Guard Your Digital Rolodex

Your phone number is arguably as strong a personal identifier as your social security number, passport number or email address. These are things we almost never change any more – meaning that it’s an identifier for life. Our cell phones contain a ton of personal information, including our locations (not just now, but over time). Today I’ll help you understand why it’s so important to protect your cell phone number and digital contact lists. In other news: you need to update everything again… Apple, Microsoft, Google, Adobe; REvil ransomware gang has disappeared completely from the dark web – and possibly not coincidentally, Kaseya has obtained a universal decryption key for all of it’s customers (REvil victims); the Pegasus Project appears to have unveiled serious abuses of the NSO Group’s spyware; Venmo finally gets rid of the public transaction list; the FBI is using cell site simulators to track cars; and it turns out that it’s easy and highly profitable to re-associate people with supposedly anonymous data sets. Article Links Apple fixes bug that breaks iPhone WiFi when joining rogue hotspots https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/apple-fixes-bug-that-breaks-iphone-wifi-when-joining-rogue-hotspots/  Revil Ransomware Group Missing From Dark Web; Temporary Vacation, or Permanently Out of Business? https://www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/revil-ransomware-group-missing-from-dark-web-temporary-vacation-or-permanently-out-of-business/  The Kaseya Ransomware Nightmare Is Almost Over https://www.wired.com/story/kaseya-ransomware-nightmare-is-almost-over/  Takeaways from the Pegasus Project https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2021/07/18/takeaways-nso-pegasus-project/  How to Protect Yourself From the New Windows 10 and 11 Security Bug https://lifehacker.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-the-new-windows-10-and-11-1847338342  Venmo removes its global, public feed as part of a major redesign https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/20/venmo-removes-its-global-public-feed-in-a-significant-app-redesign/  The FBI Is Locating Cars By Spying On Their WiFi https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/07/22/the-fbi-is-using-stingray-smartphone-surveillance-to-locate-cars-and-spy-on-their-wifi/?sh=113ea16335c8  Inside the Industry That Unmasks People at Scale https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnmvz/industry-unmasks-at-scale-maid-to-pii  A priest’s phone location data outed his private life. It could happen to anyone. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/22/data-phones-leaks-church/  Connected cars: What happens to your data after you leave your rental car behind? https://www.zdnet.com/article/connected-cars-what-happens-to-your-data-after-you-leave-your-rental-car/  Privacy International 2017 study: http://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/cars_briefing.pdf  Further Info Who’s making money on ransomware? https://ransomwhe.re/  No More Ransom: https://www.nomoreransom.org/  Become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Would you like me to speak to your group about security and/privacy? http://bit.ly/Firewalls-Speaker Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/