Tuesday, January 31, 2017

You better not be carrying any broccoli

from here (source image)

I'm not sure what this service animal's job is, but I can certainly see it sniffing out vegetable matter of some sort.

I've heard of good cop - bad cop, but where do bun cops fit in?

Never gonna lock it down. Never gonna shut you out

found on imgflip

Unauthenticated wireless control technology. What could possibly go wrong?

Monday, January 30, 2017

What kind of crook victimizes hospitals?

from here

So am I the only one? Or is face-punching reserved exclusively for Nazis? Inquiring minds want to know.

Microsoft Office Car Alarm Prank


Watch on YouTube

Not only does that seem to be a pretty good theft deterrent in this particular case, how much do you want to bet the people who fell for it are going to be less likely to pick up things that don't belong to them in the future as well?

Friday, January 27, 2017

I wonder what this KILL command does

from here

Only people are supposed to be sick in hospitals, not the things.

At least they won't get run over at night

found on Dump A Day

The camouflage helps keep the enemy from seeing and shooting them. The reflective belt helps drivers see and avoid them at night. Someone really needs to decide whether soldiers should be seen or not.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Mine is scanning right now

from here

Considering those products with cloud-based capabilities send data about your files to the vendors' servers and considering the government is believed to spy on just about everything that happens online, it might not be completely out of the realm of possibility that the government has access to that data, but I don't think full content of files is uploaded (at least not as a general rule).

Guard Cat says "Paws Off!"

found on Speak GIF

There are all kinds of animals that can be used to guard things. It's not just dogs.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Someone's gonna be hopping mad if these get stolen

from here (source image)

Always remember, you've gotta use the right tool (or security technique) for the job.

The disappointment of Isis

found on Imgur

Just goes to show you have to be careful what you wish for.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

And no one has shown me numbers that say different

from here

I wonder what Sean Spicer would make of the information security field.

The dangers of too much stealth

found on Daily LOL Pics

There truly is such a thing as too much of a good thing, even in the realm of security.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Nobody talks about bioimperials

from here

If you ever need to identify whose been on a beach, bioimperials should have you covered - otherwise there's a good chance you're just going to find shoe prints.

Caught Red Handed: The Rat Trap


Watch on YouTube

This appears to be an actual television show, though I've never heard of it before. The point is, though, that this is just one episode of many similar episodes focusing on how thieves operate and how they can be stopped. If you enjoyed watching this, check out their other videos - they appear to have several seasons (or series if you're from the UK) under their belts.

Friday, January 20, 2017

So long and thanks for lying to Congress

from here

Today is James Clapper's last day in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He won't be the one hiding what's going on in the 17 agencies of the US Intelligence Community anymore.

Have you ever wondered why they're called patches?

found on Reddit
Like many people, I'd heard the story of the actual bug found inside a computer giving rise to the term debugging, but this explanation of the origin of patching is just perfect. (Thanks to Alex Girard for sharing this with me)

Thursday, January 19, 2017

You don't fish for them, they phish for you

from here

I wonder how other security terms could be misinterpreted.

Threat model irony

original tweet

Yeah, about that threat model... I somehow doubt he realizes how close that is to becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The security must be really strong

from here (source image)

Somehow I don't think this is going to work.

Don't let crooks 'rune' your day

found on Meme Generator

I didn't know this (because I don't play the game myself) but the game Runescape has a game mechanic known as a bank where you can store in-game items, and each player's bank can be protected by a PIN which can either be a 4-digit code that you choose, or a 6-digit one-time-passcode returned from an authenticator app for the game. Essentially, the game has a sort of 2-factor authentication.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

No pics for Putin

found on Need More Cookies

Maybe if political candidates kept everything on their phones the Russian election hacking fiasco wouldn't have succeeded. Then again, maybe not.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Maybe you don't have to pay all the taxes

from here

The two things that have always irked me about the pharma spam pushing cheap Canadian drugs is that:

  • drugs aren't cheap in Canada (I was floored by the cost of my mother's cancer meds) 
  •  I hardly ever see that kind of spam IN Canada (it's almost like the spammers/scammers know that trick won't work here)

Hacking Facts with Rami Malek & Christian Slater



Watch on YouTube

I'm not sure what part of culture video listicles and quizzes fit into, but I'm pretty sure Buzzfeed makes these things because they work. If this gets hacking facts into more people's brains then I'm all for it.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Oh shit, there goes the Internet

from here

It's a little disconcerting to know that the next president is going to be taking cyber security advice from someone so clearly unqualified, but at the same time it seems oddly consistent.

