So, McAfee identifies a single node as "associated" with the incident: li107-40[dot]members[dot]linode[dot]com. And Linode has a post which specifically references a single node being associated but under Google's control and not malicious control at all times.
Doesn't appear to me that there's any contradiction. There is no evidence that a Linode was used for anything malicious. There is evidence that a Linode was used.
I'm not a native French speaker. It's quite possible that minds would be better here. I don't really know; I think the distinction can frequently be subtle, at least in my conception of the two. Depending on the situation, I might consider either to be a strict subset of the other, which means I'm sometimes equivocating.
"I sorta find it amusing that McAfee released a PDF of the white paper, considering that Abode’s PDF Reader is also a popular attack vector. It’s like railing again IE6 being insecure, but using it to post the message that IE6 is insecure."
-From the comments in the original article.
I found the above interesting because it suggests to me one of the fundamental principles of security: we must necessarily try to improve our security from inside of systems which are already insecure.
We could say that no one should ever use an IE with a zero-day vulnerability. And that no one should use pdf because it can be an attack vector. Or view jpegs because there have been embedded executable code vulnerabilities. Or run executable code because sometimes it is malicious.
Security is always a matter of trade-offs. One can never build a house which cannot be broken into but one can build a house that is not worth breaking into.
Sounds like there were a number of vulnerabilities here. It also sounds like improving default settings is one of the best solutions here. But it's clearly not a justification for no longer using SCM, or pdf. Perhaps for old IE.
I've been reading your posts on this thread with fascination. Where exactly were you trained, if I might ask? The streets of Compton? No offense intended, it's just that "heavily injured by a baseball bat during training" doesn't sound like national military to me...
I've always liked reading Dilbert; I've found it to be an interesting and amusing perspective. More serious than most comics yet still humorous. But Scott Adam's writings apart from Dilbert are pretty awesome. The Dilbert Principle especially was a more interesting perspective on management than any management class I've taken.
My best literal-ish interpretation "In the fields of observation (testing?) chance favors only the prepared spirits." It's interesting to me the explicit "only" construction, as opposed to the implied version in the typical English versions.
Because success is a problem to be prepared for.
Also because Primer is awesome.