infosec – Page 15 – Stilgherrian

11 January 2015

Weekly Wrap 239: The new year starts with some chaos

My week of Monday 29 December 2014 to Sunday 3 January 2015 was a strange mix of relaxation and stress. Relaxation during the New Year break, and stress because the server migration I was doing started to become a complete pain.

Since this is being posted a week late, I won’t bother expanding on all that for now. I may or may not issue a series of whinges in relation to the server migration.

But I will mention that on 30 December I migrated from Bunjaree Cottages near Wentworth Falls to Lilyfield in Sydney’s inner west, there to spend most of January. If you need to catch up with me in Sydney for some reason, this is the month for you.

Articles

Why Kim Dotcom buying off Lizard Squad was the wrong move, ZDNet Australia, 30 December 2014.

5at5

There were three editions of 5at5 this week, on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. You might want to subscribe so you receive them all. Subscribe. Just subscribe.

Media Appearances

On Tuesday, I did my third Tech Wreck on ABC 720 Perth. This is a regular spot over summer at 1430 AWST / 1730 AEDT. One more to go.

Corporate Largesse

None.

[Photo: Sydney skyline, photographed on 30 December 2014. I seem to recall that it was a very hot day that day.]

03 January 201503 January 2015

Talking technology on ABC 720 Perth, episode the third

The Christmas Day attacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox and the supposed culprits, Lizard Squad, featured in this week’s “Tech Wreck” segment on ABC 720 Perth. Also, fake fingerprints and Facebook’s end of year review.

Lizard Squad had claimed responsibility for the attacks, and stopped them when Kim Dotcom paid them off. I reckon that was a mistake. Meanwhile, infosec journalist Brian Krebs thinks he’s identified Lizard Squad members, and later reported that at least one has been arrested.

A hacker presenting at the Chaos Computer Club conference in Germany demonstrated how he could recreate a fingerprint just from photographs.

And the Facebook thing? Just read this guy’s story.

The presenter is Jamie Burnett.

I’ve delayed posting this audio because there was a problem. I normally record off the ABC’s internet feed, but the link dropped out part-way. Journalist Will Ockenden was kind enough to pull the audio from the ABC’s archiving system, but that was interrupted by bushfire alerts. What to do?

I decided I’d post it as-is, because this is what Perth listeners would have heard, and it highlights just how serious Australia has to get during our hot, dangerous summers.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (14.3MB)

The next “Tech Wreck” segment is on ABC 720 Perth this Tuesday 6 January 2015 at 1430 AWST / 173 AEDT.

31 December 201401 January 2015

Fine posts for 2014, such that they are

As in previous years, the list of most popular posts for 2014 was disappointing, so I’ve compiled this list for you to consider instead.

As it happens, only three posts stood out for me, and all of them were on the previous list.

May Reza Berati be the last, Mr Abbott. I do like this as exampled of the controlled rant, barely concealing a seething rage.
Operation Sovereign Borders, sinister and banal. Ditto for my reaction to Mick Kinley, acting chief executive officer of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) shrugging off concerns that Australia removes safety equipment from the lifeboats we put asylum seekers on before telling them to go home.
Algorithms and the Filter Bubble, Take 3. I continue to get compliments about this lecture, so it deserves to be on the list.

In the past I haven’t included the material I wrote elsewhere, for ZDNet Australia, Technology Spectator, CSO Online, Crikey, ABC The Drum and the rest. That’s all listed on my Media Output page. But this year I will highlight some of my personal favourites.

It’s strange, but we never really had to learn to love the bomb, Crikey, 29 January 2014.
Want secure software? Listen to Marge Simpson, ZDNet Australia, 13 March 2014.
It’s time that ‘metadata’ met an end, ZDNet Australia, 20 March 2014.
Enjoy your Ubergasm, but don’t expect respect in the morning, ZDNet Australia, 30 April 2014.
To win the cloud, remember George Westinghouse, ZDNet Australia, 27 May 2014.
Enough with the cyber ‘wake-up calls’, ZDNet Australia, 11 June 2014.
Google’s backward step on Android app privacy, ZDNet Australia, 20 June 2014.
Big data is just a big, distracting bubble, soon to burst, ZDNet Australia, 11 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s new surveillance laws, ZDNet Australia, 21 July 2014.
Beware the spin behind Australia’s copyright law discussion paper, ZDNet Australia, 28 July 2014.
Putting people at the centre of enterprise security, ZDNet Australia, 3 November 2014.

Continue reading “Fine posts for 2014, such that they are”

17 December 2014

Talking technology on ABC 720 Perth, first of several

ABC logo Last week’s conversation about the future of jobs apparently went so well that it’s become a regular weekly spot over summer. “Tech Wreck” is now on ABC 720 Perth each Tuesday at 1430 AWST / 1730 AEDT.

