Tag Archive for DRM

| February 3, 2024
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HP Greedflation

GHP Greedflationreedflation prevails more among companies with near-monopolies. In such instances, customers have little choice but to pay the listed price for the good or service due to limited alternatives. Greedflation price hikes are not tied to a legitimate need for a rise in the cost of a good or service.

HP drives greedflation. HP drive greedflation by continuously releasing software updates for its Dynamic Security system. This system bricks HP printers when they’re used with third-party ink cartridges. Resulting in several lawsuits.

HP greedflation

HP CEO Enrique Lores told CNBC, why the company pushes the maligned software. Ars Technica says that the reason for persistently pushing the hated software, is HP’s aim to transform printing into a subscription-based service. Lores said, “Our long-term objective is to make printing a subscription … This is really what we have been driving.”

Lores states that HP locks users out of using HP printers when loaded with a non-HP ink cartridge to protect customers against potential viruses. Lores claims, “We have seen that you can embed viruses in the cartridges … Through the cartridge, [the virus can] go to the printer, [and then] from the printer, go to the network.”

BSFake claims

Security experts call BS on Lores. The plausibility of a virus in an ink cartridge being used to perpetrate an attack is low. even calling it “wildly implausible even in a lab setting, let alone in the wild.” Ars points out that HP released HP released Dynamic Security released back in 2016. However, the “research” justifying the cartridge threat didn’t come out till 2022. Additionally, HP established a bug bounty program in 2020. The bounty has largely been aimed at identifying third-party cartridges according to Digital Trends. HP claims third-party cartridges violate its intellectual property (IP) and is another argument for bricking consumers’ printers.

HP Cloud manGreedflation – the real reason

The security claim is weak at best. Their decision is to lock their customers HP’s ecosystem to boost profits. Lores told Ars “… this customer doesn’t print enough or doesn’t use our supplies, it’s a bad investment.”

HP’s Instant Ink plan is an example of a subscription service. The Instant Ink plan charges $1.49 per month to print 10 pages, in addition to the cost of buying your printer. Additional pages are available in sets of 10-15 pages, for $1.00 more per set. The cost to the user rises to $27.99 per month on top of the $549.00 base price for a low-volume printer like the HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M283fdw, plus shipping.

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So, after 3 years of service, you end up paying HP $1,367 for the purchase price for the rights to use your $549 printer. That is 2.5 times the cost subscription over the purchase price.

I know what this customer thinks of this HP greedflation.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| November 7, 2020
Comments Off on Why Do We Call Them Dongles

Why Do We Call Them Dongles

Why Do We Call Them DonglesIf you remember the days before digital rights management (DRM) you also remember having to connect a piece of hardware to your PC to make a piece of software work. The hardware required to activate your software was commonly referred to as a ‘Smart Key.’ Smart keys or dongles are plugged into a computer port and controlled your access to one or more software applications – early copyright protection.

Avid dongleThe first time I ran into a “smart key” was setting up an Avid video editing system on a fancy new PowerMac G3 back in the day. More recently I saw techs struggle to set up a way to use a “not so smart key” in a high availability VM environment. “Dongle” now refers to “any small module that plugs in and sticks out of a socket.” But why are these things commonly call dongles and where did the weird word actually come from? That’s a matter of debate — The Atlantic dangles several promising origin stories.

Dongle origin stories

A Poetic Origin – The oldest theory is that dongle came, from the literary world. The article explains that the word “dongle” has been frequently used in poetry, as an onomatopoeic term for the ringing of bells (as in “ding-dong”). As an example, this 1915 poem, “The Bells of Berlin”:

ding-dong"

The Bells of Berlin, how they hearten the Hun
(Oh dingle dong dangle ling dongle ding dee);
No matter what devil’s own work has been done
They chime a loud chant of approval, each one,
Till the people feel sure of their place in the sun
(Oh dangle ding dongle dong dingle ding dee).

Ummmm – Does that ring a bell with anybody?

A College Entrance Exam – If the poetry idea does not ring true for you – the author offers another theory. They found a claim by Ian Kemmish in a chat about the etymology of “dongle” has its roots in a logic question in a Cambridge college entrance exam.

The first time I saw the word was … in 1976 … It was a “logic” question. The question college entrance examdescribed a mythical computer with various controls … described various combinations of control actions and their outcomes (‘the babbocks break’, ‘the dongles droop’ etc) … ‘dongle’ was coined by someone who had taken that paper … remembered the word used to describe something on a computer that drooped….

Well – Does that origin story make the grade?

Another UK theory  – The University of Pennsylvania’s language log says the word ‘dongle’ emerged around 1980. They base the claim on the U.K. magazine MicroComputer Printout’s report that dongle, “has been appearing in many articles with reference to security systems for computer software.”

Rainbow serial dongleA Madison Avenue Invention – If U.K. origins don’t work – the article tries to sell you another one. The word “dongle” appears in a 1992 ad for the information-security company Rainbow Technologies (SafeNet >> Thales), in Byte Magazine. The ad claimed that “dongle” was a derivation of its inventor, Mr. “Don Gall.” This was untrue, Ben Zimmer on the NYT notes, that the story, “was so egregiously false that the company happily owned up to it as a marketing ploy when pressed …”

A Corruption of the Word “Dangle”- According to P.B. Schneck in the 1999 IEEE paper Persistent access control to prevent piracy of digital information “… the word may be a corruption of ‘dangle,’  … given the shape of most dongles … though it doesn’t directly explain the shift in vowels form “a” to “o.”

