A Rare Man of Principle: Nils @ Pwn2Own

The young fellow responsible for bringing down IE 8, Firefox, and Safari at Pwn2Own (previous blog post) sat down with Ryan Naraine of ZDNet to chat about his experiences:

• Nils2Own: 'I want to see security flaws fixed'

Given the fact that there were others who were advocating payment for giving up vulnerabilities they have discovered at the same conference, Nils truly stands out as a rare man of principle.

Doing something for “goodness sake”, to help others, is one of the highest principles we can hold in our businesses and our own life.

Way to go Nils!

Link courtesy of Susan.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Internet Explorer 8 is Now Released

You can get the new IE8 here: Internet Explorer 8 download site.

TippingPoint DVLabs has a good article on the recent Pwn2Own contest where Charlie Miller took down Safari on OS X with a zero day exploit in a couple of minutes.

A fellow by the name of Nils then proceeded to take down IE8, Safari, and finally Firefox with zero day exploits of his own. Quite the talented fellow! :)

Take a look at the Pwn2Own articles and some of the other related content on TippingPoint’s Digital Vaccine Labs Web site.

While no Web browser is perfect, we do need to keep an eye on their specific vulnerabilities and the patches available for them as the Web browser is one of the principle tools used on a daily basis by all users.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Mac on SBS - Some initial observations

This post is being written from the iMac that we purchased recently via the Safari Web browser.

The Google Blogger interface is missing all of the icons except Spell Check and Add an Image.

It is also missing the ability to directly edit the HTML. I don't like the idea of not being able to go into the HTML portions of the post as I like to fine tune the HTML before publishing. Okay, the initial observation is wrong. It turns out that the editor is actually in HTML mode. No WYSIWYG editor in Safari on Mac!

For me, that is not bad as I am used to working with the various HTML codes, but it may be a little disorienting at the beginning for one who is not used to them.

We purchased the Mac because we have a new client that we are doing a technology assessment for that has 90% Mac saturation.

We cannot really go about providing a full assessment of their use of their technology if we do not know how that technology works, or whether it will integrate well with an SBS network.

Our tech assessments are a full evaluation of an organization's users and their technology skills as well as a thorough investigation of the hardware they are using to accomplish their day to day tasks. We also evaluate the network infrastructure including cabling, switching, firewalls, and any other network infrastructure elements. The final result is presented to the partners or directors in book form.

So, off into MacLand we go.

So far, the machine seems to be quite responsive to the various requests we have thrown at it. From running multiple updates, to opening several browser windows with multiple tabs, and all around messing with the built-in iPrograms the machine is responding well.

We will need to purchase a copy of Office for Mac in order to go further into our Mac on SBS integration. That will be done tomorrow when things open up again here in Canada.

On the Blogger note, Safari just choked on the Blogger Spell Check. It also won't let me hit the Preview link to have a look before posting unless I save the draft, close the tab and reopen a new editing window after it chokes. :(

A screen shot of the error:



Fortunately, we can copy and paste the contents into our trial copy of iWork that comes with the iMac and run the spell check there! ;)

Even Macs get the Software Crashing Blues! :D

So Steve, when the trial copy of iWork expires in 30 days, that essentially will leave the user with no word processing capabilities at all? Keep in mind that I too am a new Mac user. I have looked through the Application list and don't see any other alternative?

Score one for Windows. WordPad is at least a basic word processor that can satisfy the basic writing needs of the moment and NotePad is one of the most robust HTML coders out there!

Most system OEMs also include a copy of Microsoft Works with their systems too BTW. This at least gives the user a full version of Microsoft Word to work with.

UPDATE 2007-07-09: Having discovered how to right click via the CTRL+Click, there is a menu available in the Safari window being used to edit this blog post called "Spelling". The third option under the menu that comes up in "Spelling" is "Check Spelling as You Type". Click on that option, and voila!

Score one for Macs! Spell checking from within the browser rocks.

Cantcha just tell I am a Mac NEWB? :*D

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists