just another infosec site
14/05/2020
If you live in Washington (or anywhere else for that matter) there’s a high likelihood that someone has fraudulently applied for unemployment benefits in your name. Here’s an easy way to determine if this has happened to you and some steps to how you can prevent it. I went to the employment security department website and learned that an account had already been created using my social security number. You…
14/03/2019
Going Dark Not literally of course, but shutting off some of the lights at least and changing the color of others. Sometime since the first of the year, my cell number was added to a scammer mega-list and my phone has essentially not stopped ringing. I’ve tried all the usual remedies and even went so far as blocking all incoming calls except those in my contact list, but it’s not…
17/02/2019
In 1909 Professor Charles Eliot, then president of @Harvard University assembled what would become known as the Five Foot Shelf. A collection of volumes substantive enough, according to Dr Eliot, “…to afford a good substitute for a liberal education to anyone who would read them with devotion, even if he could spare but fifteen minutes a day.” Over the years the shelf stands as an excellent launching pad for someone…
01/01/2019
I drove by this one a couple days prior and had the booth lying on the sidewalk, broken and abused. By the time I returned to record it the call box and receiver had been removed to parts unknown. For some reason I kept having scene from Black Hawk Down flash through my head when I saw this on. Tacoma sure isn’t Mogadishu, but sometimes it seems pretty run down.…
29/12/2018
Welp, like I said in the previous post, this Century Link outage would go one of two ways: either Century Link would resolve the problem and the hubbub would die down or it would go the route of hearings and investigations. Now we know which way it’s headed: DO IT FOR THE KIDS AND PUBLIC SAFETY!!!! Most bad things from the government come wrapped in pretty and shiny packages called…
We’ve heard those stories about rock stars destroying hotel rooms, think a rock star destroyed this phone? Doesn’t really matter, I prefer Monster Ultra anyway.
28/12/2018
On and off for the last 24 hours now Century Link has been experiencing some, er, technical difficulties. As you can see from the image above, the reports according to Down Detector indicate the issue is widespread and affects a significant percentage of the USA including my home in the Pacific Northwest, and extending to other communities to include Albuquerque, Boise, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, Portland, and Los Angeles.…
24/12/2018
Merry Christmas, everyone. As the season of gift giving is upon us we are certain to be bombarded with supersized savings on all manner of interconnected devices and toys. If you give or receive one of these fabulous devices are you also prepared to defend you and your family from the spiderweb created by these things that are watching and learning about you? I cannot recommend self-smarting highly enough and,…
11/12/2018
Recently I’ve noticed a significant uptick in the number of phishing emails being received by my coworkers. The content has varied in both content and language but nonetheless there’s been an uptick. How do you keep curious people from clicking on nefarious email links or attachments, especially those sent from what appear to be familiar email addresses? It’s simple, you educate them. Ideally we’d start with educating our younglings at…
09/11/2018
Today, just a short clip on how not to do privacy. While comedic in nature, this video is a classic example of polite and fun social engineering. Have you ever filled out an online ‘just for fun’ survey? You know, the ones that help you sort out your Star Wars or Harry Potter name by assigning you a character or place based on your month or day of birth? Yeah,…
