NAT Is Not Security

At best, Network Address Translation is security by obscurity. In other words, NAT is not security. Where did this idea come from? Even worse, it comes up regularly when discussing IPv6, which does not have NAT, a condition that that is seen as a huge negative of IPv6.

Of course, a properly configured stateful firewall will have exactly the same effect as NAT. I suppose the problem is the "properly configured" part. People expect things to just work without requiring any knowledge or skills.

Street Hacking?

With a topic title of Linux Urban Street Hacking, I wasn't really sure what to expect. William Porquet turned the important but dry subject of security into an interesting talk with his personal "war stories" about his experiences with broken security systems. At the same time he offered sound, simple advice for keeping yourself reasonably secure on line. Many on these things may seem obvious but are worth repeating nonetheless.

Millimeter Wave Scanner

Here's something I've been pondering about the millimeter wave scanners that are the new hotness for security paranoids everywhere. Since the scanner apparently doesn't penetrate too deeply into the tissue, what if a device is surgically implanted? I mean, we are dealing with fanatics here, so this doesn't strike me as being beyond the bounds of possibility. I'm just saying, is all. ^-^;