– Download MP3 – iTunes Social networks like Facebook are becoming a favorite target of the Internet scam artist. Just this week Twitter users were hit with several phishing attacks. Guest: Beth Jones, Sophos
Future Tense
MPR News Chronicling the social impact of technology
Security
Do we need a parallel Internet to solve our security problems?
Guest: Joseph Menn, author of Fatal System Error
The new book by Financial Times reporter Joseph Menn tells the story of a young, brilliant security researcher who infiltrates a gang of Russian hackers. The hackers launched denial of service attacks against business Web sites, then demanded money to stop the attacks.
In Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who Are Bringing Down the Internet, we learn about a deep connection between mob-controlled Russian hackers and the government.
The Associated Press reports that some in-flight security rules imposed after last week’s attempted terror attack aboard a Northwest Airlines flight have been eased.
At the captain’s discretion, passengers can once again fill their laps with laptops and other gadgetry, as well as books, blankets and other items, during the tail end of a flight.
This news probably sounds like an uncommon bit of common sense to security expert Bruce Schneier.
Nowhere in America are you watched more closely, perhaps, than in a Las Vegas casino.
Guest: Glenn Derene, Popular Mechanics
Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center have developed a prototype device designed to plug into an iPhone, for the purpose of detecting harmful chemicals in the air. The gadget, which will be retrofitted for other smart phones, contains sensors for sniffing ammonia, chloride, hydrazine, formaldehyde and other potentially harmful substances. The long-term goal is to turn cell phone users into a vast threat detection network.
Guest: Jing Li, NASA
123456.
Believe it or not, that was the most common password on a list of 10,000 e-mail addresses recently revealed after a phishing attack.
Guests: Robert Abela, Acunetix; Bruce Schneier, security technologist