Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Great Cellular Sellout (Part 1) Aug 19, 2019

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In January 2019, Motherboard broke a story about how cellular providers were allowing your location information to be sold to several third parties, effectively allowing anyone to buy the real-time location of any cell phone. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has brought a suit against AT&T and others, claiming that this practice broke several state and federal laws. Today in part one of my interview with the EFF's Aaron Mackey, we'll discuss this case and why our location data can expose so much about us. Aaron Mackey works on free speech, privacy, government surveillance and transparency. Before joining EFF in 2015, Aaron was in Washington, D.C. where he worked on speech, privacy, and freedom of information issues at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown Law. Aaron graduated from Berkeley Law in 2012, where he worked for EFF while a student in the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic. He also holds an LLM from Georgetown Law. Prior to law school, Aaron was a journalist at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Arizona. He received his undergraduate degree in journalism and English from the University of Arizona in 2006, where he met his amazing wife, Ashley. They have two young children. Further Info: Donate to EFF: https://supporters.eff.org/donate/Surveillance Self Defense Guide: https://ssd.eff.orgEFF's California lawsuit: https://www.eff.org/cases/geolocation-privacyReport abused location information: geolocation@eff.org

The Tyranny of the Default Aug 12, 2019

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Marketing firms love to tell us that we control our privacy - you simply need to opt out of tracking! Like Dorothy, we've had the power all along. Just click your heels three times and uncheck all those pesky tracking options under Settings... somewhere. Which, statistically speaking, no one ever does. It's the Tyranny of the Default. I'll discuss why it's so hard. (Spoiler alert, it's on purpose.) Also in today's show: Apple massively expands its bug bounty program; several "air gapped" US elections systems found on the internet; Instagram pulls a Cambridge Analytica move; watch out for fake Equifax settlement sites; another sex hook-up app exposes its user's private information; and it's time to update your Android devices (if you can). Further Info: Instagram data leak: https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-hyp3r-saving-instagram-users-stories-tracking-locations-2019-8Election Systems exposed online: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxzk9/exclusive-critical-us-election-systems-have-been-left-exposed-online-despite-official-denialsOfficial FTC/Equifax settlement site: https://ftc.gov/equifax or https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/Changing WiFi Router (and other IoT) default passwords: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/the-s-in-iot-is-for-security/The Cop Out that is Opt Out: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com

The Great Hack Aug 05, 2019

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In today's show, I'll discuss the Capitol One hack that affected over 100 million card users and applicants. I'll also cover the latest in the backlash against Apple, Google and Amazon over humans listening in on your private digital assistant voice recordings. The Ring doorbell, whose parent company was bought by Amazon, is quickly becoming a darling of local law enforcement agencies due to its ability to share surveillance footage. School districts are being hit with ransomware and being bilked for hundreds of thousands of dollars. And finally, Netflix has created a sobering documentary about the Facebook and Cambridge Analytics scandal, covering not just the 2016 US elections but also Brexit and many other voter influence campaigns around the globe. Further Info: The Great Hack on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/Title/80117542RSA Conference Blog book review: https://www.rsaconference.com/blogs/bens-book-of-the-month-review-of-firewalls-dont-stop-dragons-a-step-by-step-guide-to-computer-security-for-non-techiesApress Beginner's Book series: https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/7383A13D-EAFC-426B-A944-5B6C1B6886E9

Get Your Equifax Settlement Jul 29, 2019

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Two years after the massive Equifax breach, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a tentative settlement that will purportedly provide some restitution to the 148 million Americans who whose data was leaked. Unfortunately, there are lots of little devils in the details - not to mention the this settlement has yet to be approved. However, you can (and probably should) go ahead and submit your claim. I'll give you all the details and tell you how do it. In other news, Firefox is coming out with a premium, for-pay version of its privacy-centric web browser, the Pentagon has revealed technology that will allow them to identify people surreptitiously from up to 200 meters away, some of your Apple's Siri recordings are being listened to by real humans, I'll give my take on the FaceApp scandal, and finally, if you have a Logitech wireless keyboard or mouse, you're going to watch to update the software to patch a nasty bug. Further Info: Logitech Wireless Keyboard/Mouse security update: https://support.logi.com/hc/en-001/community/posts/360032078393-Logitech-Response-to-Research-FindingsEquifax settlement claim site: https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/Free (official) annual credits reports: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

Privacy in a Box (Part 2) Jul 22, 2019

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In the second half of my interview with Winston Privacy CEO Richard Stokes, we talk about why your data is so valuable to advertisers and what you can do to limit all this tracking. In particular, we'll discuss the Winston box which acts as a sort of force field around your home network, preventing all your "smart" and "internet of things" devices from reporting on your every move. Richard is the CEO and founder of Winston Privacy. Previously, he was the founder of AdGooroo.com, one of the first digital market research services, and later became the Global Head of Innovation for Kantar Media. He founded Winston Privacy in response to the increasing abuses of privacy taking place in the AdTech industry. Additionally, he's the author of "The Ultimate Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising". He has a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and an MBA from Kellogg / Northwestern University. Further Info: Winston Privacy: https://winstonprivacy.com/Pre-Order: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/winston-take-back-control-of-your-online-privacy#/

