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21. september 2005
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Those who switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox for security reasons, may be in for a nasty surprise:
Symantec has attacked the perceived security advantages of Firefox and Apple Macs by drawing unfavourable comparisons with Microsoft's software and describing Mac fans as living in a "false paradise". According to the latest edition of Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, 25 vulnerabilities were disclosed for Mozilla browsers and 13 for Microsoft Internet Explorer in the first half of 2005.
Graham Pinkney, head of threat intelligence EMEA at Symantec, said that switching from IE to Firefox as a way of minimising security risks was no longer valid advice. "Cross-site scripting attacks have been used to attack more vulnerabilities in Mozilla browsers over the last six months than IE," Pinkney told an IDC security conference last week ahead of the publication of Symantec's threat report today. John Cheney, chief executive of email filtering firm BlackSpider, replied that the release of Firefox had "helped Microsoft to raise its game" in terms of browser security.
Success makes you a target, and any application has exploits. The less tested a solution has been in the wild, the less secure it really is. Welcome to the real world!
8:26:06 PM 
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Al-Zarqawi's declaration of war against all Shiites in Iraq met with strong objections not only from Sunni clerics, but were also met with objections from other terrorist groups.
But perhaps the most astonishing rebuke of Zarqawi’s jihad on Shiites comes from within the insurgency itself. Various insurgent groups, including Gaish Mohamed, Al Qa'qa Regiments, Islamic Army, Iraqi Mujahideen Army and Al Naser Salah Eddin renounced Zarqawi’s statements; “The objective of resistance in their military attacks is solely the occupation and its assistants. The call for murdering all Shiaas is a fire that would burn Iraqis; Sunnis and Shiaas… Resistance consists of Iraqi military and popular organizations that are not connected with any formations outside them. The main objective is liberating Iraq from the occupants and establishing national free regime in it… Resistance does not target any Iraqis, regardless of their sectarian or racial loyalties, unless connected with the occupant.”
Zarqawi feels the pressure from the traditional bases of support within the Sunni community and is forced to retract (or “clarify”) his jihad on Shiites. Now, only the Shiites who cooperate with the infidel (basically all of them) are the targets of his wrath.
al Qaeda’s efforts at creating an Iraqi civil war now lie in ruin, as the group they claims to represent, the Sunnis, including the most “militant’ among them, reject the plan outright and in public. They fully understand the implications of declaring a civil war against the majority of the country that controls the levers of power and is backed by the United States.
It's not even obvious that it would be in al-Qaeda's interests to succeed in sparking an all-out Shia-Sunni civil war in Iraq. As Zarqawi's murderous hordes continue to inflict mass casualties on Iraqi Shiites, they will alienate the very Sunni elements they need for cover, support and recruits.
PS: Also read about Operation Sayaid, the continuation of the Anbar campaign to wrestle control of the western region away from the insurgency.
General Casey, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq lays out the timetable; the plan is to “[restore] Iraqi control of its border by the end of November, before the December [parliamentary] elections.”
Operation Sayaid must be looked at in the greater context of the Anbar Campaign. The Coalition is often accused of not having a coherent plan to establish control in western Iraq, but the pace of operations over the past year do not support this conclusion.
This story gets very little coverage.
5:21:44 PM
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Lt. Gen. Russel Honore took control of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin's press conference about the threat from incoming Hurricane Rita, but the journalists only wanted to talk about the past. Honore wanted none of that, and chided the journalists with a phrase we have not heard for the last time. Here's the transcript and link to audio.
Honore: [...] And we understand that there's a problem in getting communications out. That's where we need your help. But let's not confuse the questions with the answers. Buses at the convention center will move our citizens, for whom we have sworn that we will support and defend...and we'll move them on. Let's not get stuck on the last storm. You're asking last storm questions for people who are concerned about the future storm. Don't get stuck on stupid, reporters. We are moving forward. And don't confuse the people please. You are part of the public message. So help us get the message straight. And if you don't understand, maybe you'll confuse it to the people. That's why we like follow-up questions. But right now, it's the convention center, and move on.
Male reporter: General, a little bit more about why that's happening this time, though, and did not have that last time...
Honore: You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question. We are going to deal with Rita. This is public information that people are depending on the government to put out. This is the way we've got to do it. So please. I apologize to you, but let's talk about the future. Rita is happening. And right now, we need to get good, clean information out to the people that they can use. And we can have a conversation on the side about the past, in a couple of months.
Video here.
Via Will Collier.
PS: And, as you probably know, Rita is now a Category 4 hurricane, heading towards Galveston, Texas, but the path is unpredictable and it may hit in northern Mexico or Lousiana or anywhere in between.
In Galveston, a barrier-island city of 60,000 flattened by a hurricane in 1900, residents were preparing to leave.
About 80 city buses will be at the city's Island Community Center Wednesday morning to evacuate Galveston residents who do not have transportation.
Many people lined up to make sure they had a ride, all carrying the one bag of belongings they were allowed.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas declared a state of emergency Tuesday night and ordered a mandatory evacuation.
Let's hope for a bit of luck this time.
4:27:41 PM
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Major job cuts at the New York Times.
The New York Times Co. announced a staggering staff reduction plan Tuesday that will likely mean some 500 job loses at the company's many properties, including an expected 45 newsroom positions at The New York Times newspaper and 35 at The Boston Globe.
The new media revolution has victims, too.
4:05:47 AM
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The close scrutiny of the red planet by orbiters and rovers keeps revealing new surprises. There may be seismic activity on Mars, and the temperature is on the increase.
The spacecraft also observed a gradual evaporation of carbon dioxide ice in one of Mars’ polar caps, pointing to a slowly changing Mars climate.
“They way these polar pits are retreating is absolutely astounding,” Mustard said.
But like the rockfalls, researchers were unable to account for the gradual climate change.
“Why is Mars warmer today that it was in the past, we really have no way of knowing why,” Malin said.
The Martians are also driving around in greenhouse-gas-emitting SUVs, obviously. I blame Bush.
I'd like to know if this could be caused by changes in the Sun, and whether that may also explain (some of) the Earth's apparent warming, too.
3:50:34 AM
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A captured would-be suicide bomber says he was kidnapped, drugged and beaten by the terrorists to make him blow himself up in a Shia mosque.
Mohammed Ali, who claimed to be Saudi-born and appeared to be in his 20s, said he managed to flee after another suicide attacker set off his bomb, killing at least 12 worshippers Friday as they left a mosque in the northern city of Tuz Khormato.
In confession broadcast on state television later that day, Ali told Iraqi interrogators he did not want to bomb the mosque and hoped to go home.
Results from medical tests on Ali were "consistent with his story and characterization of his treatment," Col. Billy J. Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.
Ali said insurgents kidnapped him from a field near his home earlier this month, then drugged and beat him.
His story was similar to those recounted by other captured militants. The captives routinely claim they were either coerced or fooled by insurgent leaders who promised them a role in the holy war against the U.S. military, only to find themselves as would-be suicide bombers sent to attack civilians.
We should always be skeptical of what these captives say. First, they have an obvious incentive to portraying themselves as pressured or fooled into terrorism, hoping for a more lenient punishment. Second, the Iraqi police may also have some interest in them saying such things, to reinforce the impression that the terrorists are entirely controlled by foreigners. That said, it would not surprise me the least if this is true, as it is consistent with the behaviour of e.g. Hamas in Palestine.
1:43:24 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.10.2005; 12:25:45.
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