Call For Papers

Black Hat USA 2006, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Papers and presentations are now being accepted for the Black Hat USA 2006 Briefings.
Papers and requests to speak will be received and reviewed from now until May 1, 2006.

Submit by completing the submissions form.
We strongly suggest that you submit earlier than later since we will close the CFP early if we receive enough quality submissions to fill the slots.

WHAT IS THE BLACK HAT BRIEFINGS?

The Black Hat Briefings was created to fill the need for computer security professionals to better understand the security risks to information infrastructures and computer systems. Black Hat accomplishes this by assembling a group of vendor-neutral security professionals and having them speak candidly about the problems businesses face and the solutions to those problems. No gimmicks— just straight talk by people who make it their business to know the information security space.

IF YOU WANT TO SUBMIT, PLEASE NOTE:

Black Hat does not accept product or vendor related pitches. If your talk is a thinly-veiled advertisement for a new product or service your company is offering, please do not apply.

Source - Black Hat Main (Digital Self Defense)

Maxxuss Hacks Skype - Releases Patch Allowing 10-way Conference Call For Users In Skype 2.0

It looks like Maxxuss has had some free time after hacking up OS X 10.4.5 to focus his attentions on Skype's attempt to lock their 10-user conference call feature to only users with Intel's processors... From his page:

Recently, Skype and Intel have announced a deal that would limit Skype functionality on all but specific Intel processors. Skype 2.0 offers 10-way conference calls only on Intel’s latest dual-core CPUs, while other chips, including all AMD chips, will only offer 5-way conference calls. It is argued that only those Intel dual-core CPUs meet the requirements - which would imply that no AMD CPU is fast enough. Now, what are these requirements? Is there some kind of micro-benchmark built into Skype which measures the processing speed? Or does Skype look for a specific hidden CPU feature? As the details on the patch reveal, the code logic behind the limitation is quite simple:

If it's a CPU with "GenuineIntel" branding and has at least two cores, then allow 10 users; else limit to 5 users.

His patch works for Skype version 2.0.0.90 (released March 1st).

Source - Maxxuss