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Cybersecurity / Most Viewed

Why Passwords Have Never Been Weaker and Crackers Have Never Been Stronger

The past few weeks, I've been on this security kick particularly when it comes to encryption. I'm developing my own app in my spare time. So I'm trying a whole bunch of things, no doubt making plenty of mistakes in the process. Luckily, the data I am protecting is only quasi-valuable so I can afford to take a hit due to my own conscious incompetence. Anyhow, I ran across this article on Ars Technica yesterday entitled "Why Passwords have never been weaker - and crackers have never been stronger." It's a long article and it will take you a while to read it, but here is my summary. more

Usenet, Authentication, and Engineering (or: Early Design Decisions for Usenet)

A Twitter thread on trolls brought up mention of trolls on Usenet. The reason they were so hard to deal with, even then, has some lessons for today; besides, the history is interesting. (Aside: this is, I think, the first longish thing I've ever written about any of the early design decisions for Usenet. I should note that this is entirely my writing, and memory can play many tricks across nearly 40 years.) more

April 8 2014: A World Less Secure

Not long after the message that Microsoft will stop updating Windows XP from 8 April onwards, after extending it beyond the regular life cycle for over a year already, came the soothing message that malware will be monitored for another year. That may be good news to some, but the fact remains that this is not the same as patching. Remaining on XP leads to a vulnerable state of the desktop, lap top and any other machine running on XP; vulnerable to potential hacks, cyber crimes, becoming part of a botnet, etc. more

Building a Secure Global Network

Recently, the DNS has come under an extensive attack. The so-called "DNSpionage" campaigns have brought to light the myriad methods used to infiltrate networks. These attacks employed phishing, system hopping via key exfiltration, and software zero day exploits, illustrating that many secure networks may not be fully protected. more

Live Webcast Thursday March 28 of ION Singapore IPv6 and DNSSEC Sessions

For those of you interested in IPv6 and/or DNSSEC, we'll have a live webcast out of the Internet Society's ION Singapore conference happening tomorrow, March 28, 2013, starting at 2:00pm Singapore time. more

Watch LIVE: Edward Snowden at HOPE-X Today at 2:00pm EDT (18:00 UTC)

Whether you view Edward Snowden as a criminal or a hero, or somewhere in between, you cannot dispute that his revelations about pervasive surveillance have changed the discussions about the Internet on both technology and policy levels. If you are interested in hearing what Edward Snowden has to say himself, he is scheduled to speak today, Saturday, July 19, 2014, at 2:00pm US EDT at the HOPE-X conference in New York City. more

British Researchers Discover AI-Powered Technique That Can Extract Data Through Typing Sounds

A new study conducted by British researchers has unveiled a potentially concerning form of cyber threat where hackers can extract personal data just by listening to someone type. more

Facebook, Privacy, and Cryptography

There has long been pressure from governments to provide back doors in encryption systems. Of course, if the endpoints are insecure it doesn't matter much if the transmission is encrypted; indeed, a few years ago, I and some colleagues even suggested lawful hacking as an alternative. Crucially, we said that this should be done by taking advantage of existing security holes rather than be creating new ones. more

Asia-Pacific Job Opening: Join Internet Society Deploy360 Programme to Promote IPv6, DNSSEC, More

Do you live in the Asia-Pacific region and are interested in accelerating the deployment of key technologies such as IPv6, DNSSEC, TLS or secure routing mechanisms? If so, my Internet Society colleagues involved with the Deploy360 Programme are seeking a "Technical Engagement Manager" based somewhere in the AP region. Find out more information about the position, the requirements and the process for applying. more

A Look Inside the European Response to Spam

Last week the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), which assists the European Commission and its member states with network and information security issues, published its third Anti-Spam Measures Survey. The survey provides insight into how network operators in Europe are responding to the continued onslaught of email spam. more

Data Breaches Reported During 2016 Exposed Over 4.2 Billion Records

2016 broke the previous all-time high, set back in 2013, for the number of records exposed from reported data breaches. more

Phishers Expand Number of Top Level Domains Abused, Policy Changes Found Effective in Prevention

The new Global Phishing Survey released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) this month reveals that phishing gangs are concentrating their efforts within specific top level domains (TLDs), but also that anti-phishing policies and mitigation programs by domain name registrars and registries can have a significant and positive effect. The number of TLDs abused by phishers for their attacks expanded 7 percent from 145 in H2/2007 to 155 in H1/2008. The proportion of Internet-protocol (IP) number-based phishing sites decreased 35 percent in that same period, declining from 18 percent in the second half of 2007 to 13 percent in the first half of 2008. more

Air Travel Security: Practical Industry Suggestions From Us

I am just a security guy, as are many others who will read this. Perhaps it is time us "simple" security guys got together and wrote some recommendations for air travel security? Get out your voice out there as an organized professional group which can in turn lobby for our professional recommendations... Here are mine, just to get the ball rolling... more

Internet Society Activities at EuroDIG 2016: Trust, Collaborative Security, Zero Rating and More…

Over the next two days (9-10 June), the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) takes place in Brussels, Belgium. With a theme of "Embracing the digital (r)evolution", EuroDIG has a full agenda and Internet Society staff will be participating in many aspects of the programme. For us, a primary focus will be at 11:30 CEST (UTC+2) on Thursday, June 9, when our President and CEO Kathy Brown opens the first Plenary with a keynote speech. more

Malware Reach Is Expanding, Ransomware on the Rise

We live in an online age, one where malware infections have become commonplace. Some might say this is the price of doing business online. News headlines report damaging attacks on well-known brands with depressing regularity. Consumer confidence suffers as customers look to organizations to sort out the issue, secure their transactions and fix the problem. more