Why manipulation campaigns are the biggest threat facing the 2020 election
This era of political espionage is rooted in manipulative ads, fake news articles and other forms of digital content. It's one of the nation’s greatest threats, especially as we approach the 2020 presidential election.
Google and Microsoft have gone too far
Google and Microsoft are using dark pattern design to trick or force users to do things they never intended. Is it time to switch to more ethical browsers? (We list 10 alternatives.)
Get the January 2020 Patch Tuesday patches installed
This month has seen a whole lotta hand waving and sky-is-falling-caliber rhetoric, but the reality is much more prosaic. If you aren’t running a major network (and thus aren’t susceptible to the imminent problems with Remote Desktop Gateway, the...
Microsoft Patch Alert: January 2020 patches look relatively benign
The big patching problems this month fell at the feet of admins who had to deal with an unholy mess of pressing exposures: Fixing the holes in Microsoft’s RD Gateway (CVE-2020-0610; see Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch, paywalled); dealing with...
How to prep for Windows 7, Server 2008 end of life
Still running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008? Take these steps to minimize your risk.
Galaxy users, take note: Samsung’s probably selling your data
Relying on Google services, as most of us Android-carrying primates do, comes with a certain tradeoff. It's no big secret or anything: Google makes its money by selling ads, which are more effective when they're catered to our interests...
Feds may already have found a way to hack into Apple iPhones
Although Apple turned down a request by U.S. Attorney General William Barr to unlock two iPhones used by a terrorist suspect in a recent deadly shooting, the FBI appears to already have the tools needed to access the smartphones.Apple...
Don’t worry about CurveBall just yet — get your Citrix systems patched
Hey, admins! It’s been an exciting week, eh?Most of you have been inundated with requests — demands — that you patch all of your systems immediately to protect them from the highly publicized CVE-2020-0601 Crypt32.dll security hole, known as “Chain Of...
3 reasons you can’t fight facial recognition
The biometrics backlash is but a brief blip. Resistance is futile. You WILL be identified. But is that good or bad?
Worried about an NSA ChainOfFools/CurveBall attack? There are lots of moving parts. Test your system.
If you want to install the January Patch Tuesday patches, by all means, go right ahead. That said, I continue to recommend that you hold off installing the January Microsoft patches until we get a clearer reading on potential...
Kadena launches Chainweb, a hybrid platform to connect public, private blockchains
Brooklyn-based startup Kadena has launched a hybrid blockchain that can scale horizontally, enabling multiple electronic ledgers to talk to each other via smart contracts – and letting users transfer cryptocurrency between the chains.Hybrid blockchains combine permissioned chains for businesses to transact...
Kadena launches a hybrid platform to connect public, private blockchains
Brooklyn-based spinoff Kadena has launched a hybrid blockchain that can scale horizontally, enabling multiple electronic ledgers to talk to each other via smart contracts – and letting users transfer cryptocurrency between the chains.Hybrid blockchains combine permissioned chains for businesses to transact...
Windows 7 end of support: Separating the bull from the horns
No, Windows 7 isn’t dead.No, you don’t need to buy a Win10 computer. No, you don’t need to upgrade.No, you don’t need to install the latest Win7 patches right away.No, Microsoft isn’t withdrawing its unofficial nod-and-a-wink free upgrade from Win7...
Patch Tuesday aftermath: The NSA Crypt32 threat is real, but not yet imminent
Get ready for your local news station’s weather reporter to start lecturing on the importance of installing Windows patches.Yesterday we were treated to a remarkable Patch Tuesday. “Remarkable” specifically in the sense that the U.S. National Security Agency was...
Breaking iPhone encryption won’t make anyone safer
Imagine all your tax documentation could be examined by officials from any government merely on suspicion. That’s the future some governments are pushing for when they demand Apple puts security backdoors into its products.Making no one safe
Think about the...
DEF CON China conference put on hold due to coronavirus outbreak
DEF CON team is hoping that the 2019-nCoV outbreak will improve and they can go on as planned, or reschedule.
Remember the Clipper chip? NSA’s botched backdoor-for-Feds from 1993 still influences today’s encryption debates
We'll laugh at today's mandated holes in the same way we laugh at those from 25 years ago Enigma More than a quarter century after its introduction, the failed rollout of hardware deliberately backdoored by the NSA is still...
Average Ransomware Payments More Than Doubled in Q4 2019
Ransomware attackers collected an average of around $84,000 from victim organizations, up from $41,000 in Q3 of 2018, Coveware says.
Seven Years Later, Scores of EAS Systems sit Un-patched, Vulnerable
Two years after a false EAS alert about an incoming ICBM sowed terror in Hawaii, and seven years after security researchers warned about insecure, Internet connected Emergency Alert System (EAS) hardware, scores of the devices across the U.S. remain...
One Small Fix Would Curb Stingray Surveillance
The technology needed to limit stingrays is clear—but good luck getting telecoms on board.
