Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Windows passwords easily bypassed over Firewire

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/245646554/

All of the sudden we're starting to see more and more attacks take advantage of what's stored on your computer's RAM -- the latest, from New Zealand's Adam Boileau, allows an attacker to unlock Windows passwords in a just a few seconds using a Linux machine connected over Firewire. Unlike those disk encryption attacks we saw that required a reboot, Boileu's attack works while the target computer is running, tricking Windows into allowing full write access to RAM and then corrupting the password protection code. That's a little scary -- but other researchers say that it's not a traditional vulnerability, since direct memory access is a feature of Firewire. Still, we're sealing up all of our ports with Silly Putty starting today, that ought to stop 'em.

Update: Apparently this has been demonstrated on OS X as well -- it looks like Firewire's direct memory access is the common vector here.

[Thanks, Drew]

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AMD gets official with Puma mobile platform

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/245710307/

Filed under: Laptops

If you were already curious as to where AMD would be using its newly announced 780 Series motherboard GPU, lookie here. During a CeBIT press event held today in Germany, AMD solidified details of its looming Puma mobile platform, which will be based on the outfit's Griffin CPU and RS780M chipset. In order for laptops to sport the Puma branding, it must house a Griffin CPU (officially named Turion Ultra), RS780M chipset and a WiFi adapter. According to AMD, Puma-fied lappies will begin shipping at the close of Q2 2008 and will range from $699 to $2,500 (at least initially), but we've no idea which manufacturers will be on board.

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AMD releases ATI Catalyst 8.3 drivers, enables CrossFireX

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/245752551/

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Get ready to burn through your allowance, kids, as AMD is getting set to loose its Catalyst 8.3 drivers for all to indulge in. What does the download net you, exactly? Why, CrossFireX support, of course. Starting today, users can link up any combination of RV670- and R680-based products -- that includes the Radeon HD 3850, Radeon HD 3870 and Radeon HD 3870 X2 -- in order to acquire triple- and quad-GPU performance within Windows Vista. Additionally, the drivers also introduce ATI Hybrid Graphics support in Vista, which was boasted about already when the firm unveiled its upcoming 780G chipset. Check out the read link for the full list of changes, and keep an eye on the firm's support page for v8.3 to surface any moment now.

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ASUS' 11-inch U2E laptop gets reviewed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/245825008/

Filed under: Laptops

You already knew those lucky souls over at PC Perspective had a U2E of their very own, but now that you're done gawking at the unboxing shots, how's about a bona fide review? Thankfully, ASUS' 11-inch ultraportable is indeed the latest lappie to be put through the proverbial paces, and as expected, it performed like a champ -- considering it's wee size, of course. The machine didn't blow by any benchmarking sessions or anything, but again, it was never meant to be your primary gaming rig when heading off to a LAN party. All in all, reviewers found very (and we stress very) little to complain about, and even went so far as to call it "one of the best notebooks to hit the ultra-mobile market, ever." Not at all enthused about the MacBook Air or Lenovo X300? Then by all means, give that read link some love -- chances are the U2E is just what the doctor ordered.

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Vodafone's Otello search engine uses images, not text

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/245518835/

Filed under: Cellphones

We've certainly seen some clever methods of searching from one's mobile, but Vodafone's latest idea is quite the stroke of genius. Showcased at CeBIT, the Otello search engine simply uses images as input; in other words, handset owners just snap a picture of anything -- a landmark, DVD case, unidentified flying object, etc. -- and Otello then "returns information relevant to the picture to the mobile phone." Reportedly, Vodafone is expected to conduct a trial with German paper Bild in which readers can "find out more about specially-marked articles by photographing them with their mobile's camera and sending the image to [the aforementioned paper]." Unfortunately, the carrier is being tight-lipped with its plans for Otello beyond the trial, but if this stuff functions as advertised, we can't see it remaining a secret for long.

[Via Pocket-lint]

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