Hey, ya really bustin' ma balls here!
There are 43 posts tagged: security
- Beware of geeks bearing gifts
- 21 September 2023
The Geek Squad scam is a known phishing attack. I've received emails from
(more…)Geek Squad
with variations on confirmed orders for a few weeks now. Last weekend, I received notice that I'd been added tothe Client Support group
for 9403441nzbsd on Google Groups.- Critical security alert: do nothing!
- 6 April 2023
I received a critical security alert from Google today, advising me that someone had my account password, and requesting that I sign in to change it. The damnedest thing is it was sent to an email address that I have no recollection creating a Google account with. I did create an account to comment on a YouTube video a couple of years ago, but I can't recall what email address I used; and, besides, I deleted the account.
(more…)- London calling
- 4 April 2023
London City Airport has become the second in the UK, after Teesside International Airport, to scrap the 100mL limit for carry-on liquids, following the introduction of new scanners. This momentous event is expected to improve the security experience for many tens of travellers.
(more…)- QWERTY or QWERT?
- 17 September 2022
Hackers have deleted data from the IHG hotel chain for shitz 'n' gigglz. When the vulnerability was traced to the use of a weak password and lax security around the company's password vault, IHG blew smoke.
(more…)- Commandos 0:3 The Free
- 29 August 2022
Three off-duty Dutch commandos, visiting the Land of the Free for training exercises, were shot outside their hotel in Indianapolis, IN. One later died of his injuries.
(more…)- Gone! And never called me mother!
- 10 August 2022
New privacy features have been announced for WhatsApp, including the ability to leave group chats silently.
(more…)- The new office...portal
- 8 August 2022
It has come to pass that InstantlyForgettableNameCorp's new IT platform will be M$ 365. Or Office 365. Dunno, don't care. (shrug)
(more…)- Useless error message #1253
- 7 June 2022
I had Let's Encrypt certificates working long-time on my Synology DiskStation NAS, that is until some extended shenanigans by my ISP left me offline during the renewal period. To add to the fun, my router also died, so I had to install a new one. All of this, of course, meant that the certificate wasn't renewed in the usual manner. Ne'ermind, I'll just delete the old certificate and create a new one. Or so I thought.
(more…)- Heeeere's Rene!
- 2 March 2022
Bloody hell! Only a week has passed, and she's back. Her message didn't go straight to junk mail, even though I tagged her previous missive accordingly. I think that this might be because the
(more…)Fromaddress has changed. Last week it was editor@jipccrioa.com, and now it's editor@ijoapccri.com. These are for the same journal, Clinical Case Reports International.- /campaigns/
- 1 March 2022
I wouldn't normally do this, but I cannot adequately describe the abject amateurism of the email that I received from IJDMSR—the
(more…)IndianInternational Journal Dental and Medical Sciences Research [sic]. So, below is a screenshot of that message.- Unlisted number
- 17 February 2022
Yesterday, I was met with an authentication error when attempting to access InstantlyForgettableNameCorp's time-management system. The login system is run on Microsoft Azure…you can see where this going, can't you? In order to reset my account, I had to enter a code sent to my mobile number, xx-xxxxx93. Except, I don't have a mobile with a number ending with 93. (confused)
(more…)- Tracking Martians
- 24 November 2021
US defence officials are to launch an investigation of UFO activity in restricted areas, and
(more…)mitigate any associated threats
.- Privacy is very important to F*c*book
- 19 November 2021
F*c*book has admonished the LAPD for breaching its T&C, by establishing fake profiles to surveil users suspected of criminal activity.
(more…)- Spy way
- 20 October 2021
An investigation as to why a middle-class, suburban US couple turned to spying against their country, revealed that Mrs Diana Toebbe has purple hair. Not that this was the cause of their spying, I hasten to add.
(more…)- A Windows on the future
- 5 October 2021
Tomorrow sees the rollout of Windows 11, as a free upgrade, to the great unwashed. That's those of us who're too apathetic, or wrapped up in having a real life, to have installed the previews.
(more…)- Grand research
- 30 September 2021
Researchers at Birmingham and Surrey Universities have discovered a security flaw in the combination of Apple Pay and Visa, which could allow thieves to remotely access a Visa account through an unlocked iPhone. Neither Samsung Pay nor Mastercard were susceptible.
(more…)- Poohcom
- 23 September 2021
Lithuania's National Cyber Security Centre has reported security flaws and built-in censorship tools, in 5G mobiles from Chinese manufacturers. As a consequence, the country's Defence Ministry has recommended that its citizens not purchase new Chinese smartphones, and replace their current ones as soon as feasible.
(more…)- Suspiciously-crafted email
- 15 September 2021
I received the following message, with the subject
(more…)Letzte Warnung vor der endgültigen Schließung Ihres Domänennamens
, from a sender pretending to be my web host provider. It may surprise you to know that their payment system had detected a problem with my payment card, and they advised me to use the link that they had thoughtfully provided. How kind is that? Some people are just too good for this world.- Tinfoil communications
- 22 August 2021
Writing for BBC Worklife (
(more…)Remote Control
), Mark Johanson explores whether your work messages are as private as you think. It seems like a strange question to ask, to be honest.- Idiots 0 : 1 Taliban
- 16 August 2021
Following the removal of allied forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban curiously reneged on their promise not to be naughty, and have rapidly captured most of the country, including the capital, Kabul. Twenty years of sacrifice, for nothing. I suppose Grandpa Joe now wishes that he'd asked for a pretty pinky promise with a bow on top.
(more…)- Sullied deals
- 10 July 2021
I feel bad for nit-picking over an issue as serious as Indian muslim women being harassed on social media by bigoted trolls, for their religion and gender. But I'm going to do it anyway.
