infosec – Page 16 – Stilgherrian

30 November 201402 December 2014

Weekly Wrap 234: Scallops and disruption

My week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 November 2014 was, quite frankly, irritating — for reasons that I won’t detail here. The end result was that I didn’t get to take part in some of the social and semi-social events that I’d planned to. I am grumpy.

Articles

Australia’s data-retention plans look increasingly out of touch, ZDNet Australia, 26 November 2014.
Infosec checklists becoming common, but they’re not magic, ZDNet Australia, 28 November 2014.

5at5

The only edition of the 5at5 email newsletter that I got out the door was Monday. There will be more this week, so why not subscribe so you receive them all?

Media Appearances

On Tuesday, I spoke about the Regin spyware on ABC Radio’s The World Today.

Corporate Largesse

On Tuesday, I went to AVG Technologies’ Christmas media lunch and briefing at est restaurant. They paid for the excellent food and wine, of course. I had the scallops and smoked eel (pictured above), the beef and the chocolate. They also gave us an AVG-branded umbrella and a branded USB hub.

The Week Ahead

This is the week where freelancers switch from the always-busy November to the stressful process of solving a specific, annual problem: How can I ensure that there’s enough cashflow to survive Christmas, New Year and through to the end of January, when all the usual sources of income are dry? Wish me luck.

(It’s actually quite depressing to see people starting to add Christmas motifs to their Twitter avatars and otherwise talking about “the festive season” when one’s own time is anything but festive. Sigh.)

With that in mind, Monday is a day of administrivia and planning, and Tuesday will be dedicated to production for The 9pm Edict podcast. I think a pre-Christmas subscriber drive will come out of that. That work will continue on the days after that, along with online briefings at 0830 and 1400 on Wednesday, and at 0600 on Thursday. Somewhere in there I’ll also write a column for ZDNet Australia.

On Friday I’ll be heading in to Sydney for a briefing by BAE Systems, and then ~~the (in)famous Watterson PR Christmas lunch~~ Cisco’s end-of-year lunch at Gastro Park. The weekend thereafter is unplanned.

[Update 2 December: Edited to reflect change to Friday’s commitments.]

[Photo: Scallops and smoked eel — or, more completely, grilled scallops, smoked eel, baby leeks, wakame, shiso, yuzu — all being an entrÃ©e at est restaurant, Sydney, photographed on 25 November 2014.]

30 November 201401 December 2014

Talking Regin spyware on ABC The World Today

ABC logo Comment on current affairs programs happens in the most random ways. Last Tuesday I did a quick comment on the newly-revealed Regin spyware from a park bench in Sydney — a quick break while dashing between Wynward railway station and lunch.

Now at the time of doing this piece for ABC Radio’s The World Today, I’d read the report in The Intercept, and a couple of mainstream news stories that had bounced off that, but I hadn’t read either of the white papers from Symantec (PDF) or Kaspersky Lab (PDF).

For an initial comment on mainstream radio that was probably enough of an orientation, but with the benefit of hindsight a few days later, well, I might have put things slightly differently.

The journalist is Liv Casben.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.6MB)

23 November 2014

Weekly Wrap 233: From privacy around and back to privacy

My week of Monday 17 to Sunday 23 November 2014 was pleasingly productive, and struck a better balance between work and leisure time than the previous week. This pleases me.

I also suspect that Saturday night’s New Moon heralded the start of a new cycle of something or other, because so far Sunday has felt very different. We shall see.

Articles

Fix your security, don’t cover up breaches: Privacy Commissioner, ZDNet Australia, 18 November 2014. Given that bureaucratic language is usually rather restrained, these were strong warnings indeed from the Privacy Commissioner.
A right to privacy or rewriting history? Debate rages on the right to be forgotten, Crikey, 18 November 2014.
Tor’s feral fans are its own worst enemy, ZDNet Australia, 21 November 2014. I daresay I’ll get complaints about this one.

5at5

There were editions of the 5at5 email newsletter on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Why not subscribe so you receive them all?

