The Trezor: January 4, 2016: 7.4 BTC = $3,000 In January 2016, I spent $3,000 to buy 7.4 bitcoins. At the time, it seemed an entirely worthwhile thing to do. I had recently started working as a research director at the Institute for the Future’s Blockchain Futures Lab, and I wanted firsthand experience with bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that uses a blockchain to record transactions on its network. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 31, 2017•40 min
The Kodi box pitch is hard to resist. A little black plastic square, in look not much different from a Roku or Apple TV, and similar in function as well. This streamer, though, offers something those others never will: Free access to practically any show or movie you can dream of. No rental fees. No subscriptions. Just type in the name of a blockbuster, and start watching a high-definition stream in seconds. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 30, 2017•16 min
Of the many new features in Apple’s iOS 11—which hit your iPhone a few weeks ago—a tool called Core ML stands out. It gives developers an easy way to implement pre-trained machine learning algorithms, so apps can instantly tailor their offerings to a specific person’s preferences. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 27, 2017•8 min
The Mirai botnet, a collection of hijacked gadgets whose cyberattack made much of the internet inaccessible in parts of the US and beyond a year ago, previewed a dreary future of zombie connected-device armies run amuck. But in some ways, Mirai was relatively simple—especially compared to a new botnet that's brewing. While Mirai caused widespread outages, it impacted IP cameras and internet routers by simply exploiting their weak or default passwords. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.or...
Oct 26, 2017•7 min
There's nothing like a hefty security freakout to start the week, and the Key Reinstallation AttackWi-Fi vulnerability—you know it as Krack—announced on Monday fit the bill. The bug is in the ubiquitous WPA2 Wi-Fi protocol, so while it fortunately doesn't impact every single device that exists, it does affect a significant portion of them. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 25, 2017•8 min
When you consider the nagging privacy risks of online advertising, you may find comfort in the thought of a vast, abstract company like Pepsi or Nike viewing you as just one data point among millions. What, after all, do you have to hide from Pepsi? And why should that corporate megalith care about your secrets out of countless potential Pepsi-drinkers? But an upcoming study has dissipated that delusion. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 24, 2017•10 min
There’s something new to add to your fun mental list of invisible internet dangers. Joining classic favorites like adware and spyware comes a new, tricky threat called “cryptojacking,” which secretly uses your laptop or mobile device to mine cryptocurrency when you visit an infected site. Malicious miners aren’t new in themselves, but cryptojacking has exploded in popularity over the past few weeks, because it offers a clever twist. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 23, 2017•7 min
When it comes to the eternal tradeoff between digital security and convenience, most tech firms focus their efforts on the vast majority of people who choose a painless user experience over a paranoid one. But Google is adding a set of features specifically targeted at those who prefer the latter. You can now lock down your account to a degree that no other major tech firm has ever offered directly to users, convenience be damned. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 20, 2017•8 min
A vulnerability in Wi-Fi encryption has sent the entire tech industry scrambling; the so-called Krack attack affects nearly every wireless device to some extent, leaving them subject to hijacked internet connections. In terms of scope, it doesn’t get much worse—especially for the Internet of Things. The extent of the Krack fallout remains to be seen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 19, 2017•11 min
When you set up a new Wi-Fi network, you're probably conditioned by now to check the "WPA2" box. You may not specifically know when or why someone advised you to do this, but it was solid advice. Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 is the current industry standard that encrypts traffic on Wi-Fi networks to thwart eavesdroppers. And since it's been the secure option since 2004, WPA2 networks are absolutely everywhere. They're also, it turns out, vulnerable to cryptographic attack. Learn about your ad choice...
