Privacy Matters

For many people, privacy is just a vague concept. But it can literally be a matter of life and death. It deserves your attention, your consideration and (crucially) your support. Technology has vastly improved our daily lives, but some of it also threatens to undermine our basic human rights and even our democracy/society. We need to understand the implications of the laws we pass – and the laws we aren’t passing. Today, I’ll talk about several stories with a common theme: privacy matters. Of course, I’ll also cover several security-related topics this week, as well: I’ll tell you how to completely hack someone’s Windows PC with a gaming mouse; Microsoft’s Azure cloud service left thousands of customers’ data completely exposed; new and disturbing details emerge about the role of NSA-pushed backdoors in the massive Juniper breach of 2015; Australia considers making state ID required for social media accounts; Google tries to cut off access to account data that endangers US helpers in Afghanistan; Apple partners with 8 US states to incorporate state IDs into Apple Wallet; Apple has thankfully delayed its rollout of on-device surveillance technology aimed at stemming child porn; the FTC comes down hard on a stalkerware company; and I take a moment to reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. My Tip of the Week explains how to quickly disable biometric unlocking of your smartphone. Article Links Not just Razer: SteelSeries mice, keyboards hijack Windows 10 too — what you can do https://www.tomsguide.com/news/steelseries-windows-privilege-escalation Microsoft Azure cloud vulnerability is the ‘worst you can imagine’ https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/27/22644161/microsoft-azure-database-vulnerabilty-chaosdb Juniper Breach Mystery Starts to Clear With New Details on Hackers and U.S. Role https://finance.yahoo.com/news/juniper-breach-mystery-starts-clear-130016591.html  Australia Considers Social Media ID Requirement https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/australia-considers-social-media  Google locks Afghan government email accounts as concerns grow over the Taliban tracking down their enemies https://www.businessinsider.com/google-locks-afghan-government-email-accounts-to-block-taliban-report-2021-9 Opinion: It’s dangerously stupid to put your state ID in your Apple Wallet https://thenextweb.com/news/dangerously-stupid-state-id-in-your-apple-wallet Millions of smartphones, laptops, trucks, planes affected by new Bluetooth flaws — what you need to know https://www.tomsguide.com/news/braktooth-bluetooth-flaws Apple cares about privacy, unless you work at Apple https://www.theverge.com/22648265/apple-employee-privacy-icloud-id Apple backs down on CSAM features, postpones launch https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/09/03/apple-backs-dow Victory! Federal Trade Commission Bans Stalkerware Company from Conducting Business https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/09/victory-federal-trade-commission-bans-stalkerware-company-conducting-business  ‘Panic made us vulnerable’: how 9/11 made the US surveillance state – and the Americans who fought backhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/04/surveillance-state-september-11-panic-made-us-vulnerable  Further Info 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/#/