Krebs on Security is reporting that all 85,000 Google employees use two-factor authentication with a physical token. A Google spokesperson said Security Keys now form the basis of all account access at Google. “We have had no reported or confirmed account takeovers since implementing security keys at Google,” the spokesperson said. “Users might be asked … Read More “Google Employees Use a Physical Token as Their Second Authentication Factor” »
Author: infossl
DARPA is funding research into resilient anonymous communications systems. Powered by WPeMatico
Bluetooth has a serious security vulnerability: In some implementations, the elliptic curve parameters are not all validated by the cryptographic algorithm implementation, which may allow a remote attacker within wireless range to inject an invalid public key to determine the session key with high probability. Such an attacker can then passively intercept and decrypt all … Read More “Major Bluetooth Vulnerability” »
There are some good lessons in this article on financial fraud: That’s how we got it so wrong. We were looking for incidental breaches of technical regulations, not systematic crime. And the thing is, that’s normal. The nature of fraud is that it works outside your field of vision, subverting the normal checks and balances … Read More “On Financial Fraud” »
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” »
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” »
A beach on Prince Edward Island is littered with dead squid. No one knows why. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here. Powered by WPeMatico
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” »
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
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” »