Banksy hits Disneyland

Prolific UK graffiti artist Banksy switched gears this week, following up on his cheeky hack of Paris Hilton’s CD launch with a disturbing attack on that bulwark of all things wholesome and good, Disneyland. Somehow, Bansky managed to get into the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Ride with a life-size figurine of a Guantanamo Bay detainee. The figurine was positioned behind a fence so as to appear imprisoned to passers-by. According to the BBC, the figurine stood for about 90 minutes before the ride was shut down.

Flickr user madeofchalk has a banksy photoset with a couple shots from the installation. Also, if you’re going to be in LA between September 15th and 17th, keep an eye on Banksy’s site for the location of a secret “three day vandalized warehouse extravaganza.”

Paul Saffo on biometrics hacking

IFTF’s Paul Saffo succinctly summarizes the potential risks of ubiquitous biometric ID technology:

A Japanese cryptographer has demonstrated how, with a bit of gummi bear gelatin, some cyanoacrylic glue, a digital camera and a bit of digital fiddling, he can easily capture a print off a glass and confect an artificial finger that foils fingerprint readers with an 80 percent success rate. Frightening as this is, at least the stunt is far less grisly than the tale, perhaps aprocryphal, of some South African crooks who snipped the finger off an elderly retiree, rushed her still-warm digit down to a government ATM, stuck it on the print reader and collected the victim’s pension payment. (Washington Post)