Hashemian Blog
Huh? What?
Friday, November 19, 2004
The Deficit Monster
Lately Alan Greenspan has been harping on the growing US account deficit and the plunging dollar quite a bit. It is no surprise. Law makers just raised the ceiling on the US debt and Bush (who is mainly responsible for the current dire economic state) is saying: "Where do I sign?".
This must be the most ludicrous dog and pony show ever. Even a child can grasp the absurdity of what the law makers are doing. They over-spend and then pass laws to legitimize the wastefulness. It's as if the town judge pardon and then legalize every offense after committing them himself.
Greenspan has a reason to be worried. The Dollar is hitting all time lows against other currencies and foreign confidence in America is clearly waning. Some may try to comfort themselves by proclaiming that the budget deficit ratio to the total GDP is still lower than its historical highs. Fine, bury your head in the sand. But while we're inhaling dirt, others discover that America just isn't what it used to be.
But even more disconcerting is that the world isn't what it used to be either. Foreigners are starting to realize that the US isn't the only game in town. Europe and China certainly offer good investment prospects, but even countries like Turkey have started to attract serious investors.
And so we continue to be blindly lead down the road. If the democrats are known for tax and spend, the republican have proved their prowess in borrow and spend. And when it's all said and done, it's the average American citizen that will be left holding the bag.
<The Deficit Monster>
// posted by rh
Monday, November 08, 2004
Phishing the hosts
A new and more stealth phishing scam has entered the Internet scam market. According to this link, scammers are now able to manipulate the hosts files in users' computers, thus redirecting them to their nefarious Web sites without the user ever realizing it. This is mainly done with script-laden emails, some of which may not even require users clicking on any links – just opening the email is enough.
Frankly I am surprised that it took this long for scammers to employ this trick. But abolishing the hosts file, as some experts might suggest, is not a solution to curb the crackers using this trick. First of all hosts files are still legitimate means of translating names into ip addresses. I bet many organizations still use them internally as a quick and simple DNS alternative. Secondly, hosts files are invaluable for debugging. I can't tell you how many times I have used the hosts file to troubleshoot DNS problems, access issues, or other host name related quirks. Without the hosts file, I would have had to tinker with a name server which is a lot more complex and may itself be the root of the problem.
Finally, who's to say the bad actors won't change the computer's DNS entries to point to their own evil name servers. If they can change the hosts files, modifying DNS entries takes just a little more work.
Let's not eliminate a helpful tool out of fear and desperation. Practicing good security is the only way to fight these types of attacks.
<Phishing the hosts>
// posted by rh
|
Links
Technorati Profile
TMCnet.com
ARCHIVES
09/01/2003 - 10/01/200303/01/2004 - 04/01/200404/01/2004 - 05/01/200405/01/2004 - 06/01/200406/01/2004 - 07/01/200407/01/2004 - 08/01/200408/01/2004 - 09/01/200409/01/2004 - 10/01/200410/01/2004 - 11/01/200411/01/2004 - 12/01/200412/01/2004 - 01/01/200501/01/2005 - 02/01/200502/01/2005 - 03/01/200503/01/2005 - 04/01/200504/01/2005 - 05/01/200505/01/2005 - 06/01/200506/01/2005 - 07/01/200507/01/2005 - 08/01/200508/01/2005 - 09/01/200509/01/2005 - 10/01/200510/01/2005 - 11/01/200511/01/2005 - 12/01/200512/01/2005 - 01/01/200601/01/2006 - 02/01/200602/01/2006 - 03/01/200603/01/2006 - 04/01/200604/01/2006 - 05/01/200605/01/2006 - 06/01/200606/01/2006 - 07/01/200607/01/2006 - 08/01/200608/01/2006 - 09/01/200609/01/2006 - 10/01/200610/01/2006 - 11/01/200611/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
|
