Notices by Max "Hot PAM Startup" Eddy (maxeddy@infosec.exchange)

Holy what!

"Amazon's home security company Ring has enlisted local police departments around the country to advertise its surveillance cameras in exchange for free Ring products and a “portal” that allows police to request footage from these cameras, a secret agreement obtained by Motherboard shows."

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mb88za/amazon-requires-police-to-shill-surveillance-cameras-in-secret-agreement

#infosec

The cryptowars are back, baby!! https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/27/trump-officials-weigh-encryption-crackdown-1385306

I review VPNs and I genuinely believe that they are a valuable tool and that most vendors are acting in good faith.
The atmosphere surrounding this industry, however, is extremely toxic.
#infosec
https://www.pcmag.com/commentary/368081/backstabbing-disinformation-and-bad-journalism-the-state

Interesting story from the Register. This shows why we need more #infosec researchers digging into VPNs. I assume that NordVPN isn't actually up to no good, but requiring that they prove it is important.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/26/nordvpn_strange_traffic_domains/

My colleague Michael Kan has a great story out about a fake VPN review site, and how its scam worked.
Sites like these piss me off because they poison the well of consumer confidence. How can anyone tell what reviews are real, or what companies are trustworthy, when sites like these exist?
These sites also piss me off because they make my job—actually reviewing VPNs—even harder.
#infosec

https://www.pcmag.com/news/367640/how-a-vpn-review-site-dominated-google-search-with-a-scam

DNS hijacking is heating up. And that's really bad.
#infosec

https://www.pcmag.com/news/367852/hackers-are-messing-with-the-webs-phone-book-for-espionag

Congrats to Wirecutter for organizing their workplace and joining the #NewsGuild #union!

http://www.wirecutterunion.com/

If you're interested in organizing your workplace—and especially if you work in digital media—hit me up.
#union #news #journalism

That story about the guy that died without telling the password to access millions in cryptocoin just got wilder. Turns out the wallets were empty. AND:

"However, the company said, it found evidence that Mr Cotten had 14 other user accounts "created outside the normal process" that may have been used to trade on the QuadrigaCX exchange."

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47454528

My two (enormous) stories about how companies turn you and your data into cash, and how to stop them, are both out today! You can read them for free!

Happy that I was able to work in shout-outs to #Mastodon and @pixelfed

https://www.pcmag.com/article/364152/how-companies-turn-your-data-into-money

https://www.pcmag.com/article/364153/online-data-protection-101-dont-let-big-tech-get-rich-off

This is the single greatest triumph of technology over itself, boost if you agree.