• Mar 13, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Guides,

Identity and Card Theft – Shielding Yourself from the Unsafe Small Business

With a constant stream of news of big organizations that have neglected their security, we often forget that the most vulnerable organizations are the small and medium businesses that don’t have the resources to build elaborate security teams. These businesses can have a single iPad, phone or dated register protecting their critical customer data. They … Continue reading “Identity and Card Theft – Shielding Yourself from the Unsafe Small Business”

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  • Feb 27, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News,

NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Digital Signature Algorithms

We have been talking about the National Institute of Standards and Technologies’ contest to find the most attractive new algorithms for quantum resistance. (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) In this final part, we talk about the candidates for a new standard Digital Signature Algorithm. (DSA) The core component of a secure digital signature lies … Continue reading “NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Digital Signature Algorithms”

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  • Feb 20, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News,

NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Asymmetric Algorithms (part 3)

In the first article of this series, I wrote about the NIST Post-Quantum Competition and which ciphers advanced to the second round, meaning that they passed through basic scrutiny and were advanced based on having strong fundamental design and good documentation. Round 3 will see significant narrowing again, based on the relative strength of the … Continue reading “NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Asymmetric Algorithms (part 3)”

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  • Feb 13, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News,

NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Asymmetric Algorithms (part 2)

In the previous article, I wrote about the NIST Post-Quantum Competition and which ciphers advanced to the second round, meaning that they passed through basic scrutiny and were advanced based on having strong fundamental design and good documentation. Round 3 will see significant narrowing again, based on the relative strength of the algorithms against one … Continue reading “NIST Round 2 and Post-Quantum Cryptography – The New Asymmetric Algorithms (part 2)”

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  • Jan 30, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News,

Private App Designs are Inherently More Secure

As a privacy activist, I spend a majority of my time talking about the dangers of the widespread loss of privacy in society. Today, we are going to sidestep a lot of the usual chat to talk about data security. Private Services Have Huge Comparative Security Advantages If we look at early Internet services that … Continue reading “Private App Designs are Inherently More Secure”

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  • Jan 18, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

Dismantling the “Nothing to Hide” Argument

When talking about privacy in the modern world, we are often faced with a common dismissive argument. Someone in the group always drags out the “I don’t have anything to hide, so it doesn’t bother me” argument. Privacy activists usually take offense to this, get agitated, or get flustered and go into a tirade about … Continue reading “Dismantling the “Nothing to Hide” Argument”

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  • Jan 9, 2019
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, VPN,

OpenVPN 2.5.0 – What is Coming to OpenVPN in 2019

OpenVPN is the old guard of the VPN world. It is powerful, stable, and it has a large and enthusiastic dev community backed by multiple commercial interests. A new dot release is scheduled to be released this year, with many new features that aim to make OpenVPN easier to use and resist censorship. Here is … Continue reading “OpenVPN 2.5.0 – What is Coming to OpenVPN in 2019”

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How to Set a Strong Passcode on Your Mobile Device

Without a strong passcode, everything on your mobile device is accessible by anyone. That includes thieves, random co-workers, and local law enforcement officers and the FBI. Even if you only keep your mobile device secure in your pocket or at home, imagine the damage your child could do once they access your Amazon account. Adding … Continue reading “How to Set a Strong Passcode on Your Mobile Device”

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  • Dec 2, 2018
  • Sean Doyle
  • General Privacy News, Guides,

What is Adware?

Adware is software that displays advertisements, directs your browser to advertising websites, and collects information about your browsing habits so that advertisements can be shown to you based from your online activity. Advertisements displayed by adware are typically produced within an Internet Browser window; However, they can also be displayed in the user interface of … Continue reading “What is Adware?”

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  • Nov 21, 2018
  • Derek Zimmer
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Surveillance,

The Internet of Things is Surveillance

The IOT is back in the news again this week. A judge has ordered Amazon to turn over audio data from an Alexa device related to a murder investigation. There’s a few interesting things raised by this warrant. The investigators believe that Alexa may have captured audio of the attack itself and uploaded it to … Continue reading “The Internet of Things is Surveillance”

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