It is Magic – The Atlantic seems to give up and attributed the origin of “dongle” to an unknown neologizer. They conclude that “dongle” just sprung up from the minds of some unknown figure in a process of “de novo creation.” One expert blames the phenomena of phonesthesia, or sound symbolism. He believes dongle, ” … appeared out of the blue in recent decades — among them bling, bonkers, bungee, dweeb, glitzy, gunk, and wonk.”

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Despite not knowing why we call them dongles – dongles are still with us.

Want to connect your laptop to a television? You’ll need a dongle.

Want to track your dog’s activity? Buy a dongle.

Trying Chromecast? You’ll also be dongling.

They are still causing much frustration and controversy.

The ultimate solution to the HA VM dongle problems was to and replace the application – In the interim, they used a Digi usb anywhere device to get more than one VM to connect to the Digi device.

Stay safe out there!

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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| March 26, 2011
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iPad Notes

Researchers Outline iOS Attack to Access Stored Passwords in Six Minutes

Researchers Outline iOS Attack to Access Stored Passwords in Six MinutesFierceCIO reports that researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology say (PDF) they can break into an Apple (AAPL) iOS device (iPhone or iPad) to extract stored passwords in just six minutes. The attack requires physical access to the iOS device. Once boosted, large swaths of the iOS file system could be swiftly pried open by hackers.

Data that can be exploited include account passwords for MS Exchange ActiveSync, LDAP, VPN, and Wi-Fi. A successful attack starts with a jailbreak, followed by installing an SSH server to load a script to get access to the keychain entries which contain the passwords.

Based on this weakness, the author says that iOS needs work, “… a proper implementation of security using best practices could require a rewriting of key security components in Apple’s iOS.” He concludes that “… organizations deploying the iOS hardware at the moment might find it prudent to perform encryption at the app level instead of relying on the iPhone’s or iPad’s broken passphrase system.”

iPhone Password Hack Shows Flawed Security Model

iPhone Password Hack Shows Flawed Security ModelArs Technica has a different article on the latest iOS vulnerability. Ars argues that the attack isn’t entirely new, and is actually a product of Apple’s “DRM approach” to security. Forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski told Ars that similar exploits have been around since Apple introduced the iPhone 3G. According to Mr. Zdziarski,

The real problem is that Apple hasn’t yet fully implemented a truly secure environment for iOS. Apple has … been relying on their DRM know-how, and just erasing the label that says ‘DRM’ and calling it ‘security. The problem with this is that DRM only makes things a little more difficult for hackers.”

“Real security relies on the strength of the key, and the secrecy of the key,” Mr. Zdziarski continued. “And as long as the keys are all stored on the iPhone and don’t rely on a user password, they can easily be compromised.”

The Ars article says that while Apple has continually improved the iDevices information security, they all have the same flaws. Mr. Zdziarski told Ars he believes Apple is pushing to make iOS devices compliant with the FIPS 140-2 (PDF) security standards. However, he warns that. “… at the end of the day … Apple will need to abandon their DRM approach if they want true security, as opposed to just some fancy marketing strategies.”

VMware Unleashes Virtual Desktops for Apple iPad

VMware Unleashes Virtual Desktops for Apple iPadNetwork World is reporting that VMware (VMW) has released VMware View Client for iPad to the Apple App Store. “We’ve been working on it since the middle of last year,” says Pat Lee, director of end-user computing clients at VMware.

VMware said it had trouble making Windows work as a virtual desktop on the iPad. “Windows really isn’t touch-savvy,” Lee says. VMware tried to adapt the iPad experience to Windows. “We spent a lot of time building custom gestures to make sure it blends into the iOS experience,” Lee says.

VMware created a virtual trackpad that can appear on the screen. “We want it to be as logical as possible,” Lee says. VMware promised “instant-on” access to Windows desktops from the iPad, as well as support for Bluetooth keyboards. VMware is using  PCoIP to deliver the remote desktops and says the client will offer a secure connection to server-hosted desktops.  The View client for iPad will be free for existing users, who are charged either $150 or $250 per seat.

The VMware announcement comes after Citrix (CTXS)  released Receiver for iPad, and Parallels developed Parallel’s Mobile, an iPad desktop application.

Contracts HD for iPad: Give Contracts the Finger

Contracts HD for iPad: Give Contracts the FingerHat tip to AppScout for finding Contracts HD for iPad. They say that it is one of those apps that is breathing life into the existence and usefulness of the tablet device. Contracts HD is designed to allow any Apple (AAPL) iPad user to create, collaborate, sign, and email completed contracts using iPad’s dynamic touch-screen interface. The app also provides a database of contract templates for which anyone can add an addendum to all existing contracts, auto-fill appropriate fields within the contract with your exact information, and allows both parties to sign contracts safely and securely by using a fingertip.

Once the contract is signed, and all parties have received their PDF copies via email, you can save contracts to a secure archive for easy access later. Contracts HD also has a little brother app for iPhone that enables you to synchronize contracts between devices.  Contracts HD for iPad is $9.99 in the iTunes App Store ($4.99 for the iPhone version).

 

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

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