Lots of people in the security community went silly over the FaceApp application last week, basically saying that you shouldn’t be using the application because they’ll steal your face and then be able to impersonate you.
Time Speeds Up When You’re Wasting It
Perhaps the title is a tiny bit strong, but I don’t think by much. I read something recently where a memory expert was talking about why time seems to speed up as we age, while it seemed to move infinitely slow when we were kids. He said it was because new and interesting experiences are like temporal milestones,…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 186 (Member Edition)
Parts of Manhattan had a power outage Saturday night, which happened to be the anniversary of another power outage in 1977. The power company apologized but didn’t explain what happened. The hacker in me thinks this could easily be a probing shot by a sophisticated attacker, or a fun prank by amateurs.
The Dangers of Abruptly Destroying Meaning Structures
I recently watched an older debate between Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson in which I saw Sam admonishing Jordan for creating an opening for foolish beliefs. He took a poll of who was religious in the audience, and then all but blamed Jordan for their credulity. That’s when it hit me that while Jordan might have enabled the…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 185
The Telegraph has found strong links between Huawei employees and Chinese intelligence agencies. The Huawei counter was that this was extremely common among telecom companies, and that it wasn’t a big deal. The counter to that counter was, basically, “Well, then why did you try to hide it?” /gg
Why I Don’t Think Craig Wright is Satoshi
I many years ago I wrote a piece about why I didn’t think Craig was Satoshi, and a bunch of reporters hit me up immediately for interviews. I didn’t give any, and I deleted the post. I think they were so interested because they had tracked down my interactions with him (not about bitcoin) from back in the…
YouTube’s Ban of Hacking Videos Moves Us Closer to an Entertainment-only Public Sphere
Marcus Hutchins wrote a great essay recently about YouTube’s new ban on “hacking” videos. He writes: One major problem here is that hacking tutorials are not inherently bad. There exist a vast YouTube community aimed at teaching the next generation of cyber security experts.YouTube’s New Policy on Hacking Tutorials is Problematic, Marcus Hutchins I think he’s absolutely correct,…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 184 (Member Edition)
I created a new tutorial on OWASP Amass, and just joined the team as a contributor as well. Tutorial
Chinese hacking groups have been embedded deep inside multiple major US tech firms for many years, including Fujitsu, Tata, NTT, Dimension Data, and HPE. The first thing you should be thinking is where else they are today. More
Regulated Corporate Data Champions
We’re about to collide into the brick wall that is personal data privacy. There are several things to work out, but what I find most interesting to think about is the potential solutions and how they form based on incentive structures. I think it’s obvious that there’s going to be both a government and a corporate component, and…
Unsupervised Learning No. 183
There’s a Linux vulnerability called SACK Panic (among other names) that takes advantage of a kernel feature called Selective ACK. The feature lets systems tell the other side of the conversation how much data it’s received, and it turns out it can be overflowed or fuzzed.
The World is Collapsing Into Two Countries—Green and Red
I hope you get angry while you read this. Listen to the audio version here. There are many ways to describe what’s causing the tension and turmoil in the United States and elsewhere. We can say the middle class is going away, or that automation is taking over, or that white people are upset about changing demographics. All…
Machine Learning Doesn’t Introduce Unfairness—It Reveals It
Many people have a concern about the use of machine learning in the credit rating and overall FinTech space. The concern is that any service that provides key human services—such as being able to own a home—should be free of bias in its filtering process. And of course I agree. I define bias here as ‘unreasoned judgements based…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 182 (Member Edition)
The US is supposedly ramping up attacks against Russian power grid through the use of new cyberattack powers granted by Trump. I am happy to hear of this, but it’s an example of where we as outsiders can only know a tiny fragment of the story. But any signs that this administration sees Russia as a foe, and are treating it as such, are positive in my view.
Lupus Liberalism Will Lead to a Trump Win in 2020
I’m starting to wonder if many of those on the extreme left are secretly working for the right. I say this because if I were a right-wing political strategist there is one approach that I’d be advocating to get Trump re-elected: basically, trigger the left against itself so that it self-destructs. I’m in cybersecurity, so I have a…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 181
Some absolutely fascinating research has just come out on what percentages and types of vulnerabilities are actually exploited in the wild. It found that only 5.5% of vulnerabilities discovered between 2009 and 2018 were actually exploited, with most of those being issues with a CVSS score of 9 or 10.
