Security Predictions of 2004

scubacuda writes "Computer World's security predictions for 2004: R.a..n,d,o.,m p,u,,n,c.t,,u_a.t.1..0.n evading spam filters, Internet access filtering, better desktop management, enterprise personal firewall deployment, tools that securely scrub metadata, corporate policies against USB flash drives, Wi-Fi break-ins, Bluetooth abuses, cell phone hacking, centralized control over IM, public utility breakin publicized, government defense against cybercriminals, organized cybercrime, and a shorter time to exploitation."

Wow. They must have crystal balls.

[dorward]

OK... so they predict...

More Of The Same!

Astounding.

Remind you of something [slashdot.org]?.

Re:Nearly impossible?

[jcuervo]

My filter just checked for excessive punctuation.

\w[();\[\]:]\w

Desktop management

[Zog The Undeniable]

My experince since we changed from Windows 3.1 to NT and now 2000 is that the few cases where users screwed up their PCs have been outweighed by the constant demands for an engineer visit to carry out a trivial task using the admin password. And no-one can defrag their hard disks. Ever.

Re:Wow. They must have crystal balls.

[arvindn]

Look at the bright side.

For the first time, slashdot has done a "predictions for 2004" story that doesn't have the word "SCO".

Don't use your email online

[kop]

Stop spam at the source, stupid!

Don't use your email address, period. Other solutions like filters only address part of the problem, I wrote a little Javascript Turing email blocker , which prevents you using email!
No more email means no more spam, spam harvesters use viruses that collect email adresses from the computers of people that know you.
People that don't know how to use bcc spread your adress all over the net. So dont give out your email adress at all. Just send lonely test messages to yourself. mmm, a dictionary attack could still find you..... Stop checking your email!!!
Problem solved.

An ounce of prevention...

Re:On random punctuation

[^Bobby^]

So you're the one responsible for 'I was hit!' comming out 'I wa* ***!'

Filters like that ruin normal text.

My predictions...

[Black Parrot]

• More virii.
  
• More arguments over whether 'virii' is a word.
  

Re:On random punctuation

[miu]

faux queue man!

Re:Don't put your email address online

[azaris]

I wrote a little Javascript Turing email obfuscator, which prevents renders your email address invisible to bots, even those that can execute javascript.

That only works for people who think that sending you e-mail is such an enormous honor that they're willing to jump through flaming hoops backwards to accomplish it. The first spammer that's desperate enough to "decrypt" your e-mail address will add it to an address list and that's the end of that chapter.

Ever notice how entities that erect all sorts of extraneous barriers to communicating with them tend to get your blood boiling? I call it the "you must fax us this form in triplicate with a notarized form and a copy of your driver's license during office hours in Burma on the third tuesday of April during a leap year that doesn't have the number six in it"-syndrome.

Re: Wow. They must have crystal balls.

[Black Parrot]

> OK... so they predict... More Of The Same!

Naturally, 'cause it would take brass balls to predict something different!

Re: What I encountered yesterday

[Black Parrot]

> And really, even if you use a Bayesian filter, how many emails contain the words "majesty" "ellipsoid" and "lippincott"?

Why, just yesterday I got one that said "Her Majesty wants you to polish the ellipsoid on her Lippincott, and then bring it around front."

Re: defeating random punctuation

[Black Parrot]

> My boss (hardcore BSD hacker and anti-spam activist) added a simple rule to our spam filters: more than 5 consonants in a row in the From: field and it's tagged as spam.

Hope he's not expecting any important messages from anyone born in Eastern Europe...

Re:On random punctuation

[Alioth]

But will it filter the town name Scunthorpe as being offensive? AOL had this problem where people living in Scunthorpe suddenly found they could no longer use their town name.

w.r.t. filtering

[Anonymous Coward]

The more I read on this, the more I become convinced that AI will come about as a result of the spam wars.

email filters

[j33px0r]

Hmm...if the greatest email filter (the delete key) isn't working for you and your time is soooo precious because you are a corporate big wig then you always can use your "secretary" to preview the emails and delete the crap. Or have we learned nothing from years of postal services and mailrooms?

blocking all spam is like saying the RIAA can stop you from burning a cd. its just not going to happen

They forgot a few...

[weave]

• A security flaw will be found in Microsoft Windows that will allow a remote attacker to execute code of the attacker's choice on your PC.
• A rootable hole will be discovered on Mac OS X that will require someone to be running some rare non-default configuration on OS X and require the computer to be bombarded by high level concentrations of tetryon particles, but only during high sun spot activity. If so, a local user can gain access to the administrator account. Microsoft will release press release saying "See, Macs are insecure too."
• Some package that is included with most Linux distros but is not part of the Linux kernel will suffer from a buffer overflow that can be used to cause the app to crash, causing all computer analysts from PC trade magazines and web sites to conclude that Linux is insecure too.

better predictions

[Tom]

Almost all of these are just "we'll see the current trend continue".

Ironically, my own prediction isn't much different:

In 2004, lots of interesting things will happen in security, and none of the things that would matter will change. Instead, a lot of time, money and effort will be thrown at the wrong non-solutions.

i.e. more of 2003, or 2002, or 2001, ...

Re:Nearly impossible?

[borisbfurry]

I got a random punctuation spam the other day. One line read like this: Guar,anteed 1.00% effecti;ve! Needless to say, my confidence in the product was not very high

Re:Nearly impossible?

[Anonymous Coward]

What I would like to see is a spell chacker in spamassassin.

See, what is exactly why it wouldn't work. I wouldn't get any mail from you or my good-for-nothing brother-in-law.

Never mind, I'll get coding immediately. Thanks for the suggestion!

Whale oil beef hooked

[rs79]

That's sofa kingdom.

HTML

[Perianwyr Stormcrow]

Spammers send me volumes of dada poetry like this, and it's all stuff that appears before HTML, which I assume is the main content of the mail. Pity that I filter out HTML. And here I was hoping that there was an international dada poetry guerrilla group...

Re:Wow. They must have crystal balls.

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

Until now..