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Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

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Sep 23, 2024 • 1h 3min

Malware Reboot Remedy

We often think of malware as a problem for our computers and perhaps our smartphones. But bad guys love to hack our home routers and IoT devices, as well. Thankfully, purging malware from those types of devices can usually be done just by rebooting them. (There's a reason tech support always asks you to try turning your device off and back on again.) I'll explain why this works and what you should do to protect your connected devices. In other news: I explain why most people are not in danger of their devices blowing up; a new Windows phishing campaign uses fake CAPTCHAs and PowerShell; LinkedIn started training their AI on your data before telling you how to opt out; Oracle's CEO touts his vision of ubiquitous AI surveillance; Ford seeks a patent to show you ads in your vehicle based on your conversations and other private data; Meta admits to scraping public Instagram and Facebook posts to train its AI; four great new iOS 18 privacy and security features; Apple Intelligence servers are very basic, for a reason; and the FBI shuts down a massive Chinese botnet. Article Links [WIRED] Your Phone Won’t Be the Next Exploding Pager https://www.wired.com/story/exploding-pagers-hezbollah-phones/ [briankrebs] This Windows PowerShell Phish Has Scary Potential https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/09/this-windows-powershell-phish-has-scary-potential/ [404media.co] LinkedIn Is Training AI on User Data Before Updating Its Terms of Service https://www.404media.co/linkedin-is-training-ai-on-user-data-before-updating-its-terms-of-service/ [theregister.com] Ellison declares Oracle 'all in' on AI mass surveillance https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/16/oracle_ai_mass_surveillance_cloud/ [therecord.media] Ford seeks patent for tech that listens to driver conversations to serve ads https://therecord.media/ford-patent-application-in-vehicle-listening-advertising [9to5Mac] Meta scraped all public Facebook and Instagram posts since 2007 for AI training https://9to5mac.com/2024/09/11/meta-scraped-all-public-facebook-and-instagram-posts-since-2007-for-ai-training/ [TechRadar] I'm a privacy expert—here are the 4 iOS 18 features I'm excited about https://www.techradar.com/phones/im-a-privacy-experthere-are-the-4-ios-18-features-im-excited-about [9to5Mac] Apple Intelligence servers are really basic, says Craig Federighi – and that’s deliberate https://9to5mac.com/2024/09/12/apple-intelligence-servers-are-really-basic-says-craig-federighi-and-thats-deliberate/ [Gizmodo] FBI Shuts Down Botnet Run by Beijing-Backed Hackers That Hijacked Over 200,000 Devices https://gizmodo.com/fbi-shuts-down-botnet-run-by-beijing-backed-hackers-that-hijacked-over-200000-devices-2000500627 Tip of the Week: Malware Reboot Remedy Further Info Awareness Campaign Phase 2!: https://fdsd.me/awareness2  LinkedIn privacy settings: https://www.linkedin.com/mypreferences/d/categories/privacy  Test your ad blocker(s): https://d3ward.github.io/toolz/adblock.html  Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:31: Update Apple devices 0:01:36: Awareness Campaign teaser 0:02:04: News rundown 0:04:08: Your Phone Won’t Be the Next Exploding Pager 0:08:00: This Windows PowerShell Phish Has Scary Potential 0:12:34: LinkedIn Trains AI on Your Data Before Updating Its ToS 0:16:41: Ellison declares Oracle 'all in' on AI mass surveillance 0:20:15: Ford seeks patent for tech that listens to ...
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Sep 16, 2024 • 1h 8min

