Allison interviews Brandon Thweatt from j5create about their Matter-enabled Smart Plugs and new Thunderbolt 5 dock. Brandon starts by explaining that Matter allows smart devices made by different companies to interact with various home automation systems using a common standard. So Matter-enabled devices can be controlled through and work seamlessly across Apple, Android, and Alexa […]
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Security Bits — 2024 May 26
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. Attackers are continuing to compromise Google ads, and they’re now targeting apps in the news as well as developer & sysadmin tools: Arc browser’s Windows launch targeted by Google ads malvertising — www.bleepingcomputer.com/… Ransomware […]
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Google Forms Tutorial on ScreenCastsONLINE
If you’ve ever needed to get feedback from a group of people, using the free Google Forms is a great way to do it. You can create surveys, get feedback on a class you’ve taught, help organize a family reunion, or even create quizzes. I’ve used it to organize the party we used to throw […]
Continue readingSecurity Bits — 28 May 2023
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. We now know that Pegasus was used in the war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan (an un-recognized independent republic with close ties to Armenia) from 2020 to 2022, with the Armenian foreign minister’s […]
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Security Bits — 19 March 2023
Deep Dive — Critical Android Base-Band Vulnerabilities
TL;DR: this is bad — remote code execution without user interaction over the cellular network, combined with the usual level of security confusion that goes with Android’s model. Unless your Android device is on the list of known-patched devices, or unless your vendor has explicitly announced that they […]
Security Bits — 27 November 2022
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. 
The long-running case against Google led by most state Attorneys General over its misleading location settings (turning off location tracking didn’t actually stop Google tracking your location!) has resulted in the largest-ever settlement […]
# Security Bits — 27 August 2022
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. 
US offers reward “up to $10 million” for information about the Conti gang — nakedsecurity.sophos.com/… (This is the gang behind the notorious hack of the Irish Health Service Executive during COVID) Pegasus […]
CCATP #722 – Tom Merritt on the Past, Present, and Future of Messaging
This week’s guest on Chit Chat Across the Pond is Tom Merritt, host of the Daily Tech News Show, Cord Killers, Know a Little More, Sword and Laser and more podcasts than I can count. He’s also a science fiction author with his book series Pilot X tommerrittbooks.com. I asked Tom to come on Chit […]
Continue readingSecurity Bits — 20 Feb 2022
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. An update on a story Allison referenced last time: Missouri governor rebuffed: Journalist won’t be prosecuted for viewing HTML — arstechnica.com/… 
The NSO Group/Pegasus Saga: The Israeli government has opened an investigation […]
Security Bits — 5 Feb 2022
Feedback & Followups Listener and community feedback, developments in recently covered stories, and developments in long-running stories we’re tracking over time. ID.me developments: ID.me CEO Admits Company Uses ‘1:Many’ Facial Recognition — www.macobserver.com/… Treasury Considers ID.Me Alternatives Over Privacy Concerns — money.usnews.com/… Related: Tax scam emails are alive and well as US tax season […]