Summary: Assorted (in)security news

● Two Ways to Hack Microsoft Vista Operating System

Ryan Opinion - I got a few search hits from people looking for Vista cracks: No I’m not going to give you any or tell you exactly how, so if you’re here for that go away. I just figured this would be a reason to write a little bit about what Product Activation and WGA do, what Microsoft has stated, and what they’ve actually done.

Most Vista cracks are based on trying to fool Vista into thinking that you have an OEM license by loading a “System Locked Pre-installation” key into your BIOS or into the shadowed copy of your BIOS (where Vista actually checks).

● FBI email network down for days after virus attack

The FBI has confirmed reports that it was forced to shut down it's external unclassified email network "as a precautionary measure" following the discovery of a virus infection. I am led to understand that the particular virus concerned has been identified by the FBI but this information has yet to find it's way in to the public domain.

● Contractors Vie for Plum Work, Hacking for U.S.

And since most of the world's computers run on the Windows or the Linux systems, their work has also provided a growing window into how to attack foreign networks in any cyberwar.