Zero Day Attack

Alex
Charlie Miller spent five years at the National Security Agency where he hacked into foreign computer systems, so hacking the Apple iPhone is cakewalk to him:

Miller’s iPhone offensive showed how anything connected to networks these days can be a target.

He began by connecting his computer to another laptop holding the same software used by the iPhone. Then he typed a command to launch a program that randomly changed data in a file being processed by the software.

The alteration might be as mundane as inserting 58 for F0 in a string of data such as “0F 00 04 F0.” His plan was to constantly launch such random changes, cause the software to crash, then figure out why the substitutions triggered a problem. A software flaw could open a door and let him inside.

“I know I can do it,” Miller, now a cybersecurity consultant, told himself. “I can hack anything.”

After weeks of searching, he found what he was looking for: a “zero day,” a vulnerability in the software that has never been made public and for which there is no known fix.

It's a good thing that Miller actually hacked the iPhone to discover its security flaws so it can be fixed, but "zero day attack" is fast becoming a real nightmare for cyberspace.

The Washington Post has fascinating series of special reports on Zero Day, the first of which is by Robert O'Harrow Jr.: Link


Comments (0)

No more hot models selling t-shirts! I have already purchased too many t-shirts that are a lot less cool when I receive them then they look in the photos that advertise them. Stop hacking my biological tendencies!
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Do you deliver Ana? T-shirts!

Two thoughts not that anyone asked. One I already posted but as usual it came to naught.

1. How about an Ana fan club? Or maybe a blog. Alex would be in real trouble. Could call it Ana Fana since it's a palindrome.

2. My nomination for one of the 10 most beautiful women of the 20th century: Sophia Loren

21th Century: Ana Lilia

Alex - Thanks for the terrific eyeball liberty OM.

Forget #1! http://analilia.net/

(then again there's still a blog opening)
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