Author: Michael

New algorithm shakes up cryptography

Researchers at the CNRS Lorraine Laboratory of Research in Computer Science and its Applications and the University of Paris’ Computer Science Laboratory have uncovered a flaw in cryptography security. Their work discredits several cryptographic systems that until now were assumed to provide sufficient security safeguards. The team has solved one aspect of the discrete logarithm problem, considered to be one of the chief goals of algorithmic number theory, which serves as the foundation for the security of many of today’s cryptographic systems. The researchers have devised an algorithm that is able to solve increasingly large discrete logarithm problems, while its computing time increases at a far slower rate than with previous algorithms. As a result, computation is made considerably easier. However, the researchers note the work is still theoretical and needs to be refined before it is possible to provide a practical demonstration of the weakness of this variant of the discrete logarithm. Nonetheless, they say it is likely to impact cryptographic applications of smart cards, radio-frequency identification chips, and other security devices.

New algorithm shakes up cryptography — ScienceDaily.

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding

Since December, 20,000 teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade have introduced coding lessons, according to Code.org, a group backed by the tech industry that offers free curriculums. In addition, some 30 school districts, including New York City and Chicago, have agreed to add coding classes in the fall, mainly in high schools but in lower grades, too. And policy makers in nine states have begun awarding the same credits for computer science classes that they do for basic math and science courses, rather than treating them as electives.

via Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding – NYTimes.com.

TAPPS 2014 talk “How safe is your data?”

TAPPS - Training Seminar Spring 2014Today I gave a talk at TAPPS (the Toronto Association of Police and Private Security), tilted How safe is your data?  Here are the slides on SlideShare.

Here are some of the sources cited in the presentation:

I have also used the following videos:

and the presentation included this video that I did not show:

Also, I would like to point out that for the presentation slides I used the the Google Go present package. It runs a web server that presents slide and article files from the current directory. It may be run as a stand-alone command or an App Engine app. The stand-alone version permits the execution of programs from within a presentation. I have written some more about it in post 448.

Tech leaders want more computer education in California schools

Leaders of key technology companies including Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Salesforce.com have written to the Governor of California Jerry Brown offering to partner with the state to increase computer education in kindergarten to 12th grade schools.

90 percent of these K-12 schools do not currently teach computer science. On the other hand, there is a mismatch between the number of computer science jobs and graduates in the state, according to the letter which is signed by business executives as well as organizations active in the area of education.

via Tech leaders want more computer education in California schools | PCWorld.

The Dartmouth – College celebrates half century of BASIC language

My first programming language was BASIC, and I learned it on ZX Spectrum:

330px-ZX_Spectrum+

I would like to go back, and try it out – I no longer have it. But it required connecting to the TV via the antenna cable, and downloading programs from a tape recorder cassette. Ancient times!

A series of presentations from Dartmouth faculty, students and national experts will mark the 50th anniversary of BASIC at Dartmouth.

The conference’s theme is past, present and future computing, computer science department chair Tom Cormen said. The afternoon will begin with the premiere of a documentary on the history of BASIC, created by filmmakers Bob Drake, Mike Murray and mathematics department chair Dan Rockmore.

via The Dartmouth – College celebrates half century of BASIC language.

Go 1.3’s first beta promises a sleeker, faster language

I came across Google Go when I was teaching concurrency last year (SE3BB4). I really liked the related GoDocs package present. 

Present displays slide presentations and articles. It runs a web server that presents slide and article files from the current directory. It may be run as a stand-alone command or an App Engine app. The stand-alone version permits the execution of programs from within a presentation.

Google’s Go language project, which runs at C-like speeds but allows for the dynamic development usually reserved for languages like Python, is about to enter its 1.3 revision, with a first beta soon to be made available.

Based on the currently published documentation, most of the changes in Go 1.3 don’t involve introducing new features to the language, but rather addressing many of the issues and complaints that have popped up during its few years in the wild. A few of the new features position Go as a one-stop-shop language for all things Google, including the Native Client architecture that Google has been proposing as an alternative to the “JavaScript everywhere” philosophy.

The first set of major improvements to Go 1.3 involve the linker and compiler, both significantly reworked to allow programs — especially larger ones — to compile more quickly. Google has touted Go as a way to build large distributed applications, so having less of a bottleneck on the compiler side is a boon.

via Go 1.3’s first beta promises a sleeker, faster language | Application development – InfoWorld.

Career alert: A Master of analytics degree is the ticket

The toughest part about earning a Master of Science in Analytics at North Carolina State University NCSU may be deciding which job to accept.The 75 students in the class of 2014, which is nearing graduation, received, in total, 246 job offers from 55 employers.Added together, the starting salaries and bonuses offered to grads of the university’s Institute of Advanced Analytics reached $22.5 million, which is 24% higher than last year’s combined offers. This is an analytics program, after all; they keep track of these things.This meant that lot of employers went home unhappy, unable to get the candidate they were after, despite offering nearly six-figure salaries on average — and bonuses as well.High demand by employers is also boosting applications, and that’s reducing acceptance rates.

via Career alert: A Master of analytics degree is the ticket — if you can get into class – Computerworld.

Big bucks going to universities to solve pressing cybersecurity issues

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a three-year, $800,000 grant to the University of Texas at San Antonio Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS), the University of Arkansas System’s Criminal Justice Institute and the University of Memphis’ Center for Information Assurance. They will join forces on research into helping states and communities better prepare for, detect and respond to cyber attacks.

More specifically, the funding will support development of a new training course and the updating of five existing ones through establishment of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC). The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) and the Norwich University Applied Research Institutes (NUARI) will also be part of this outfit.

via Big bucks going to universities to solve pressing cybersecurity issues – Network World.