Google offers $1 million reward to hackers who exploit Chrome

There's security and then there's security.

Google has pledged cash prizes totaling $1 million to people who successfully hack its Chrome browser at next week's CanSecWest security conference.

Google will reward winning contestants with prizes of $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 depending on the severity of the exploits they demonstrate on Windows 7 machines running the browser. Members of the company's security team announced the Pwnium contest on their blog on Monday. There is no splitting of winnings, and prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis until the $1 million threshold is reached.

...At last year's competition, Internet Explorer and Safari were both toppled but no one even attempted an exploit against Chrome (despite Google offering an additional $20,000 beyond the $15,000 provided by contest organizer Tipping Point).

Chrome is currently the only browser eligible for Pwn2Own never to be brought down. One reason repeatedly cited by contestants for its lack of attention is the difficulty of bypassing Google's security sandbox.

If you're still surfing with Internet Explorer, I would recommend giving Chrome a try. It's fast, secure and free. You can download it here.


Hat tip: @KimZetter.

Holy crap: Asus demos smartphone that transforms into tablet, notebook

This, in my humble opinion, is the future of personal computing platforms. Tiny, powerful, transportable, and usable in the context of multiple form factors.

Summary: Asus showed up at Mobile World Congress with the Padfone, its latest head-scratching device that lets you take a phone and turn it into a tablet and a notebook...

...At its most basic level, the Padfone is a candy bar Android smartphone with high-end, though hardly revolutionary, specs. You'll find a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, a Qualcomm dual-core processor, messaging and e-mail, Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, an 8-megapixel camera, a second VGA shooter around front, and a media player...

...The Padfone's story, however, isn't about what the phone can do, but about what you can do with the phone. Building where Motorola's laptop dock left off, the Padfone can slide into the Asus Padstation to become a 10.1-inch tablet...

...Everything that you can do on the phone, from browsing the Web, to playing media, to using apps, you now can do in tablet form. You can even make calls using the integrated speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset (you'd look pretty silly carrying a tablet next to your ear)...

...But the Padfone doesn't stop there. You can also turn the tablet into a small notebook by attaching the Asus Station Dock keyboard. Like with the Transfomer Prime, the keyboard will snap onto the bottom of the tablet for your typing needs...

CNet Asia's Aloysius Low has a more comprehensive first look.

I seriously think this is the future of personal computing.

Way cool: new smartphone has built-in projector, throws 50" display

Daddy like:

The concept is simple: take a full-powered 4-inch Galaxy smartphone and add a 15-Lumens LED-powered, nHD projector. The result is a yellow and black phone that at first glance looks like a slightly fatter version (it’s 12.5mm thick and weighs 145.3 grams) of any of today’s top 3G phones.

Samsung didn’t skimp much to squeeze in the projector or, potentially, keep the price down. The Beam has a 5 MP camera (a tad less than the 8 MP we’re now used to), 8 GB of storage (upgradeable via micro-SD card to 32 GB) and 768 MB of RAM. It’s also running Android 2.3. The 480×800 screen looked clear and bright, but those specs and the screen are not the real story here. It’s reasonable to assume that the only reason someone would buy the Galaxy Beam is if you desperately wanted a dual phone/projector.

In operation, the Galaxy beam appeared flawless. It’ll play virtually anything you run on the small screen, and had no trouble shining a roughly 3-ft image onto an 8- or 9-ft ceiling. Images in a fully darkened room were very sharp and bright, but since it relies on the smartphone speakers for sound, you’ll want to hook up external speakers. Samsung execs told us that they’re working on a variety of docks and accessories.

The phone also worked well in presentation mode. Samsung execs projected a presentation on a nearby screen and changed slides by touching the Galaxy Beam’s screen.

The Telegraph asserts that the Beam "can show films and pictures at up to 50"."

You can easily envision salespeople clamoring for this type of device.


Hat tip: BadBlue.com.

Great news: Children with DNA from three parents only a few years away

For a society with fewer moral boundaries by the day, this report seems apropos:

Researchers from Newcastle University have been funded more than $9.3 million by the Wellcome Trust to begin experimenting with a method that could lead to children having DNA from three people to eliminate some genetic disorders.