This week we spoke about:

Machines talking to machines, including the idea of your car reporting maintenance issues directly to the manufacturer, or even reporting your driving habits directly to your insurance company. It was inspired by Chris Arkenberg’s article, Inside The Near-Future World Where All Our Data And Machines Are In Constant Communication.
Some online safety tips for summer. I don’t have any links for that, sorry, it was all just stuff in my head.
Instagram and “selfie culture”, including 2014’s Most Instagrammed Places.

The presenter is Jamie Burnett. If there’s any topics you’d like us to talk about in coming weeks, please let us know. Or phone in during the program on +61 8 9220 2700.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (14.9MB)

14 December 201415 December 2014

Weekly Wrap 236: Summer and swirling water

My week of Monday 8 to Sunday 14 December 2014 was decent enough, though everything in the latter part of the week was rearranged as it went along. Planning. Why bother?

Since this post is already rather late getting online, I’ll stick to the facts, ma’am. Well, I’ll make one observation: Summer seems to have arrived.

Podcasts

“The 9pm Personal Brand Enhancement Journey”, being The 9pm Edict episode 33. It’s nearly an hour long and contains, um, special sounds. I’ve also launched The 9pm Summer Scrounge subscriber drive, but there’ll be more about that tomorrow.

Articles

All aboard the internet of things infosec hype train, ZDNet Australia, 11 December 2014.

5at5

It was a full week for 5at5, more or less, at least in the sense that five editions went out. Tuesday morning (being the one that was meant to go out on Friday), Tuesday evening, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You might want to subscribe so you receive them all. Eventually.

Media Appearances

On Wednesday, I spoke about the future of jobs on ABC 720 Perth.

Corporate Largesse

On Tuesday, I went to Symantec’s end-of-year lunch at Aria Restaurant in Sydney. The food and wine was as wonderful as always. I had the oysters, the barramundi, the cheese, and the things that came afterwards.

The Week Ahead

By the time you see this, most of Monday will have already happened — despite the date on the post. Monday is mostly about catching up on many, many loose ends.

On Tuesday, I’ll be writing for Crikey, and then catching the train to Sydney to run a few errands and then drop in to the ABC at Ultimo to do spot for ABC 720 Perth. That’s at 1730 AEDT / 1430 AWST, and this will be regular thing every Tuesday afternoon across summer. I’m toying with the idea of staying in Sydney overnight. Make me an offer.

On Wednesday, I’ll be starting work on a server migration. On Thursday, I’ll be writing for ZDNet Australia. Friday is as yet unplanned. Much of the weekend is unplanned too, although I’ll be doing the bulk of the server migration at some unpleasant hour in that period.

[Photo: The ferry departs, a rather heavily processed photo of the wake left by a ferry departing Circular Quay in Sydney on 8 December 2014.]

07 December 201407 December 2014

Weekly Wrap 235: More scallops, less disruption

My week of Monday 1 to Sunday 7 December 2014 was reasonably pleasant. Not much output, but I absorbed three “webinars” (ugh!) and one very fine lunch, and tried to de-stress as much as possible.

Articles

DevOps a natural fit for cloud security, ZDNet Australia, 5 December 2014.

5at5

It was a full week for 5at5, with emails being sent on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — although it appears that Friday’s didn’t get delivered properly. I’ll be chasing up that little problem tomorrow. Either way, you should subscribe so you receive them all.

Media Appearances

On Thursday, I spoke about Targetgate on ABC 936 Hobart.
Also on Thursday, I spoke about Stephen Hawking and artificial intelligence on Sydney radio 2UE.

Corporate Largesse

On Friday, I attended Cisco’s end-of-year lunch at the appallingly-named but rather lovely restaurant Gastro Park in Potts Point. The food and wine was lovely. I had the appetisers, the scallops and the duck, but had to skip dessert because I was running late.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, it’s a morning of administrivia and mapping out my work between now and Christmas — well, at least as much as it can ever be planned. In the afternoon and evening I’m producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, including setting up a subscription drive.

On Tuesday, I’m heading down to Sydney for a lunchtime briefing by Symantec, as well as running some errands. While I’m in transit, I’ll be doing research and writing some story pitches. I’ll also finish the podcast and post it on Tuesday evening, to coincide with the subscription drive kicking off.

Wednesday has been set aside for writing, but don’t know what yet, nor for whom. I’m assuming that one of the story pitches will be successful.

On Thursday, I’m writing my column for ZDNet Australia, then heading down to Sydney for VMWare’s end-of-year drinks — and I daresay some further social life after that. Whether I stay in Sydney overnight will depend on whether certain people have decided to pay me or not.

Friday is scheduled to be a day off, because at some point on the weekend I’ll be doing a big chunk of systems administration, and I’m trying to have at least one day a week without work-related thoughts. I’m rarely successful in that, but that’s another story. But when that work will be done, and what personal and social activities will also happen on the weekend, is still to be determined.

Update 1840 AEDT: Edited to reflect a slight change of plans, finishing the podcast on Tuesday rather than Monday.

[Photo: Wentworth Falls awaits tonight’s storm, photographed at Wentworth Falls railway station on 4 December 2014. There have been thunderstorms every day this week. Sydney is becoming a sub-maritime tropical climate.]