InfoQ Homepage Security Content on InfoQ
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Lessons Learned from Apple's GoToFail Bug
The recent security weakness found in both iOS and OS X hints at flaws in coding style guidelines, unit testing, system testing, code review policies, error management strategies, and tools deployment. An overview.
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Oracle Releases 144 Security Fixes, 36 for Java SE
Oracle released their latest Critical Patch Update (CPU), containing 144 new security fixes across all product families, including 36 for Java SE.
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Encrypting Files on Android with Facebook Conceal
Facebook has open sourced Conceal, a set of Java APIs for file encryption and authentication on Android. Conceal uses a subset of OpenSSL’s algorithms and predefined options in order to keep the library smaller, currently being 85KB.
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Strengthening HTTP
The recent Snowden revelations have impacted the IETF HTTP/2 Working Group and how the protocol should handle encryption, i.e., should it be mandated? Mark Nottingham, the Working Group chair, shares his thoughts on the discussions so far and gives a clue as to how he sees it being resolved given information so far. He concludes by asking anyone with an opinion to share it with the Working Group.
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Android 4.4 KitKat and the Secret Key Factory
With the introduction of Android 4.4, developers are being asked to change the way symmetric keys are generated from Unicode passphrases via the SecretKeyFactory.
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Xen Project Releases 1.0 of Mirage OS
Mirage OS is a ‘cloud operating system’ that seeks to avoid security vulnerabilities and bloat by facilitating the creation of single purpose virtual appliances. Applications are developed in the OCaml functional programming language and compiled into standalone ‘unikernels’ that run directly on the Xen hypervisor.
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Firefox 26 Blocks Java
Mozilla Firefox 26 now blocks all Java plug-ins by default due to security concerns but allows users to run such plug-ins if they want to.
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Continuous Security Testing With Gauntlt
James Wickett, from Gauntlt core team, gave a tutorial at Velocity Conf London about integrating security testing in the continuous integration cycle for early feedback on application security level. James stressed the importance of regularly checking for security as release delivery rates increase with continuous delivery.
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Microsoft to Stop Honoring SHA1 Certificates for SSL and Code Signing
Following recommendations by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Microsoft intends to stop honoring SHA1 for SSL and Code Signing certificates. This policy will begin in 2017 and applies to Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and later operating systems.
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Applying Security by Design with the CMMI for Development
To enable development of secure products, processes covering the software development life cycle have to include security activities. Winfried Russwurm from Siemens and Peter Panholzer from Limes Security facilitated a workshop at the SEPG Europe 2013 conference where they explored security activities and presented the Application Guide for Improving Processes for Secure Products.
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Apigee Now Supports Node.js and Open Sources Volos
Apigee Edge now supports Node.js and has open sourced Volos, a project containing a set of API management modules.
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Oracle Releases 51 Security Fixes for Java
Last week, Oracle released a Critical Patch Update, which included 127 new security fixes for the Oracle ecosystem of products, including Java SE, amongst others. There were 51 critical security fixes for Java, which affects both client and server deployments.
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A Look Back at the Linux Kernel Backdoor
With all of the recent concern over the US government’s National Security Agency (NSA) some of the attention has turn to the possibility of backdoors. Back in 2003 someone attempted to insert a backdoor into the Linux kernel. Though caught, it illustrates how seemingly innocuous changes can introduce vulnerabilities and the importance of tractability in source control.
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Securing Docker and Containers
Jérôme Petazzoni, senior engineer at dotCloud, examined the progress of security concerning Docker compared with other virtualization and container like technology in his recent blog post "CONTAINERS & DOCKER: HOW SECURE ARE THEY?". Jérôme makes a case for the techniques that secure Docker, in spite of the acknowledgement that improvements are needed.
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Improved Authentication with Filters in ASP.NET MVC 5
Visual Studio 2013 Developer Preview ships with ASP.NET MVC 5 which enables developers to apply authentication filters that provides an ability to authenticate users using various third party vendors or a custom authentication provider. Eric Vogel recently demonstrated its usage with an example using source codes.