Recent stories
US Patent Office Acknowledges Error in Judgment
Rice's Testimony Ensures No Further Inquiry into 9/11
Editorial: Is Spain full of cowards?
White House puts Kerry on the spot - again
FBI: Rumsfeld's fingerprints found on "Winds Of Black Death" letter
Software licenses have it out in arena free-for-all
Oh my God! It finally happened to ME!
Shareholder seeks to commit SCO's Darl McBride
Editorial: Learning from our past
Popular social website (Orkut) revealed as college experiment
Responsible: markscha@hact.org
Capsules for the weekend of Feb. 28-29, 2004
Posted GMT
More security hassles at Diebold
Hot on the heels of Diebold's Feb. 24 press release revealing their new ImageWay ATM software, which scans checks as they are deposited in order to "reduce fraud... and further increase consumer reliance", came a report on Feb. 27 from Depository System Analysis, Ltd. of Kankakee, IL, revealing a considerable security loophole: "Due to Diebold's misguided use of Bluetooth [a short-range wireless networking technology] in its new Opteva Reloaded™ ATM machines, we were able to 'hear' when the Diebold software had scanned a check... Using a Bluetooth-capable PDA and a sturdy nylon thread, we could then withdraw the check again through the deposit opening before it closed."The ImageWay system had already registered the check and credited the experimenters' account in their closed testing system, despite the lack of an actual check. "We had to laugh a bit when we saw how easy it was," ended the report.
Bush White House let campaign plot slip, says analyst
National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice accidentally revealed important information during her Ronald Reagan Lecture speech, claims political analyst Samuel Raul Morokoff, which indicates that the Bush White House already has Osama bin Laden in custody and is waiting for a strategic moment to make it public."If you heard the speech or read the transcript, it's as plain as day," says Morokoff, who writes for Friendship Times Quarterly, a self-published political magazine with a readership of over 10,000. According to Morokoff, Rice compared the capture of Saddam Hussein to the search for bin Laden to "build suspense" about bin Laden's capture. "She's in such a hurry to say both their names in the same sentence that she slips up: 'You know, I assume that if we are so fortunate to bring -- to find Osama bin Laden, that is going to happen with one of those middle of the night phone calls like I got about Saddam Hussein.' They've got him, and they're going to 'bring' him out at just the right time."
Attendees of the lecture say there was no such slip. "I think a bee flew past her ear right then," stated Lady Maureen Shipwell after reading Morokoff's claim. "Besides, if they had bin Laden, we would know." §
(The HACT team produces humor and opinion articles, not official news. Any resemblance to actual news is just a matter of style.)