Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Food Poisoning

University of Connecticut basketball player Jordan Hawkins claims to have suffered food poisoning from calamari the night before his NCAA finals game. The restaurant disagrees: On Sunday, a Mastros employee politely cast doubt on the idea that the restaurant might have caused the illness, citing...

The Security Vulnerabilities of Message Interoperability

Jenny Blessing and Ross Anderson have evaluated the security of systems designed to allow the various Internet messaging platforms to interoperate with each other: The Digital Markets Act ruled that users on different platforms should be able to exchange messages with each other. This opens up a...

Friday Squid Blogging: New Species of Vampire Squid Lives 3,000 Feet below Sea Level

At least, it seems to be a new species. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Putting Undetectable Backdoors in Machine Learning Models

This is really interesting research from a few months ago: Abstract: Given the computational cost and technical expertise required to train machine learning models, users may delegate the task of learning to a service provider. Delegation of learning has clear benefits, and at the same time raise...

The Insecurity of Photo Cropping

The Intercept has a long article on the insecurity of photo cropping: One of the hazards lies in the fact that, for some of the programs, downstream crop reversals are possible for viewers or readers of the document, not just the files creators or editors. Official instruction manuals, help pages...

On Pig Butchering Scams

"Pig butchering" is the colorful name given to online cons that trick the victim into giving money to the scammer, thinking it is an investment opportunity. Its a rapidly growing area of fraud, and getting more sophisticated...

As Long as We’re on the Subject of CAPTCHAs

There are these...

The Decoupling Principle

This is a really interesting paper that discusses what the authors call the Decoupling Principle: The idea is simple, yet previously not clearly articulated: to ensure privacy, information should be divided architecturally and institutionally such that each entity has only the information they ne...

CAPTCHA

This is an actual CAPTCHA I was shown when trying to log into PayPal. As an actual human and not a bot, I had no idea how to answer. Is this a joke? Seems not. Is it a Magritte-like existential question? Its not a bicycle. Its a drawing of a bicycle. Actually, its a photograph of a drawing of a...

LastPass Security Breach

The company was hacked, and customer information accessed. No passwords were compromised...

Using Wi-FI to See through Walls

This technique measures device response time to determine distance: The scientists tested the exploit by modifying an off-the-shelf drone to create a flying scanning device, the Wi-Peep. The robotic aircraft sends several messages to each device as it flies around, establishing the positions of...

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I’m speaking at the World Ethical Data Forum, online, October 26-28, 2022. I’m speaking at the 24th International Information Security Conference in Madrid, Spain, on November 17, 2022. The list is maintained on this page...

Relay Attack against Teslas

Nice work: Radio relay attacks are technically complicated to execute, but conceptually easy to understand: attackers simply extend the range of your existing key using what is essentially a high-tech walkie-talkie. One thief stands near you while youre in the grocery store, intercepting your key...

Signal Phone Numbers Exposed in Twilio Hack

Twilio was hacked earlier this month, and the phone numbers of 1,900 Signal users were exposed: Heres what our users need to know: All users can rest assured that their message history, contact lists, profile information, whom theyd blocked, and other personal data remain private and secure and...

Zoom Exploit on MacOS

This vulnerability was reported to Zoom last December: The exploit works by targeting the installer for the Zoom application, which needs to run with special user permissions in order to install or remove the main Zoom application from a computer. Though the installer requires a user to enter the...

Twitter Exposes Personal Information for 5.4 Million Accounts

Twitter accidentally exposed the personal information--including phone numbers and email addresses--for 5.4 million accounts. And someone was trying to sell this information. In January 2022, we received a report through our bug bounty program of a vulnerability in Twitters systems. As a result o...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Cubes

Researchers thaw squid frozen into a cube and often make interesting discoveries. Okay, this is a weird story. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Symbiote Backdoor in Linux

Interesting: What makes Symbiote different from other Linux malware that we usually come across, is that it needs to infect other running processes to inflict damage on infected machines. Instead of being a standalone executable file that is run to infect a machine, it is a shared object SO libra...

Hertzbleed: A New Side-Channel Attack

Hertzbleed is a new side-channel attack that works against a variety of microprocressors. Deducing cryptographic keys by analyzing power consumption has long been an attack, but its not generally viable because measuring power consumption is often hard. This new attack measures power consumption ...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Bites Diver

I agree; the diver deserved it. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

ICE Is a Domestic Surveillance Agency

Georgetown has a new report on the highly secretive bulk surveillance activities of ICE in the US: When you think about government surveillance in the United States, you likely think of the National Security Agency or the FBI. You might even think of a powerful police agency, such as the New York...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Filmed Changing Color for Camouflage Purposes

Video of oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana changing color in reaction to their background. The research paper claims this is the first time this has been documented. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog...

Corporate Involvement in International Cybersecurity Treaties

The Paris Call for Trust and Stability in Cyberspace is an initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron during the 2018 UNESCO’s Internet Governance Forum. It’s an attempt by the worlds governments to come together and create a set of international norms and standards for a reliable,...

Upcoming Speaking Events

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I’m participating in an online panel discussion on “Ukraine and Russia: The Online War,” hosted by UMass Amherst, at 5:00 PM Eastern on March 31, 2022. I’m speaking at Future Summits in Antwerp, Belgium on May 18, 2022. I’m speakin...