Media Appearances

On Wednesday afternoon, I spoke about Netflix coming to Australia on ABC 891 Adelaide.
On Thursday afternoon, I did a spot on ABC News24 about Netflix coming to Australia and the backlash against mandatory data collection, but I forgot to record it.
On Friday afternoon, I spoke about unsecured webcams and CCTV on 1395 FIVEaa.

Corporate Largesse

On Monday, I covered the iappANZ conference, so there was food and drink on offer, and so I consumed same. I also had too many drinks with certain ISOC-AU people afterwards.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, I’ll be writing a column for ZDNet Australia, and planning some technical work that’ll unfold in December.

On Tuesday, I’m heading in to Sydney for a lunchtime briefing by AVG Technologies. On the train, I’ll be working on a feature article for ZDNet Australia that’s due at the end of the month. I’ll complete that feature on Wednesday.

On Thursday, I’m writing another column for ZDNet Australia, and heading to Sydney for the annual internet industry boat party on Sydney Harbour, followed by further drinks in the evening. I’ll be staying in Sydney overnight.

On Friday, I’m writing a piece for Crikey, and starting work on another episode of The 9pm Edict podcast. That podcast will be finished on the weekend — although what else that weekend may hold is still to be determined.

[Photo: The Central Points, being part of a set of railway track points — what Americans would call “railroad switches” — photographed on 17 November 2014.]

21 November 201421 November 2014

Talking exposed webcams on 1395 FIVEaa

Australian news outlets ran stories today about a Russian website that shows live video cameras that haven’t been properly protected, and I ended up talking about it with Will Goodings on Adelaide radio 1395 FIVEaa.

I disagreed with the Fairfax story, which called the Russian site “Online IP net surveillance cameras of the world” the result of “hacking”. For me, hacking implies some sort of technical trick. But I did point out that unprotected devices on the internet are not new. The Shodan search engine shows all manner of exposed devices.

The audio includes a subsequent guest on the program, Con Kosmidis from Alpha Security Systems, who amplified some of my points, and a small rant from Mr Goodings.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.7MB)

09 November 201416 November 2014

Weekly Wrap 231: A purple flower, and the events pile up

My week of Monday 3 to Sunday 9 November 2014 was remarkably productive, despite the temptations of then grains and the gentle ministrations of Mistress Insomnia.

Articles

Putting people at the centre of enterprise security, ZDNet Australia, 3 November 2014. People are the weakest link, folks. This 2500-word feature covers something that executives, CIOs and CISOs should be thinking about.
Malicious software spreads seeds of doubt in Apple’s magic garden, Crikey, 7 November 2014.
Customer data protection is a corporate social responsibility, ZDNet Australia, 7 November 2014.

5at5

My 5at5 daily email newsletter reappeared, and I managed to produce all five editions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Why not subscribe so you receive them all?

Media Appearances

On Tuesday night I spoke about internet trolls and the harassment of women online on ABC TV’s Lateline.
On Friday, I spoke about WireLurker, Google and Peta Credlin on Adelaide radio 1395 FIVEaa.
Also on Friday, I was quoted — or rather, one of my tweets was quoted — in a story at the International Business Times, Thousands Of Australians Notice Giant UFOs. Perhaps they should’ve done a bit of fact-checking on this one.
On Saturday, I was quoted in The Saturday Paper in an article headlined Web of abuse grows as online bullies spread malice.

Corporate Largesse

On Thursday, I went to the launch of the Microsoft Nokia Lumia 830 smartphone at Paramount House in Surry Hills, where I was of course given good canapÃ©s and wine. I also got a Lumia-branded tote bag containing a packet of Microsoft-branded jelly babies; a 2GB USB stick containing media information; and a loaner unit of the Lumia 830 itself. I’ll be using it over the next two weeks, and will report back at the end of that time.
Also on Thursday, I went to the Indies Party, the annual not-quite-Christmas party held jointly by the PR agencies Bass PR, Shuna Boyd PR, Einsteinz Communications, and Espresso Communications. There was food and drink aplenty.

The Week Ahead

The coming week is both busy and more structure than usual. That said, my schedule is always subject to last-minute changes — whether that’s down to the news cycle, cashflow glitches, or simply not caring any more. As usual, the daily plan tweets my be found on my voluminous Twitter feed.

