by stephanlange on November 28, 2008
Nokia’s Home Control Center will be the basis for next generation security, smart home solutions and household energy management systems.
The platform is open allowing third parties to integrate their own smart home solutions and services; its core consumer value is the plug and play experience across all solution areas with high security levels built in. All solutions based on the platform can be used through a smart phone or PC locally or remotely. Consumers can monitor and control their electricity usage, switch devices on and off, and monitor different objects, such as temperature, camera, and motion. In future, entire systems within the home can be connected to the Nokia platform, including security, heating, and ventilation systems.
sweet! I don’t even have to get off the couch now 
read more here.
by stephanlange on November 26, 2008
Lenovo announced plans to bring customers a new security defense against unauthorized data access on Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks. The Lenovo Constant Secure Remote Disable feature lets users send a simple text message command via a cell phone to render their PC useless to unauthorized users when the notebook is lost or stolen.
This technology enables specially equipped notebooks to become utterly worthless if stolen – as long as the owner remembers to text in the emergency code
by eunmac on October 23, 2008
Swiss researchers Martin Vuagnoux and Sylvain Pasini have been able to decode what is being typed on a wired keyboard from a distance of 20 metres by detecting the electromagnetic signals made by key presses. It even worked through walls.
http://lasecwww.epfl.ch/keyboard/
This represents a major new problem should the process shown be abused by less law abiding citizens. Identity theft, login/passwords, sensitive information could all be extracted using this eavesdropping method. Whilst theoretically the signals could be masked in future keyboards (now the problem has been identified) it does mean that many existing computers worldwide have a potential security issue that cannot be rectified using software or network security changes. A wireless keyboard appears to be a safer alternative at this stage although a report by Markus Kuhn and Ross Anderson (here) suggest wider scale issues.
Whilst these are early tests the researchers conclude that “wired computer keyboards are not safe to transmit sensitive information” and that their experiments could be improved easily.
If you see a person acting strangely outside your house carrying one of these, DO NOT access your Internet banking!
Video:
http://vimeo.com/2008343