According to The Telegraph, the technique involves removing the nucleus from a donor cell and inserting a fertilized nucleus from the hopeful couple or the unfertilized nucleus of the mother for fertilization later. This effort, researchers believe, could help couples where the mother has known genetic disorders carried on her mitochondrial DNA — DNA found in the mitochondria of a cell.

Mitochondrial DNA, which composes 0.2 percent of a human‘s DNA and doesn’t influence traits like physical appearance, is passed down from mother to offspring. But, there are several genetic disorders, such as muscular dystrophy and ataxia, which are associated with this type DNA.

...Sir Mark Walport, head of the Wellcome Trust, said the genetic impact of inheriting a third person’s mitochondrial DNA would be as minimal as changing the batteries in a camera...

...But, the research is not without its opposition. The Telegraph reports the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children as calling it “macabre and unethical” and cited fears of other “developmental abnormalities”.

While I'm all in favor of the unfettered pursuit of science, the idea of tampering with the creation of human beings seems not only amoral, but potentially dangerous. The phrase "unintended consequences" was invented for situations like this one.


Hat tip: BadBlue.

Infographic: a unique view into the brief history of personal computing

A unique view into the history of computing:

Notice that the scale of the Y-axis is logarithmic.

Things move pretty damn quick in industries where government gets the hell out of the way and lets entrepreneurs do what they do best.

Shhh... no one tell the Democrats.


Via Eponymous Pickle.

Oh, mama - how do I get me one of these?

Because I don't spend quite enough time online.

Lumus, an Israeli company, specialises in what it calls Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology... It's latest product is the PD-18-2, which may look to the untrained eye like a cumbersome pair of sunglasses.

But inside the lenses of the glasses, the user can see high-quality full colour images.

...Products like this are already on the market for professional and military use, but where the next-generation PD-18-2 differs is that users can see though the spectacles too, instead of having the images block their vision.

The translucent lenses allow for what the manufacturer calls 'augmented vision', overlaying images or graphics over your usual field of vision.

They are designed for professionals such as pilots, surgeons and soldiers but there are hopes that it can be adapted for the consumer market so people could watch film or TV on the move, or play video games as they walk around.

...the possibility of a move into the consumer market has already brought mixed reactions from technology watchers.

It could be extremely useful as a portable GPS system, but there are concerns that it could be distracting for pedestrians who can often be seen walking round with their heads buried in mobile phones.

What??? This is an awesome innovation!

'Cause when I think of "augmented vision", I can't help but recall those "X-Ray Specs" that were advertised in the comic books of my youth.

Because I'm mature like that.


Hat tip: Drudge Report.

12 Freakiest Electron Microscope Photos

Maybe I ought to increase the zoom on that last one.


Pictures: Boston Globe, Amazing Data, IO9, SI Live, Natural History Museum, Telegraph (UK).

Obama fights a two-front war against the U.S. military

Not only is the president gutting America's military, Ron Paul-style, but he appears to be revealing Top Secret material to the fascists who govern Russia.

Bill Gertz of the Washington Times reports that President Barack Obama has indicated he is prepared to convey information about secret American missile defense technology to Russia:

In the president’s signing statement issued Saturday in passing into law the fiscal 2012 defense authorization bill, Mr. Obama said restrictions aimed at protecting top-secret technical data on U.S. Standard Missile-3 velocity burnout parameters might impinge on his constitutional foreign policy authority.

As first disclosed in this space several weeks ago, U.S. officials are planning to provide Moscow with the SM-3 data, despite reservations from security officials who say that doing so could compromise the effectiveness of the system by allowing Russian weapons technicians to counter the missile. The weapons are considered some of the most effective high-speed interceptors in the U.S. missile defense arsenal.

There are also concerns that Russia could share the secret data with China and rogue states such as Iran and North Korea to help their missile programs defeat U.S. missile defenses.

This news comes on the heels of an announcement today that Obama is slashing America's fighting forces.

The cuts are so dramatic that literally tens of thousands of Soldiers and Marines are slated to be axed.

And where are those "savings" going?

Will they to be used to help address America's gaping deficits?

Of course not. They'll be used to fund more of Obama's public sector union boss buddies, through the Department of Education, the Department of Labor and other bloated bureaucracies.

