infosec – Page 21 – Stilgherrian

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 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)

13 April 2014

Weekly Wrap 201: Heartbleed into my wallet, with cockatoo

My week of Monday 7 to Sunday 13 April 2014 was astoundingly busy and productive. Yes, Heartbleed is to blame. But so is completely ignoring medical advice — which is something I’ll write about next week.

While there’s a lot on my mind that I want to tell you about, I’ve been churning out so many blog posts today, and so many articles about Heartbleed in recent days, and ~~drinking so much wine~~ relaxing across the weekend, that I can’t be arsed saying anything more.

So here’s the list.

Articles

Every single thing that I wrote this week was about the Heartbleed security bug.

Heartbleed reveals a big hole in Australia’s cybersecurity strategy, Crikey, 9 April 2014.
Businesses need to inform users about Heartbleed exposure, ZDNet Australia, 10 April 2014.
Lagging Android devices vulnerable to Heartbleed, ZDNet Australia, 11 April 2014.
Heartbleed soul-search: regulation proposed for critical crypto code, ZDNet Australia, 11 April 2014.
SANS warns end users against Heartbleed patch panic, ZDNet Australia, 12 April 2014.

Media Appearances

On Monday I delivered my guest lecture at University of Technology Sydney (UTS).
On Tuesday I spoke about Game of Thrones and copyright infringement on ABC 720 Perth.
Also on Tuesday, I spoke about my blog — that is, this website — and a few of the issues on my mind with Tim Brunero on ABC 783 Alice Springs. Unfortunately that radio station isn’t streamed online, so I couldn’t record that spot.
On Wednesday, I spoke about Heartbleed on 1395 FIVEaa Adelaide.
On Thursday, I spoke about Heartbleed on ABC Radio’s The World Today.
On Friday, I spoke about Heartbleed and a social media story on ABC 702 Sydney.

5at5

I managed to pump out another five this week, although one of them was on the weekend. Why don’t you subscribe to 5at5, and then I don’t need to keep telling you about it.

5at5 number 29, 7 April 2013.
5at5 number 30, 8 April 2013.
5at5 number 31, 9 April 2013.
5at5 number 32, 11 April 2013.
5at5 number 33, 13 April 2013.

Corporate Largesse

On Monday, some of the people at UTS bought me coffees and lunch. Does that count as largesse?

The Week Ahead

I have no idea. The only things that have been locked in are being in Sydney on Thursday morning so I can be a panellist on this week’s Download This Show for ABC Radio National, which is being recorded at 1100, and of course it’s Good Friday and then the Easter weekend, so in theory I shouldn’t be working.

The reality, however, is that Easter is a shitty time for freelancers, because public holidays mean a serious drop in revenue — and I’m already rather stressed about March having been a quieter month than planned.

But I’ll figure it out, just not tonight.

Oh, and there’s a lunar eclipse on Tuesday.

[Photo: Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, photographed at dusk near Wentworth Falls on 8 April 2014.]

13 April 201414 April 2014

Talking Heartbleed and social media on ABC 702 Sydney

There’s something rather cool about being introduced with the Mission: Impossible theme, and that’s precisely what happened when I did a spot for ABC 702 Sydney on Friday morning.

The Heartbleed security bug was one topic, obviously, but I also spoke with breakfast presenter Robbie Buck about another story in the news that morning, about radio presenter and activist Vanessa Powell, who’d complained that Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) had been, as she put it, spying on her social media activities.

Or, as I put it, that they’d been reading what she published on the internet — just as, presumably, she’d been reading what they published on the internet. That they’d gathered her comments with some semi-automated process — and, presumably, she hadn’t gathered theirs the same way — to me says “naivety” rather than “victim of sinister conspiracy”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)