eWeek Europe : Facebook Offers Developers HTML5 Resource Centre

Facebook has opened a HTML5 Resource Centre to help developers build and test HTML5 apps

To continue reading
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/facebook-offers-developers-html5-resource-centre-43310

Cloud To Drive Major IT Spend

Spending by public cloud service providers will grow at a sharp rate over the next few years, according to IDC
To continue reading: http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/study-cloud-to-drive-major-it-spend-4334

XML Encryption flaw with no simple patch

Security researchers have cracked the major XML framework used to encrypt data in major web applications. Two researchers from Germany's Ruhr-University demonstrated a practical attackagainst XML's cipher block chaining module at the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security in Chicago on 19 October. The technique affects messages encrypted with any of the algorithms supported by the XML Encryption standard, including the popular AES and DES.

'No simple patch'

"We were able to decrypt data by sending modified ciphertexts to the server - by gathering information from the received error messages," the researchers said in a statement.XML, or "eXtensible Markup Langugage", is used for storing and transporting data and is widely used for web applications such as business communications, e-commerce, financial services, healthcare, and government and military infrastructure. Standardised in 2002 by the W3 Consortium, an Internet standards group, XML Encryption is widely used by Apache, Red Hat, IBM and Microsoft in their XML frameworks. "There is no simple patch for this problem", said Juraj Somorovsky, one of the researchers, adding, "We therefore propose to change the standard as soon as possible." Researchers proposed replacing the CBC module in XML Encryption with a mechanism focused on both message confidentiality and message integrity. Adopting a new approach and changing the standard, however, would likely affect existing deployments and create backwards compatibility issues with older applications, the researchers said. A potential attack vector involves sending bogus messages to a targeted system and then using the information returned by the system to crack the encryption. "We show that an adversary can decrypt a ciphertext by performing only 14 requests per plaintext byte on average," they said. "This poses a serious and truly practical security threat on all currently used implementations of XML Encryption."

Workarounds

The German team notified all affected XML framework providers, including Amazon.com, IBM, Microsoft, and Red Hat, via the W3C mailing list before releasing their paper. They've engaged in "intensive discussions on workarounds" with some of the affected organisations. Amazon.com acknowledged the issue on 20 October, and said it had fixed the related vulnerabilities in XML-based messaging protocol Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) in its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) infrastructure. The giant also checked to ensure no customers had been targeted by potential attackers. "The research showed that errors in SOAP parsing may have resulted in specially crafted SOAP requests with duplicate message elements and/or missing cryptographic signatures being processed," the company wrote in the Amazon Web Services security bulletin. "If this were to occur, an attacker who had access to an unencrypted SOAP message could potentially take actions as another valid user and perform invalid EC2 actions," according to the advisory. Amazon said it would be generally difficult for attackers to obtain a pre-signed SOAP request or a signed certificate, but admitted it was possible if the customer was sending SOAP requests over plain HTTP connections instead of the more secure HTTPS protocol. The researchers also disclosed cross-site scripting flaws that would have allowed attackers to obtain the certificate, according to Amazon. This is not the first time the CBC mode in encryption protocols was targeted. Two researchers last year developed a "padding oracle attack" to decrypt encrypted cookies for websites and hijack users' secure sessions. The technique affected the security of Microsoft's ASP.NET framework and forced an emergency patch from Microsoft to close the hole.

Source: eWeek

appWatchdog – Improving mobile app security for consumers « viaForensics

appWatchdog – Improving mobile app security for consumers « viaForensics:

'via Blog this'

The Obama administration says switching some federal computer networks to cloud computing will save taxpayers money but members of Congress are worrying about the security risks.

Cloud computing refers to computer networks that are hosted by outside vendors and are accessible over the Internet.

Until now, the federal government has kept all its networks within its own computer systems.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security granted a five-year, $5 million contract to computer company CGI Federal Inc. to manage some of its public Web sites. They include DHS.gov, FEMA.gov and USCIS.gov.

Members of the House Homeland Security subcommittee on cybersecurity want to know whether computer hackers who have broken into other Web sites could hack the government Web sites hosted by private companies.

The subcommittee plans a hearing Thursday on the risks of cloud computing.

"In light of the administration's 'Cloud First Policy' and the announced transition by the Department of Homeland Security to cloud computing, my subcommittee will be examining how government information is being managed and secured in the cloud environment," said Daniel E. Lungren (R-CA), chairman of the cybersecurity subcommittee.

The Cloud First Policy refers to President Barack Obama's plan to switch government Web site management to private companies when it can be done at lower cost without security risks.

The Homeland Security Department contract last week was the first of many planned for federal agencies.

Computer networks that contain classified information or represent a public threat if they are hacked will be served only by the government's servers and systems under the Cloud First Policy.

"We also want to hear how the private sector is implementing this shared technology option, its cost savings and risk concerns," Lungren said.

Cloud computing offers its customers easier updates to Web sites, less maintenance and lower costs for equipment and personnel.

The controversies for the government include the potential for layoffs among its computer staff and whether private contractors can be trusted to properly manage the government networks.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Larry Orluskie said his agency's contract with CGI Federal "maintains requisite security for the government's needs and delivers best-in-class return on investment for the citizens of the United States."

CGI Federal said in a statement that its computer management service "contains all of the required enterprise-wide security" the government requires.

The House hearing Thursday could influence whether Obama's Cloud First Policy gets carried out.

Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, must eventually approve funding for the program.

Private companies confront the same issues as the government, but still are making a big push toward cloud computing.

Four out of five businesses plan to switch to cloud computing soon, according to a survey of more than 900 large companies announced this week by the business consulting firm of KPMG.

Ten percent of the companies surveyed reported they already moved their core information networks from internal computers to cloud computing.

A grocery mentioned by KPMG in its study reported it could maintain its inventory better and increase sales by linking its suppliers through a cloud computing ordering network.

Cloud computing is "quickly shifting from a competitive advantage to an operational necessity," said Steve Hill, KPMG's vice chairman of strategic investments.

The cloud computing industry is expected to generate $177 billion in revenue by 2015, compared with $89.4 billion this year, according to industry forecasts.

Source:(AHN)
Reporter:Tom RamstackLocation:Washington, DC, United States
Published:October 5, 2011 02:23 pm EDTTopics:Politics, Government, Government Departments, Economy, Business And Finance, Computing And Information Technology, Networking, Politics, Government,Privatization

Read more: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90061978?Congress%20to%20examine%20Obama%26%23146%3Bs%20%26%23147%3BCloud%20First%20Policy%26%23148%3B%20for%20computers#ixzz1a0bH5wTk