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Researchers Criticize 3D Secure Credit Card Authentication

sparky3887 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:13:06 +0000

University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory researchers Steven J. Murdoch and Ross Anderson contend in a paper that the 3D Secure (3DS) credit card authentication system branded as the MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa schemes is deeply flawed. The researchers call attention to a number of vulnerabilities. For instance, the mechanism used to display the 3DS form is incorporated within an iframe or pop-up with no address bar, leaving no clue as to the form’s origin. This conflicts with banks’ recommendation to customers to avoid phishing sites by only entering bank passwords into sites they can identify as the bank’s own site. The initial password entry process that takes place the first time a cardholder uses a 3DS-enabled card to shop online also is a point of criticism, as the user is asked to enter a new password as part of the process of facilitating the purchase. Murdoch and Anderson argue that the timing of this request is wrong, as the shopper is probably more interested in the transaction than security and is more likely to select a weak password. The paper cites the single sign-on model that the 3DS system deploys as inappropriate, and says that it should be supplanted by a transaction authentication system in which a user receives a SMS message asking for an authorization code from the shopper.

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3D Mash-Up Maps Let You ‘Edit’ the World

sparky3887 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:42:15 +0000

Accurate, large-scale three-dimensional (3D) computer maps could soon revolutionize how people manage and relate to urban environments. “Everyone is now familiar with 3D maps, we’re trying to take them beyond simple visualization,” says Glen Hart, the head of research at Ordnance Survey, the United Kingdom’s mapping agency. In a project to demonstrate the potential of 3D mapping, researchers used Lidar technology to capture the height of buildings, trees, and other features in Bournemouth, a coastal resort town in south England. Combining the Lidar scans with information from aerial photos and traditional surveys produces a full-color 3D map, built from more than 700 million points and accurate to 4 centimeters in x, y, and z. In comparison, the 3D structures in Google Earth are accurate to about 15 meters. Other efforts to advance 3D mapping include transferring the overlaying techniques already used on detailed digital two-dimensional maps to large-scale 3D maps, including information such as the layout of electric cables or data on air pollution. “Now it’s not just buildings, but floors within the building that could be annotated,” Hart says. The newest generation of maps can capture information such as mailboxes and lamp posts, which are too small to appear on existing city-scale virtual maps. They also can be used to simulate how a proposed building would affect available light in neighboring buildings, for example, or predict wind corridors or dead spots in cell coverage.

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SIGGRAPH Announces Stereoscopic 3D Cinema and Home Theater Trends

sparky3887 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:05:56 +0000

ACM’s SIGGRAPH 2009 conference will take a comprehensive look at how stereoscopic 3D will impact the movie industry as well as the home theater in the years to come. “The Computer Animation Festival programming aims to give the attendees, whether they have a technical or a general entertainment interest in 3D, a full view of what is happening with the genre, both artistically and technically as it evolves,” says Carlye Archibeque, executive producer of the festival. “Stereoscopic filmmaking is a technology that is going to go from the cinema experience to the home theater environment faster than we expected, and this content will provide the information needed to understand what’s coming in the very near future.” Sony’s Peter Lude will provide an overview of the issues involved in bringing stereoscopic content to the home, while Bob Whitehill of Pixar Animation Studios will discuss how 3D is used as a visual storytelling device. And the Sony Pictures Imageworks production team will discuss and demonstrate some of their work related to the film “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” The festival also will offer a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s 3D films, and provide additional programs on stereoscopic gaming, scientific and biomedical research, and the evolution of 3D standards for film, broadcast, and the home. SIGGRAPH 2009 will take place Aug. 3-7 in New Orleans.

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No More Geeky Glasses to Watch 3D

sparky3887 — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:00:48 +0000

European researchers are working on technology that may make it unnecessary to wear special eyewear in order to watch three-dimensional (3D) video. The breakthrough was accomplished through the HOLOVISION project, which ended in April 2008, and the OSIRIS project, which will be completed at the end of 2009. The chief goal of the HOLOVISION effort was to develop technologies that could generate a very high-resolution 3D image. “We basically organized projection engines in a special way and used holographic imaging film for the display screen,” says Akos Demeter of Holografika. “The combination of these, with the projection engines being driven by a cluster of nine high-end PCs, and new sophisticated software, allowed us to achieve our aims.” HOLOVISION yielded a prototype system with about 10 times the resolution of high-definition TV at 25 frames per second in six colors, rather than the standard three. One of OSIRIS’ key objectives is the development of high-resolution, big screen, reflective projection 3D cinema, and the prototype being worked on has a wall-mounted screen and a ceiling-mounted projector. The OSIRIS technology employs an array of mirrors and light sources to provide the re-projected images and give the screen a depth of between 15 and 20 inches. Holografika’s Zsuzsa Dobranyi envisions military combat training and gaming as potential applications for the technology, while computer-aided design and other industrial and professional applications could be rolled out in a matter of months.

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