Seems that a Texas school has suspended a 9-year-old for threatening another student with a replica One Ring. (Yes, that One Ring.) I’ve written about this sort of thing before: These so-called zero-tolerance policies are actually zero-discretion policies. They’re policies that must be followed, no situational discretion allowed. We encounter them whenever we go through … Read More “Texas School Overreaction” »
Category: Security technology
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In Colombia: The team began experimenting with Morse code using various percussion instruments and a keyboard. They learned that operators skilled in Morse code can often read the signals at a rate of 40 words per minute but played that fast, the beat would sound like a European Dance track. “We discovered the magic … Read More “Hiding a Morse Code Message in a Pop Song” »
No mention of the species, but the photo is a depressing one. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Powered by WPeMatico
This was supposed to be a secret until the middle of February, but we’ve been found out. We already have European customers; this is our European office. And, by the way, we’re hiring, primarily in the Boston area. Powered by WPeMatico
Another story from the Snowden documents: According to the documents, the LEVITATION program can monitor downloads in several countries across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North America. It is led by the Communications Security Establishment, or CSE, Canada’s equivalent of the NSA. (The Canadian agency was formerly known as “CSEC” until a recent … Read More “Canada Spies on Internet Downloads” »
I missed this paper when it was first published in 2012: “Neuroscience Meets Cryptography: Designing Crypto Primitives Secure Against Rubber Hose Attacks” Abstract: Cryptographic systems often rely on the secrecy of cryptographic keys given to users. Many schemes, however, cannot resist coercion attacks where the user is forcibly asked by an attacker to reveal the … Read More “Subconscious Keys” »
In the latest example of a military technology that has secretly been used by the police, we have radar guns that can see through walls. Powered by WPeMatico
Here’s an IDEA-variant with a 128-bit block length. While I think it’s a great idea to bring IDEA up to a modern block length, the paper has none of the cryptanalysis behind it that IDEA had. If nothing else, I would have expected more than eight rounds. If anyone wants to practice differential and linear … Read More “The IDEA Encryption Algorithm with a 128-bit Block Length” »
Remember back in 2013 when the then-director of the NSA Keith Alexander claimed that Section 215 bulk telephone metadata surveillance stopped “fifty-four different terrorist-related activities”? Remember when that number was backtracked several times, until all that was left was a single Somali taxi driver who was convicted of sending some money back home? This is … Read More “Basaaly Moalin: The One "Terrorist" Caught by Section 215 Surveillance” »