Decrypting Hive Ransomware Data

Nice piece of research: Abstract: Among the many types of malicious codes, ransomware poses a major threat. Ransomware encrypts data and demands a ransom in exchange for decryption. As data recovery is impossible if the encryption key is not obtained, some companies suffer from considerable damag...

Faking an iPhone Reboot

Researchers have figured how how to intercept and fake an iPhone reboot: Well dissect the iOS system and show how its possible to alter a shutdown event, tricking a user that got infected into thinking that the phone has been powered off, but in fact, its still running. The "NoReboot" approach...

Stolen Bitcoins Returned

The US has returned $154 million in bitcoins stolen by a Sony employee. However, on December 1, following an investigation in collaboration with Japanese law enforcement authorities, the FBI seized the 3879.16242937 BTC in Ishiis wallet after obtaining the private key, which made it possible to...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Game Cryptocurrency Was a Scam

The Squid Game cryptocurrency was a complete scam: The SQUID cryptocurrency peaked at a price of $2,861 before plummeting to $0 around 5:40 a.m. ET., according to the website CoinMarketCap. This kind of theft, commonly called a "rug pull" by crypto investors, happens when the creators of the cryp...

Missouri Governor Doesn’t Understand Responsible Disclosure

The Missouri governor wants to prosecute the reporter who discovered a security vulnerability in a states website, and then reported it to the state. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and protected the private information of teachers arou...

Airline Passenger Mistakes Vintage Camera for a Bomb

I feel sorry for the accused: The "security incident" that forced a New-York bound flight to make an emergency landing at LaGuardia Airport on Saturday turned out to be a misunderstanding -- after an airline passenger mistook another travelers camera for a bomb, sources said Sunday. American...

The European Parliament Voted to Ban Remote Biometric Surveillance

Its not actually banned in the EU yet -- the legislative process is much more complicated than that -- but its a step: a total ban on biometric mass surveillance. To respect "privacy and human dignity," MEPs said that EU lawmakers should pass a permanent ban on the automated recognition of...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Communication

Interesting article on squid communication. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Excellent Write-up of the SolarWinds Security Breach

Robert Chesney wrote up the Solar Winds story as a case study, and its a really good summary...

Seny Kamara on "Crypto for the People"

Seny Kamara gave an excellent keynote talk this year at the online CRYPTO Conference. He talked about solving real-world crypto problems for marginalized communities around the world, instead of crypto problems for governments and corporations. Well worth watching and listening to...

Friday Squid Blogging: How Squid Survive Freezing, Oxygen-Deprived Waters

Lots of interesting genetic details. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I havent covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Iranian Cyberespionage Tools Leaked Online

The source code of a set of Iranian cyberespionage tools was leaked online...

Measuring the Rationality of Security Decisions

Interesting research: "Dancing Pigs or Externalities? Measuring the Rationality of Security Decisions": Abstract: Accurately modeling human decision-making in security is critical to thinking about when, why, and how to recommend that users adopt certain secure behaviors. In this work, we conduct...

Third Annual Cybercrime Conference

Ross Anderson liveblogged the Third Annual Cybercrime Conference...

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Comic

It's not very good, but it has a squid in it. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Friday Squid Blogging: How the Squid Lost Its Shell

Squids used to have shells. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

Sensitive Super Bowl Security Documents Left on an Airplane

A CNN reporter found some sensitive -- but, technically, not classified -- documents about Super Bowl security in the front pocket of an airplane seat...

Friday Squid Blogging: Baby Sea Otters Prefer Shrimp to Squid

At least, this one does. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here...

New Internet Explorer Bug

There's a newly discovered bug in Internet Explorer that allows any currently visited website to learn the contents of the address bar when the user hits enter. This feels important; the site I am at now has no business knowing where I go next...

Hacking Fingerprint Readers with Master Prints

There's interesting research on using a set of "master" digital fingerprints to fool biometric readers. The work is theoretical at the moment, but they might be able to open about two-thirds of iPhones with these master prints. Definitely something to keep watching. Research paper behind a paywal...

The Future of Ransomware

Ransomware isn't new, but it's increasingly popular and profitable. The concept is simple: Your computer gets infected with a virus that encrypts your files until you pay a ransom. It's extortion taken to its networked extreme. The criminals provide step-by-step instructions on how to pay,...

Reading Analytics and Privacy

Interesting paper: "The rise of reading analytics and the emerging calculus of reading privacy in the digital world," by Clifford Lynch: Abstract: This paper studies emerging technologies for tracking reading behaviors "reading analytics" and their implications for reader privacy, attempting to...

The Future of AI Cryptanalysis

Matthew Green has been writing a rather pessimistic series of posts about the potential for AI systems to vastly outperform humans in cryptanalysis of both symmetric and public-key ciphers. I am more optimistic than he is. That is, I have stronger faith in the over-engineering cryptographers tend...

Friday Squid Blogging: EU is Trying to Fight Unregulated Squid Fishing

The EU is recommending import controls to combat unregulated squid fishing in the Southwest Atlantic. I'm not optimistic. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Blog moderation policy...

On the NSA’s Supercomputer from the 1960s

Really interesting story about Harvest, a specialized code breaking computer built in the 1960s by IBM for the NSA...

My Talk at DEF CON

Last month, I gave a talk at DEF CON on AI hacking: what happens when AIs become hackers. It's a combination of the potentialities I raised in my 2022 book A Hacker 's Mind and the lessons we're learning from current AI models engaging in hacking behavior. I'm really proud of the talk, and the fa...