Post-Quantum Crypto

You may be vaguely aware of the term 'quantum computing' from media reports. But what you may not have picked up on is that one of the primary uses for quantum computers may be to break data encryption. Furthermore, you may not realize that if three-letter agencies can save off our encrypted emails and messages now, this could mean they could read them in the future when sufficiently powerful quantum computing becomes viable. How does this work? And what can we do about it now to protect our privacy in the future? We'll dig into all of this today with Brandon Sundh from Tuta (formerly Tutanota), a prominent secure email company, who is already deploying such protections. Interview Notes Try Tuta! https://tuta.com/  Tuta’s quantum-safe crypto: https://tuta.com/blog/post-quantum-cryptography  Quantum mechanics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics  Schrödinger's cat:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger's_cat  NIST post-quantum standards: https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/post-quantum-cryptography  NSA pays RSA to weaken encryption?: https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-security-rsa-idUSBRE9BJ1C220131220/  Longer passwords are better: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/need-a-bigger-password-haystack/  Privacy Guides on Proton Wallet: https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2024/09/08/proton-wallet-review/#why-does-this-exist  Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:02:50: Some terminology first 0:07:33: What is quantum computing and what's it good for? 0:16:25: What are the currrent capabilities of quantum computers? 0:22:02: How long have we been working on quantum computers? 0:25:01: If QC is still so far off, why do we need to prepare now? 0:30:53: How do we design encryption to make it safe against quantum computers? 0:36:10: How can we be sure that the NSA isn't buillding backdoors into these algorithms? 0:41:11: Will post-quantum algorithms replace current ones or augment them? 0:45:51: How soon will quantum-safe crypto be roled out? 0:52:42: Who will be able to own and operate these quantum computers? 0:54:45: Are law enforcement agencies pushing back against quantum-safe crypto? 1:00:34: Who is more likely to win: coder makers or code breakers? 1:04:24: Wrap-up 1:05:55: Looking ahead
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6 snips
Sep 9, 2024 • 1h 14min

The Truth is Out There

Misinformation is rampant, especially during elections, and the podcast offers tips to recognize and combat it. The security of popular messaging apps is scrutinized, revealing misleading encryption claims. It also delves into how smart TVs are evolving into aggressive advertisers, raising privacy concerns. The alarming rise of sextortion scams is highlighted, urging vigilance against online threats. Additionally, consumer rights regarding software tethering are discussed, advocating for stronger regulations to protect users.
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Sep 2, 2024 • 1h 17min

Crazy Proton Summer

Andy Yen, CEO of Proton, dives into the company’s summer launches: Proton Docs, Wallet, and Scribe, exploring their privacy-first approach. He discusses the challenges of integrating AI while ensuring user security in cryptocurrency, especially with Bitcoin's privacy hurdles. Yen also introduces the Proton Foundation, aimed at protecting their privacy mission. An intriguing proposal to acquire Mozilla for Firefox and insights on the 'compromised machine' threat model provide thought-provoking takes on the future of online privacy solutions.
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Aug 26, 2024 • 1h 22min

National Public Data Breach

The headlines have been on fire with stories about 3 billion people's data being leaked from a company you've never heard of. But like many such stories, the mainstream media gets a lot of the important details wrong and glosses over a lot of the important nuances. Today we're going to dive into what really happened and what you should do about it, whether your data was part of the breach or not. In other news: Illinois waters down its landmark biometric information law; US court rules geofence warrants are unconstitutional; FTC to investigate :surveillance pricing" and files rule impacting shady product reviews; the CFPB cracks down on some types of consumer data sales; and Consumer Reports evaluates several top data deletion services. Article Links [Reuters] Illinois governor approves business-friendly overhaul of biometric privacy law https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/illinois-governor-approves-business-friendly-overhaul-biometric-privacy-law-2024-08-05/ [TechCrunch] US appeals court rules geofence warrants are unconstitutional https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/13/us-appeals-court-rules-geofence-warrants-are-unconstitutional/ [Electronic Frontier Foundation] To Fight Surveillance Pricing, We Need Privacy First https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/08/fight-surveillance-pricing-we-need-privacy-first [ftc.gov] Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials [natlawreview.com] CFPB Forecasts New Rule Cracking Down on Consumer Data Sales https://natlawreview.com/article/cfpb-forecasts-new-rule-cracking-down-consumer-data-sales [Los Angeles Times] Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. How to protect yourself https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-13/hacker-claims-theft-of-every-american-social-security-number [troyhunt.com] Inside the "3 Billion People" National Public Data Breach https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-3-billion-people-national-public-data-breach/ [consumerreports.org] Evaluating People-Search Site Removal Services https://innovation.consumerreports.org/new-report-data-defense-evaluating-people-search-site-removal-services/ Tip of the Week: OSINT Final Steps https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/osint-final-steps/  Other Helpful Links Have I Been Pwned: https://haveibeenpwned.com/  NPD Data Breach search tool: https://npd.pentester.com/  Privacy Guides data removal tools: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/data-broker-removals/  Techlore video on data removal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tESbBM2LZHM  Google’s Results About You: https://myactivity.google.com/results-about-you?pli=1  How to freeze your credit: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/credit-freeze-now-is-the-time/ How and why to plant your flag: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/why-you-need-to-plant-your-flag/  Strong passwords: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/need-a-bigger-password-haystack/   Backing up 2FA codes: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-backup-2fa-seed-codes/  Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:04:00: News preview 0:06:33: Illinois governor approves business-friendly overhaul of biometric privacy law 0:11:18: US appeals court rules geofence warrants are unconstitutional ...
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Aug 19, 2024 • 1h 1min

