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Global Security Week is a voluntary project coordinating security awareness activities worldwide
during the week leading up to September 11 each year. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance,”
said Thomas Jefferson. Make a stand with people of all nationalities against global terror,
organized crime, Internet crime and so on. Help raise awareness of security and, with luck, help make
the world a safer place for ordinary citizens like you and me.

Together we can make a difference: September 5 to 11th 2005

Visit: http://www.globalsecurityweek.com/ for details

When Google unveiled its instant messaging client early this week, there was only one problem: Google Talk requires a Gmail account, which has been invitation-only since its beta debut in 2004.

So guess what? A month or so ago, Google openned their GMail service to the public. One can sign-up easilly by going to Google Accounts.

Google Talk natively integrates with Gmail, automatically populating the friend’s list with e-mail contacts and directly enabling the composition of e-mail from the IM client. Logins for the Jabber-based Google Talk network are also utilize Gmail addresses.

Microsoft follows Logitech’s move in offerring laser based mice.

Microsft’s laser mouse comes in four diferrent models:

Wireless Laser Desktop
Wireless Laser Mouse
Wireless Notebook Laser
Laser Mouse

All models feature 1,000 dpi resolution supporting up to 6000 fps. This simply gives the end user enhanced sensitivity and accuracy.

Check out GameZone.de for more snapshots of Microsoft’s laser mouse.

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), in cooperation with KPMG, invites you to a roundtable discussion/forum on “Critical National Information Infrastructure: The Malaysian Model” on August 26, 2005, from 9:00am - 12:00 nn, at the Seminar Room of the NCC Bldg., C.P. Garcia Avenue, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City.

Mr. Matthew Farmer of KPMG Malaysia will discuss vital information on how Malaysia smoothly implemented their government strategies in securing their mission-critical infrastructures. On the other hand, the Philippine participants are expected to come up with action plans on how to proceed with the protection of the country’s critical infrastructure.

Other invited guests are: Secretary Virgilio L. Peña of CICT; National Security Adviser’s Usec. Virtus Gil and CICT’s Senior Adviser for Cyber Security Mr. Abe Purugganan.

Kindly confirm your attendance, on or before 25 August 2005, to Lenny Tirazona of our Advocacy Group, by telephone at 920.0101 local 121, or via e-mail at lennyt at ncc.gov.ph.

News Source: Bitstop

Among the new features are Dymanic Backgrounds and Voice Clips. Dynamic Backgrounds fill your MSN Messenger conversations and subtly animate during the conversation. Voice Clips allow you to send short audio clips (15 secs max) to your friends on MSN Messenger.

New audio improvements mean talking over MSN Messenger is far improved from recent versions.

Download: MSN Messenger 7.5

Google have released the first beta build of their much awaited instant messaging app

Google Talk is a simple and free way to talk with and send instant messages to your friends. Like Gmail, Google Talk uses Google’s innovative technologies to help people communicate more effectively and efficiently. Think of it as Google’s approach to communications.

Google Talk is easy and intuitive to use. All you need to make free calls is an Internet connection, a microphone, and a speaker. After you download Google Talk, sign in with your Gmail username and password. Invite your friends to download Google Talk, and once they do, you’ll be able to talk or IM with them instantly.

Google Talk currently does not encrypt chats or calls. When you use Google Talk, you can choose to have your IM chats stored locally on your own computer so that you have a chat history. Google does not collect the content of instant message chats or voice conversations.

Download: Google Talk 1.0.0.64 Beta
Check out: Google Talk HomePage

NIST announces the following draft Special Publications (SP) are now available for public comment;

1) SP 800-40 version 2, Creating a Patch and Vulnerability Management Program
2) SP 800-81, Secure DNS Deployment Guide
3) SP 800-83, Guide to Malware Incident Prevention and Handling
4) SP 800-84, Guide to Single-Organization IT Exercises
5) SP 800-86, Guide to Computer and Network Data Analysis: Applying Forensic Techniques to Incident Response
6) SP 800-87, Codes for the Identification of Federal and Federally- Assisted Organizations

These draft publications and requested dates for comments can be found on the CSRC Drafts publications page at:
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts.html

Additionally, NIST is announcing the final publication of:
1. NIST Interagency Report (IR) 7206, Smart Cards and Mobile Device Authentication: An Overview and Implementation
2. NISTIR 7200, Proximity Beacons and Mobile Handheld Devices: Overview and Implementation

These 2 NIST IRs can be found: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/

3. SP 800-70, Security Configuration Checklists Program for IT Products
It can be found on the Special Publications page http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/19/sha-1_attack/

By John Leyden (john.leyden at theregister.co.uk)
Published Friday 19th August 2005 15:22 GMT

Crypto researchers have discovered a new, much faster, attack against the widely-used SHA-1 hashing algorithm. Xiaoyun Wang, one of the team of Chinese cryptographers that demonstrated earlier attacks against SHA-0 and SHA-1, along with Andrew Yao and Frances Yao, have discovered a way to produce a collision in SHA-1 over just 263 hash operations compared to 269 hash operations previously. A brute force attack should take 280 operations.

