Archive for September 2014

How safe 5V PSU is built

I have posted some teardowns of serveral electronics devices and have some notes on their electrical safety. Examples of ones with questionable safety were this is tiny USB charger and this USB charger. The later USB charger posting has also example of power supply that seems to have properly built safety in it. But how

Secure software design tips

Avoiding the top 10 software security design flaws is a document published as part of the IEEE Computer Society cybersecurity initiative.  IEEE Computer Society Center for Secure Design. The Center intends to shift some of the focus in security from finding bugs to identifying common design flaws in the hope that software architects can learn

Add print to Firefox context menu

I wanted to have Print functionality on Firefox context menu (the menu that comes visible when I press mouse right button). I do not always want to click the dialogue box all the time when I want to print something. Or move hand to keyboard to use the Ctrl+P keyboard shortcut. The easiest solution tip

Teardown of cheap USB charger

One day I bough a very cheap quite nice looking (if you like Apple style) very cheap (2 USD) USB charger from dx.com. I was curious to see if anything useful could be built this cheaply. The product USB Power Charger Adapter – White (EU Plug / 100~240V) carried SKU 176662 code, but there does

The Evolution of ATM Skimmers

Taking a Trip to the ATM? Beware of ‘Skimmers’. Skimming is the theft of credit card information used in an otherwise legitimate transaction. Instances of skimming have been reported where the perpetrator has put a device over the card slot of an ATM (automated teller machine), which reads the magnetic strip as the user unknowingly