Sunday, May 22, 2011

I Testify That The Rapture Did Occur

Friends, let me just say that I can attest to the fact that the Rapture did most definitely occur on May 21, 2011.  All those people believing in the one, true supernatural god were taken up to heaven in a bright, warm, white light.  Every single one who believed in the real god.

Unfortunately, that means that those of us who either a) believe in false gods or b) don't believe in any god are left here on Earth to live our lives as best we can.  So that makes, at my best approximation, 7.1 billion people on the planet at around 17:55 on May 21 and 7.1 billion people on the planet at around 18:05 on May 21, 2011 - a total change of, well, a few more due to the net growth that occurred during that 10 minute period.

So, where does that leave people believing in whichever Mythical Sky Fairy they choose to believe in?  In the same position as we Atheists - still here on Earth, waiting until we're all screwed.  Except that the religious still choose to believe their particular creation myth instead of getting on with reality...


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sony: The Caring Tech Company?

In my recent blog post (the 3rd about Sony's insecurity), I mentioned a recent vulnerability that was discovered in their website, close on the heels of over 100 million accounts becoming compromised.  Any sane person would have thought that this, if nothing else, would have had Sony look at their web security worldwide.

Well, as reported at F-Secure, this is simply not the case.

How little does Sony truly care about their own insecurity, and therefore how much less do they seem to care about the security of your personal data that they store?


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Sony and Insecurity Part III

I don't know if you can cast your mind back all the way to, well, my last blog post on May 3rd, 2011 when I reported on Sny's latest (at the time) pair of massive security blunders.  In that I referred to a number of previous security issues that Sony had succumbed to (including one they actively perpetrated on their customers) and wondered if having over 100 million of their customers' accounts hacked would make them take security seriously.

Well, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.  According to PC World, Sony's just taken their PSN login page down for maintenance to fix a recently discovered issue where anyone who has access to the information that they leaked (like a burst balloon) with their 100 million + account hack recently could easily reset the password of any legitimate PSN account holder.  That in itself isn't good, but coming on the heels of one of the biggest technology-related security breaches we've seen, this is not just poor form, but more likely Sony clearly showing how much they actually care about their customers' data.

I'm quite disgusted that Sony cares so little for their customers that they haven't bothered putting more effort in now - especially now - to show that they are taking these issues seriously.  If you also feel strongly about how Sony's treating your confidential information, I suggest contacting their CEO - the email I found for Howard Stringer is: howard_stringer@sonyusa.com


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Sony and Insecurity Part II

Just when Sony thought it was safe to go and apologize for having 77 million PSN user accounts hacked into, they go and have another 24.6 million hacked via it's Sony Online Entertainment network.  So that's over 100 million Sony users who have had personal data stolen.

Sony needs to make SERIOUS changes to the way they do business and the lessons they learn from this should also be lessons that other online service providers learn from.  They are hard lessons to learn, sure, but they are essential lessons to learn.

Anyone using cloud solutions needs to know exactly how secure those services are - issues like this from Sony, a sizeable company, just show how susceptible we all are with these services.


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie

Monday, May 02, 2011

Sony and Insecurity

Back in August 2007, I wrote this article on the Sony Rootkit V2 and then this clarification in early September, 2007.  So, as you can see, Sony is no newcomer to misappropriating client data and mishandling personal data security.

Then they enforce region encoding on Blu-ray discs to ensure *their* important clients (aka movie studios) are protected from the general public.

Now they have had their entire Playstation Newtork hacked into and its personal data stolen - there's no way to know exactly what is stolen in a successful hack as hackers who know their trade know how to remove evidence of where they have been and what they have taken.  Here's a good article on the security implications of this last Sony indiscretion.

How many more times will Sony breach the trust of its client base before people take a stand?  Do people even know how sensitive the data is that they have stored in networks like the PSN and how easy it is to use this for identity theft?  Somehow, I think this will pass silently in the night like most other serious security breaches have because no-one really understands how bad this sort of thing is.  :(


Regards,

The Outspoken Wookie