Stanisław Lem - Forum

English => Forum in English => Wątek zaczęty przez: Socrates w Marca 16, 2006, 04:09:36 am

Tytuł: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Socrates w Marca 16, 2006, 04:09:36 am
It seems to me that either Terminus has gone gay (which is fine by me) and decided to share with us all his favorite websites (which is also fine) without telling us what we are about to see (which is not fine considering that I'm using a public computer in a crowded chinese internet bar, and overt sexual images are not exactly a very good thing to have by a foreigner in the People's Republic of China (as in, if my reflexes weren't up to par, and I left the picture on my computer, I might have had an enforced journey back to Canada on the very next plane)), or the website's been hacked, which must be the case considering that there is but one reply to each thread, and all from Terminus.  
Interesting to know how this happened.  Anyone with info?
Cheers,
Socrates
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Terminus w Marca 16, 2006, 04:19:16 am
Everyone, I would like to inform that the so called "Terminus." is not the same as "Terminus" (I am dissapointed that Socrates didn't see it).

It is probably some sort of a bot. I didn't know that the bastards can register now. It's sad.
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Socrates w Marca 16, 2006, 04:25:50 am
I have seen it, as the second part of the message above says, except that a little too late - after clicking on the link.  No offence intended, Terminus  :D; I knew as soon as I clicked on the link that the place was hacked.  Just wanted to share my experiance.  After being initially pissed I had a good laugh about it.
Cheers,
Socrates
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Terminus w Marca 16, 2006, 04:32:01 am
However, it still pisses me off how that damned programs did it! (I mean how could a bot register as user !?).
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Socrates w Marca 16, 2006, 04:39:50 am
A new battle has begun...older bots are replaced by new, smarter ones, and the internet is not safe anymore...maybe a re-visit to the "Chatbots" thread is a good idea?  Maybe they have evolved so much so that they can actually say something of worth?
Perhaps is was a human-assisted bot?  A kind of metaphorical cyborg doing damage via adsl connections and such?
Cheers, Socrates  
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Socrates w Marca 16, 2006, 04:42:05 am
Case in Point:  From today's Google News:

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-03-15T131522Z_01_L15508948_RTRIDST_0_TECH-BARCODES-DC.XML
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By Lucas van Grinsven, European Technology Correspondent

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Cheap radio chips that are replacing the ubiquitous barcode are a threat to privacy and susceptible to computer viruses, scientists at a Dutch university said on Wednesday.

Researchers at the Amsterdam's Free University created a radio frequency identity (RFID) chip infected with a virus to prove that RFID systems are vulnerable despite the extremely low memory capacity on the cheap chips.

The problem is that an infected RFID tag, which is read wirelessly when it passes through a scanning gate, can upset the database that processes the information on the chip, says the study by Melanie Rieback, Bruno Crispo and Andrew Tanenbaum.

"Everyone working on RFID technology has tacitly assumed that the mere act of scanning an RFID tag cannot modify back-end software and certainly not in a malicious way. Unfortunately, they are wrong," the scientists said in a paper.

"An RFID tag can be infected with a virus and this virus can infect the back-end database used by the RFID software. From there it can be easily spread to other RFID tags," they said.

As a result, it is possible that criminals or militants could use an infected RFID tag to upset airline baggage handling systems with potentially devastating consequences, they said.

The same technology could also be used to wreak havoc with the databases used by supermarkets.

"This is intended as a wake-up call. We ask the RFID industry to design systems that are secure," Tanenbaum said in a telephone interview.

INTERNET OF THINGS

RFID has been touted as "The Internet of Things," in which anything from shampoo bottles to marathon runners can be tracked using radio tags.

Civil liberty groups say RFID could lead to an unacceptable invasion of privacy and argue that airline ticket information could be used by law enforcement agencies and divorce lawyers.

Metro (MEOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Germany's biggest retailer, said at the CeBIT technology trade show it plans to save 8.5 million euros ($10.1 million) annually by using RFID to track stock from suppliers and at its flagship Future Store in Rheinberg town.

Industries in which tracking goods is crucial such as pharmaceuticals, governments, logistics, airlines and manufacturing already use RFID technology.

A recent study by ABI Research found that 10 drug products are expected to have RFID tags on a large scale this year.

The cost of making an RFID tag is about 14 euro cents today and needs to fall, Metro's head of technology Gerd Wolfram said.

But Ian Furlong, manager of Intel's Solution Services division for Central Europe, said at CeBIT that the price of RFID tags was "rapidly falling toward the 5 euro cent mark."

Andrea Huber, managing director of Informationsforum RFID, a German group raising public awareness about the technology, said most companies were waiting for the price of tags to fall to 1 euro cent before they start widespread use.
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Cheers, Socrates
Tytuł: Re: The so-called "Terminus."
Wiadomość wysłana przez: Deckert w Marca 16, 2006, 09:45:40 am
Our forum was not hacked. The attacker used a standard procedure of registering. That's all.

CU
Deck