Rick

Cryptosmith

Do not call that number! This attack is brilliant. It uses a legitimate PayPal email message about a bogus payment to trick you into phoning a bogus PayPal phone number. I have received several of them this week with various names for the company sending the money request. Different emails ... Read More

Here is a set of geographical maps of the ARPANET in the 1970s and 1980s. There is also one “logical” map that focuses more on which host computers were connected where. The ARPANET was a precursor (some would say “the precursor”) to today’s Internet. It pioneered transcontinental and transoceanic digital ... Read More

It was only a matter of time before someone did this. Bitlocker is Microsoft’s technique for encrypting a desktop, laptop, or other MS Windows device. We encrypt the device to protect the contents if it is ever stolen. In theory, the only way Windows will start up if it is ... Read More

A clever person has hosted a Password Game. Give it a try! ... Read More

Here is a classic example of human nature: people on a gaming site argue that the site’s tanks don’t accurately reflect their capabilities. Participants post classified information to prove their point. Reporters have been following this story for almost a year on the game War Thunder. The first case appeared ... Read More

“Garbage in, garbage out.” In computing we’ve recited the GIGO motto since I was in diapers (Univac I and vacuum tubes were state of the art). Comfirmation bias is like GIGO: if people already know (think, guess, believe) something is true then they’re inclined to accept new evidence in its ... Read More

This is a brief explanation of the weird acronyms on the cover sheets that appeared in the photo of classified the FBI seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. They identify different types of classified information that might – or might not – reside beneath such a cover sheet. The traditional classification ... Read More

I’ve avoided commenting on the FBI’s discovery of classified documents at the Mar-a-Lago Club, the home of former President Donald Trump, before this. Numerous pundits have shared their opinions about Trump’s legal jeopardy, if any. I’ve been waiting for things to clarify. I’m now almost convinced that Trump is toast, ... Read More

Peter Gutmann of the University of Aukland recently published a parable “On the Heffalump Threat.” He pokes fun at the R&D cottage industry trying to achieve a practical quantum computer and at related efforts at “post quantum cryptography.” Security People always like to be prepared, even if the rest of ... Read More

**** Recommend itHighly recommend if you are a Bill Bryson fan. Highly recommend if you are considering a trip to Australia. Recommend if you are interested in Australia. I have read a number of Bryson books over the years. My wife and I started many years ago by jointly reading ... Read More