Tag Archive for: computers

Programming for all, part 1: An introduction to writing for computers

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Aurich Lawson

Computers are ubiquitous in modern life. They offer us portals to information and entertainment, and they handle the complex tasks needed to keep many facets of modern society running smoothly. Chances are, there is not a single person in Ars’ readership whose day-to-day existence doesn’t rely on computers in one manner or another. Despite this, very few people know how computers actually do the things that they do. How does one go from what is really nothing more than a collection—a very large collection, mind you—of switches to the things we see powering the modern world?

We’ve arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.

—Carl Sagan

At their base, even though they run much of the world, computers are one thing: stupid. A computer knows nothing. Its brain is little more than a large collection of on/off switches. The fact that you can play video games, browse the Internet, and pump gas at a gas station is thanks to the programs the computers have been given by a human. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the basic concepts of computer programming: how a person teaches a computer something and how the ideas encapsulated in the program go from something we can understand to something a computer understands.

First, it needs to be said that programming is not some black art, something arcane that only the learned few may ever attempt. It is a method of communication whereby a person tells a computer what, exactly, they want it to do. Computers are picky and stupid, but they will indeed do exactly as they are told. Therefore, each program you write should be like an elegant recipe that anyone—including a computer—can follow. Ideally, each step in a program should be clearly described and, if it is complicated, broken down into smaller steps to remove all doubt about what is to happen.

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Ars Technica » Technology Lab

Security Guru Pledges to Strengthen Critical Computers David Talbot – MIT Technology Review (blog)

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Security Guru Pledges to Strengthen Critical Computers David Talbot
MIT Technology Review (blog)
Security Guru Pledges to Strengthen Critical Computers. Computer-security researcher Eugene Kaspersky says he is testing control software that won't run malicious code. By David Talbot on November 23, 2012 …

“computer security” – read more

Bromium secures computers by holding apps in isolation

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Bromium, is releasing software today that could mean the end of computer malware as we know it. They call the software product vSentry and they call the underlying tech the Bromium microvisor.

Essentially this tech gives you a “disposable virtual computer” for every task you do on a Windows PC, cofounder Gaurav Banga told Business Insider. (They will have a version for Macs, too, in a couple of months.)

Think of it like having a thin sheet of glass between each Window and the guts of your PC. So when you go to Facebook, you get a piece of glass, when you check e-mail, you get a new piece of glass and so on. If your computer picks up a virus from e-mail or the ‘net, no matter. It can’t bust through the glass and infect the actual computer. The virus dies when you close the window.

Source: Startup Bromium Could End Computer Viruses Forever

What if you could remove every single restriction, compliance measure, and black list from your IT policy without adding risk to your enterprise?

All software is vulnerable, and all users make mistakes. The result is a recipe for disaster. And so the challenge for IT has always been this: How do we limit risk to the enterprise without disempowering users or damaging their productivity?

In other words, how do we deliver a desktop that embraces both security and freedom?

With Bromium micro-virtualization, we now have an answer: A desktop that is utterly secure and a joy to use. Micro-virtualization uses hardware isolation to securely allow untrustworthy desktop tasks to safely coexist with trusted enterprise applications and data – without risk, with an unchanged user experience.

Inspired by the isolation principles of traditional virtualization, the Bromium Microvisor uses hardware virtualization to automatically, instantly and invisibly isolate each untrustworthy task within a tiny micro-VM that has no access to enterprise data or networks, and which cannot modify the desktop.

Bromium

Shamoon Malware Steals Data, Makes Computers Unusable – PC Magazine

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ZDNet

Shamoon Malware Steals Data, Makes Computers Unusable
PC Magazine
Several security firms this week highlighted new malware that appears to be targeting specific companies in the energy industry. Though Shamoon includes components that reminded security analysts of the Flame malware, the threat does not appear to be …
Shamoon malware infects computers, steals data, then wipes themZDNet
A Sinister New Breed of Malware is GrowingPCWorld (blog)
Malware wars heat up: Shamoon steals, wipes and leaves PCs unbootableComputerworld (blog)
TechNewsWorld –Gizmodo Australia –Ars Technica
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flame malware – read more