Privacy in a Box (Part 1) Jul 15, 2019

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Protecting your privacy today is hard. It's really hard. It's too hard. Every 'smart' device you own is tattling on you, constantly, to dozens of companies. Your phone, your tablet, your PC, your TV, your streaming box, your DVR, your smart thermostat, your internet-connected medical devices... The list goes on and it gets longer every day. What if you could not only see all these illicit communications but also block them all, in one feel swoop? In part one of my interview with Richard Stokes, this former AdTech CEO will reveal what finally caused him to not only leave the industry but to develop a promising new product that puts users back in control of their privacy. Richard is the CEO and founder of Winston Privacy. Previously, he was the founder of AdGooroo.com, one of the first digital market research services, and later became the Global Head of Innovation for Kantar Media. He founded Winston Privacy in response to the increasing abuses of privacy taking place in the AdTech industry. Additionally, he's the author of "The Ultimate Guide to Pay-Per-Click Advertising". He has a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and an MBA from Kellogg / Northwestern University. Further Info: Winston Privacy: https://winstonprivacy.com/Pre-Order: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/winston-take-back-control-of-your-online-privacy#/

Big Brother 2.0 Jul 08, 2019

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The US government is once again looking to break or hobble encrypted communications in the name of national security and law enforcement. They claim that we're "going dark" - that modern end-to-end encryption used in apps like Signal and Wickr that protect user privacy are preventing them from keeping us safe and bringing the bad guys to justice. Cryptographers and technology companies have soundly squashed the idea of putting "backdoors" in these systems that supposedly only the "good guys" can go through. But now these agencies have come up with a proposal that neatly sidesteps these issues: they simply want to be added as another "end" to the end-to-end scrambled session. A "ghost" in the chat, and BCC that neither of the original participants are made aware of. But this has several problems, as well. In other news, FigLeaf has conducted a survey of users about online privacy that shows major shifts in thinking since just before the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook scandal; "pre-saving" new releases on Spotify and other music streaming services is allowing music companies unbelievable access to your personal info; and Mozilla (maker of Firefox) has created a creative tool that let's you fool online advertisers into thinking you're someone completely different.

Set Warp Factor 1.1.1.1 Jul 01, 2019

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Why do most VPN apps suck so badly? How do you know which VPN service providers you can trust with your privacy? How is it that our internet service providers know so much about our web surfing habits? Today I explore these questions and more with John Graham-Cumming, the CTO of the internet performance and security company. He will also tell us about a new VPN service coming soon from Cloudflare called Warp that may finally address all of these problems. John is a computer programmer and author. He studied mathematics and computation at Oxford and stayed for a doctorate in computer security. As a programmer he has worked in Silicon Valley and New York, the UK, Germany, and France. His open source POPFile program won a Jolt Productivity Award in 2004. John is the author of a travel book for scientists published in 2009 called The Geek Atlas. Further Info: Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 App: https://1.1.1.1/Cloudflare's Crypto Week Blog: https://blog.cloudflare.com/welcome-to-crypto-week-2019/ Big Brother 2.0: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/big-brother-2-0/

The Internet of Junk Jun 24, 2019

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How many of your "smart" devices are smart enough to update their own software? For that matter, how many of them can upgrade at all? It's a good bet that most of them run some flavor of the free and open-source Linux operating system. A nasty bug was just found that affects almost all Linux systems, allowing a simple remote command to bring the system to its knees. There have been other bugs found in Linux and there will be more. If your device's software can't be updated, it will always be vulnerable. I'll go over some basic IoT security tips to mitigate your vulnerability, but in the end, older IoT devices that can't be upgraded should just be pitched. In other news, Firefox just patched two critical vulnerabilities, Dell's built-in remote assistance software can be remotely hacked, Venmo transactions are still painfully public by default, a Spanish soccer apps turns its fans into unwitting narcs, and Facebook has launched a new cryptocurrency called Libra.

The Rise of Stalkerware Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

In today's show I have a sobering discussion with the EFF's Eva Galperin about the rise of stalkerware (sometimes called "spouseware"). It's become all too easy for abusive, unscrupulous people to spy on their significant others, tracking their every move, monitoring all their communications. We'll talk about how our phones can be subverted and what measures you can take to prevent it. Eva also provides practical and prudent advice for people who suspect they may be victims of stalkerware. Eva Galperin is EFF's Director of Cybersecurity. Prior to 2007, when she came to work for EFF, Eva worked in security and IT in Silicon Valley and earned degrees in Political Science and International Relations from SFSU. Her work is primarily focused on providing privacy and security for vulnerable populations around the world. To that end, she has applied the combination of her political science and technical background to everything from organizing EFF's Tor Relay Challenge, to writing privacy and security training materials (including Surveillance Self Defense and the Digital First Aid Kit), and publishing research on malware in Syria, Vietnam, Kazakhstan. When she is not collecting new and exotic malware, she practices aerial circus arts and learning new languages. Further Info Surveillance Self Defense: https://ssd.eff.org/EFF Newsletter: https://supporters.eff.org/subscribeDonate to the EFF: https://supporters.eff.org/donate/

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