One-way hashing is used in many applications such as creating checksums used to validate files, creating digital certificates, authentication schemes and in VPN security hardware. Collisions occur when two different inputs produce the same output hash. In theory this might be used to forge digital certificates but it shouldn’t be possible to find collisions except by blind chance. Wang and her team have discovered an algorithm for finding collisions much faster than brute force. The researchers released a paper (PDF) on their finding at the Crypto 2005 conference in Santa Barbara, California earlier this week.

The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium Inc., (ISC)2, which educates, qualifies and certifies information security professionals around the world, announced its support of “Think Security First!” The organization’s sponsorship of this community-based national cyber-security awareness campaign—which was developed by the Walnut Creek, Calif., Chamber of Commerce—fits right in with “Year of the Information Security Professional” publicity and education initiative for 2005, said Sarah Bohne, director of communications for (ISC)2.

Continue reading @ CertMag

It is 2 in the morning and sometimes you tend to do things that you shouldn’t be doing.

Things such as getting another one of those funny error/pop-up messages in windows.

Click on the image to see a larger version

Certification Magazine September 2005 Digital Edition Now Available!

The latest issue contains topics such as Help Yourself: Building Home Practice Labs, Driving Storage Management, Certification in Academia: Preparing the Next Generation and a whole lot more.

Browse through the magazine online @ http://www.nxtbook.com/fx/books/mediatec/certification-0905/

Farmout is in immediate need of 500 call center agents/applicants. If you or your friends are fluent in written and spoken English, AND enjoy talking to people, why not try your hand at being a call center agent?

Check out www.farmout.ph The work will be in Farmout Contact Center in Dagupan, and the shifts are from 7:30pm-6:00am (Eastern) or 10:00pm to 8:30am (Pacific)

Interviews on Aug 22, 2005 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

Please be ready with your NBI clearance, Medical Clearance, Drug Test, Transcript of record, and certificate of employment (if previously employed)

Interviews will be held at Bitstop Inc offices , 2/f new sim too bldg., AB Fernandez Ave., Dagupan City.

Microsoft has invited a small group of people to test a new MSN Toolbar feature that lets you manage, search and access your Internet Explorer favorites, even when you are away from your PC! This new feature takes navigating the web to the next level.

The Roaming Favorites Add-In to the MSN Toolbar lets you create a centrally stored list of your favorite websites. You can synchronize the Internet Explorer favorites from your primary PC or simply drag and drop URLs into the Roaming Favorites navigation pane.

Roaming Favorites can be accessed from any MSN Toolbar enabled PC. For privacy, a user will need to sign in with a Passport ID.

Check out the MSN Toolbar @ Microsoft

Overview
The software included in this Exchange Server 2003 SP2 CTP download is intended for evaluation and deployment planning purposes only, and not for production use. CTP releases of any product will not display the stability of a shipped Microsoft product. You may encounter problems with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 that could possibly result in a loss or destruction of data. Some of the mobility features contained in this CTP download are not yet available for testing, pending availability of Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. This build is available only in English.

Important: This release is not intended for production environments and should only be used in a test lab environment.

Exchange Server 2003 SP2 CTP is unsupported pre-release software distributed for feedback and testing purposes only, and is not supported by Customer Services and Support (CSS). For questions about this technical preview, see the Exchange Server Newsgroups or the Exchange Team Blog.

Known Issue: The release notes contained in this download are out-of-date. For the most current version of the release notes, see the Exchange Server 2003 SP2 CTP Release Notes.

Download Size: 112350 KB
Download From: Microsoft

** Registration Required for This Download

Microsoft Philippines cordially invite you to the 3rd TechFest session for 2005 devoted to TechNet content and mostly focused on Windows Server 2003 administration and product roadmap. Take a sneak peek at the key features of the upcoming SQL Server 2005 which will be released later this year.

8:00 - 9:00
Registration

9:00 - 10:00
Opening and Keynote - Jojo Ayson, Microsoft

10:00 - 11:00
SQL Server 2005 Technical Overview - MISnet

11:00 - 12:00
Windows Small Business Server 2003 Technical Overview - EduPro

12:00 - 1:00
LUNCH

1:00 - 2:00
Using Windows System Resource Manager with Windows Server 2003 - Certrain

2:00 - 3:00
Windows Server 2003 R2 Technical Overview - dbWizards

3:00 - 4:00
Windows Server 2003 SP1 Technical Overview - New Horizons

4:00 - 5:00
“Certification 101″ - Edd Cabardo, Microsoft

Date:
Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Time:
8:00am - 5:00pm

Venue:
SGV Hall, AIM ACCEED Conference Center Benavidez cor. Trasierra Sts., Legaspi Village Makati City, Philippines

Register Online @ MSEVENTS.PH