Trust No One

Lots of news to cover today… and to me the common thread seems to be a lack of proper security and privacy. So the theme today is “trust no one”. And the idea there isn’t really personal trust, but computer trust, algorithm trust, procedural trust. We need to engineer our systems and processes around the idea that data is a toxic asset that loves to find ways to leak. Assume that you will be hacked. Assume an employee will do something stupid or go rogue. Assume the “bad guys” will find a way to bypass your main security barrier, so you need to have a second, and possible third barrier in place. Today I’ll tell you about yet another massive Facebook and LinkedIn data leak; a new vaccine survey scam to watch out for; some new and troubling ransomware tactics to force victims to pay even if they have good data backups; a hacker site that sold credit cards and social security numbers was itself hacked; LexisNexis and Clearview AI have been working very closely with law enforcement, including ICE; and the ACLU has been caught sharing their own user’s data with (of all companies) Facebook. And finally, I review the fantastic new book, Privacy is Power by Carissa Véliz. Further Info BECOME A PATRON! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons  Privacy is Power book review: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/privacy-is-power-review/  Were you part of a data breach? https://haveibeenpwned.com/  Articles quoted today: Don’t Fall for the ‘Vaccine Survey’ Scam https://twocents.lifehacker.com/don-t-fall-for-the-vaccine-survey-scam-1846620925  Ransomware gang leaks data from Stanford, Maryland universities https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-gang-leaks-data-from-stanford-maryland-universities/  Ransom Gangs Emailing Victim Customers for Leverage https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/04/ransom-gangs-emailing-victim-customers-for-leverage/  Facebook Says Leak of 533 Million Users’ Data Wasn’t a Hack. https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-says-leak-of-533-million-users-data-wasnt-a-hack-does-it-matter-11617910106 , https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/533-million-facebook-users-phone-numbers-leaked-on-hacker-forum/   Another 500 million accounts have leaked online, and LinkedIn’s in the hot seat https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/8/22374464/linkedin-data-leak-500-million-accounts-scraped-microsoft  70,000 SSNs, 600,000 Credit Card Records Leaked After Stolen-Data Hub Gets Hacked https://gizmodo.com/70-000-ssns-600-000-credit-card-records-leaked-after-s-1846638234  LexisNexis to Provide Giant Database of Personal Information to ICE https://theintercept.com/2021/04/02/ice-database-surveillance-lexisnexis/  Clearview AI used by police https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/clearview-ai-local-police-facial-recognition  ACLU, a defender of digital privacy, reveals that it shares user data with Facebook https://fortune.com/2021/04/02/aclu-shares-data-facebook-third-parties-digital-privacy/