Year: 2013
-
Software Transparency
Thanks to the recent NSA leaks, people are more worried than ever that their software might have backdoors. If you don’t believe that the software vendor can resist a backdoor request, the onus is on you to look for a backdoor. What you want is software transparency. Transparency of this type is a much-touted advantage…
-
Is the NSA keeping your encrypted traffic forever?
Much has been written recently about the NSA’s program to systematically defeat the encryption methods used on the internet and in other communications technologies – Project Bullrun, in the parlance of our times. We’ve learned that the NSA can read significant quantities of encrypted traffic on the web, from mobile phone networks, and on virtual…
-
On Security Backdoors
I wrote Monday about revelations that the NSA might have been inserting backdoors into security standards. Today I want to talk through two cases where the NSA has been accused of backdooring standards, and use these cases to differentiate between two types of backdoors.
-
No Facebook, No Service?
The Idaho Statesman, my sort-of-local newspaper, just announced that it will follow the lead of the Miami Herald and no longer allow readers to post anonymous comments to online stories. Starting September 15, readers who want to make comments will have to login through Facebook. This is the second time I’ve encountered a mandatory Facebook…
-
NSA Apparently Undermining Standards, Security, Confidence
The big NSA revelation of last week was that the agency’s multifaceted strategy to read encrypted Internet traffic is generally successful. The story, from the New York Times and ProPublica, described NSA strategies ranging from the predictable—exploiting implementation flaws in some popular crypto products; to the widely-suspected but disappointing—inducing companies to insert backdoors into products;…
-
On the NSA's capabilities
Last Thursday brought significant new revelations about the capacities of the National Security Agency. While the articles in the New York Times, ProPublica, and The Guardian skirted around technical specifics, several broad themes came out. NSA has the capacity to read significant amounts of encrypted Internet traffic. NSA has some amount of cooperation from vendors…
-
Axciom Opens (Some) Consumer Data; What Should You Do?
Yesterday Axciom, a large data broker, rolled out their data transparency site, aboutthedata.com. The sites lets you view some data that Axciom has about you, including demographic data, family status, financials, commercial history, and shopping preferences. The site also lets you correct any errors in the data. It looks like you can modify the data…
-
Ethical dilemmas faced by software engineers: A roundup of responses
Two weeks ago I asked for real-life examples of ethical dilemmas in software engineering. Many of you sent responses by email, twitter, and comments. Thank you for taking the time! Here is a quick summary (in no particular order). Aaron Massey has written a very thoughtful post in response. I encourage you to give it…
-
Annual report of FCC's Open Internet Advisory Committee
For the past year, I’ve been serving on the FCC’s Open Internet Advisory Committee (OIAC), and chairing its mobile broadband working group. The OIAC just completed its first annual report (available here). The report gives an overview of the past year of work from four working groups (economic impacts, mobile broadband, specialized services, and transparency).…
-
NSA, the FISA Court, and Risks of Tech Summaries
Yesterday the U.S. government released a previously-secret 2011 opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), finding certain NSA surveillance and analysis activities to be illegal. The opinion, despite some redactions, gives us a window into the interactions between the NSA and the court that oversees its activities—including why oversight and compliance of surveillance are…