SafeSign and Apple OSX Snow Leopard

Last week I got an e-mail from one of the product managers @ AET Europe regarding the availability of SafeSign / Tokenlounge for OSX Snow Leopard.

The content of the e-mail wasn't very encouraging.... It seems that the Snow Leopard of SafeSign / Tokenlounge release is delayed by a bug in the Apple Keychain;

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We use systemkeychain -T to create a login keychain (for a new FV user) associated with our token. When trying to unlock this newly created keychain during login with the smartcard, we get prompted with the "unable to unlock login keychain" panel - as you have observed -.
This is basically our main concern, as this was perfectly running under 10.5. Any idea why the system wants to update the login keychain password, prompting the user with that panel???

What we have discovered beside, is that when you click Create New Keychain on that panel, the keychain gets encrypted with the PIN of the smartcard instead of the RSA key, which is a major security issue (Same behavior if you click Update Keychain Password)...
You can easily verify this last issue by removing your smartcard, launching Keychain Access and entering your PIN code to unlock the keychain...

Once again, we didn't have this kind of problems with Leopard.

As long as this issue isn't resolved, there will be no version for Snow Leopard. The (security) risk is just too big.
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So, we need to be patient, and wait till Apple solves this. In the mean time, when you need the SafeSign software for your every day work, you shouldn't upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Check the follow-up on the original SafeSign post for the availability on the Leopard version of SafeSign / Tokenlounge.

Installing & Configuring CentOS 5.4 (Day 2)

Oké. Day 2. After the successful installation and configuration of CentOS with Adobe Coldfusion, I needed to install MySQL as a database. So, I started the virtual machine, and found out why Linux will (probably) never cut it as a common desktop environment.

X11 - No DesktopYesterday I (properly) shutdown the system (which had the GNOME Desktop), and today it started with some back to the 60's desktop. Every icon gone. All that I'm left with was a terminal window, clock, and a FireFox window. This environment is the basic X11 desktop.

Click to read more ...

Adobe Coldfusion 9 on CentOS 5.4 (x64)

Updated on Monday, April 5, 2010 at 18:53 by Willem

A while back I figured out how to install Adobe (could have been Macromedia back then) Coldfusion MX on an Ubuntu linux server. This config still runs as it should, but in the mean time several things have changed in the world of software. I've been leaning towards Centos 5.4, and Adobe released Coldfusion 9 somewhere in 2009. These two 'events' made me decide to combine the two.

Before I continue, I must warn you that the Coldfusion installer is still broken..... So there's some manipulation of code involved.

Since the new 'server' is going to run in a virtual environment I started in a VMWare Workstation. This way I could make snapshots of my progress. This made it easier to start from scratch. The problem with Linux and me is that I tend to reinstall the OS when things go haywire. So VMWare is a safe way out in this case.

Click to read more ...

Apple Snow Leopard and FileVault (part deux)

Updated on Monday, March 29, 2010 at 23:04 by Willem

A while back, I wrote a couple of blog posts about the FileVault quirks in OSX. The problems seemed to be gone with the upgrade to Snow Leopard, but this week I ran into a (new??) 'feature'?

When I remove a directory on a (SMB) file-share it removes the files and directory (or so it seems). But after a couple of seconds the (empty) directory re-appears.

Click to read more ...

The Twitters Are Gone....

For many, the world is was in disarray. It seems that the Twitters have been hacked (read: defaced) by the infamous (never heard of them though) Iranian Cyber Army.

Twitter rerouted to an Iranian Cyber Army page.

Click to read more ...

Adobe Flash Player Problems

Updated on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 22:26 by Willem

Since I encountered some problems with flash on certain websites, I decided to check if my Flash player has been updated since 1972. Normally you can check the Flash settings (incl auto-update functions) through a page on the Adobe/Macromedia website. Which is weird, since you would think that this is a local setting (incl. privacy settings and audio functionalities).... But no. Macromedia/Adobe decided that you have to do that through their website.
The reason being that they can check whatever you are doing with your player.......

