Category: Privacy, Surveillance, & Security

Do you need antivirus software on your PC? If you’re not sure of the answer to that question, then the short answer is yes. The longer answer is that security software is only one piece of what should be a simple, straightforward, and systematic approach to your PC’s health. Here’s my seven-step program.

Source: Do you really need antivirus software? | ZDNet

 

My favorite part of this is that people are mostly getting infected by malware exploiting vulnerabilities that were patched 2-3 years ago (but YOU keep ALL the software on your computer updated, right?) and the rest of the top-10 most common are installed through social engineering. There is no software or hardware that provides security against the user’s ignorance or gullibility.

A well-known and respected computer-security researcher was detained for several hours Wednesday night by border agents who searched his laptop and cellphones before returning them to him.

Source: Another Hacker’s Laptop, Cellphones Searched at Border | WIRED

 

When did it become okay to check anyone, whenever, without cause or suspicion? Or, perhaps more accurately, when did everyone become suspicious?

Want to talk politics with your neighbour? Better ask permission

Source: Liberty, privacy and some bottles of beer | The Economist

 

So, if someone in Seattle with a job that pays $100/hour spent 5 hours a month writing a political blog, would they have to file as a “grass-roots lobbyist”?