Neowin.net

Yesterday build 1089 was leaked, this was posted on many sites but they left out something we spotted as being new and updated.

The Set Program Access and Defaults icon has been renewed for XP. The older icon was included for Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) but didn't really fit to XP's new icon standards. Thankfully someone has seen to it that it got updated. Screenie below.

We don't have links or additional information other than that IE and OE6 are updated to 1089 too and there is no build number present on the desktop. This build also does not break the newer leaked Windows Media Player Task Player which is a good thing.

Screenshot: New Icon for Set Program access and Defaults in Add/Remove and Start Menu

Rather than teaching hackers in the audience how to monitor others' networks, Higbee and Davis said the demonstration was intended to alert network administrators to the danger that many innocent-looking devices could pose to network security.

"We are really attacking the concept of what computers are," he said, adding that many other devices could be used to monitor networks, including TiVo television recording devices, some new "intelligent" vending machines and even printers.

Walking into a company and dropping a device onto the network is a simple way to defeat much of the network security that businesses might erect to keep out attackers, Higbee said.

"Physical access is pretty easy to obtain," he said. "Especially for short moments of time."

Moreover, companies tend to build a wall around their networks, with heavy security at the perimeter--between the Internet and the firm's network--but have little security on the inside. So getting a device on the internal network can give a hacker far more access, they warned.

"The data that is valuable and worth protecting is on the inside," Higbee said. "We want to get on the inside."

The software that Higbee and Davis have created--they stress that they haven't modified the hardware because they don't want to run afoul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act--is a Linux-based system. The software will first scan the network the Dreamcast console is on and then attempt to create an encrypted network back to the hacker's network.

Dubbed "180-degree" hacking by the duo, the ability to have a device on the inside makes a hacker's job much easier.

"Most people believe that inside traffic is trusted," he said, adding that most of the time a system administrator believes that any traffic coming from the inside is legitimate.

"I truly believe that in this attack...firewalls are pointless," Davis said. "They need to be a lot more aware of what's on their network. They almost have to treat their internal network as the Internet--as an untrusted network."