Tag Archives: Security

Going Dark For Real This Time

Posted on 2026-08-17 by jcs

Most Irreal readers interested in security and privacy are familiar with Matthew Green, a cryptographer at Johns Hopkins University. He’s got a new post up that is terrifying to those of us who want to keep our private things private. … Continue reading →

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Another Reason To Use An Ad Blocker

Posted on 2026-08-05 by jcs

Long term Irreal readers know that I’ve always been ambivalent about ad blockers. On the one hand, many Web sites that provide content need to make money to survive and the only generally effective way of doing that is through … Continue reading →

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Gruber On Apple Advertising

Posted on 2026-07-13 by jcs

John Gruber over at Daring Fireball has an excellent article about the slippery slope Apple is on with their embracing of advertising. I’ve written about this before. For a company like Apple, advertising is deeply corrupting and inevitably ends with … Continue reading →

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Linux Removes Strncpy

Posted on 2026-07-06 by jcs

Back when I learned C, people were still using strcpy and even gets. After a while, people started saying that strcpy wasn’t safe and that you should use strncpy instead to avoid buffer overruns, either accidental or deliberate. Those days … Continue reading →

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Thompson’s Reflections on Trusting Trust revisited

Posted on 2025-10-27 by jcs

As Irreal oldtimers know, My absolute favorite Computer Science paper is Ken Thompson’s Reflections on Trusting Trust. It is truly a thing of beauty. This is a beauty that should be appreciated in stages. In the first stage, we’re introduced … Continue reading →

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The Vacuum From Hell

Posted on 2025-10-15 by jcs

I really like the idea of a smart home. The Irreal bunker hasn’t gone crazy but we do have our TV, many of our lights, our security camera, and our front door locks integrated into the Apple Smart Home environment. … Continue reading →

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The Wages Of Complacency

Posted on 2025-08-04 by jcs

I tell you and tell you and tell you but you don’t listen. “Don’t entrust the only copy of your data to a third party”, I say. “But I’m a good guy and I’m not doing anything controversial. Besides, I’m … Continue reading →

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The UK Is Seeking A Way To Back Down On Encryption

Posted on 2025-07-23 by jcs

As I reported 5 or 6 months ago, the UK decided to issue an order to Apple mandating a backdoor to all their users’ data. Apple responded by simply withdrawing their encryption services from the UK. At the time I … Continue reading →

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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on 2025-07-15 by jcs

Every year or so, Irreal publishes a list of the most popular passwords as determined by those found by exploits. It’s always exciting to see if the perennial favorite password or the hometown favorite (and frequent winner) 123456 will win … Continue reading →

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France Makes The Right Choice

Posted on 2025-03-31 by jcs

Some Americans like to make fun of the French but they’ve recently shown that they’ve got it together a lot more than many governments. The EFF is reporting that France recently rejected a backdoor mandate greatly desired by the Interior … Continue reading →

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