Hackers at the recent CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, B.C., were challenged to exploit holes in an array of popular browsers. The most popular target — or “low-hanging fruit,” as programmer Garett Rogers told TechRepublic.com — was Safari on the Mac.
One presumed hacker named Charlie Miller is reported to have said: “It’s clear all three browsers — Safari, IE and Firefox — have bugs. Code execution holes are everywhere… But there’s almost no hurdles to jump through on Mac OS X.”
If that’s the case, Google’s Chrome browser was the “high-hanging” fruit.
“I might have this bug and I might be able to get code execution,” Miller said. “But you’re in a sandbox and you have no permissions to do anything. You need another bug to get out of the sandbox. Now you need two bugs and two exploits. That raises the bar.”
That’s a great explanation, if you understand hacker-ese. The real evidence, however, was that no hacker at the conference — even given the challenge — even attempted to exploit the Google browser.
That’s right — this challenging economy might be the perfect time for you to test the entrepreneurial waters and thrive.
So we wanted to make you aware of a program for any Oregon entrepreneur whose business has overcome the challenges of startup and is now trying to grow. Or for leaders of already growing companies who are facing the new challenges of managing people, process and performance.
Local incubator organizations OEN (Oregon Entrepreneurs Network) and OTBC (Open Technology Business Center) are making available Kauffman Foundation’s Fast Trac® Growth Venture™ to its members starting March 31.
Fast Trac Growth Venture encourages active participation, providing entrepreneurs with one-on-one business coaching from knowledgeable and experienced facilitators.
Here are a few things you’ll learn in the FastTrac program:
- Make critical decisions about your business vision and strategy
- Investigate next-stage growth and opportunity
- Plan for strategic growth
- Build and maintain a competitive advantage
- Lead with clarity and maximize cash flow for future profitability
Remember, the first session starts March 31, 2009. Click here for more information or to register.
New patents filed by Apple and Microsoft provide tantalizing glimpses of where the smartphone is headed.
Microsoft’s patent describes a docking station for the smartphone and explains: “The dock should be small enough that you could stick it in a briefcase or bag to take on business trips, allowing you do tasks such as giving presentations without having to carry a laptop.”
Microsoft’s docking station would utilize the phone’s memory and processor to reconfigure an assortment of peripherals. “For example, if the paired devices determine a game controller is connected to the dock, the smartphone assumes that you are at a specific location and configures the interface to reflect the parameters that are used at that location,” according to technology consultant Michael Kassner. “How cool is that?”
Meanwhile buried in Apple’s new patent regarding its iPhone heuristic user interface are clear references to upcoming smartphone video applications. Alexander Wolfe writes in InformationWeek about Apple’s leap forward into smartphone video-conferencing capabilities:
“In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device, opposite the touch screen display on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition.
“In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user’s image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display.
“In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.”
It’s pretty clear that the two technology giants see different futures for the smartphone, yet the technology described in both patents mean our mobile communications are about to take some huge leaps forward.
Whoa! And you think you have mind-boggling responsibilities — Vivek Kundra will be responsible for managing the government’s “entire technology portfolio.” Read more…
Boy, did I get a lousy score on this Web IQ Test from InfoWorld. (As they put it, I am “News Challenged,” even though I may still “play a useful role in society.”)
How did you do?
