Jesper Johansson's Blog : Thinking differently

Web Of Trust: RIP

Jesper's Blog — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:16:00 GMT

It's official. I just received an e-mail from Thawte notifying me that, as of November 16, 2009, the most innovative and useful idea in PKI since its inception, the Web of Trust , will die. Thawte was founded 14 years ago by Mark Shuttleworth. The...(read more)

Microsoft Poland Empowers White People

Jesper's Blog — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:53:00 GMT

In an absolutely astonishing move Microsoft's Polish subsidiary decided to do some photoshopping on its Business Productivity Infrastructure page to tailor it to the Polish market. Here you can see the U.S. original . In one of the least sensitive...(read more)

Warning: The software you are installing does not match your mental model

Jesper's Blog — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:10:00 GMT

This morning I talked to my dad. After a few minutes of polite small talk, I heard the 10 little words I have come to dread: “I had some problems with my computer the other day.” The video card on his laptop had died. The screen was just black...(read more)

Is MS08-067 Wormable?

Jesper's Blog — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:14:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft released an out-of-band security update in bulletin MS08-067 . Looking at the type of vulnerability and the fact that the issue was already being exploited in the wild at the time, this was a good decision. If you have...(read more)

Anatomy of a Hack 2008

Jesper's Blog — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:46:00 GMT

A few years ago I delivered a very popular presentation I called "Anatomy of a Hack." Well, actually, I called it "How to Get Your Network Hacked in 10 Easy Steps" but the marketing department at my previous employer thought that title...(read more)

How Not To Build a Highly Available Web Site

Jesper's Blog — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:45:00 GMT

Here's what I just got when I went to http://www.technetmagazine.com : Here's the kicker: it's not TechNet Magazine that is down, nor even TechNet. It is Microsoft Live Sign-in, nee Passport. To get to TechNet it attempts to sign you in to...(read more)

Thoughts on Security by Obscurity

Jesper's Blog — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:46:00 GMT

This has not really been that normal a week for me, but at least another article made it into print. The June 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine is headlined by an article I wrote with my friend Roger Grimes, Security Adviser for Infoworld , on Security by...(read more)

Quantum Security

Jesper's Blog — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:37:00 GMT

The May 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine is out. It has an article in it that I have been wanting to write for a long time, called Quantum Security . In it I posit the argument that there are some fundamental laws of security, similar to the laws of physics...(read more)

Help us Nellie! Please, help us!

Jesper's Blog — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Apple clearly has a de-facto monopoly in the portable music player market, with upward of 70% of that market. It is busily working on monopolies in the music software and downloads markets and is behaving monopolistically in the PC market as well. Some...(read more)

Help us Neelie! Please, help us!

Jesper's Blog — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:28:00 GMT

Theft-proof biometrics

Jesper's Blog — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:56:00 GMT

At last, there is a biometric authentication technique that cannot be stolen. Or, well, it can, but at least it won't work any longer. Drs. Philip M. Rodwell and Steven M. Furnell recently published "A non-intrusive biometric authentication mechanism...(read more)