July 31, 2005
Schneier covers Cisco security saga
Bruce Schneier has almost a blow by blow account of the Cisco IOS security issue that's surfaced of late.
The researcher, Michael Lynn, was going to present findings regarding the security vulnerability at the recent BlackHat conference last week - however Cisco and even his own employer ISS went to great lengths to prevent him from doing so.
In the end - after resigning from ISS, Lynn went ahead and presented his research, in the name of full disclosure. The presentation is currently available from his website and linked in Schneier's post above.
In my opinion full disclosure is really important for secure systems. In the past some people have claimed that full disclosure actually harms security as the general public is given access to information that could be used in a malicious way.
Personally, I find this view to be invalid, as it assumes those who would use this information in a malicious way don't have access to the information already. In the pedantic world of security we're better off assuming the "bad" guys already know.
Also, as we've seen in the past, vendors often heed quicker to fix things when vulnerabilities are made public, rather than treat them as a marketing issue - which reminds me of the scene in Fight Club, where Edward Norton is explaining to a fellow passenger on a plane what his job entails when investigating accidents in the auto industry, that could potentially be caused due to manufacturing fault. :)
July 26, 2005
Debconf5 in Helsinki
Last week in Helsinki, Debconf5 also took place. Debconf is an annual gathering of Debian developers.
This year, all of the talks & presentations have been recorded and are available online!
ApacheCON Europe 2005
Last week I and many other Apache developers & were in Stuttgart for ApacheCON Europe 2005. It was a great event, and I learnt a lot from meeting many different people and hearing about how they're using various Apache and open source projects in their products.
The last ApacheCON in Europe was London 2000, which was also an amazing event, and the first ApacheCON I attended. Back then, I remember meeting many people who have become great friends and work colleagues since, and I can already see the same happening from this event.
ApacheCON and such related open conferences are really great for the open source and free software community, as it really brings together the people which is what it's all about. It also brings a lot of fresh energy and reinvestment into the projects when people see the excitement of others and hear about how other people are using them.
Looking forward to seeing the projects go from strength to strength!
July 13, 2005
More Crocodiles!
Another photo taken while visiting the Crocodile Farm at Johnstone River. Even though the Crocodile I'm holding above was small (around 60cm) boy it was strong. I was struggling to hold it straight, felt like holding a little ferrari ankling to get loose.
July 12, 2005
Audio clips!
During my travels throughout Australia I recorded a few audio clips to put together a simple podcast for anyone interested in what it's like in northern Queenland, etc. Well, turns out that most of the places we visited were too remote to have an internet connection readily available or be within mobile phone service, so I wasn't able to upload them in real time.
So, now after returning back to Frankfurt, here's the first recording, just after arriving arriving in Australia!
July 08, 2005
Crocodiles!
Saltwater Crocodile at Johnstone River Crocodile Farm, near Innesfail, north Queensland! :)
July 07, 2005
July 06, 2005
Great Barrier Reef
Massive Turtle seen while scuba diving at Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef, off the coastline of Cairns, Australia!
July 05, 2005
July 04, 2005
Back from Australia!
After 2 months of some fantastic travels throughout Australia I'm now back in Germany. I had an awesome time back home down under, both at work and on holidays, and are looking forward to the next visit already!
The journey started with my arrival in Adelaide, where I saw my folks for the first time after 18 months which was great. This was followed by a quick trip across to Melbourne to meet up with the rest of my work collegues for a business trip to Queensland.
Then I was back in the Melbourne office again for a few weeks before heading back to Adelaide and Queensland for some more holidays. This time, a flight to Townsville, and ferry ride out to Magentic Island, combined with a drive up to Cairns, Port Douglas, and Cape Tribulation, before heading back to Cairns via the Atherton tablelands, and Daintree forrest.
Above is one of the famed Clown Fish we saw while diving out on the Great Barrier Reef at Michaelman's Cay.
It was an awesome trip, and will I'll remember it forever! Many photos and stories to come! :)