Debian dla-3789 : libdatetime-timezone-perl - security update

The remote Debian 10 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the dla-3789 advisory. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debian LTS Advisory DLA-3789-1 [email protected] https://www.debian.org/lts/security/...

Snowden Ten Years Later

In 2013 and 2014, I wrote extensively about new revelations regarding NSA surveillance based on the documents provided by Edward Snowden. But I had a more personal involvement as well. I wrote the essay below in September 2013. The New Yorker agreed to publish it, but the Guardian asked me not to...

FBI Warns Investors to Take Precautions with Decentralized Financial Platforms

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI on Monday warned of cyber criminals increasingly exploiting flaws in decentralized finance DeFi platforms to plunder cryptocurrency. "The FBI has observed cyber criminals exploiting vulnerabilities in the smart contracts governing DeFi platforms to ste...

Me on Public-Interest Tech

Back in November 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I gave a virtual talk at the International Symposium on Technology and Society: "The Story of the Internet and How it Broke Bad: A Call for Public-Interest Technologists." It was something I was really proud of, and its finally up on...

Twitter Bans Users From Posting 'Private Media' Without a Person's Consent

Twitter on Tuesday announced an expansion to its private information policy to include private media, effectively prohibiting the sharing of photos and videos without express permission from the individuals depicted in them with an aim to curb doxxing and harassment. "Beginning today, we will not...

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I'm being interviewed on "Hacking in the Public Interest" as part of the Black Hat Webcast Series, on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 2:00 PM EDT. The list is maintained on this page...

Beers with Talos Ep. #74: Impacting civil society

Beers with Talos BWT Podcast episode No. 74 is now available. Download this episode and subscribe to Beers with Talos: If iTunes and Google Play aren't your thing, click here. Recorded March 2, 2020 We open up the show with a sugary sweet poem before talking about RSA and our annual trip through...

Becoming a Tech Policy Activist

Carolyn McCarthy gave an excellent TEDx talk about becoming a tech policy activist. It's a powerful call for public-interest technologists...

Technology and Policymakers

Technologists and policymakers largely inhabit two separate worlds. It's an old problem, one that the British scientist CP Snow identified in a 1959 essay entitled The Two Cultures. He called them sciences and humanities, and pointed to the split as a major hindrance to solving the world's...

Why Technologists Need to Get Involved in Public Policy

Last month, I gave a 15-minute talk in London titled: "Why technologists need to get involved in public policy." In it, I try to make the case for public-interest technologists. I also maintain a public-interest tech resources page, which has pretty much everything I can find in this space. If I'...

Debian DSA-4535-1 : e2fsprogs - security update

Lilith of Cisco Talos discovered a buffer overflow flaw in the quota code used by e2fsck from the ext2/ext3/ext4 file system utilities. Running e2fsck on a malformed file system can result in the execution of arbitrary code. C Tenable Network Security, Inc. The descriptive text and package checks...

I'm Looking to Hire a Strategist to Help Figure Out Public-Interest Tech

I am in search of a strategic thought partner: a person who can work closely with me over the next 9 to 12 months in assessing what's needed to advance the practice, integration, and adoption of public-interest technology. All of the details are in the RFP. The selected strategist will work close...

Black Hat 2019: Ethical Hackers Must Protect Digital Human Rights

LAS VEGAS – At a time when technology is being utilized for human-rights abuses, the security space needs to turn its focus to public interest defense technology, security stalwarts urged during Black Hat USA 2019. Security has long focused on protecting company data and providing cyber-defense f...

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I'm speaking at Black Hat USA 2019 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, August 7 and Thursday, August 8, 2019. I'm speaking on "Information Security in the Public Interest" at DefCon 27 in Las Vegas on Saturday, August 10, 2019. The list is...

I'm Leaving IBM

Today is my last day at IBM. If you've been following along, IBM bought my startup Resilient Systems in Spring 2016. Since then, I have been with IBM, holding the nicely ambiguous title of "Special Advisor." As of the end of the month, I will be back on my own. I will continue to write and speak,...

Cybersecurity for the Public Interest

The Crypto Wars have been waging off-and-on for a quarter-century. On one side is law enforcement, which wants to be able to break encryption, to access devices and communications of terrorists and criminals. On the other are almost every cryptographer and computer security expert, repeatedly...

Videos and Links from the Public-Interest Technology Track at the RSA Conference

Yesterday at the RSA Conference, I gave a keynote talk about the role of public-interest technologists in cybersecurity. Video here. I also hosted a one-day mini-track on the topic. We had six panels, and they were all great. If you missed it live, we have videos: How Public Interest Technologist...

Cybersecurity for the Public Interest

The Crypto Wars have been waging off-and-on for a quarter-century. On one side is law enforcement, which wants to be able to break encryption, to access devices and communications of terrorists and criminals. On the other are almost every cryptographer and computer security expert, repeatedly...

RSAC 2019: An Antidote for Tech Gone Wrong

SAN FRANCISCO – Tech innovation can move faster than its own good might dictate, often leaving the public interest as an afterthought. Take, for example, hot-button topics such as artificial intelligence, network neutrality and social network user privacy – and consider the ensuing debates. The...

Public-Interest Tech at the RSA Conference

Our work in cybersecurity is inexorably intertwined with public policy and­ -- more generally­ -- the public interest. It's obvious in the debates on encryption and vulnerability disclosure, but it's also part of the policy discussions about the Internet of Things, cryptocurrencies, artificial...