Category Archives: Privacy

Ad-blocker Wars

Posted on May 31, 2019 by halberenson

About a year ago I wrote my Adblockers are the new AntiVirus piece. In the intervening period the war between ad blocking and web sites that depend on advertising has gone exponential. Many sites put up a warning asking you … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Privacy, Security, Windows | Tagged , | 1 Comment

DMARC or Die

Posted on March 2, 2019 by halberenson

It’s time to get serious about adopting DMARC. Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Phishing, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Keezel – Another Internet Security Device

Posted on August 20, 2018 by halberenson

I’m always on the search for new security tools, and this time my hunt took me to Keezel.  For full disclosure, I liked the concept so much I made a token investment in Keezel via crowdfunding site StartEngine.  Keezel is … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Mobile, Phishing, Privacy, Security | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Amazon and the ACLU

Posted on July 26, 2018 by halberenson

Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have all been under pressure these last few months over being suppliers of technology to the law enforcement and defense markets.  Pretty much all technology vendors have sold into these markets since well, the beginning of … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazon, AWS, Cloud, Computer and Internet, Google, Microsoft, Privacy | Tagged , | 2 Comments

1984 wasn’t 1984, but 2024 might be

Posted on February 6, 2014 by halberenson

A number of organizations are uniting to sponsor a day of Internet protests on February 11 against mass surveillance by the NSA.  You can find out more here. With apologies to all my non-American readers, I have no problem with … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloud, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

More on Credit Card data breaches

Posted on January 5, 2014 by halberenson

This is an unfortunate follow-up to my posting a few days ago.  This morning one of my credit card providers called because there had been a compromise of my credit card information by a third-party.  This can’t be Target, because … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Privacy, Security | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Data Breaches ARE a big deal

Posted on January 3, 2014 by halberenson

I didn’t catch his name, but a little while ago I heard the “co-founder” of Square say on Bloomberg TV that the Target data breach was no big deal.  He said that people didn’t lose any money as a result, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments

Microsoft needs to be more aggressive on encryption

Posted on November 20, 2013 by halberenson

I was horrified when I woke up this morning and discovered Microsoft’s positioning in this Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) article (republished by Gizmodo) on encryption.  Of course, that’s because it was EFF’s intent to shock vendors into action.  Or rather, … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Kill your Windows XP systems, before they kill you!

Posted on August 6, 2013 by halberenson

Paul Thurrott just published The Coming Windows XP Apocalypse reminding us that support, including security patches, for Windows XP is coming to an end.  For a more in-depth examination on why you need to run from Windows XP as fast as … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Microsoft, Privacy, Security, Windows | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

The NSA and Six Degrees of Separation

Posted on June 7, 2013 by halberenson

Recent revelations of how extensive the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) data collection efforts are concern me in many ways, but for this posting I just want to address one.  The Six Degrees of Separation  Terrorism Problem.  What the Six Degrees … Continue reading →

Posted in Computer and Internet, Privacy | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments