Cybersecurity & Privacy
Your ISP is always watching, tracking and profiling you
The media loves stories about how Google, Facebook and Microsoft are tracking users and profiling them. These stories sell papers and draw in eyeballs. What they don't tell you is that your ISP actually has more visibility into what you do online than any of those giant service providers. If you don't see what the big problem is, read this article : How Target knows you are pregnant through data analytics. You may not realize it but the bread crumbs you leave behind are incredibly valuable to marketers, insurers and anyone else interested in using psyops to trick you.
The hidden dangers of using public WIFI
There are plenty of reasons to love WIFI (over wireless). It's free, fast and usually reliable. Often times though, its not a WIFI network you control (think coffee shop, retail store, mall, fast food joint, etc). Sure WIFI is ubiquitous but most of it is controlled by someone else which means is could and should be considered a hostile environment. “WIFI is a hacker playground” Man In The Middle Attack A Man In The Midle (MITM) attack is an oldie but goodie.
Invizbox GO Review
As we learn more about how much data the intelligence community collects and what their capabilities are (Vault7), it reinforces the mantra of having good security hygiene. If you weren't using VPN while on (untrusted) WIFI connections, then you should be. I consider untrusted any WIFI network I don't directly control. I even use VPN (normally) when on LTE because I don't trust my wireless carrier. VPN hardware galore Appliances properly designed and maintained should make most tasks easier and safer.
What the CIA Vault7 Wikileak really means for consumers
“Wikileaks Unveils ‘Vault 7’: “The Largest Ever Publication Of Confidential CIA Documents”; Another Snowden Emerges” — Zerohedge “It includes software that could allow people to take control of the most popular consumer electronics products used today, claimed WikiLeaks.” — independent.co.uk “Surprise, everyone, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) allegedly has the means to hack everyday electronics. ” — techradar.com Yes Wikileaks released a very large chunk of CIA information dubbed Vault7 that explains some of the hacking capabilities of the US intelligence service vis-a-vis consumer electronics.
5 best Random Password Generators
1 - Random.org Random.org has been one of my favorite sites for a long time. It uses atmospheric noise to generate its randomness which is much better than the logical pseudo-random generators used by many sites and service. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/05954edbbc.jpg" alt=""> You choose the password parameters you need and it generates wonderfully random passwords to use with your password manager of choice. Link 2 - Symantec Identity Safe Symantec has been a mainstay of the security market since the 90s and they bought a company called PCTools (and its Secure Password Generator).
Companies buying bitcoin to prepare for cyber extortion
In an uncertain world where kidnapping for ransom is an all too common occurrence, many hostage negotiators use the no-concession policy. They justify this position by explaining that paying a ransom makes it more likely that the perpetrators will try it again and often times the ransom is used to fund illegal or terrorist organizations. Although I have seen very little empirical evidence to prove that this no-concesion approach is more desirable than paying the ransom, this mentality was brought into the digital age when cyber-ransoms, cyber-extortions and crypto-malware became prevalent.
Hackers that hacked Cellebrite released a data dump
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1686”] Image from the Cellebrite website [/caption] Cellebrite is an Israeli company that specializes in tools (hardware and software) to break cell phone security. The Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) is their most popular product and it can extract info from a wide variety of cell phones in minutes. Needless to say, law enforcement loves Cellebrite and has made them a very wealthy company. Cellebrite confirmed being breached and 900 GB of data was taken (which we believed contained end user licensing information).
Tool to check if your favorite username is free on dozens of sites automatically
Whether you are a burgeoning social media star, a marketer or just a lover of everything social, you probably want to use the name username on all the major social media sites. Using the same name makes it easy for your adoring fans to find you. This is when an online service called NameCheckr comes into play. You enter the desired username and it check the sites for availability. The sites included in its search (as I write this are):
Make sure that cyber-criminal doesn't rip you off
Everyone hates being ripped off and consumers are always looking for ways to protect themselves. We use credit cards for online purchases to protect against fraud. We use Amazon ratings to judge the worthiness of a seller. But what is a cyber-criminal to do? A criminal can't reverse a charge because they don't use credit cards. So anywhere there is a void, an entrepreneur will fill the void and the dark underbelly of the cyber-criminal world is no exception. A site called Ripper.
You should download the latest IOS upgrade now
There is no such thing as bulletproof security. If a well funded, technically competent and determined adversary is targeting you, they will get in. Your job is to make their life as difficult as possible by using passwords that are complex (difficult to guess) and by keeping your software up to date. Apple has been a good steward of IOS security and regularly releases patches to protect its user base. Today we were gifted IOS 10.2.1 which is an out of plan upgrade I recommend you download asap.