Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Good Luck Hiding That In The Block Chain

from here

The kind of cop that steals from crooks is a crooked cop, and bitcoin is the wrong kind of money for a crooked cop to skim - something this DEA agent and Secret Service agent are finding out the hard way.

Privacy Is On Life Support

found on the meta picture

Maybe if we cared more about privacy when we are alive, privacy wouldn't seem so much like it's dead.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Someone Will Get A Charge Out Of It

from here (source image)

Just because some people use the taser approach for an ever increasing number of minor situations doesn't mean it's actually appropriate for minor situations.

Where's Waldo: The Warship Edition

found on the chive

That is actually some really effective large-scale camouflage. It's also a  black and white picture so who knows how good it really was.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Not Exactly A Low Profile

from here (source image)

Thanks to Christopher Soghoian for tweeting a picture of what apparently turned out to be Jamie Butler's flashy sports car. I suppose when you make a name (and mountain of cash) for yourself helping to make a particular problem worse (by drawing the world's attention to, advancing the state of art of, and distributing one of the most widely deployed examples of stealth malware commonly referred to as a rootkit) it only makes sense to brag about it - not unlike the russian spammer in the viagra t-shirt

So Always Keep Them Ahead Of You

the joke is everywhere but the image comes from the meta picture

It does seem kind of ironic that a symbol of freedom and a symbol of an impending lack of freedom have so much in common.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Awkward Mugshot Is Awkward

from here (source image)

I guess staying out of jail isn't as easy as that t-shirt makes it appear.

They Don't Seem All That Private To Me

found with google image search

Maybe it's because I'm a guy and so have used public men's rooms (which typically don't even have a divider between the urinals) but I think it's just the expectation of privacy in public washrooms that's ironic.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

You're So Advanced You Passed Go And Collected $200

from here

I don't know which is more discouraging: the fact that supposedly advanced attackers use simplistic attacks, or the fact that we still call them advanced in spite of that.

Adorable Puppy Threat

found on the meta picture

It's often said that threats are people, but people aren't the only thing that can be a security threat.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Vulnerability As A Service

from here (source image)

Not surprisingly, the story behind the original image is actually a good read.

More Isn't Always Better

found on the meta picture

I don’t normally like infographics, but this one has an explanation and isn’t overly busy trying to fit a ton of info into a small space. Also, wow the USA must be doing something wrong with it’s authorities.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Can I Interest You Like Some RFID-Blocking Headwear?

from here (source image)

While the advantages conferred on you by wearing a tin foil hat are dubious at best (unless you genuinely do have an RFID chip implanted in your scalp), tin foil might make a little more sense for your devices.

Hopefully you aren't expecting any important calls, though.

So That's Where CSI:Cyber Gets Their Ideas

found on failblog

Honestly, with the exception of the Facebook friend angle, this seems very much like the first episode of CSI:Cyber. I wonder if whoever wrote this Facebook post got paid.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Meaningful Change Isn't Change We Can Believe In Anyway

from here (source image)

Remember all that talk about reforming policies to better protect the privacy of Americans? Do you remember any change actually happening? Yeah, me neither.

Surplus Military Hardware

found on the meta picture

With all the military hardware that gets gifted to police departments all over the States, I wouldn't be surprised if this really is the future of traffic enforcement.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Do You Have A Moment To Discuss Our Lord And Saviour, Biometrics?

from here (source image)

People say passwords aren't good enough anymore, but the alternatives aren't much better.

How They Hacked In The Olden Days

found on google image search

It might not be what most people have in mind when hacking is mentioned, but this actually can affect availability, which some people think is the most important part of the CIA (confidentiality, integrity, availability) triad.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Sometimes The Laziest Solutions Are The Best Solutions

from here

Just because all the experts say you're supposed to remember lots of passwords, don't feel bad if you're lazy and let technology do the remembering for you.

Must Get Easy-Going Robbers In His Neck Of The Woods

found on the meta picture

It’s funny but a) it’s a horrible password, and b) if a criminal is threatening you to get your password, not giving it to him/her can be just as a bad as being offensive (if not worse).

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A Toast To Anonymity

from here (source image)

It hardly matters that nobody knows your name if they can still point and say "Hey, it's THAT guy!". When you can't even be picked out of a crowd you gain another measure of anonymity entirely.

We Can't All Have The Luck Of The Irish

found on google image search

Sometimes our luck is more like Bad Luck Brian's, so be careful with your drinks tonight (and any night, really).

Monday, March 16, 2015

Where Does He Stick The Alcohol And Tobacco?

from here (source image)

You'd think someone from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms would know better than to stick a firearm in his ear - you can lose a lot more than hearing that way.

