When talking security with individuals one often observes a distinction in language that completely changes the meaning of the topic: people talk about wanting to feel secure, which is a very different…
“The only secure computer is one that’s unplugged, locked in a safe, and buried 20 feet under the ground in a secret location… and I’m not even too sure about…
What about that Whatsapp privacy policy change?
30 August 2016
30 August 2016
Information & Communication, Privacy
cybersecurity, messaging, privacy, security, whatsapp
You may have heard recently that Whatsapp’s privacy policy has changed ‘for the worse’ and that it is now sharing user account information with Facebook. What’s that all about and…
Security buzzwords – zero day and APT
20 August 2016
20 August 2016
Information & Communication, Security
advanced persistent threat, apt, buzzword, cybersecurity, security, zero day
Information security / cybersecurity is all over the news these days with a serious hack / breach reported just about every week. News reporters and salesmen are happy to capitalise…
The password-reuse attack
26 June 2016
26 June 2016
Security
attack, cybersecurity, password, password manager, reuse, security
There was news very recently about an online storage provider named Carbonite being “breached” through a password reuse attack. What might that be? It is just as it sounds like:…
The Ransomware Social Contract
29 May 2016
29 May 2016
Ethics & Fraud, Security
criminal, cybersecurity, encryption, malware, ransomware, security
I had been anticipating this for a while: there has finally been a publicly known case where the social contact between ransomware extortionists and their victims had been broken. The contract? That…
On weakening encryption
07 March 2016
07 March 2016
Privacy, Security
cybersecurity, drown, encryption, government, security, vulnerability
It’s history time! While we are discussing Apple vs FBI and the ongoing legal battles over encryption, let’s consider how American politics have already prevented technology from being as good…
Over the past few years, we have had plenty of time to read about the exploits of malicious hackers. These have appeared on the news so many times that we…
Stop hiding behind Terms and Conditions
14 February 2016
14 February 2016
Ethics & Fraud, Information & Communication
ass covering, T&C, terms and conditions, TnC
It was revealed two months ago that toy company VTech was hacked. The criminals broke in and stole information including the birth dates and addresses of millions of children and their…
Free Basics (under the umbrella of internet.org) is a service by Facebook to bring “essential services” of the internet to the unconnected people of the world for free. Doing so would…