Friday, July 30, 2021

When you've got to go on the go

from here and here (image source)

I may complain about the lack of privacy in public washrooms, but at least in those cases there's a room. It's not right in the middle of the street. Can you imagine the traffic lights for this? Or the skid marks?

Chocolate can get you more than just passwords

found on eBaum's World

It's amazing how far successful one can be with some social engineering, some time, and some treats.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Dude, where's my car?

from here (image source)

Obviously you can make out the car when you're up close to it like this, but when you're on the far end of the parking lot? That's when it starts to get more challenging.

White Hat Hacker Warns Man To Change His Passwords


Watch on YouTube

I'm pretty sure I'd be a lot more freaked out by this than the guy on the receiving end seems to be. I guess that's why I don't have a Nest device in the first place.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Tune in next time for credit card numbers

from here

On the plus side, it doesn't sound like much was exposed when the Olympics broadcaster announced his password on TV, but really that was just luck on his part. People generally don't take those kinds of considerations into account when they're in the process of making a mistake.

Well that's a relief

found on Memedroid

"I have all your passwords" is a prelude to a demand for money, and let's be honest here, I think we all have lost passwords that we'd be willing to pay to retrieve. I wonder if password thieves have ever considered a business model that's more like a bug bounty.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Bad guys hate this one weird trick

from here and here

Thanks to Chinese attackers targeting France, today I learned that most router malware can't survive a reboot - and now you learned it too.

Hacker Security Professional hoodie

Product Page

Are you a security professional, or a hacker, or both? Do you feel like you have to drop one in order to be the other? Maybe this hoodie can help you express that internal conflict.

Monday, July 26, 2021

I Hacked A T-Shirt Printing Company And Got More Than Just This Lousy T-Shirt shirt

Product Page

Product Page

I did a design like this back when CafePress themselves were breached, but I made it specific to CafePress so as you can imagine they blocked it. It'll be interesting to see if they have a problem with a more generic version that doesn't specifically draw attention to any particular t-shirt printing company except here where I reveal that it was inspired by a recent breach of SpreadShirt.

Now, I'll freely admit that I'm not really expecting anyone to wear this, however, if the responsible party wants to wear it and out themselves to the authorities, by all means, be my guest.

This lock can't even

found on eBaum's World

Just as there's no security through obscurity, there's no security through oddity either.

Friday, July 23, 2021

Not everyone wants an audience

from here and here (image source)

If you don't give them privacy, how can expect them to give you any? 

Privacy isn't only for the living

found on Izismile

I'm not sure why we value privacy for those who have passed. Maybe it's to protect those they've left behind.

Thursday, July 22, 2021

When only infected computers like you

from here and here

I know, VBS/LoveLetter is ancient in the malware world, but important not to forget history or else we'll be doomed to repeat it.

Jeff Dunham : Peanut's Password Panic


Watch on YouTube

This is a modern take on Abbott and Costello's famous "Who's on first" routine, and it's giving me ideas.

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

The escape key won't help you now

from here (image source)

What happens when you don't understand how your protective measures work is that you wind up squandering the protection they offer.

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that's why I patch on company time

found on someecards

Boss makes a dollar,
I make a dime,
That's why I patch
On company time.

It's the most responsible way I know to lean on your shovel.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Last century called and they want their vuln back

from here

I kid you not, I was holding up photos in front of face recognition cameras 20 years ago, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the first person to think of it. This recent finding may have a novel way of presenting the captured image to the system, but it's still just feeding a captured image to the system. Since the only real tricky bit was the fact that the system required an infrared image, I suspect a photo printed with infrared ink might have done the trick without needing to rely on any camera funny-business.

20 years and face rec is still being bypassed in fundamentally the same way. Is it any wonder I have no faith in biometrics?

I've Updated My Privacy Policy laptop case

Product Page

What a coincidence, that's what my privacy policy says too.

Monday, July 19, 2021

That's one way to get rid of those evil MAIDs

from here

Just in case you believed the people collecting data about you were still protecting your privacy, they most certainly are not. Their efforts are performative and there's an entire industry dedicated to undoing those privacy protections.

Where's the treats?

found on Izismile

I wonder whose bright idea it was to ruin the good reputation of cookies by using it as the name for a technology that would ultimately be used to track people online.

Friday, July 16, 2021

Can you see the problem?

from here (image source)

This looks like it's supposed to be a shower curtain, but I'm not sure it would be any better there since that's just another place where people would prefer to be private. Why would anyone make a clear curtain? What was it meant to accomplish? 

The Earth is healing

found on Izismile

Apparently Mother Nature values privacy too. Who knew?

Thursday, July 15, 2021

The filthiest of lucres

from here

I couldn't find anything that conclusively said that the digital currency was a cryptocurrency, or that the power generated by these special toilets actually contributed to the creation of the digital coins, but that's certainly an easy inference to make in 2021.

Move over porch pirates, here comes the pooch pirate


Watch on YouTube

Whose a good dog? I hate to say it but not this one. This one is a thief.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Get it while supplies last

from here

Today I learned that spam volume has dropped significantly in the past 10+ years

Unrealistic expectations

found on Izismile

Not only do I think the enemy will hear it, I think they'll see it from miles away too (maybe even from space), in spite of the camouflage paint job.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

They'll get you one way or another

from here and here (image source)

We get so focused on one particular tracking technology sometimes that we forget how many others there are and that we can be tracked any number of different ways.

I Just Sneezed Next To My Computer And The Anti-Virus Popped Up shirt

Product Page

I think we've all encountered antivirus that was a little overly sensitive, but thankfully I've never experienced a false positive quite this bad.

Monday, July 12, 2021

"Put your phones away and go to sleep"

from here

It wouldn't be much of a creepy Orwellian tool if it wasn't used for creepy Orwellian things

A loo with a view

found on Acid Cow

If you look really closely you'll see that not only will anyone using that bathroom be exposing themselves for anyone around to see, but there's also a sign indicating there are surveillance cameras that might just have a view into there as well.

Friday, July 9, 2021

The last bit always takes the longest

from here and here (image source)

When it's finally done loading it'll basically be like an igloo, so maybe start with that in the first place. 

Not clear on the concept

found on Reddit

I guess people will know better than to ask to remain anonymous when speaking with this paper in the future. This person probably wouldn't have shared their views if they knew their identity wasn't going to be protected. I wonder what kind of unwanted outcomes that lead to.

Thursday, July 8, 2021

Hold that pose, Drake

from here and here

Maybe you're enthusiastic about the idea that we'll soon be able to get rid of passwords. Maybe you even point out that "No one's going to guess your thumbprint".

If so, I'm going to have to rain on your parade and remind you that your prints can be extracted from normal photos, and multiple criminals have already been identified and arrested based on this technique.

Defeating a car boot lock with a plastic pen


Watch on YouTube

Obviously this depends on the kind of plastic the pen casing is made out of (those clear plastic Bic pens would probably crumble if you tried this with them), but it definitely makes you question the efficacy of those wheel locks.

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Careful you don't get washed out to see

from here and here (image source)

You know that saying "Dance like no one is watching"? The basic idea is that if you think about the fact that people can see you then you'll probably be inhibited and enjoy yourself much less. The dance floor isn't the only place where that idea applies.

Your consent is mandatory

found on Acid Cow

Admittedly there are some website features that can't work without a cookie, like keeping track of your online shopping cart, so you may not be able to do anything except view the content. But a lot of sites can't seem to be bothered working out those details and basically treat it as an all or nothing proposition; if you don't accept their cookies you get nothing, not even a read-only experience.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

What could possibly go wrong?

from here

Telling users to disable their antivirus was a shady thing software vendors advised their customers decades ago, before the malware problem exploded. It's mind boggling to learn that some are still doing it, and worse they're makers of remote administration software that is used by managed service providers who remotely administer the systems of hundreds of organizations - with a fairly predictable outcome

There are better ways of dealing with false alarms on the software you make than getting your customers to disable their security or worse getting them to disable their own customers security.

Camouflage Socks (in case normal ones aren't easy enough to lose)

Product Page

I frequently joke about camouflage items being invisible, but in this case if you're the kind of person who would wear camouflage socks then probably all your other clothes are camouflage as well, and in that case good luck differentiating these socks from all the other camo items in your laundry.

Monday, July 5, 2021

Let's see them try to steal this

from here and here (image source)

I doubt very much anyone is going to steal this bike anytime soon. They may still strip it for parts, though.

Maybe we're all robots sometimes

found on eBaum's World

As automated attacks improve, CAPTCHAs become more difficult - and as CAPTCHAs become more difficult, we're more and more likely to question the nature of our reality.