World of Moosecraft

found on Love This Pic (possible source article)

Some might be surprised that a video game could teach such life-saving strategies, but art imitates life so it's really not that surprising that a game would contain representations of working strategies for dealing with an attack. What's more surprising is that a 12 year old could translate them back into the real world in the heat of the moment.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Now we wait for Jenny McCarthy to weigh in on computer security

from here

The parallels between anti-AV and antivax are pretty obvious.

Can't See London

found on Zazzle

You can buy this design and wear it yourself, but I wouldn't wear it at the airport if I were you. Not because I think TSA would retaliate but because I think it would give them ideas.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

This calls for the cone of silence

from here (source image)

Well, in that sort of situation I suppose an information leakage is better than some other kind of leakage

A good uniform can go a long way

found on Acid Cow

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

And they're separated into 256 bits

from here

I bet he pipes the output too. Throw the codebook at him.

Policy exception in 3...2...1...

found on Tech Guru Daily (original comic)

This is one of the reasons your company can't have secure things.

Monday, January 9, 2017

The mailman will never be safe again

from here (source image)

Alternatively, this is a dog you never want to fake-throw a ball for, and one whose treats should never be broken in half

The safest fingerprint in the world


Watch on YouTube

You might be wondering what makes this the safest fingerprint in the world? Well, have you ever tried to grab a hedgehog that doesn't belong to you and force it to do something? That's going to be painful.

I suppose there are even safer options. Maybe you could enroll the paw of a full grown porcupine instead, or maybe a tiger or something. Maybe the hedgehog isn't the safest option, but it's a good balance between safety and convenience.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Yelps in 3...2...1...

from here (source image)

Be careful with camouflage. Too much stealth can be hazardous to your health.

Don't interrupt me when I'm browsing

found on The Meta Picture

Apparently this was adapted from this blog post by Jonathan Nightingale. It is unfortunately true that users see security warnings as little more than interruptions to be bypassed as quickly as possible, but I don't think any change we make to the wording of those warnings will change that perception. That perception is more about users' expectations about the safety of computers and the Internet not matching up with reality, and we've spent a very long time building up those expectations.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

The 'convenience' of biometrics

from here

TouchID is often framed as a convenience, and I'm sure it is... until it isn't.

Thanks to Dave Lewis for sharing his hot tub problems (surely a subset of first world problems) on Twitter.

You didn't think he stopped at huffing and puffing, did you?

found on The Meta Picture

In the real world, attackers don't just use one kind of attack. If one doesn't work then they move on to the next one until they find something that works.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Do NOT ding this car

from here (source image)

There is no way that stops someone from getting in, but it sure as heck will stop someone from getting out.

When browser history isn't enough

found on Izismile

It would probably be better to encrypt your entire hard drive if you're that worried about it's contents. Then you wouldn't have to rely on someone else to get rid of the evidence.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

To use AV or not to use AV, that is the question

from here

A few people make security-related internet memes. Fewer write song parodies. Fewer still limericks or poem parodies. Even fewer than that make animated videos, or clothing designs.

I see a lot of people doing security, but not so many making culture about it.

I feel left out too

found on Meme Generator

On the one hand everyone wants to be wanted, but on the other hand there are benefits to not being a target.

Monday, January 2, 2017

Even I don't know what it is

from here

If mind readers ever become a thing, I'll still be secure because my head will be empty... Wait a minute...

Everything is vulnerable to something

found on The Meta Picture

One of the traps some people fall into in vulnerability-centric security is the idea of eliminating all vulnerabilities. The reason it's a trap is that it can never actually be accomplished. There will always be vulnerabilities, no matter what we do.

[If you know where this comic originally came from (looks like it might be Japanese or something) let me know so I can update the attribution. Google image search was unfortunately not very helpful here.]