Welcome to my weekly letter, where I share a few noteworthy articles and my own commentary. Without further ado…
Weekly Read
- A New Tool Wants to Save Open Source From Supply Chain Attacks (Wired) – the tool here is code signing (via cryptography) to ensure apps run in the supply chain are ‘trusted’. It’s the same concept as email signature verification or how FIDO/PIV/PKI establish your digital identity. Soon, everything will have to be digitally signed…
- Facial Verification Won’t Fight Fraud (Wired) – No it won’t. Actually using it to establish identity will cause more problems than solving them, since that’s probably the weakest form of biometrics. The article got to a very good point, and it connects with the last article above: the real issue is the lack of a secure digital ID system.
- Apple Says It’s Time to Digitize Your ID, Ready or Not (Wired) – the ability to store and present digital ID on phones definitely has its appeal (for consumers), and I believe the ability to present cards/IDs on a lock screen is a feature Android phones already has for at least 2~3 years (via Google/Android Wallet, or Google Pay or Android Pay…? I lost track of what they call that app nowadays. Thanks to Google’s various rebranding efforts). Yet there will always be occasions where a separate ID card works better. Perhaps it is time to think about adapting a biometric access key as digital/physical ID (disclaimer: I recently started working at the company)
- As Ransomware Demands Boom, Insurance Companies Keep Paying Out (Wired) – it’s tough. the insurance carrier is in a position to stop the vicious cycle (by stopping the cover ransomware-attack), forcing clients to take more actions to forge stronger protection against the attacks. Yet, it is probably a good chance that no matter how hard the clients try to protect their infrastructure, the hackers will still get through… Such a catch-22.
- Russian Hackers Are Trying to Brute-Force Hundreds of Networks (Wired) – Of course it was done by a state-sponsored agency named GRU! A good reminder article – set up tough passwords AND use a tough MFA!
- Windows 11’s Security Push Puts Microsoft on a Collision Course (Wired) – Looking at the history of Windows OS, I remember how Windows 3.0, 95, 98, XP, Vista, … each version pushed the hardware requirements, typically by CPU specs, RAM, and sometimes storage resources. We now see Windows 11 requiring a specific security chip (TPM). It is indeed the era of digital security!
That’s it for this week! Have a nice weekend!
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