The Holy Trinity of Air Travel Convenience
If you’re a US Citizen who flies a decent amount, there are three things you should absolutely do. 1. The Trusted Traveler Program (Global Entry) With Global Entry, you get the ability to bypass the customs line when coming into the United States. Instead, you move quickly off to the side where you scan your Passport and fingerprint…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 180 (Member Edition)
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The Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) and Dark Forest Theory
A sci-fi trilogy called The Three Body Problem included a powerful concept called Dark Forest Theory, which basically says it’s a bad idea for people who don’t know about their surroundings to make noise that might attract attention. Or, taken as a game theory strategy, it’s better to destroy other civilizations before they get the chance to destroy…
Responding to Rob Graham’s “Your Threat Model is Wrong” Post
I’m a huge fan of Rob Graham and all he’s done for InfoSec. I also enjoy the fact that he seldom avoids a tussle. If he disagrees with you, you’re likely to hear about it. I probably agree with him on 85% of topics, so when he did a post recently, called Your Threat Model is Wrong, I…
Thinking of Deepfakes as Malicious Advertising
Someone released a video recently that seemed to show Nancy Pelosi slurring and mangling her speech. The video spread virally in right-leaning circles, but it soon turned out to be fake. I commented on this in my most recent newsletter, saying: What this shows us is that it’s not the machine learning that makes Deepfakes dangerous; it’s the…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 179
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 178 (Member Edition)
This is a Member-only episode. Members get the newsletter every week, and have access to the Member Portal with all existing Member content. Non-members get every other episode. Sign in or… Become a member and get immediate access
The Difference Between Kilobytes and Kibibytes
I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years, and I’m just now learning this. I knew there was a disturbance in the force, but it was never enough of an issue to investigate. Anyway. Basically, there are two ways of using Kilx within computer sizing of things. Multiplying by 1000, as in 1000 bytes = 1 kilobyte…
Grit is the Ultimate Privilege
The internet is in the middle of a turbulent discussion about privilege—including what the privileges are, who has them, and what can be done to equalize things. Listen to the AUDIO VERSION Examples of privileges include being of a culturally-dominant race, having rich parents, having well-connected friends, living in large and/or coastal cities, etc. The basic argument is…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 177
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
Examples of Bad Metrics
There are myriad books and websites describing the Top N Metrics in a particular area, but very few tell you what not to do. This article will show you specific examples of metrics gone bad, what’s wrong with them, and what you can do to make them better. Economic as in economics, not financial. First, it’s important to…
My Takeaways from the 2019 DBIR Report
Many years ago, Verizon started a trend by releasing their Data Breaches Investigations Report, and today there are dozens of companies releasing similar offerings. But even with all the competition—some of which are quite good—the original DBIR report is still my favorite. Get the full report Here were my main takeaways from this year’s release. Meta This is…
Finding Clarity on the Exodus of the New Left
Image of Uri Harris, David Fuller, and Eric Weinstein So I want to comment on the dialogue that is taking place right now about the faction of the liberalism that’s splintering from the mainstream left. I just got done watching Eric Weinstein’s conversation with David Fuller, and I thought even they were missing what I see to be…
Why Required Password Changes Reduce Security
So I was listening to the Risky Business podcast this week and heard Adam Boileau mention something extremely juicy in passing during the news segment. Patrick asked him about Microsoft removing password expiration in an upcoming version of Windows, and if he thought that was a good or bad thing. His response was super interesting. They also mention…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 175
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
The Bottom of the Meaning Well is Race
I think what’s happening to America right now can best be captured as a catastrophic loss of meaning. Bowling Alone is the canonical work on the loss of community in our lives. We’ve spent decades cutting religion out of our lives, we’ve stopped interacting with each other, many core “American” jobs have been deprecated due to automation efficiencies.…
Google’s March 2019 Core Update Resuscitated my Site
In October of 2018 my site was hit by a meteor called Google. My traffic dropped by over 60% in just a couple of weeks—going from around 10,000 pageviews a day, to around 4,000. Read about the March 2018 Update After some research and help from Thomas Zickell, I knew that this was a Google algorithm update, but…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 174 (Member Edition)
This is a Member-only episode. Members get the newsletter every week, and have access to the Member Portal with all existing Member content. Non-members get every other episode. Sign in or… Become a member and get immediate access
The Difference Between Goals, Strategies, Metrics, OKRs, KPIs, and KRIs
Anyone who’s been in business for a while has had the conversation about measuring performance. The topic makes some people radiate with joy and gives others a case of severe narcolepsy. Here I want to talk about a few different business terms that are too-often conflated or confused, which are: Goals, Strategies, Metrics, Objective Key Results (OKRs), Key…