Click to read more ...

The Holidays are Coming?

Is it just me or is the most expensive month of the year coming soon? It's that or there's a new worm/virus/trojan at work trying to deliver spam on my mailserver.

'Great' deals on SoftwareCurrently, I have over a hundred rejections an hour (normally one or two a day), and the ones that make their way through are either;

• 'great' deals on (replica) Rolex, Viagra, Windows/Adobe Software and other stuff, or
• about making >$3000USD a month with only 2 hours of work a day.

Anyway, I hope that the spam protection in the Snow Leopard mail server is as good as my current MDaemon mail server.

Nikon Learn & Explore iPhone App

Nikon Learn & Explore on the iPhoneNikon (USA) launched their Learn & Explore iPhone app. The application is there for you to learn & explore the magical world of Nikon. Learn about shooting techniques by renowned photographers, see photos taken around the world.

A quote from Nikon USA;

Read an article on getting the most from your travel photography while you’re on vacation. Check information on adjusting depth of field or selecting the right shutter speed when you’re taking photos at your child’s sporting event. Access advice on the right aperture for shooting photos indoors when you’re attending a wedding. It’s all there on the Learn & Explore iPhone app. Photography information at your fingertips.

Nice for those moments when you're not busy at all. Light reading material is always welcome. Especially when you can learn something new. So I want this app.....

BUT unfortunatelly, the app is US only(?????). Why? Don't ask me. I already asked Nikon this, but they haven't answered (yet).

I guess Nikon World starts and ends in the US....

Update on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 18:53 by Willem

And yes!!! We have an answer from Nikon. Albeit an automated responds......

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Learn & Explore iPhone App. We are reviewing consumers' comments for future enhancements. In the meantime, we encourage you to visit the Learn & Explore section of NikonUSA.com (http://www.nikonusa.com/L&E) where you will find all the content available on the iPhone as well as additional features such as Capture Your World articles, Nikon Technology descriptions and information on Nikon-sponsored workshops.

Thank you again for your interest in Nikon and the Learn & Explore iPhone App.

The Editor

I wonder if I'll be getting an answer to my responds to their e-mail. I don't think so, since it was kinda explicit (sort of).

Western Digital My Passport Essential Review

Updated on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 15:02 by Willem

In the post before this one I had some trouble with a Freecom XXS USB drive. I had no way of fixing it, so it went back to the store (and basically back to Freecom). But since that drive is used for offsite backups I needed a replacement unit, because the return of the old drive could take several weeks.

This time the Western Digital My Passport Essentials 500GB (2.5" USB powered) disk was chosen. A nice small device with lot's of storage capacity.

Western Digital Proprietary Connector on the LeftUpon opening the box I noticed immediately that there's something 'wrong' with this drive. The cable / USB connector is proprietary. The connector is some sort of ultra-mini-USB format. No need to say that of all the USB cables I collected over the years will ever fit. So I need to be extremely careful with the one I got with the drive.

Since I lose stuff (hell, everyone does), you could expect a blog post of me swearing 'bloody hell' (and stuff) when I have lost the cable.... but I won't, just read the rest of this review.

Click to read more ...

TrueCrypt Bug, or Hardware Failure

For the last couple of years I've been using an offsite backup method. And today the drive I use for that failed on me. My backup program reported that it could write (or read) data to the drive.

Investigation showed that several directories in the TrueCrypt volume were gone!!!!! Thankfully, the data on my Drobo and server were still pristine condition.

Disk Utility and several other tools reported problems with the drive (or at least the TrueCrypt part/volume). So I erased the drive, and re-initialized it. No reports of trouble while I did that. After that I recreated the TrueCrypt volume and restarted the backup to the drive (which takes forever).

All I can do now is wait for the backup to finish, and pray that the house doesn't catch on fire.....

After that a new case for SpinRite.