ScienceDaily: Hacking News
Hacking and computer security. Read today's research news on hacking and protecting against codebreakers. New software, secure data sharing, and more.

• NIST Issues Call For A New 'Hash' Algorithm
  NIST has opened a competition to develop a new cryptographic hash algorithm, a tool that converts a file, message or block of data to a short "fingerprint" for use in digital signatures, message authentication and other computer security applications.
• How Global Is The Global Biodiversity Information Facility?
  A study has revealed large gaps in data available to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility -- the world's largest single data network which gives access to millions of current digitized biodiversity records.
• Security Loophole Found In Windows Operating System
  Computer scientists have found a security vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system. The significance of the loophole: e-mails, passwords, credit card numbers, if they were typed into the computer, and actually all correspondence that emanated from a computer using Windows 2000 is susceptible to tracking.
• Human Error Puts Online Banking Security At Risk
  Using an SMS password as an added security measure for Internet banking is no guarantee your money is safe, according to a new study which reveals online customers are not protecting their accounts. Researchers said one in five online transactions was vulnerable to obvious attacks despite added security methods such as SMS passwords being adopted.
• New Scoring System Protects Credit Card Transactions
  As this year's holiday season approaches, your credit card transactions may be a little more secure thanks to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System. When you make an electronic transaction -- either swiping a card at a checkout counter or through a commercial website -- you enter personal payment information into a computer.
• Computer Scientist Fights Threat Of 'Botnets'
  Computer scientists have watched malicious traffic on the Internet evolve from childish pranks to a billion-dollar "shadow industry" in the last decade, and the profession has largely been one step behind the bad guys. Viruses, phishing scams, worms and spyware are only the beginning, according to one computer science specialist.
• Electron Spin Rotated With Electric Field
  Researchers have succeeded in controlling the spin of a single electron merely by using electric fields. This clears the way for a much simpler realization of the building blocks of a (future) super-fast quantum computer.
• New Computer Architecture Aids Emergency Response
  Researchers have invented a computer architecture that enables the secure transmission of crucial rescue information to first responders during events such as natural disasters, fires or terrorist attacks. Electrical engineering professor Ruby Lee said the new architecture allows for what she describes as "transient trust."
• Improving Password Protection With Easy To Remember Drawings
  An inventive way of improving password security for handheld devices such as iPhones, Blackberry and Smartphone has now been developed. The software, which uses pictures instead of letters and numbers, has been initially designed for handheld devices, but could soon be expanded to other areas. Those who took part in testing this system created passwords that were a thousand times more secure than ordinary textual passwords. Most testers also found them easy to remember.
• Thwarting The Growth Of Internet Black Markets
  Computer scientists have designed new computer tools to better understand and potentially thwart the growth of Internet black markets, where attackers use well-developed business practices to hawk viruses, stolen data and attack services.
• New Quantum Dot Transistor Counts Individual Photons
  Researchers have designed and demonstrated a transistor containing quantum dots that can count individual photons. The semiconductor device could be integrated easily into electronics for applications such as quantum key distribution for 'unbreakable' encryption using single photons.
• Technology Would Help Detect Terrorists Before They Strike
  Are you a terrorist? Airport screeners, customs agents, police officers and members of the military who silently pose that question to people every day, may soon have much more than intuition to depend on to determine the answer, thanks to computer and behavioral scientists.
• Improved Security For Smart Tags And Other Electronic Payments
  Scientists have devised an inexpensive and efficient way to improve security for radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, the wireless devices that allow consumers to pay for their gas or access buildings without pulling out their wallets. The breakthrough, which uses variations in the tags' existing memory cells, will make their stored information more secure while retaining their small, convenient size.
• 'Dead Time' Limits Quantum Cryptography Speeds
  According to a new article, technological and security issues will stall maximum transmission rates at levels comparable to that of a single broadband connection, such as a cable modem, unless researchers reduce 'dead times' in the detectors that receive quantum-encrypted messages.
• Two Giant Steps In Advancement Of Quantum Computing Achieved
  Two major steps toward putting quantum computers into real practice -- sending a photon signal on demand from a qubit onto wires and transmitting the signal to a second, distant qubit -- have been achieved. Over the past several years, the scientists explored basic building blocks in the design of a quantum computer. Now, for the first time, they report that superconducting qubits, or artificial atoms, have been able to communicate information not only to their nearest neighbor, but also to a distant qubit on the chip.
• Physicists Establish 'Spooky' Quantum Communication
  Physicists have coaxed two separate atoms to communicate with a sort of quantum intuition that Albert Einstein called "spooky." In doing so, the researchers have made an advance toward super-fast quantum computing. The research could also be a building block for a quantum internet.
• Databases Must Balance Privacy With Utility, Says Professor
  Agencies like the US Census Bureau produce a voluminous amount of data, much of which is of tremendous value to researchers. But the data also includes personal information that could be harmful were it to fall into the wrong hands. Thus, organizations that maintain such databases need to devise ways to protect individuals' privacy while preserving the value of the information to researchers, writes Carnegie Mellon University Statistics in a recent article.
• IT Security Threats Caused By Wireless 'Parasites'
  College students do it. Coffee shop customers do it too. Your neighbor in Apartment 3C is probably doing it right now. Many computer users search for an available wireless network to tap into--whether at the mall, at school or at home--and whether they have permission to use that network or not. Knowingly or unknowingly, these wireless "parasites" may be doing more than filching a signal. When they connect, they can open up the network--and all the computers on it--to an array of security breaches.
• Computing Breakthrough Could Elevate Security To Unprecedented Levels
  By using pulses of light to dramatically accelerate the development of quantum computers, researchers have made strides in technology that could foil national and personal security threats.
• Potential Flaws In Electronic Voting Systems, Review Finds
  Flaws that leave electronic voting machines vulnerable to security attacks were discovered by University of California researchers as part of an unprecedented "Top-to-Bottom Review" of the systems commissioned by California Se