Passwords and Post-Its

Bruce Schneier links to a paper from HotSec that argues strong passwords accomplish little; instead, stronger user IDs and limits on log-in attempts are better solutions. (Implicit in this argument is that dictionary or guessing attacks are lower-priority threats than phishing or keyloggers.) And John Kelly of the Washington Post bemoans the standard yet brain-dead [...]

Google, Encryption, and Security

The Washington Post covers a letter by security researchers and academics urging Google to adopt encryption (HTTPS) as the default for all of its services. (Disclosure: I signed the letter.) The letter makes the case convincingly:
Google uses industry-standard Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) encryption technology to protect customers’ login information. However, encryption is not enabled [...]

How Filtering Affects ISPs

This is the write-up of a short talk I gave at the Filtering Workshop put on by the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of New South Wales last week. I welcome comments, feedback, and criticism!
Filtering Workshop: Implications for ISPs (University of New South Wales, 4 March 2009)
My theme is that the proposed [...]

New Group Enters Privacy Debate

A new privacy advocacy organization called the Future of Privacy Forum, funded by AT&T, has debuted in Washington. I might have assumed it would be another industry-driven group seeking to prevent serious policy changes, except that I have a lot of personal respect for its leadership. The director, Jules Polonetsky has a long [...]

Skype, Filtering, and Privacy

[Update Oct. 3 5:45PM - Skype's president responds, and says Skype was unaware of TOM's monitoring. But this is why tech firms partner with domestic Chinese firms: to handle uncomfortable requests such as filtering and surveillance... (via Wired)]
The New York Times reports on some terrific research done by my former ONI colleague Nart Villeneuve – [...]

What Is Your Favorite Annoying Question?

A funny piece at Slate rants about the “security” questions increasingly asked by financial institutions in a doomed attempt to foil hackers and phishers. It links to this funnier rant by David Weinberger. (I’ve also complained about the privacy concerns related to this before, but that’s not so funny). As Slate sums [...]

New AACS Key Knocks Professor’s Blog Offline?

Professor Ed Felten’s Freedom to Tinker blog is one of the must-read sites in the cyber/IP field (helpfully listed right there in our blogroll, see?), expertly blending the technical perspective of computer science with a solid appreciation of legal principles. But if you visit the site at the moment, you’ll get only a blank [...]

DeCSS Legal in Finland, Says Trial Court

From Ars Technica: Finland court: Breaking “ineffective” copy protection is permissible. But is it still un-Islamic?
UPDATE:  Professor Felten has more.

Dmitry: From Perp to Pitchman?

There was no escaping Ask.com yesterday — they ran a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and probably several other papers to boot, captioned:
The Algorithm Sees the Internet the Way Dmitry Sklyarov Sees a Poorly Encrypted DRM File.
That made for an interesting (and, to me at least, eye-catching) headline, not [...]

Courts, Injunctions, and WikiLeaks

As widely reported, Judge Jack Weinstein is holding a hearing tomorrow in his Brooklyn courtroom concerning Eli Lilly’s efforts to enjoin further distribution of internal documents related to its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa. The documents were originally obtained by an Alaska lawyer, who subpoeaned them from a doctor who possessed them in connection to his [...]

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