The first two hours of Friday's show featured reformed hacker and computer security expert Kevin Mitnick(1). He fielded calls from listeners and discussed this week's distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which temporarily interrupted service to several popular web sites including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. He also mentioned the new cell phone virus Cabir, and related a story about hackers he knew who were able to steal address book and other data from a certain manufacturer's cell phone.
Mitnick is currently working on a new book tentatively titled The Art of Intrusion, which will reveal true, untold stories of successful hackers. One story being considered for inclusion is about two hackers who reverse engineered a video poker machine and wrote a program that could predict the exact moment a royal flush was due to hit. According to Mitnick, they took Vegas for several hundred thousand dollars. If you're a current or former hacker and want to help with this book, send your sexiest hacking story to hacks@defensivethinking.com.
Mitnick recommended security-conscious users protect their computers from hacker intrusion by installing Zone Alarm(2) firewall software.

1. http://www.defensivethinking.com/main/index.php
2. http://www.zonelabs.com

Cell Phone Virus

Antivirus companies have discovered a worm called Cabir that can infect mobile phones. The worm appears to have been created by an international group of virus writers as a "proof of concept", and is capable of jumping from phone to phone via Bluetooth wireless technology. Experts have been warning for some time that Bluetooth networks were potentially vulnerable to exploitation.
Fortunately, Bluetooth's transmission range is limited to 30 feet, so experts believe the worm is not a serious threat. Still, the emergence of Cabir is a harbinger of future threats and means consumers will need to consider security options when purchasing a new wireless mobile device. Read more at eweek.com(1).
Photo © F-Secure Corp. 2004

1. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1614794,00.asp

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Friday June 18, 2004