Linked by Howard Fosdick on Sat 31st Dec 2011 07:57 UTC
Columbia University researchers claim millions of HP printers could be open to remote attack via unsecured Remote Firmware Updates. Cybercriminals could steal personal information or attack otherwise secure networks. HP agrees there is a theoretical security problem but says no customer has ever reported unauthorized printer access. The company denies some of the claims and is still investigating others.
Thread beginning with comment 501766
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2010-01-21
A website on the Internet could include an image with a URL pointing at your router or printer which tries to change settings on that device. It is very common.
Many routers on sale right now have already fixed their problems. It will take years before printers will get fixed.</span>
Many routers on sale right now have already fixed their problems. It will take years before printers will get fixed.</span>
This is why I always help people to install NoScript, even if I put the Javascript whitelisting in "globally allow" mode.
It's got another component named ABE (Application Boundaries Enforcer) which includes a default ruleset to prevent just that sort of thing. (Disallowing access to LAN URLs from a WAN document)
(You can also choose to have the XSS filters, clickjacking protection, and securely-implemented Flash/Java/etc. click-to-play active with "globally allow" chosen)
Member since:2007-09-22
Actually, you can't do that with JavaScript. As I mentioned the attacker just places an <img>-tag.
Well, I guess you can do that with JavaScript but it doesn't have any advantage over using an image.
They might use JavaScript to generate a long list of <img>-tags to try different IP-addresses though.
Just sending a longer HTML-page is easy too ofcourse.
So the only thing you are protecting yourself against in this case is an attacker which expects JavaScript to be available and working.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/15/13 22:44 UTC
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?More Features »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2007-09-22
The questionmark in the article title make it seem Howard was surprised.
A printer is a network connected computer like many other devices and people don't update their firmware. So what else do you expect ?
Here some presentations on other security problems with printers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZgLX60U3sY#t=3m40s
( ShmooCon 2011: Printers Gone Wild! )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPhisPLwm2A
( ShmooCon 2011: Printer to PWND: Leveraging Multifunction Printers During Penetration Testing )
An other example is that many of these devices have a webinterface. Why is that a problem ? Well it is just as much a problem as a webinterface on your router.
A website on the Internet could include an image with a URL pointing at your router or printer which tries to change settings on that device. It is very common.
Many routers on sale right now have already fixed their problems. It will take years before printers will get fixed.