Tag: security

Security expert Bruce Schneier: are photographers really a threat?

Nicolai Grossman 2 Comments

Bruce Schneier answers the question:

… Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it’s nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography.

Given that real terrorists, and even wannabe terrorists, don’t seem to photograph anything, why is it such pervasive conventional wisdom that terrorists photograph their targets? Why are our fears so great that we have no choice but to be suspicious of any photographer?

Continue reading at The Guardian

Security holes in Photoshop CS2 & CS3, fixes available

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

Adobe says:

Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Photoshop CS2 and CS3 that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits these potential vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. A malicious BMP, DIB, RLE, or PNG must be opened in Photoshop by the user for an attacker to exploit these potential vulnerabilities. Users are recommended to update their installations with the patches provided below, and Adobe encourages all customers to be cautious before opening any unknown file, regardless of which application they may be using.

Software fixes for both Mac and Windows available from Adobe’s security bulletin, Photoshop CS2 and CS3 updates to address security vulnerabilities.