My Predictions for Who Will Die in Game of Thrones
I normally write about security, technology, and how they interact with humans, but I’m making an exception here for a prediction on Game of Thrones. I read a book recently called Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, and it talked about professional predictors of complex events. They get rated on how accurate they are, how much confidence…
Machine Learning Will Capture the ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’ of Human Existence
Human genius has always been something of a mystery. Experts often cannot articulate how they know someething to be true. When a world-class chef smells something—crinkles his nose and says it’s not right—there’s a good chance he doesn’t know what’s wrong with it. Malcolm Gladwell told us the story of an art expert who knew instantly that a…
The Toxicity of Fear
Fear is toxic to creative thought. It will rob you of courage, of your creativity, and of your passion. It will turn you into an empty and uninspiring version of yourself. If you start thinking about something ambitious—and feel fear take hold—figure out where it’s coming from. Peoples’ biggest regrets at death’s door are not the things they…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 173
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
The Difference Between Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism
I recently wrote a well-received piece about the political positions of the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW), and a ferocious discussion erupted in the comments regarding Dave Rubin‘s political philosophy. To a modern liberal, Libertarian basically means someone who cares only about themselves. Rubin calls himself a Classical Liberal, but it turns out that people on Twitter and Reddit…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 172 (Member Edition)
This is a Member-only episode. Members get the newsletter every week, and have access to the Member Portal with all existing Member content. Non-members get every other episode. Sign in or… Become a member and get immediate access
A Visual Breakdown of Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) Political Positions
My Exploration of Difference Between Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism I realized recently that I had no idea where many people in the Intellectual Dark Web actually stood on key positions. I thought I knew—sort of—but it turns out that most of what I knew was coming from a shoddy skyscraper of misconceptions. I did a post recently about…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 171
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
Defining the Values of the Intellectual Dark Web
The gravity around the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) continues to build, with the New York Times doing a piece on it recently, and many other publications coming out to attack its members as either saviors or villains. The term was coined by Eric Weinstein on Sam’s podcast. In no particular order, the top echelon of members include Sam…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 170 (Member Edition)
This is a Member-only episode. Members get the newsletter every week, and have access to the Member Portal with all existing Member content. Non-members get every other episode. Sign in or… Become a member and get immediate access
Four Components of Free Speech Risk — Analysis of Sam Harris’ Podcast With Roger McNamee
I just finished listening to an extraordinary episode of Making Sense with Sam Harris, where Roger McNamee was the featured guest. He is a long-time tech analyst and investor, and actually used to be an advisor for Facebook before becoming an outspoken critic. Roger’s points were legion, and covered the now familiar ground regarding the collection of our…
The Insane Reaction to Renée DiResta on the Joe Rogan Podcast
I heard Renée DiResta on the Sam Harris podcast a while back, and was excited to learn that she just appeared on Joe Rogan as well. Her work is focused on misinformation campaigns, and she works at a place that tries to combat the problem. Anyway, I was listening to her and Joe talking, and I somehow started…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 169
Unsupervised Learning is my weekly show that provides collection, summarization, and analysis in the realms of Security, Technology, and Humans. It’s Content Curation as a Service… I spend between five and twenty hours a week consuming articles, books, and podcasts—so you don’t have to—and each episode is either a curated summary of what I’ve found in the past…
The Bifurcation of Elite Education
I think the bottom is starting to rot out of the education racket. Elite education today is essentially two different things: The prestige of having gotten into that school, and The education you receive there. These two things are separating from each other, and I think that separation is about to accelerate. Better education elsewhere (or at least…
The Need for Post-Capitalism
When I saw Yuval Harari live with Sam Harris in San Francisco, I heard a lot of interesting things. But the most interesting thing I heard that night was from Harari, when he said something like: Forms of government have periods where they’re best suited, based on the evolution of the people at that moment. And as the…
Unsupervised Learning: No. 168 (Member Edition)
This is a Member-only episode. Members get the newsletter every week, and have access to the Member Portal with all existing Member content. Non-members get every other episode. Sign in or… Become a member and get immediate access
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