How to Log In to Your Devices Without Passwords
access grantedSecuritySecurity / Privacy April 12, 2021 0
At the moment, the best way to log in to macOS without having to type out a password is to buy a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro with a Touch ID sensor above the keyboard. It’s present on all Apple laptops now, though it’s not yet an option... Read more
‘2034,’ Part III: One Left to Tell the Tale
BackchannelBook ExcerptSecuritySecurity / National Security February 10, 2021 0
There was light in his room now. Hanging from a metal arm in the far corner was a television. Something was written on its bottom. Wedge relaxed his throbbing head against the pillow. With his unswollen eye, he focused on the television and the piece of text embossed at... Read more
The GOP Keeps Proving There’s No Election Fraud
SecuritySecurity / National Securityvoting November 13, 2020 0
“Election officials have run a great election,” says Ben Adida, executive director of VotingWorks, a nonprofit developer of open source voting machines and election auditing software. It’s not just court cases; Trump allies have also generated more wacky ideas to try and get their point across. On Tuesday, Texas... Read more
How to Use Parental Controls in Your Google, Apple, and Microsoft
kid friendlySecuritySecurity / Security Advice November 8, 2020 0
Depending on your particular mix of computers and gadgets, you’re probably using one or more Apple, Google, or Microsoft accounts—or maybe all three. In each case, the IDs that you sign in with can also be used to manage the IDs of younger family members, limiting their screen time... Read more
How to Delete Old Emails, Tweets, and Files
deleteSecuritySecurity / Security Advice October 25, 2020 0
Once you post something to the internet, it’s there forever unless you take steps to remove it (and even then, you may not be successful.) While keeping your digital history around in perpetuity can have its advantages—digging out those tax emails from 2006, looking back on vacations from half... Read more
Twitter’s ‘Hacked Materials’ Rule Tries to Thread an Impossible Needle
Election 2020SecuritySecurity / National Security October 16, 2020 0
Twitter for years functioned as an unrestricted mouthpiece for hackers of all stripes, from freewheeling hacktivists like Anonymous to the Kremlin-created cutouts like Guccifer 2.0. But as the company tries to crack down on hackers’ use of its platform to distribute their stolen information, it’s finding that that’s not... Read more
Facebook Shut Down Malware That Hijacked Accounts to Run Ads
adwareSecuritySecurity / Cyberattacks and Hacks October 1, 2020 0
Usually when you hear about malicious activity on Facebook it’s tied up in geopolitical skulduggery of some sort. But on Thursday the company detailed a campaign out of China that wasn’t focused on disinformation or stealing account data. The hackers instead stole user credentials and gained access to their... Read more
CryptoHarlem’s Founder Warns Against ‘Digital Stop and Frisk’
SecuritySecurity / PrivacyWIRED25 September 23, 2020 0
This year, many people braved the risk of coronavirus infection to protest police brutality in Black neighborhoods, but physical violence isn’t the only way law enforcement can harm marginalized and minority communities: Hacker Matt Mitchell wants us to pay attention to digital policing, too. He argues that marginalized communities... Read more
Google and Apple Change Tactics on Contact Tracing Tech
BusinessBusiness / Computers and SoftwareNew PlanScienceSecurity September 1, 2020 0
The new plan unifies some of the behind-the-scenes work of sending exposure notifications. In the original scheme, state health authorities were responsible for setting up servers to send exposure alerts to people who had been near others who had tested positive for Covid-19. Different states, different servers. That meant... Read more
The Blurred Lines and Closed Loops of Google Search
dark patternsSecuritySecurity / Security News September 1, 2020 0
Tricksy! You’ll notice the knowledge box on the righthand side, too. But Google has around 92 percent of global search market share. It effectively is online search. Dark patterns are all too common online in general, and January wasn’t the first time people accused Google of deploying them. In... Read more