Scam Messaging Service

from here and here

Opting out of having a cell phone isn't easy. There are lots of things I can't do, lots of sites I can't use, lots of accounts I can't restore, etc. But you know what? there are more ways to get scammed over SMS than there are people I want to talk to, so no thank you. I wonder if the same thought has crossed the mind of this person who recently got scammed by a phony Canada Post text.

Suddenly beaters don't look quite so bad

from here and here

It's honestly kind of shocking how many cars are vulnerable to hackers and how much they can do to them. Makes me glad I use public transit.

One more reason not to get the checkmark

from here and here

Phishing that targets verified Twitter users seems like important people problems. If you're one of those people then watch out. I think most people aren't, however.

Security by self-pwn

from here and here

If you beat the attackers to the punch when it comes to leaking your data then I suppose technically you weren't hacked - but does it matter? Your secrets and dirty laundry still get aired that way regardless of who is responsible.

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.

Nothing trumps that logic

from here and here

Leave it to Presi-don't Trump to give us a take that's both completely obvious and completely useless.

Like an ankle monitor in your pocket

from here

I can't get over how carceral the policies about this college's mandatory tracking app are. It really does seem like the students are being voluntold to submit to house arrest at the college, and the app is a technical control that helps enforce that.

I understand there are concerns about COVID-19 and re-opening the school, but there are more privacy-friendly ways, and heck maybe it would be better if the school didn't re-open and went online instead.

I am curious what the school administration would do if a student said they didn't have a phone. Would they buy the student a phone? Probably not. They want the features of an ankle monitoring without having to pay for the hardware or infrastructure so they offload that cost onto the students. It's like the gig economy (exploitative as that is) but for hardware.

WhatPhone is even more secure than WhatsApp

from here

At some point the people who are trying to hide things from law enforcement are going to realize that it's safer to just not have the devices that the authorities keep going after and use the old-school trade-craft instead.

Come at my landline, bro

from here

While the current attacks target the iPhone, that's just this time. Don't assume other mobile platforms haven't or won't face something similar.

The ultimate defense

from here

It's amazing how much depends on the security of something many people don't even know is there. I wouldn't want so many of my security outcomes to depend on poorly paid and poorly trained customer service representatives detecting social engineering attacks.

Security by decrepitude

from here

So technically security by decrepitude is just a subset of security by obscurity, so it's not really security at all. But that being said, I can't help but think the Air Force is going to be less safe if they move to something more modern than 8 inch floppies.

Eureka! We've solved the problem!

originally tweeted by Joe Schmoe

Thanks to Joe Schmoe for this meme showing how antivirus vendors can really get that much sought-after property of having no false positives.

Text me if you can

from here

China's surveillance machinations are getting weird, but I feel like they haven't quite thought this one all the way through. I mean, unless they're providing everyone with a state mandated phone, there's going to be a few people this system doesn't get - and it's going to create an incentive for people to ditch their cell phones if the fines aren't worth it.

Phishers don't stand a chance against human apathy

found on Meme Generator

I know there are other avenues besides email for social engineering attacks to take place, but usually those are called things like vishing or smishing or some other derivative of phishing. Pure phishing is going to become less and less lucrative as email falls further and further out of favour.

You're teaching who what now?

found on Meme Generator

"Educational" malware has always been a questionable idea. People try to justify it under the banner of "think like an attacker", but if you look at how things went down with rootkits it's more like a way to make a problem worse (by putting knowledge in the hands of people who would misuse it) while cultivating a reputation of expertise that you can use to get people to pay you to help deal with the problem you made worse in the first place.

Password Managers 1 : Scammers 0

from here

Some scammers have apparently taken to using peoples passwords found in past breaches in order to make their scam more convincing - see Brian Krebs story about it

Obviously, if you never knew your password in the first place, the code they send you purporting to be your password won't actually mean anything to you, won't be familiar, and will not make their incredible story seem any more credible. As if there weren't enough reasons to use password managers, now they help prevent a particular kind of social engineering.

I see London, I see France, I've seen who gets in your pants

from here

Stalkerware - a subset of spyware used by spouses, parents, and bosses, because of course it's easier to use technology to spy on people than it is to build and maintain healthy, trusting relationships.

If you wanna use my card you'll have to pay first

found on Meme XYZ

I suppose it could still be used as proof of age while maxed out, but that's no skin off my nose.

It's funny because it's true

found on Imgur

Data minimization is probably one of the most effective and least adopted means of protecting data. We've become far too accustomed to collecting every scrap of data we possibly can and it's hurting people in the long run.

Also prevents catphishing

from here

This technique probably also prevents happiness. Your mileage may vary, but at least people can't snoop on your Tinder activities.