17 Jul 2009
Clever attack exploits fully-patched Linux kernel

This isn't a bug in the Linux kernel - it's a bug in GCC, specifically in the optimization routines. Turn that optimization off, recompile, no bug.

A recently published attack exploiting newer versions of the Linux kernel is getting plenty of notice because it works even when security enhancements are running and the bug is virtually impossible to detect in source code reviews.

(link) [The Register]

21:11 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Amazon Pulls Purchased E-Book Copies of 1984 and Animal Farm

Amazon must have been acquired by the Ministry of Truth ...

In a story just dripping with irony, Amazon Kindle owners awoke this morning to discover that 1984 and Animal Farm had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for, and thought they owned. Apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by George Orwell from people's Kindles and credited their accounts for the price. Amazon customer service may or may not have responded to queries by stating, "We've always been at war with Eastasia."

(link) [Slashdot]

21:09 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link