Somewhere to write, discuss, reflect, ponder, muse and mull over life, stuff, things and anything that takes my fancy.
I was looking through a backlog of emails and came across this excellent article in the Times by Simon Jenkins.
If you have any thoughts about the messed up Defence policy of this Labour Government then you must read this and the comments that follow at the end.
It will make you want to contribute a comment.
We all think that when you turn your computer off; well it’s really off and all the data stored on the disc is safe and anything in the memory chips (RAM) has gone.
However, according to a group of Princeton University researchers nothing could be further from the truth!
“The root of the problem lies in an unexpected property of today’s DRAM memories. DRAMs are the main memory chips used to store data while the system is running. Virtually everybody, including experts, will tell you that DRAM contents are lost when you turn off the power. But this isn’t so. Our research shows that data in DRAM actually fades out gradually over a period of seconds to minutes, enabling an attacker to read the full contents of memory by cutting power and then rebooting into a malicious operating system.”
“Interestingly, if you cool the DRAM chips, for example by spraying inverted cans of “canned air” dusting spray on them, the chips will retain their contents for much longer. At these temperatures (around -50 °C) you can remove the chips from the computer and let them sit on the table for ten minutes or more, without appreciable loss of data. Cool the chips in liquid nitrogen (-196 °C) and they hold their state for hours at least, without any power. Just put the chips back into a machine and you can read out their contents.”
Why is this suddenly being talked about? I seems that many disk encryption/security products keep vital identity keys in RAM and it now appears that under certain circumstances, it may be possible for hackers to circumvent the security of disk encryption tool.
You can find more details here, as well a PDF if you want to read the full research details.
Amazing how preconceived ideas are suddenly found to be full of holes!
I understand the mans grief, but after listening to some of the reports today, I now only feel sorry for him. Surely he cannot truly believe all that he said today in court as reported.
I think that the Press should just stop reporting all of this complete nonsense, as anymore and the poor guy is going up with absolute no sympathy at all.
I am sure like many people last evening, I watched with interest the first episode of The Last Enemy on BBC One last night.
Total Information Awareness or TIA as it usually referred to in the program is all encompassing intelligence system seen by certain elements in a future UK Government as the ultimate citizen surveillance system.
Overall I thought it a pretty good program, it certainly showed what will be achieved by successive UK governments if we don’t wake up and take notice of how close we have already come to having a TIA in place today.
I thought it showed a good example of real joined-up government thinking, albeit the wrong sort! I’ll look forward to the subsequent episodes as I think it will open up our eyes as to sort of society that we are heading for.
Some of the truths behind The Last Enemy…
Britain has about five million CCTV cameras, one for every 12 people. More cameras than any other country. – The Times, 27 March 2007
“ID cards will link your basic personal information to something uniquely yours – like the pattern of your iris, your face shape or your fingerprint. It will protect your identity from people fraudulently claiming to be you and make it easier for you to prove your identity when you need to – like opening a bank account, moving house, applying for benefits or starting a job.” – Identity & Passport Service
Millions of children as young as 11 are to have their fingerprints taken and stored on a Government database, according to leaked Whitehall plans. The Home Office wants to include children in its biometric passport scheme in three years’ time, and automatically transfer their details and fingerprints to the controversial new national identity database when they turn 16. – This is London, 4 March 2007
21 of the 25 EU Member States have already introduced ID cards. – Home Office
The costs of the identity cards project were revealed to have risen by £840m in the last six months to £5.75 billion. – The Guardian, May 2007
British citizens will be quizzed on up to 200 different pieces of personal information in a 30 minute grilling if they want a passport… Those who fail to convince the bureaucrats they are who they say will be denied a travel document or face a full investigation by anti-fraud experts. There is no formal appeal process. – Daily Mail, 21 March 2007
Advances in surveillance technology could seriously damage individual privacy unless drastic measures are taken to protect personal data, scientists have said. The report by the Royal Academy of Engineering said that travel passes, supermarket loyalty cards and mobile phones could be used to track individuals’ every move. They also predicted that CCTV footage could available for public consumption and that terrorists could hijack the biometric chips in passports and rig them up as a trigger for explosives. – The Times, 27 March 2007
To use that old adage, when the horse has escaped, what’s the point of bolting the door. It appears that Whitehall has finally woken up to encryption!
Sir Gus O’Donnell the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service has ordered all government departments to begin a massive program of encrypting data following an edict banning the removal of all laptops from government offices.
It really does seem to be a bit like bolting the door after horse has gone.
I was looking for some help last week with some Google functions and tripped over this very good Google Cheat Sheet, you can download it as a two page PDF file. It’s even better than Google’s own Cheat Sheet.
The current debate on the siting of US interceptor missiles in former Soviet Bloc satellite countries seems to be heating up with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin becoming more vocal in his objection to the plan.
One wonders what the real reason is that the USA want to have yet more hardware on European soil! To defend against rogue states is the normal answer. So, say if a rogue state did launch a strike with their missiles and the did get shot down, where are these missiles going to fall?
Yes right on to our own heads!!!
Is this another example of the current US administration trying to dominate an area of Europe that it see’s falling back into European hands? I suppose you can buy always yourself into some area’s.
The last ‘cold war’ went on long enough and yes Communism did end – thought I am not sure that the Cold did that by itself, but I wonder if this could be the start of yet another arms race that will serve the same purpose as the last one… nothing.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Tony Blair seems to have a good chance of becoming the next President of the European Council aka the President of Europe. Although supposed to be symbolic, it is rumoured that Blair is looking for a more in-depth role from which he can push forward his various agendas.
It seems that many people are so against this idea they have started an international petition at Go Petition to voice their disapproval. If you also disagree with Tony Blair being given yet another jobs for the boys position add your name to the petition here.
Personally I disagree with any person being given the job, why can’t it be put a vote with the right person getting the job on merit.
As with the No. 10 e-Petition site, there are some very interesting petitions as well as some very odd ones, but some are worth a look and if you agree, add your name to them.
It seems that Nick Clegg is starting to ask some interesting questions about the ever increasing UK surveillance society.
Perhaps here is one politician that is at last starting to question all of the monitoring that seems to entering our daily lives.
See the BBC take on what he said.
Beasley's Place 