(more…)- Secret password
- 20 May 2021
I finally got access to the LAN and Roomz. Except, not quite. Of course, the password for Roomz is not synchronised with the company's single sign-on, because that would make things too easy. Roomz requires a password to be set separately, with its own specific requirements.
(more…)- Secure paws-words
- 9 April 2021
According to a survey by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, millions of Britons use their pet's name as their online password. (shock)
(more…)- Curfew quarrel
- 25 March 2021
Following the abduction of Sarah Everard in south London, police officers working on the case in the area advised women
(more…)not to go out alone
andto be careful
; which doesn't seem too unreasonable, since the perpetrator was still at large at the time. But Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb's response in the House of Lords upset a number of people, and was widely ridiculed:- Tinfoil OS
- 6 October 2020
censiCLICK discusses two computer operating systems favoured by Edward Snowden, bête noir of the US National Security Agency. I had heard of neither Tails—which doesn't even need to be installed on a computer—nor Qubes OS before, so at least I can consider myself to be more knowledgeable.
(more…)- Ice one, Mrs LPL!
- 22 September 2020
The Lock-Picking Lawyer picks locks. He may also do lawyering stuff in his off-time, dunno.
(more…)- Gone phishing
- 11 August 2020
We are constantly reminded about the dangers of social engineering security breaches, such as phishing attacks. So, you'd think that a responsible financial institution would be sensitive to the advice that we're given, which includes being wary of emails purporting to be from one institution, but coming from a different domain.
(more…)- The ultimate in testing your defences
- 1 December 2019
Although illegal, it's not uncommon for US homeowners to booby-trap their property against home invasion. But, if going down this route, it's advisable to have a clear recollection of where those booby-traps are placed, and how they're triggered.
(more…)- The land of the free?
- 9 August 2013
Further fallout from the Edward Snowden affair is that the US-based email service that he allegedly used to send encrypted messages has closed down. The owner of Lavabit, Ladar Levison, wrote in a message posted to the Lavabit website:
(more…)- Mars attacks!
- 21 June 2013
In 2009, the UK Ministry of Defence closed its UFO desk because, according to newly released files:
(more…)it served
.no defence purpose
and was taking staff away frommore valuable defence-related activities
- The rise of Skynet
- 27 November 2012
Prof. Bonkers and his colleagues at Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk are to investigate whether technology could destroy human civilisation. He cautions against dismissing a potential rise of robots which, while not necessarily malevolent, may have interests that don't include those of humans.
(more…)- Encouragement
- 5 November 2012
According to a report by the BBC on Chinese activists' hacking of the Coca-Cola Company's network:
(more…)Companies are encouraged
. Which is encouraging.- PS3 hacked. Again.
- 25 October 2012
Sony's PS3 has been hacked/cracked. Again. Is anyone keeping track?
(more…)- Mancunians are very naughty people
- 17 September 2012
It appears that Manchester is the UK capital of illegal downloading. And the UK as a whole is second in the world after the United States of Amerika.
(more…)- Canned meat product: spiced and served with a chapati
- 23 April 2012
According to a report from Sophos, India is now the most prolific country for spam:
(more…)India has become the top spam-spewing nation on the planet
, rapidly passing the US. Except thatthe report ranks nations by the amount of junk mail routed through computers in each country
.- Wot you lookin' at?
- 27 January 2012
Those sons of fun at the USAsian FBI plan to develop—or, rather, have developed for them—a handy-dandy tool that will sniff its way through social networks and suck up all the terrorist plots. Certain keywords that are only used by bad people plotting naughtiness can be added. These will trigger the hairs on the backs of their necks, and bring their righteous wrath down on the sorry arses of Osama and his like-minded friends.
(more…)- SPAM: new serving suggestion
- 11 November 2011
That nice Mr/Mrs Chumbla in Nigeria has offered me, and I suspect all of you, their money for FREE.
(more…)- Not so anonymous
- 27 January 2011
Ahh, yes, Anonymous, that eclectic band of
(more…)spineless ne'er-do-wellsselfless heroes righting wrongs on t'internet.- Not to be outdone, FF gets its own government health warning
- 23 March 2010
And now those loveable, laff-a-minute Germans are advising against the use of Firefox. Herr u. Frau Smug, who dumped IE to avoid the ballyhoo over Billy's Bastard Browser™, have simply opened up their pooters to rape 'n' pillage through security flaws identified in FF3.6, which was itself released to fix earlier vulnerabilities.
(more…)- IE gets another government health warning
- 18 January 2010
They seek 'em here They seek 'em there Those Frenchies seek 'em ev'rywhere Malware and trojans Cause Windows® to pause Through Int'net Exploder's security flaws
(more…)- IE gets its very own government health warning
- 18 January 2010
The German government have issued a warning—presumably to Germans—not to use Internet Exploder in the wake of some Chinese people doing something naughty to Google. M$ are working on fixes to versions 6-8 to rectify the security flaw, hopefully without introducing a new and more exciting one. Presumably users of the venerable version 5 can go screw themselves.
(more…)- Security checkpoints
- 10 November 2004
Okay, not so much security checkpoints because they more often than not play an important role. The problem is with the cockheads who know they have to show their security pass but, instead of having it ready, dick around looking in pockets, bags, and glove boxes. Coming in to work today, I got stuck behind two cars where the driver had to hunt for their pass. I mean, that fucking checkpoint has been there for years, what the hell were they expecting? (furious)
(more…)- The 'deathstar' strikes again
- 28 September 2004
Wahey! My third
(more…)deathstar
—IBM Deskstar 75GXP—died a couple of days ago. It was also the system disk to my main computer, so all of my email went down the toilet. Luckily I'd backed up a few weeks earlier, so most is okay.