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Category Archives: privacy

Virgin Media hijacking DNS!

22/08/2009 – 19:16

Looks like VM are getting in to the data-rape game by hijacking failed DNS lookups. Perhaps this “upgrade” is the reason their DNS servers have been rubbish of late. Luckily, you can opt out here and it seems to be based on modem MAC address so it should stay off, unlike Phorm which uses a [...]

By mojo | Also posted in Internet | Comments (0)

Avoiding British surveillance with alternative DNS?

03/04/2009 – 11:02

In the UK ISPs are required to keep logs of the domain name of every site you visit (e.g. “bbc.co.uk” if you visit any page on the BBC web site). This might suggest that the logging is done by DNS servers. If that is the case, the simply changing to use alternative DNS server (e.g. [...]

By mojo | Also posted in networking, security | Comments (0)

Protecting yourself from UK surveillance

05/01/2009 – 21:11

Recent moves by the police to step up hacking people’s PCs (/. article, original Times Online article) and a recent forum thread got me thinking about ways to defend myself against the snooping that the UK seems to love so much. A quick overview of what we are up against. In the UK the following [...]

By mojo | Also posted in law, networking, security | Comments (0)

Open societies are going to be vulnerable to terrorism

19/10/2008 – 23:49

This might sound obvious, but it seems like it needs to be said. There is a judgement to be made. Loss of freedoms and liberties vs. protection from attack. We make this loss of life to benefit judgement all the time. We sent troops overseas, knowing some will die but judging it a worthwhile sacrifice. [...]

By mojo | Comments (0)

The "I've got nothing to hide" argument

08/06/2008 – 11:36

The argument that no law abiding citizen should have anything to hide, and so surveillance is okay is a deeply flawed one, but one which seems to be quite powerful and rarely properly debunked. Many people simply respond with rather extreme cases, demanding answers to questions such as “can I see your credit card records [...]

By mojo | Also posted in law | Comments (0)

Attacking data in RAM

14/05/2008 – 11:52

Today’s Hack a Day post linked to this article on recovering encryption keys from RAM, so I thought I’d look into defences against this kind of attack. There are simple ways to defeat this, and although not 100% reliable they are pretty effective. You have to consider what sort of situation this attack is likely [...]

By mojo | Also posted in hardware, law, security, software, windows | Comments (0)

BT and Phorm secretly tracked 18,000 customers in 2006

01/04/2008 – 13:28

This article posted on The Register is quite alarming – apparently BT secretly trailed the Phorm tracking system in 2006 with 18,000 of it’s customers. Apart from the fact that the trial was probably illegal, it shows just how little BT care about their customers privacy. The second page of the article has an amazing [...]

By mojo | Also posted in idiots, networking, security | Comments (2)

Virgin to start threatening customers over file sharing

31/03/2008 – 19:14

According to the telegraph, Virgin Media will start sending warning letters to suspected file sharers, and will eventually disconnect them if they don’t stop. File sharers will be identified by the BPI. The mind boggling stupidity of this plan is hard to comprehend, but here is a short list of reasons why it will fail: [...]

By mojo | Also posted in idiots, networking | Comments (0)

Bruce Schneier – a man everyone should listen too

21/03/2008 – 14:14

Reading Bruce Schneier’s latest blog post, I can’t help but think that this is a man everyone should listen to. Especially anyone thinking of implementing a national ID card scheme. If this quote doesn’t get you to read it, I don’t know what will: “SmartWater is a liquid with a unique identifier linked to a [...]

By mojo | Also posted in genius, security | Comments (0)

Precrime and branding innocent children criminals

17/03/2008 – 14:17

From The Guardian: “Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert.” Gary Pugh is a spokesperson for ACPO, the Association of Chief Police Officers. Essentially, this is branding children as criminals before they [...]

By mojo | Also posted in idiots, politics, security | Comments (0)

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