In short, President Obama's priority is gutting America's national security while bankrupting the country. He continues to grow the size and scope of government bureaucracies, with salaries and benefits that are double those in the private sector.

2012 is coming.

Breaking: Statement on the 2.7 million emails obtained from Stratfor

More than 48 hours after it was rooted, the website of intelligence firm Stratfor Research remains down. In fact, as of this moment, even its temporary server (showing an "Under Maintenance" page) is inaccessible, perhaps due to an ongoing denial-of-service attack.

Via Wikileaks, the following statement describes some of the motives for the compromise.

In the wake of the recent operation by which Stratfor's servers were compromised, much of the media has focused on the fact that some participants in the attack chose to use obtained customer credit card numbers to make donations to charitable causes. Although this aspect of the operation is indeed newsworthy, and, like all things, should be scrutinized and criticized as necessary, the original purpose and ultimate consequence of the operation has been largely ignored.

Stratfor was not breached in order to obtain customer credit card numbers, which the hackers in question could not have expected to be as easily obtainable as they were. Rather, the operation was pursued in order to obtain the 2.7 million e-mails that exist on the firm's servers. This wealth of data includes correspondence with untold thousands of contacts who have spoken to Stratfor's employees off the record over more than a decade. Many of those contacts work for major corporations within the intelligence and military contracting sectors, government agencies, and other institutions for which Anonymous and associated parties have developed an interest since February of 2011, when another hack against the intelligence contractor/security firm HBGary revealed, among many other things, a widespread conspiracy by the Justice Department, Bank of America, and other parties to attack and discredit Wikileaks and other activist groups. Since that time, many of us in the movement have dedicated our lives to investigating this state-corporate alliance against the free information movement. For this and other reasons, operations have been conducted against Booz Allen Hamilton, Unveillance, NATO, and other relevant institutions. The bulk of what we've uncovered thus far may be reviewed at a wiki maintained by my group Project PM, echelon2.org.

Although Stratfor is not necessarily among the parties at fault in the larger movement against transparency and individual liberty, it has long been a "subject of interest" in our necessary investigation. The e-mails obtained before Christmas Day will vastly improve our ability to continue that investigation and thereby bring to light other instances of corruption, crime, and deception on the part of certain powerful actors based in the U.S. and elsewhere. Unlike the various agents of the U.S. Government, the hacking team that obtained this information did not break down the doors of the target, point guns at children, and shoot down any dogs that might have been present; Anonymous does not resort to SWAT tactics, and this is simply one of many attributes that separate the movement from the governments that have sought to end our campaign and imprison our participants. Of course, such points as these will not prevent our movement from being subjected to harsher scrutiny than is given to those governments which are largely forgiven their more intrusive tactics by virtue of their status as de facto holders of power in a world that has long been governed in accordance with the dictate that might makes right.

Incidentally, many of us are more than happy to proceed according to that amoral dictate if we find it to be necessary. And, increasingly, we have found it to be so.

Barrett Brown
Project PM
irc.project-pm.org

Screenshots: Stratfor Research Website Pwnt by Attackers

The website of intelligence firm Stratfor Research appears to have been defaced and then DOSed (suffered a denial-of-service attack) by attackers.

The message traffic (below) -- if accurate -- portrays a defiant IT manager offering a, eh, perhaps unwise challenge.

The Google cache recorded some of the content including shadow files and other sensitive info apparently rooted from Stratfor's servers. I've tactfully redacted some of the more sensitive info.

// OH STRATFOR. IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHAT ALL IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN.
// 'BUT WAIT', YOU ASK. 'IS THIS IT?' 0H N0, WE GOT MORE IN STORE...
// BUT FOR NOW, SOME INSPIRING WORDS OF WISDOM FROM IT MANAGER FRANK GINAC:

"You do realize how preposterous it is to suggest that stratfor simply
shutdown completely for 2 days, right? The plan that you've attached paints a
gloom and doom picture claiming no chance that such a move will succeed. Does
that really seem a rationale conclusion?"

// YOU DONT EVEN KNOW THE EXTENT OF THE GLOOM AND DOOM WE HAVE PLANNED, FRANK


"Attended the TakeDownCon security conference. Focus of the conference was on
wireless and mobile security. No vendors pushing product or service at this
conference. Instead, great presentations by renowned white hat hackers (good
hackers) and security experts. Bottom line is that no mobile platform is
secure, including the Blackberry, but there are best practices that minimize
the risk of their use within the enterprise. We will be incorporating these
best practices in our operation over the coming months."

