Month: July 2018

Nicholas Weaver on Cryptocurrencies

Posted on By infossl
bitcoin, cryptocurrency, riskassessment, risks, Security technology

This is well-worth reading (non-paywalled version). Here’s the opening: Cryptocurrencies, although a seemingly interesting idea, are simply not fit for purpose. They do not work as currencies, they are grossly inefficient, and they are not meaningfully distributed in terms of trust. Risks involving cryptocurrencies occur in four major areas: technical risks to participants, economic risks … Read More “Nicholas Weaver on Cryptocurrencies” »

1Password’s Travel Mode

Posted on By infossl
computersecurity, lies, passwords, Security technology

The 1Password password manager has just introduced “travel mode,” which allows you to delete your stored passwords when you’re in other countries or crossing borders: Your vaults aren’t just hidden; they’re completely removed from your devices as long as Travel Mode is on. That includes every item and all your encryption keys. There are no … Read More “1Password’s Travel Mode” »

New Report on Chinese Intelligence Cyber-Operations

Posted on By infossl
china, cyberespionage, intelligence, Security technology

The company ProtectWise just published a long report linking a bunch of Chinese cyber-operations over the past few years. The always interesting gruqq has some interesting commentary on the group and its tactics. Lots of detailed information in the report, but I admit that I have never heard of ProtectWise or its research team 401TRG. … Read More “New Report on Chinese Intelligence Cyber-Operations” »

Suing South Carolina Because Its Election Machines Are Insecure

Posted on By infossl
courts, nationalsecuritypolicy, Security technology, voting

A group called Protect Democracy is suing South Carolina because its insecure voting machines are effectively denying people the right to vote. Note: I am an advisor to Protect Democracy on its work related to election cybersecurity, and submitted a declaration in litigation it filed, challenging President Trump’s now-defunct “election integrity” commission. Powered by WPeMatico

Defeating the iPhone Restricted Mode

Posted on By infossl
apple, cellphones, cryptanalysis, cryptography, iphone, Security technology

Recently, Apple introduced restricted mode to protect iPhones from attacks by companies like Cellebrite and Greyshift, which allow attackers to recover information from a phone without the password or fingerprint. Elcomsoft just announced that it can easily bypass it. There is an important lesson in this: security is hard. Apple Computer has one of the … Read More “Defeating the iPhone Restricted Mode” »

Reasonably Clever Extortion E-mail Based on Password Theft

Posted on By infossl
extortion, passwords, pornography, Security technology

Imagine you’ve gotten your hands on a file of e-mail addresses and passwords. You want to monetize it, but the site it’s for isn’t very valuable. How do you use it? You convince the owners of the password to send you money. I recently saw a spam e-mail that ties the password to a porn … Read More “Reasonably Clever Extortion E-mail Based on Password Theft” »