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Friday, June 28th, 2013

    Time Event
    5:31a
    Malware that Foils Two-Factor Authentication

    This is an interesting article about a new breed of malware that also hijack's the victim's phone text messaging system, to intercept one-time passwords sent via that channel.

    1:37p
    Preventing Cell Phone Theft through Benefit Denial

    Adding a remote kill switch to cell phones would deter theft.

    Here we can see how the rise of the surveillance state permeates everything about computer security. On the face of it, this is a good idea. Assuming it works -- that 1) it's not possible for thieves to resurrect phones in order to resell them, and 2) that it's not possible to turn this system into a denial-of-service attack tool -- it would deter crime. The general category of security is "benefit denial," like ink tags attached to garments in retail stores and car radios that no longer function if removed. But given what we now know, do we trust that the government wouldn't abuse this system and kill phones for other reasons? Do we trust that media companies won't kill phones it decided were sharing copyrighted materials? Do we trust that phone companies won't kill phones from delinquent customers? What might have been a straightforward security system becomes a dangerous tool of control, when you don't trust those in power.

    2:42p
    My Talk at Google

    Last week, I gave a talk at Google. It's another talk about power and security, my continually evolving topic-of-the-moment that could very well become my next book. This installment is different than the previous talks and interviews, but not different enough that you should feel the need to watch it if you've seen the others.

    There are things I got wrong. There are contradictions. There are questions I couldn't answer. But that's my process, and I'm okay with doing it semi-publicly. As always, I appreciate comments, criticisms, reading suggestions, and so on.

    EDITED TO ADD (6/30): Two commentaries on the talk.

    2:44p
    Me on EconTalk

    Another audio interview; this one is mostly about security and power.

    4:07p
    Friday Squid Blogging: Man Pulled Under by Squids

    Video story on Animal Planet.

    As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered.

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