// INCORPORATING PRACTICES FROM "GOOD WHITE HAT HACKERS"? HOW'D THAT WORK OUT?

"It blew my mind to discover that our email server backups are being stored on
the same physical server. I'm affectionately referring to these little
discoveries as 'Mooney turds'."

// SO SAD WE RM'D YOUR MAIL SERVER AND ALL BACKUPS, FRANK

"Most if not all of us use professional and social networking sites like
LinkedIn and Facebook. All offer levels of privacy ranging from wide open
where everyone can see your profile, activities, and posts to closed allowing
only your immediate connections (or friends) access. As a private intelligence
company we must all take extra care to protect our personal information from
those who would use that information to exploit us personally or
professionally. Although we don't have hard and fast rules on how to set your
privacy settings nor do we restrict use of such sites, I suggest that you
temper your need to share with prudence and consider the business that we are
in. It's also important to check your privacy settings regularly to ensure
that the sites you use haven't changed the meaning or scope of privacy
settings -- we've all heard or read the news regarding this practice at
Facebook. I suggest that you never include any information in your profile --
regardless of privacy setting -- that could be used to compromise your
identity. Specifically, never include: your birth date, your exact street
address (although this information can usually be found on the web quite
easily), your cell phone number, SSN or other government issued ID number
(that should be obvious), or any other information that someone could use to
compromise your identity if your account were compromised."

// EVEN WITH ALL THE BEST SECURITY PRACTICES LEARNED FROM THE "RENOWNED WHITE
// HAT HACKERS" WE STILL MANAGED TO STEAL ALL YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. UMAD?

Interesting, to say the least.

Update: Cryptome:

Subject: Important Announcement from STRATFOR
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:49:58 -0500
From: STRATFOR

Dear Stratfor Member,

We have learned that Stratfor's web site was hacked by an unauthorized party. As a result of this incident the operation of Stratfor's servers and email have been suspended.

We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posed on other web sites. We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained.

Stratfor and I take this incident very seriously. Stratfor's relationship with its members and, in particular, the confidentiality of their subscriber information, are very important to Stratfor and me. We are working closely with law enforcement in their investigation and will assist them with the identification of the individual(s) who are responsible.

Although we are still learning more and the law enforcement investigation is active and ongoing, we wanted to provide you with notice of this incident as quickly as possible. We will keep you updated regarding these matters.

Sincerely,

George Friedman

STRATFOR
221 W. 6th Street, Suite 400
Austin, TX 78701 US

Update II: Police-Led Intelligence:

PLI is far more concerned about the state of the classified information provided by STRATFOR to the US Government... STRATFOR maintains separate classified and unclassified networks and information, and PLI understands that none of the STRATFOR data has been spared the attention of the hacking group. Of course, had STRATFOR placed any classified data on the server which we know has been hacked, they’d be in blatant violation of the laws of the US and of common sense, but it’s against the law why? Because it’s happened before.

If classified data has been compromised in the hack, it will create a larger impact – and response – than if it is unclassified commercial intel. In addition, Sabu, a leading member of the group, boasted on Twitter that... "Over 90,000 Credit cards from LEA, journalists, intelligence community and whitehats leaked and used for over a million dollars in donations..."

The AntiSec/LulzSec crowd, on the AnonymousIRC Twitter channel, has promised that this is the first of many attacks.

The Perfect Christmas Card for 2011 [Papa B]

Papa B:

How true.

More Water-cooler here.

Google Easter Egg Frosts Your Screen

Just in time for the holidays, Google's added an Easter Egg -- an old software colloquialism that means a hidden feature for 'insiders' -- to its search portal.

Google has hidden a special holiday "Easter Egg" that turns your screen into a winter wonderland.

Simply search for "let it snow" on Google and prepare yourself for an HTML5 blizzard--actually, it's more like a few flurries. The cool part comes after a few seconds, when your screen "frosts over" and your cursor can be used to trace messages or doodles like a finger against a window on a chilly day.

Press the Defrost button to remove the snow.


Hat tip: TrendingRight.