Pike. "Obviously it's not a good thing, it's not something we want to minimize."<br><br>"From what the RNC tells us, [thieves] tend to reformat the hard drives and resell them," Pike said in an interview.<br><br>"They're not interested in the data in most cases. They're just interested in the box."<br><span style="font-style: italic;">[Evan] I think that this logic is becoming more and more dangerous.</span><br><br>The District will now begin the process of notifying parents which primarily affects 56 schools in the Avalon East region and one school in the Avalon West region.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Commentary:</span><br>A stolen laptop containing personal information is nothing really new.&nbsp; What is new is the fact that this information belonged to children.<br><br>Keep sensitive data off laptops and other mobile devices.&nbsp; IF it must be written to and/or stored on mobile devices, institute additional controls to protect the data against the physical theft of the device!&nbsp; The fact that the district is going to "strengthen our physical security measures" is good, but it is far from addressing the root of the problem. <br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">Past Breaches:</span><br>Unknown</font><br><br>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/district">district</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/eastern school district">eastern school district</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/school">school</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/information">information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/personal information">personal information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/confidential information">confidential information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/encrypt confidential information">encrypt confidential information</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/computers">computers</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/laptop computers">laptop computers</category>
      <source url="http://breachblog.com/2008/02/21/easternsd.aspx">Four stolen laptops at the Eastern School District</source>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Changing the SSL cipher order in Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/8dcae041db8c41664d643027b8c6437d</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/8dcae041db8c41664d643027b8c6437d</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[Recently, the question of using AES for SSL has come up in the newsgroups and at some conferences. When IE makes an HTTPS connection to a web server, it offers a list of cipher supported cipher...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Recently, the question of using AES for SSL has come up in the newsgroups and at some conferences. When IE makes an HTTPS connection to a web server, it offers a list of cipher supported cipher suites. The server then selects the first one from the list that it can match. The default order that IE follows is this:</p> <blockquote> <p>TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P256<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P384<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P521<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P256<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P384<br>TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P521<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P256<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P384<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P521<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P256<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P384<br>TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P521<br>TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5<br>SSL_CK_RC4_128_WITH_MD5<br>SSL_CK_DES_192_EDE3_CBC_WITH_MD5<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5<br>TLS_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA</p></blockquote> <p>When you study the list, you'll see that IE presents the algorithms in decreasing order of strength, but places the shorter bit-lengths first. Why? If longer bit lengths are more secure, shouldn't they be listed first?</p> <p>Remember, encryption is the thing that buys you time against <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/community/columns/security/essays/10imlaws.mspx?mfr=true" target="_blank">Immutable Law #3</a>. But performing encryption itself takes time. So when choosing an algorithm and a bit length, one important consideration is to ask yourself this question: "How long do I need for my secrets to remain secret?"</p> <p>We configure IE to use shorter bit lengths -- but never shorter than 128 bits, except for the last two that use no encryption -- because it gives you better performance than the longer bit lengths. In almost all cases, a 128-bit key is more than sufficient to protect the information you're exchanging over HTTPS.</p> <p>However, if you require something longer, and want to change the default, you can. Here's how.</p> <ol> <li>Open your group policy editor by entering <strong>gpedit.msc</strong> at a command prompt.</li> <li>Choose <strong>Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Network | SSL Configuration Settings</strong>.</li> <li>There's only one item here: <strong>SSL Cipher Suite Order</strong>. Open it.</li> <li>Select <strong>Enabled</strong>.</li> <li>Now here's where you need to tread carefully. You'll see that the list is the same as above, but rather than formatted nicely with carriage returns, they're simply separated with commas. The first item in the list is:<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA</strong><br>And the second item is:<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <strong>TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA</strong><br>Cursor your way through the list. Change that first <strong>128</strong> to <strong>256</strong>. Then cursor forward a bit more and change the <strong>256</strong> to <strong>128</strong>.</li> <li>Feel free to change other orders, too, but keep your changes within algorithm types.</li> <li><strong>OK</strong> your way out, close the group policy editor, and reboot.</li></ol> <p>Most of you probably won't need to do this -- I haven't. But for those who have regulatory requirements for using 256-bit AES, follow these steps and you'll be compliant.</p><img src="http://blogs.technet.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2354495" width="1" height="1">]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2007 02:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/sha">sha</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/null sha">null sha</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cbc sha p384">cbc sha p384</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cbc sha">cbc sha</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cbc sha p521">cbc sha p521</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/shorter bit lengths">shorter bit lengths</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/bit lengths">bit lengths</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/cbc sha p256">cbc sha p256</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/256-bit aes">256-bit aes</category>
      <source url="http://blogs.technet.com/steriley/archive/2007/11/06/changing-the-ssl-cipher-order-in-internet-explorer-7-on-windows-vista.aspx">Changing the SSL cipher order in Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista</source>
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      <title><![CDATA[Encryption Presentation - .NET Developers Group - NYC Microsoft Offices - June 21st]]></title>
      <link>http://securityratty.com/article/94656caed39af9829462fd075056cb72</link>
      <guid>http://securityratty.com/article/94656caed39af9829462fd075056cb72</guid>
      <description><![CDATA[For those of you in NYC or the surrounding area, I will be doing a presentation on encryption at the .NET Developers Group on Thursday, June 21, 2007 . Its a similar presentation to the one Ive done...]]></description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">For those of you in NYC or the surrounding area, I will be doing a presentation on encryption at the <A href="http://www.nycdotnetdev.com/EventDetail.aspx?f=list&amp;event=6/21/2007"><FONT color=#800080>.NET Developers Group on Thursday, June 21, 2007</FONT></A>. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN>It&#8217;s a similar presentation to the one I&#8217;ve done for a number of user groups in the Southeast.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>I made this presentation as a response to the flood of online code snippets for encrypting data.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>While they are all fairly easy to use, they don&#8217;t explain what they do and often developers think their data is more secure than it actually is.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">During the presentation, we&#8217;ll quickly cover some high level encryption basics (asymmetric, symmetric, and one way hashes), but will spend most of our time dealing with symmetric encryption; namely how and why you configure a symmetric algorithm to encrypt the data (ECB vs. CBC).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>By the end of the session, you&#8217;ll finally understand what an initialization vector (IV) is used for and the proper way to create and store it.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Don&#8217;t worry if you don&#8217;t understand what half of that meant.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN>I&#8217;ll be sure to explain everything as we go along.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">You can also find a fair amount of the content from the presentation <A href="http://marvets.com/blog/archive/2005/06/10/193.aspx">here</A> in an article I wrote a while back.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN>&nbsp;</P><img src ="http://marvets.com/blog/aggbug/2010.aspx" width = "1" height = "1" />]]></content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2007 02:46:00 +0000</pubDate>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/encryption">encryption</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/presentation">presentation</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/level encryption basics">level encryption basics</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/similar presentation">similar presentation</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/net developers">net developers</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/developers">developers</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/symmetric">symmetric</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/symmetric algorithm">symmetric algorithm</category>
      <category domain="http://securityratty.com/tag/symmetric encryption">symmetric encryption</category>
      <source url="http://marvets.com/blog/archive/2007/04/02/2010.aspx">Encryption Presentation - .NET Developers Group - NYC Microsoft Offices - June 21st</source>
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