Homeland Security Warns of Java Vulnerability Used for Ransomeware

ZDNet (and all major outlets) covers the Department of Homeland Security warning about the latest Java vulnerability:

"We are currently unaware of a practical solution to this problem," said the DHS' Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) in a post on its Web site on Thursday evening. "This vulnerability is being attacked in the wild, and is reported to be incorporated into exploit kits. Exploit code for this vulnerability is also publicly available."

The Next Web discusses the popular exploit kits that are already  available and take advantage of the vulnerability, including ransomware - or taking over a users computer and only giving back control after the user pays a ransom. Apparently all of this could have been avoided if Oracle properly fixed a previous vulnerability:

The 0-day code would not have worked if Oracle had properly addressed an old vulnerability, according to Security Explorations, the security firm responsible for identifying most of the latest Java vulnerabilities. Back in late August 2012, the company informed Oracle about the insecure implementation of the Reflection API, dubbed Issue 32, and Oracle released a patch for it in October 2012, but the fix wasn’t a complete one.

image: http://thehackernews.com/

"Smart Guns" to Stop Mass Shootings

A CNN piece by Jeremy Shane advocates using technology to solve our gun violence program. By using gps, awareness technology to determine whether other guns are in the area, and limiting the number of rounds that can be fired, Shane believes we can reduce the damage a mass murderer could do. Improved accountability technology for consumer weapons should be on the table, but any tech solution would allow for some type of circumvention and introduce unintended consequences, such as hacking registered weapons and causing them to fire, misfire, or lock-up without the gun owner's knowledge. Limiting certain types of weapons, limiting the amount of ammunition you can buy at any one time, tracking semi-automatic weapons sales, keeping guns out of the hands of the insane, gun safety training, and my personal favorite - martial arts training for everyone, no to mention taking a serious look at what our kids see on tv and in video games, should each be seriously considered but there is no single solution. From the article:

The root of the problem is that guns are "dumb." Pull the trigger and they discharge bullets mindlessly, regardless of who is doing the aiming or where they are aimed. Guns should "know" not to fire in schools, churches, hospitals or malls. They should sense when they are being aimed at a child, or at a person when no other guns are nearby

image: http://www.photo-dictionary.com/

7 Psychology Principles to Make Your Web Site More Engaging

7 things to keep in mind when you are designing your site. Thanks to Xanthe for sharing!