I Tanked at Gardening this Year

Look, I even killed ferns – the world’s heartiest plant.

Why? By the time I got my act together to plant seeds it was mid-August, way too late. I kept forgetting to water regularly because I thought rain water was enough. And I’m supposed to find time to weed?

While I’m not the most embarrassing house on these street – lawn is usually cut and porch swept – I’m far from the most together.

Canadian Tire even sent me the below package of encouragement, along with the flower seeds I requested for my bathtub… and still I tanked it. They know me well too, and sent stuff that was “just add water.”

However!

According to the labels, this stuff will store fine over the winter provided it is NOT opened.

The added bonus is gardening items are on sale right now at Canadian Tire.

I’ve seen the above items priced at half-off. So go shopping now, and I scheduled a post for May 3, 2016 to remind us to plant the seeds.

***

No money was exchanged for this post.

Canadian Tire sent me their products, so I tested them then typed my impression. This is a beta test of my latest idea.

 

 

80% of Prox Card Readers are Now Vulnerable

A pair of security researchers introduced BLEKey at the 2015 Black Hat Security Conference.

It’s such a high percentage – 80% – because really, all proximity card readers are made by 1 of 2 companies. Actually, if you use one to get into work, I bet it’s a HID unit.

The BLEKey (Bluetooth low energy key) can be installed in 60 seconds by attaching it to the reader via 3 wires. Then, when paired with a mobile phone, this $10 device can open a proximity card protected door.

1 – Bluetooth

2 – processor

3 – where the 3 wires attach (2 data, 1 power)

4 – battery

Once in place, it can clone cards, remotely open the door, or disable the door entirely for 2 minutes after the attacker is through.

Business Owners:

At the conference, the pair threw 200 BLEKeys into the crowd, and made available both the code, and unit for sale; it’s now out there.

To protect your business, they suggest ensuring tamper detection is turned on, and make sure to monitor the logs for anomalies. Also monitor the camera by the door, to stop an attacker from installing one into your reader.

Pentesters:

Add this to your kit. It could make the physical portion of your pentest smoother, especially since sensitive areas are often protected by prox cards.

Or use it to mess with the company’s logs.

Get the code here – GitHub

Here’s the are the guys behind BLEKey and the best part is… they’re Canadian! They also received the most cheers of all the presentations I attended.

Left is Eric Evenchick, and right is Mark Baseggio.

From Black Hat 2015

Blog tag = Black Hat

 

 

Trying to Define What Makes a Luxury Vehicle

At what point does a regular vehicle become a luxury one?

It’s tough to pin down! In trying to find one defining element, instead I came up with a bunch of what it’s not –

  • it’s not price,
  • nor number of units sold,
  • it’s not the type of gas it uses,
  • it’s not the number of features it’s equipped with,
  • nor the type of materials it’s finished with.

Plus! People’s benchmark of luxury can vary greatly.. what’s really nice to one may not to another, like – they’re happy with jewelry from People’s, I prefer Piaget.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

The only argument that seems to hold is in regards to the one thing that can’t be held or touched – perception. Perhaps that’s it, then – luxury is defined by whoever’s advertising dollars are better at convincing us that something is high-end.

***

Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index