Comments on: A simple step to social media altruism

By: robojiannis

robojiannis — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:27:59 +0000

@Jim
If you are talking about breaking the web, I think it’s much more difficult. The internet is a decentralized network.
The cracker must choose very wisely which consoles to infect and it is still not certain if the effort does any actual damage

By: Jim (roboRobert)

Jim (roboRobert) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:22:22 +0000

protein folding is just the beginning… with all these internet connected gaming consoles out there… a hacker could build a password cracking program with relatively few infected consoles and brute force incredibly long passwords in VERY little time (like days)

By: robojiannis

robojiannis — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:51:24 +0000

@Rytis
Thanks for dropping by. You surely cleared out the field on the security of BOINC.
I’m now looking at the primegrid project and it seems really interesting; I admit though, that my math knowledge are at a level, where I pretend to understand but I actually don’t

By: Rytis

Rytis — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:01:22 +0000

Hello all,

I am one of the developers of the BOINC system, and I’m running my own project (PrimeGrid, http://www.primegrid.com - if you’d want to attach :)).

First of all, security is our main concern. If we had virus outbreaks or other malicious activity, this would mean the end for our work - the news spread fast. That is why we spend a lot of time making sure we don’t have any holes for viruses (or any other malicious activity) to spread. Communication is done via HTTP protocol, all application files are verified using private/public key model, which means that if the files are tampered with during the transfer from the server to participant’s computer, the client will simply discard it. And in order for hackers to publish their own applications if they hack into the project’s server, they would have to know private key of the project, which is very strongly recommended NOT to have in the server machine.

Of course, nobody can stop malicious people from starting their own “bad” project. This is why you should read about the project you are planning to join. I think it’s pretty safe to join any of the projects listed in the official website (the list is also downloaded to the client application, using the same security mechanisms).

Another thing to note about security: World Community Grid, one of the major BOINC projects, is run by IBM corporation, and is running on most of IBM’s desktop PCs. In order for this software to be allowed on the company’s network, IBM conducted a security review, which BOINC passed just fine.

I hope I’ve diminished your concerns, waiting for you to come aboard and crunch

By: robojiannis

robojiannis — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:13:28 +0000

When you decide, which project you support you just give the url of this project. So I suppose the software doesn’t work like p2p but more like a browser. I think it is just like visiting the project’s site and trading data.
I haven’t seen any ports opening or anything like that.
But I’m not sure about it. The FAQ of BOINC didn’t give any insights either.

By: Open Social How To » A simple step to social media altruism

Open Social How To » A simple step to social media altruism — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:32:58 +0000

[...] Original post by social media and green horses [...]

By: KnPhotographic

KnPhotographic — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:40:36 +0000

A simple step to social media altruism…

The explosion of the social web has redefined the way we perceive
social connections, our individual role in the social grid (may it be
online or offline) and the importance of the collective intellig…

By: Paul M. Banas

Paul M. Banas — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:05:12 +0000

Glad to see that you’re still posting! It wasn’t clear if you’d still be working with this site now that your research is over.

On distributed computing, would this type of thing open my mac up to viruses and malware and such? I keep my firewall closed, and it always surprises me to look at my firewall log and see all the evil little bots out there just pinging to get in.

Forgive me for the potentially ignorant question, it’s just that understanding PC security is not my strong suit.