Found this in a parking lot the other day. I don’t think it counts as security theater, but only just.
Orthodontia and Open Networks
July 23, 2017
While waiting for his turn at the orthodontist, my son turns to me and asks, “Hey, dad. why is there a cable box under the chair?” Great question, kiddo. Great question. It’s actually their modem and network access point and and even better question? Who’s USB key is sticking in the front of it?
Breached
June 11, 2017
Breached 123456, 123456789, qwerty, 12345678, 11111, 1234567890, 1234567, password, 123123, 987654321, qwertyuiop, mynoob, 123321, 666666, 18awcsd2w, 7777777, 1q2w3e4r, 654321, 555555, 3rjs1la7qe, google, 1q2w3e4r5t, 123qwe, zxcvbnm, 1q223, football, princess, login, welcome, solo, admin, 121212, flower, dragon, sunshine, master, hottie, loveme, zaq1zaq1, password1, letmein…… Recognize any of these passwords? Yeah, me too! I’ve used one or two of them myself in the not-too-distant past and actually used the same one with multiple accounts. Fortunately…
I’m a quitter
June 7, 2017
This post ended up being a lot longer than I initially expected it to be. If you make it to the end, thanks. If not, no worries. Secondly, this post branches out somewhat from my general writing topics and hits upon something else that has cropped up in my life recently: rucking. Ok, here we go. The title pretty much says it all. For most of my youth and continuing…
Privacy Matters
November 15, 2016
Short post today, and one where I write very little. I would like to encourage you to take twenty minutes today to hear what journalist Glenn Greenwald has to say about privacy and why it matters to everyone. For those of you who do not know, Greenwald is the journalist who, along with Laura Poitras, was contacted by Edward Snowden. Together they broke the news of the true depths of…
Is It Wrong That Google Watches You?
November 7, 2016
Determining whether or not Google or any other service provider is wrong to watch or track you is strictly a personal matter between you and them. The outrage many people have about being tracked or watched is not necessarily directed at Google or Facebook but at other parties with whom they never agreed to share this information and who don’t have any business acquiring it. If and when you elect…
It’s a Steep Learning Curve and I’m Way Behind
November 6, 2016
One guy’s journey toward understanding what happens beneath the surface of our plugged-in world. Crypto, privacy, PGP, TAILS, TOR, Bitcoin, Ulbricht, Silk Road, PRISM, Snowden, NSA, keylogger, RAT, hack, breach, SOCKS5, proxy, checksum, FISA, deepweb, darknet, metadata. What does it all mean? What, if anything, do they have in common, with each other? More importantly, what do they mean to you? What do they mean to me? On the surface,…
To the man who killed my mother
March 14, 2015
She was taken from us on March 14th, 1999. Pi day. A day of whimsical merriment in the minds of many nerds and a great sales day for many bakeries and pastry shops across the world. For our family though, it holds a different meaning. Some days are harder than others, but no single day holds any more hurt or pain than any other, even the anniversary date. Dear Mom,…