The New York Times just published a long article on the Shadow Brokers and their effects on NSA operations. Summary: it’s been an operational disaster, the NSA still doesn’t know who did it or how, and NSA morale has suffered considerably. This is me on the Shadow Brokers from last May. Powered by WPeMatico
Category: Security technology
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This is interesting research and data: With Google accounts as a case-study, we teamed up with the University of California, Berkeley to better understand how hijackers attempt to take over accounts in the wild. From March 2016 to March 2017, we analyzed several black markets to see how hijackers steal passwords and other sensitive data. … Read More “Google’s Data on Login Thefts” »
Squid fisherman in Argentina have asked regulators to start the squid season earlier in 2018. 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
It’s a lot more chemistry than I understand: Invisible inks based on “smart” fluorescent materials have been shining brightly (if only you could see them) in the data-encryption/decryption arena lately…. But some of the materials are costly or difficult to prepare, and many of these inks remain somewhat visible when illuminated with ambient or ultraviolet … Read More “New Research in Invisible Inks” »
Embedded in this story about infidelity and a mid-flight altercation, there’s an interesting security tidbit: The woman had unlocked her husband’s phone using his thumb impression when he was sleeping… Powered by WPeMatico
This is a pilot project in Australia: Individuals who have shared intimate, nude or sexual images with partners and are worried that the partner (or ex-partner) might distribute them without their consent can use Messenger to send the images to be “hashed.” This means that the company converts the image into a unique digital fingerprint … Read More “Facebook Fingerprinting Photos to Prevent Revenge Porn” »
Last week, I testified before the House Energy and Commerce committee on the Equifax hack. You can watch the video here. And you can read my written testimony below. Testimony and Statement for the Record of Bruce Schneier Fellow and Lecturer, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Fellow, Berkman Center for … Read More “Me on the Equifax Breach” »
There’s a new criminal tactic involving hacking an e-mail account of a company that handles high-value transactions and diverting payments. Here it is in real estate: The scam generally works like this: Hackers find an opening into a title company’s or realty agent’s email account, track upcoming home purchases scheduled for settlements — the pricier … Read More “Cybercriminals Infiltrating E-Mail Networks to Divert Large Customer Payments” »
Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist whose anti-corruption investigations exposed powerful people. She was murdered in October by a car bomb. Galizia used WhatsApp to communicate securely with her sources. Now that she is dead, the Maltese police want to break into her phone or the app, and find out who those sources were. … Read More “Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Murder and the Security of WhatsApp” »
Lidl is recalling two of its packaged squid products because of the presence of struvite salt crystals. The danger is unclear. The article says that struvite crystals “may be mistaken as glass fragments,” which isn’t actually dangerous. It also says: “As these salt crystals may cause injury, the product should not be consumed.” Maybe it’s … Read More “Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Product Recall” »