Dating App Privacy

Finding your soul mate or even just a one-night stand can all be done digitally now - there's an app for that. Several, in fact. But in order to find the best match, you need to turn over a lot of extremely personal information. You probably also need to let the app track your location, so you're only matching people within some acceptable distance. You would hope that dating apps would be better than other apps at securing your private data... but are they? And are these services selling my data to advertisers? Today I answer these questions and many more with Zoë MacDonald from Mozilla's Privacy Not Included team who recently published a full report on this topic. Interview Notes Privacy Not Included report on dating apps: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/data-hungry-dating-apps-are-worse-than-ever-for-your-privacy/  Mozilla Foundation: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/?form=donate-header  Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/  Falling out of love with dating apps: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/oct/28/its-quite-soul-destroying-how-we-fell-out-of-love-with-dating-apps  Using dating apps to locate someone: https://www.techradar.com/pro/privacy-flaw-in-top-dating-apps-could-have-revealed-user-location-down-to-2-metres  How to freeze your credit: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/credit-freeze-now-is-the-time/  Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna  Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book  Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:57:02: Wrap-up and looking ahead 0:02:06: Freeze your credit! 0:04:19: How do modern dating apps work, exactly? 0:08:19: How do they find compatible matches? 0:10:34: Do these apps require constant access to your current location? 0:14:50: How much information used by these apps is inferred vs explicitly requested? 0:17:59: Do these apps use inferred data to weed out bad actors? 0:20:36: How did you decide which apps to evaluate? 0:23:54: What were your key takeaways and most alarming findings? 0:25:57: Do apps owned by the same parent company have similar privacy policies? 0:27:28: How transparent are these apps about sharing your data? 0:29:08: Was there any correlation between app cost and monetizing your data? 0:31:20: Are dating apps better about securing your personal data? 0:33:53: Do any of the dating apps offer end-to-end encryption of DMs? 0:35:40: Do these services try to keep you from leaving the app? 0:39:03: Once you find a match, can you get a refund for unused subscription time? 0:40:28: How do new AI features on dating apps affect your privacy? 0:43:30: Have there been any major dating service data breaches? 0:45:05: How bad are these apps for romance scams like 'big butchering'? 0:47:10: If I still want to use a dating app, how do I maximize my privacy? 0:51:19: Can I use a service on the web only (no app)? Can I delete my data? 0:54:20: How well do dating apps actually work, in terms of finding a mate?
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Aug 12, 2024 • 60min

Hacker Summer Camp 2024

Dive into the buzzing atmosphere of Hacker Summer Camp in Las Vegas, featuring key insights from the DEF CON and BSides conferences. Discover the 'Undisruptible 27' initiative aimed at bolstering critical infrastructure. Uncover the balance of security and privacy in NFL stadiums with facial recognition tech. Explore the implications of a patent for car surveillance and legal rulings on smartphone searches. Plus, get practical tips on managing your online privacy and personal data in this digital age!
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Aug 5, 2024 • 1h 15min

Catch You on the BSide

Jack Daniel, a captivating storyteller and co-founder of Security B-Sides, shares his vibrant journey through the hacker landscape. He discusses the origins and evolution of BSides conferences, emphasizing their community-driven nature compared to larger events. Jack highlights the transformation of the hacker community, the significance of documenting its history, and the power of chosen family in overcoming challenges. His unique insights into modern hacking and memorable conference experiences add a rich texture to this engaging conversation.
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Jul 29, 2024 • 59min

CrowdStrike Lessons Learned

A recent cybersecurity incident revealed how a single company can disrupt major airlines and hospitals. Google's shift on third-party cookies raises concerns about online privacy. The ethical dilemmas of using mobile ad location data for tracking individuals are scrutinized. Notable vulnerabilities in digital payment systems and mobile forensics are discussed, highlighting risks like sextortion that target minors. Plus, useful tips on protecting public data online are shared.
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Jul 22, 2024 • 1h 22min

Open Source Intelligence

Jason Edison, an expert in OSINT, discusses how individuals can protect their privacy by removing personal information online. Topics include data removal tools, credit freezes, and privacy apps like MySudo and SimpleLogin. Practical advice on managing personal data and resources offered by Intel Techniques are also covered.

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