heartbleed – Stilgherrian

10 May 2014

Talking internet security on 2SER’s “The Wire”

The Wire logo Last week I recorded an interview on the state of internet security with The Wire, the current affairs program for Australia’s community radio network produced by 2SER in Sydney. It went to air on Monday night, 5 May.

This year has seen some major internet security breaches — from Heartbleed to iOS. But between these headline grabbing flaws there are numerous smaller bugs that pop up every day. As our devices and services become ever more ubiquitous, and flaws continue to popping to, we take a look at internet security.

I spoke with journalist Josh Nicholas for maybe 15 minutes, so this 4-minute edit is very much a condensed version. However we did manage to cover such subtleties as Apple’s secretive approach to security vulnerabilities, Heartbleed, bug bounties, and calls for better disclosure of vulnerabilities — that last link being to a story I wrote this week.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.7MB)

The audio is Â©2014 2SER-FM 107.3. It’s also available at The Wire program website — that’s exactly the same as what you can hear here, it’s just that the audio file here has my branding — and you can also listen to the entire episode.

22 April 201422 April 2014

Weekly Wrap 202: Doom Clown, fish heads, crowdfunding

My week of Monday 14 to Sunday 20 April 2014 was a solid performer in the first half, and suitably balanced in the second half — not a time-off Easter, but at least one that wasn’t about over-work.

My own media production moved away from covering the Heartbleed bug, producing just one item — an opinion piece looking back at the way the crisis was handled, as opposed to the straight news stories produced during the previous week. But the story had moved into the mainstream, and that provided the background for a couple of media appearances.

More importantly, at least from my point of view, was that on Easter Sunday I launched “The 9 O’Clock Resurrection”, a Pozible crowdfunding project to re-establish my podcast The 9pm Edict as a regular part of my media production schedule.

I’ve already posted two progress videos onto a YouTube playlist, and we’re already nearly halfway to the initial target. I’m posting plenty of updates elsewhere, so I won’t bang on about that here.

Articles

Heartbleed heartache: This was not a drill, people, and you failed, ZDNet Australia, 15 April 2014.

Media Appearances

On Monday I spoke about Heartbleed on ABC 774 Melbourne, ABC 720 Perth, and local stations throughout Victoria and Western Australia.
On Tuesday I spoke about smartphone privacy on ABC Radio National’s Life Matters.
On Thursday we recorded this week’s Download This Show for ABC Radio National, where we spoke about password management, an attempt to update the typeface Comic Sans, and a dumb-arsed thing called the SELFIE mirror. The password management story is also available on video.
Also on Thursday I spoke about Heartbleed on SBS2’s The Feed.
On Saturday I was called a Doom Clown by Tim Blair in his blog at the Daily Telegraph.

5at5

There was one for every working day, so that went to plan. Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5, and then I don’t need to keep telling you about it.

5at5 number 34, 14 April 2013.
5at5 number 35, 15 April 2013.
5at5 number 36, 16 April 2013.
5at5 number 37, 17 April 2013.

Corporate Largesse

On Thursday I had a meeting with someone from Lewis PR to exchange notes on what we each had coming up. They paid for coffee and cake.

The Week Ahead

It’s a short working week here in Australia, which is partially why this Weekly Wrap is appearing on Tuesday. Monday was mostly an excursion with two friends to Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill and Ashfield. Dumplings were involved.

Today, Tuesday, is about email and planning and many minor tasks that need to be gotten out of the way, so that I can concentrate on promoting the Pozible project and plan out the next few weeks.

Wednesday and Thursday are writing days, with at least one thing to write for ZDNet Australia, plus some work to be done on sorting out my cashflows. Friday is Anzac Day. I will mark it in some way, personally, but I’m not sure how yet. The weekend is unplanned as yet.

I’m in Sydney all week, and currently plan to return to the Blue Mountains on Sunday.

[Photo: Salmon heads on special at $1.99 per kilogram, photographed at Cabramatta in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday 19 April 2014.]

21 April 201419 January 2024

Talking Heartbleed and the hacker on SBS2’s The Feed

Screenshot of Stilgherrian on SBS The Feed

The Heartbleed saga continued throughout last week. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested a 19-year-old who’d allegedly used the vulnerability to exfiltrate date from the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) — and that prompted my first appearance on SBS2’s The Feed.

21 April 2014

Talking password protection on ABC Download This Show

Stilgherrian in bunny hat from Download This Show

ABC logo Careful and sighted readers will have noticed that in the photo accompanying the audio for this week’s Download This Show I was wearing a bunny hat for Easter. That’s because this radio program now appears on video as well as part of the new RN TV.

Not all of it, but one segment at least, and you’ll see that video over the fold.

In light of the software bug Heartbleed, we examine password managers and ask are they the safest way to manage your security online?

Continue reading “Talking password protection on ABC Download This Show”

21 April 201429 May 2014

Talking lots of things on ABC Download This Show

ABC logo This week saw my first appearance on ABC Radio National’s Download This Show for 2014. Presenter Marc Fennell made the grave mistake of putting me and Claire Porter, editor-a-large of Techly, in the same place at the same time. Chaos ensued.

“Killing Comic Sans, SELFIE Mirror, Password Managers” is the headline for this episode.

Comic Sans comeback: Created for Microsoft in the mid-90s, Comic Sans might just be the internet’s most-hated font. But this week we meet the guy who’s trying to save its reputation and reintroduce Comic Sans to a new generation, by making it look cool. In light of the software bug Heartbleed, we examine password managers and ask are they the safest way to manage your security online? And it’s a contender for the weirdest high-tech gadget yet: the mirror that automatically takes a selfie.

Here’s the full program.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (12.7MB)

[Photo: Stilgherrian, Marc Fennell and Claire Porter in the ABC studios, 17 April 2014.]

14 April 201414 April 2014

Talking Heartbleed on ABC 774 Melbourne, ABC 720 Perth

ABC logo Another day, another Heartbleed-related radio spot. This one was on ABC Radio 774 Melbourne, 720 Perth, and local stations throughout Victoria and Western Australia.

This conversation with presenter Prue Bentley was a straightforward explainer. It contains the current state of play in terms of what we believe, so if you only want to listen to one then make it this one. Unless there’s a more recent one on the site somewhere.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.6MB)