The Earliest Stages Of The Robocop Program

found on the meta picture

This seems like the kind of defense you could circumvent simply by shouting "look out behind you!". Maybe that's why it never caught on.

Friday, March 13, 2015

At Least The Fence Isn't Going Anywhere

from here (source image)

I've seen a lot of bad bike security while scouring the web for security pictures, but I think this one might take the cake. I'd be surprised if the bike didn't fall over and some point and slip out of the lock purely through the action of gravity.

AdBlock For The Real World? Sign Me Up

found on failblog

One of the great things about AdBlock in the browser is that it can block a vector through which malware can get on to your computer, known as malvertisements. With the rising use of QR codes in real world ads and the fact that legit QR codes can easily be covered with malicious ones, it seems like real life ads have a similar potential for abuse and maybe that calls for a similar defense.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

You Want How Many Bitcoins? I'll Get Right On That (Not)

from here

As successes go, this one is relatively easy to achieve, and it's going to feel pretty damn good.

The False Alarm Problem In A Nutshell

found on the meta picture

It's a shame that these things seem to detect toast (or other cooking endeavours) more often than actual fires, but better that than burning to death.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Is There A Problem Officer?

from here (source article)

On the one hand, it's kind of disturbing that someone thought this was a good idea. On the other hand, at least the police know who to keep a close eye on.

The Right To Bare Chocolates

found on the meta picture

Ever get the feeling your protective efforts are wasted on the wrong things? Are chocolate eggs with toys inside really more dangerous than assault rifles?

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

At Least It's Not A Bathroom

from here (source image)

Just another thing to keep in mind if you think privacy isn't that important.

Or Maybe They'll Use The Lizzie Borden Technique

source tweet

Thanks to Chris Boyd for reminding us that wearing something on your wrist that's worth more than your arm is probably not a good idea. Apple doesn't seem to think it's a problem, though.

Monday, March 9, 2015

It's The 'Free Love' Of Our Generation

from here (source image)

I wasn't around for the promiscuity of the 60's, but I heard plenty about the repercussions. Hard to believe people don't see the parallels with connecting their devices to networks that take on all comers.

The Legend Of Florida Man

source article

You might think that this is a case of extreme incompetence by authorities (after all, how can a quadruple amputee be armed and on the run?), but what this really is is an example of how you should never underestimate anyone.

Friday, March 6, 2015

How Not To Write A Password Policy

from here (source image)

Thanks to @RooneyMcNibNug for tweeting a screenshot of what can only be described as a ridiculously long and detailed password policy. The more rules there are, the fewer possible passwords that will qualify as acceptable, and so the easier it will be to run through them all.

Peeking Where The Sun Don't Shine

found on memebase

I can only imagine that seeing horrible, horrible things is an occupational hazard for professional peeping toms

Thursday, March 5, 2015

InfoSec Must Love Diaper Duty

from here (source image)

It's weird how we live in the information age, but the dominant information security paradigm seems to be to actually withhold information from users under the school of thought that they either can't use information about how threats work and how to protect themselves or that they shouldn't need to think about such things. Almost as if the people with knowledge were trying to keep their knowledge scarce so that it can remain more valuable in the knowledge economy.

Vote Bobby Tables Bumper Sticker


This isn't one of my designs, although I have made Bobby Tables related merchandise before. This is one I found while googling (I forget what I was looking for now) and I thought it was good enough to share (and now I'm finally getting around to doing so).

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Where Do You Think You're Putting That Hand?

from here (source image)

If the machines rise up and kill us all, like InfoSec Taylor Swift warns us, things like this might be the reason why.  At least Athena the robot got frisked by female TSA agents instead of male ones.

Peeping Tom Cat Knows Too Much

found on the chive

Ever feel like you're being watched? Maybe you really are.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Jeepers Creepers Where'd You Get Those Peepers

http://cheezburger.com/8455599872
from here

Any authentication system can be bypassed, and making it harder isn't always better. I don't know about eyes specifically, but there have been cases of other body parts being stolen in order to bypass a biometric security control.

They Can Just Steal The Answer From Someone Else


Some things the NSA or it's partners can see. For everything else there's "4th party collection".

Monday, March 2, 2015

Creepy NSA Director Is Creepy

from here (source image)

Far be it from me to promote shallowness or superficiality, but if the NSA is trying to restore their public image, this might not be the best guy to act as their public face. I can't quite explain it but something about him makes me really uncomfortable.

I Spy With My Many Eyes

found on the meta picture

Don't you feel a lot more secure knowing you're being watched this closely? I know I don't.