The Seattle Times writes about Soviet maps In a very interesting recent article Eric Lacitis tells about maps he discovered in a Riga bookstore. They bring back real history of a country that was brutally occupied by the Soviet Union. Here is the rest of the story and how it relates to the US. [...]
Late last year on a Friday evening I discovered that logging into our Schwab.com account got lots easier. It was possible to log in without a username and password. Wow, what a vulnerability! Here is the story. Not expecting this labor-saving bonanza I hadn’t recorded screen shots. Some [...]
A Bluetooth attack just announced last month found vulnerabilities in most major operating systems: Windows, iOS, Android, Linux… This leads to a series of worrisome questions. They are amplified by stories from my friends who have used Bluetooth hacks to turn on a cellphone microphone and [...]
WannaCry news Over the last few days a WannaCry worm/ransomware attack has swept across the planet resulting in headlines. Forensics of the worm which spreads a ransomware payload is being meshed with political news. It’s likely that the key worm concepts came from stolen and leaked US [...]
In the current political focus it is not helpful to have another harangue from an opinion shaper. This blog includes just my personal experiences — and the role of computer forensics. Remember the ’70s? Seattle had become the bomb capital of the US. The government was the focus of much [...]
Last week a long-time client called to ask for quick cyber risk assessment. No threat of violence — but they wanted to know if their (very good) network security would effectively defend them against a known (very aggressive) cyber threat. An immediate opinion was needed. I was faced with the [...]
Software from Redmond, Washington always seems newsworthy. This software project was going well and beginning to get national attention. One day the focus turned inward, however. During a test of the project, the boss discovered that the new software was providing links to pornography on the [...]
The tough job in risk assessment is separating the goofiness of ordinary life from factors that might indicate potential violence. Assessment isn’t prediction — but both have similar uncertainties. In a world with lots of physical variables, each represented by a known stochastic [...]
Two former spooks met for a gourmet lunch on the side of an extinct volcano. Sounds interesting… and it was. I was with Patrick Wardle, Director of R&D for synack.com. His company has taken an effective new approach to discovering network vulnerabilities for their clients. We talked a bit [...]
Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the US. Just a few weeks ago Liberation Day, Bevrijdingsdag, was remembered in the Netherlands. They recognize the sacrifice of foreign soldiers who defeated the German occupiers in World War II. Near Maastricht, 8,301 American soldiers are buried. They fell in [...]