December InfoSec Links

NSA and Government
Shame on Feinstein: There is a cost to surveillance.
http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2013/12/shame_on_feinstein_co.php?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer54e85&utm_medium=twitter
RSA took $10mil to backdoor their crypto libraries.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-security-rsa-idUSBRE9BJ1C220131220
EFF reviews how the CFAA ruined lives and slowed innovation out of fear:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/2013-review-tragedy-brings-cfaa-spotlight
Getting the ungettable: The NSA's Tailored Access Operations Unit
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-nsa-uses-powerful-toolbox-in-effort-to-spy-on-global-networks-a-940969-2.html
Backdoors R Us: NSA's backdoor catalog
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/catalog-reveals-nsa-has-back-doors-for-numerous-devices-a-940994.html
Practical Tamper-evident Techniques
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/12/better-data-security-nail-polish/


Security and Cool Exploits
Via Chavaukin: 10 things Security should stop doing in 2014
http://blog.anitian.com/2014-stop-doing/
Acoustic cracking of PGP keys.  Fantasy attack made real:
http://www.cs.tau.ac.il/~tromer/acoustic/
SD Card Hacking
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3554

Target Breach Madness
International cards and those associated with a zip code fetch a premium:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/12/non-us-cards-used-at-target-fetch-premium/
Putting a face on the Target breach:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/12/whos-selling-credit-cards-from-target/
Target's faster checkout system explained:
http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-new-instantaneous-payment-system-being-used-at-Target
All PINs in the world leaked! (Tongue in Cheek)
http://pastebin.com/2qbRKh3R

Also hilarious: What happens when the common folk get a glimpse at the code behind:
https://twitter.com/neave/status/415533230579019777/photo/1

Bench Power Supply Complete!

Thanks to SYN Shop, the Las Vegas Hackerspace, I completed a bench top power supply.  I took a class that helped me build one from a kit.  The kit itself produced a 5v out and a configurable out that I ended up making 8.5 for Arduino.

One of the challenges of the class was to take that kit and enhance it.  I removed the resistor on the configurable channel and replaced it with a 10K Ohm potentiometer from Radio Shack.  This allows me to configure it for between 2 and 14.5 volts!

Some time later, I got tired of the alligator clips I used to connect to the two rails.  I replaced them with a barrel connector and switch.  My initial schematic was woefully flawed, however.  If I had completed it, I would have shorted the rails to ground through the switch, blown the fuse, and possibly smoked the voltage regulators.  Yeesh.

Thanks again to SYN Shop and Javid, the teacher who's kit made this possible.