Tag Archives: Security

Backdoors and Magic

Posted on 2015-07-29 by jcs

Over at TechCrunch, Jon Evans has a brilliant article entitled Technology Is Magic, Just Ask The Washington Post. In it, he lays waste to the Washington Post’s call for Apple, Google, and others to implement back doors that only law … Continue reading →

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Secure Chatting

Posted on 2015-07-26 by jcs

Over at The Intercept, Micah Lee has an outstanding article on secure chatting. If you need to set up secure chatting with someone or if you simply want all your chats to be free from snooping by the usual Nosy … Continue reading →

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The History of Crypto Backdoors

Posted on 2015-07-25 by jcs

Matthew Green has a nice post recounting the history of government mandated backdoors. If you’re too young to remember the first round of the Crypto Wars from the 1990s, you’ll find Green’s history fascinating. Back then it was about the … Continue reading →

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Put a Fork in it.

Posted on 2015-07-23 by jcs

Finally, there’s a real push to get rid of one of the worst exploit vectors. Ever since Alex Stamos’ tweet calling for an end-of-life for Flash there is accelerating agreement that it’s time to kill flash. The idea of Flash … Continue reading →

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Moxie Marlinspike

Posted on 2015-07-18 by jcs

I’ve written many times about the need to make email encryption accessible to Aunt Millie (see here, here, and here for example). Sadly, it’s a really hard problem. Now, maybe there’s some hope. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting … Continue reading →

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There is No Internet of Things

Posted on 2015-07-16 by jcs

A useful corollary to There is No Cloud. There is no Internet of Things, only other people's computers in your house. — Jacob H-A (@j4cob) July 15, 2015 In many ways, this is worse. Who knows what all those computers … Continue reading →

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Flash and Security

Posted on 2015-07-02 by jcs

In an editor’s note to the SANS Newsbites piece on Flash being used as a vector for the ransomware CryptoWall, William Hugh Murray speaks the uncomfortable truth on what Flash tells us about security.

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Schneier on Why We Encrypt

Posted on 2015-06-28 by jcs

Bruce Schneier has a nice post on Why We Encrypt. Encryption maintains our privacy, keeps our money safe, and, sometimes, saves our lives. Most Irreal readers will be familiar with these reasons but here’s another that we hear about less … Continue reading →

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There is No Cloud

Posted on 2015-06-23 by jcs

A handy reminder from vierito5 (via Karl Voit): Periodic reminder: There is no Cloud. It's just someone else's computer. pic.twitter.com/v4MxtTHR0f — vierito5 (@vierito5) June 15, 2015

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Computer Security and the U.S. Government

Posted on 2015-06-20 by jcs

If you’re interested in security, you really should subscribe to the semiweekly SANS Newsbites newsletter. The subscription is free except for the occasional email notifications of SANS courses and events. Each letter comprises a series of short (typically a paragraph … Continue reading →

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