Windows 8.0/8.1 Start Button

I don't know how useful this can be for you but for those of us who needed to buy a new laptop and had Windows 8.0/8.1 this little application may be use. Classic Shell brings back the Start Button [1]. 

[1] http://www.classicshell.net/gallery/

SanDisk 64 GB USB 3.0 Extreme - Speed Test

Recently purchased one of the SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drives which claims to be x45 times faster than USB 2.0. Based on the company's specifications, this Extreme USB is capable of 245MB/s read speed and 190MB/s write speed. 

I wanted to test it over different systems in order to note the speed variations. 
So, this post is just to give out some figures to anyone who wants to have an idea about the performance of this flash drive.

upnp.ninja

U Plug, We Play, was the title of David Middlehurst’s (@dtmsecurity) presentation at the BSides Manchester conference. The presentation was about a new open source tool called 'UPnP Pentest Tookit' [1]  he developed and released on the day of the conference. I had the chance to catch up with David at the London Trust Forum the other day and shared some thoughts about the tool. I am 'a bit' of a geek so the next day after the BSides Manchester conference, it was the first thing I wanted to test. I downloaded the tool and started scanning my home devices. 

Well done David!

[1] upnp.ninja

London Trust Forum

I was invited to attend the London Trust Forum organised by NCC where Andy Davis talked about CANimation and highlighting the security threats to automotive systems. A very interesting talk on how you can hack into cars when you have physical access to them or in some occasions, remotely! 

It was really nice to see familiar faces at the event and catch up with Dr. Jessica Barker (@drjessicabarker), David Middlehurst (@dtmsecurity) , @netbiosX and @Emil_i.

Looking forward to the next Trust Forum event already!

BSides Manchester 2014

It was really nice to be invited to present at BSides Manchester (@BSidesMCR) this year [1]. Very interesting talks and one of the most organised events I have ever been. On-time information on the website and clear instructions about the event . I really enjoyed both days and tried to attend as many talks as I could. 

On the second day, I was presenting about the security of Point of Sale (POS) devices. These devices have a number of “features” which can be used to allow someone to deviate from payment process in a number of different ways. More specifically, it is possible to complete a transaction without actually being charged, pay with someone else’s card without knowing the PIN or even get paid instead of paying. The presentation gave a good understanding on how these devices work and basically demonstrated a number of “magic tricks” on how one could actually live for free! I was overwhelmed from the number of people attended the talk and their enthusiasm on the subject. Thank you all for your kind words, tweets and re-tweets, much appreciated.