Monday should see the completion of an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast.

Tuesday is a Sydney day. I plan to attend the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Martin Place, though that will depend on me getting a decent sleep the night before. Then there’s a lunch briefing with the Australian government’s CTO, John Sheridan, then coffee with a PR agency, then two events in the evening. Audible is launching something or other with the hashtag #ListenUp, and Chinese tech giant Huawei is launching their new smart device. That looks like rather a long day, so I plan to stay overnight in Sydney.

Wednesday should see a morning of writing, then a meeting with executives from Slovakian information security company ESET, and some time at AVAR, the 17th annual conference of the Association of Anti-Virus Asia Researchers, which ESET is organising this year.

That conference runs through to Friday, but I’m not sure how much of it I’ll be able to catch. I still have my usual column for ZDNet Australia to write on Thursday, and some administrivia to deal with on Friday, and I hope to get some other bits and pieces of writing done too.

The weekend is yet again unplanned, as seems to be the usual way lately. At least at this stage.

Update 10 November 2014: Edited to add a section for 5at5, which I’d forgotten.

[Photo: Purple, being a flower of some Patersonia species, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages on 5 November 2014. It’s a Patersonia serica, according to Flower Checker.]

02 November 201403 November 2014

Weekly Wrap 230: Kangaroos and pre-summer thoughts

My week of Monday 27 October to Sunday 2 November 2014 was really quite productive, but thanks to the ever-affectionate attentions of Mistress Insomnia I’m exhausted.

That said, the generally warm and sunny weather has improved my mood dramatically, and on Sunday I even cleared out a bunch of administrivia that I’ve been putting off for ages.

But enough of that. Let’s get on with the show…

Articles

Apple Pay isn’t magic, and it isn’t ‘private’, ZDNet Australia, 27 October 2014.
Think your data is anonymous? Ha, Crikey, 27 October 2014.
On metadata legislation and used-car salesmanship, ZDNet Australia, 31 October 2014. If you read only one of the things I wrote this week, make it this one. This is an important political issue for Australia right now.

I’ve also written a 2500-word feature on a security-related topic for ZDNet Australia that will be published some time in the coming week.

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

On Tuesday, I went to a lunch hosted by NetSuite at Sydney’s Aria Restaurant, Circular Quay. As always, the food and wine was stunning. I had the oysters and the barramundi and the cheese. NetSuite also handed out a goodie bag, as is their tradition: another RuMe carry bag containing a Jawbone Mini Jambox wireless Bluetooth speaker; a bottle of Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz, which I shall save for later; and a NetSuite-branded notebook and pen.

The Week Ahead

There’s two broad themes for this week: clearing out more loose ends, and preparing to make some decisions about what I’ll be doing over the summer holiday season and into 2015.

Much as I love them, I’ve spent a bit too much time working on the podcasts The 9pm Edict and Corrupted Nerds — or rather, I haven’t got them generating enough revenue yet — which in turn has meant that I’ve been doing less paid writing, which in turn has led to less income. That’s caused problems. As usual, I’ve got too many different things happening, and I need to simplify the mix and get that revenue up.

So I’ll be addressing that this week — as well as some personal things that I won’t go into them here — or at least not in this post.

So with that in mind, and with the early part of the week a bit slow thanks to a certain horse race and its impact upon the national psyche, here’s how things will unfold.

Monday is mostly devoted to administrivia and clearing the communications backlog, but there’s a chance I might pop down from the Mountains to do a TV spot. I also plan to resurrect 5at5 — although you’ve heard that before, so take it with a grain of salt.

During the rest of the week, I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict, writing my regular ZDNet Australia column, and perhaps some other bits and pieces.

This week also sees the start of the Christmas party season — yes, I know it’s very early, but that’s how things work now — and there’s one I might go to in Sydney on Thursday night.

The weekend is unplanned, as seems to be the usual way lately.

[Photo: Breakfast Kangaroo, being chunks of kangaroo fillet marinated in lime juice, chilli and garlic, with steamed greens in oyster sauce on a bed of jasmine rice, photographed on 2 November 2014.]