Oct 18, 2017•8 min
This week was one of revelations in the security world, most of them centered around nation-states pulling off ambitious hacks. In the wake of reports that Russia had used Kaspersky Lab software to steal NSA secrets, we took a look at the antivirus paradox that applies to every company selling it. And given reports that North Korea had attempted to hack a US energy utility, we looked at when exactly grid-attacks should freak you out. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 17, 2017•5 min
Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and even encryption haven't kept hackers out of hoards of data like the ones stolen in the catastrophic breaches of Equifax or Yahoo. But now, some Silicon Valley firms are trying a deeper approach, building security into the basic design of how data moves between a company's servers. The method aims not to seal intruders out of sensitive systems, but to tighten the rim of the cookie jar around their wrist, trapping their grabby hands inside. Learn about y...
Oct 16, 2017•8 min
When evidence suggested President Trump was still using his personal Android phone in the White House earlier this year, security experts expressed both alarm and dismay at what might happen if hackers broke into that device. Now, POLITICO reports that former Department of Homeland Security head and current chief of staff John Kelly used a personal smartphone, possibly for months, that was compromised. That is bad. Don't do that. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 13, 2017•6 min
When evidence suggested President Trump was still using his personal Android phone in the White House earlier this year, security experts expressed both alarm and dismay at what might happen if hackers broke into that device. Now, POLITICO reports that former Department of Homeland Security head and current chief of staff John Kelly used a personal smartphone, possibly for months, that was compromised. That is bad. Don't do that. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 12, 2017•6 min
This week saw a tragic start, when late Sunday night a man named Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more in Las Vegas. Hoaxes and conspiracy theories flooded the internet in the immediate aftermath, as did questions—since answered—around how Paddock was able to fire at automatic speeds. We also took a look at gun-control tech—but didn't find much that's promising. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 11, 2017•4 min
Like so many other Fox News devotees in search of new voids to shout into, Donald Trump loves to tweet. He also, though, happily shares his account with at least one staffer. So how do we know when the most-mad-online president in human history is actually tapping out his own material? Fortunately for us, Trump is a creature of habit, and he's got some tells. In the early days, all it took to figure out whether a tweet came from Trump himself was to peek at the source device. Learn about your ad...
Oct 10, 2017•10 min
In the aftermath of mass shootings in the United States, like Sunday evening's Las Vegas tragedy that killed at least 58 people and wounded over 500, a debate often emerges about how to prevent such incidents from occurring again. Part of that heated and longstanding gun-control battle is the question of whether technology can make guns safer. And they can—but not in a way that can prevent many of the country's most high profile attacks. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 09, 2017•6 min
Fatimah Gifford was nervous the day she was scheduled to testify in front of Texas’ Health and Human Services committee. Gifford is the VP of Communications for Whole Woman’s Health, which operates five reproductive healthcare clinics across Texas. This wasn’t her first time testifying before the state legislature, but it was her first time testifying about abortion. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 06, 2017•15 min
The initial drama over Equifax's September data breach has mostly subsided, but the actual damage will play out for years. And indeed, there turns out to be plenty of spectacle and public controversy left. It was all on display at a Tuesday Congressional hearing, in which lawmakers questioned Equifax's former CEO Richard Smith in an attempt to make sense of how things went so wrong. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 05, 2017•9 min
For the past five years, Cody Wilson has applied every possible advance in digital manufacturing technology to the mission of undermining government attempts at gun control. First he created the world's first 3-D printed gun, a deadly plastic weapon anyone could print at home with a download and a few clicks. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Oct 04, 2017•10 min
The country’s most famous inmate is free. O.J. Simpson's release highlights the challenges of leaving prison, saddled with multiple felony convictions.I would know. It’s hard to re-enter society, but it might be easier for those returning citizens, like Simpson, whose NFL pension and luxury homes, along with the prospect of the new iPhone, await him, compared with the likely transition for those who will return to poverty. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 03, 2017•11 min
The encrypted-communication app Signal has a sterling reputation within the security and crypto community, but its critics point to a nagging flaw: The app asks for access to your phone's contact list when you install it. Signal's creators, like the developers of so many other social apps, consider that contact-sharing request a necessary evil, designed to make the app as easy to use as your normal calling and texting features. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Oct 02, 2017•7 min
Since moving into the White House months ago, Jared Kushner—senior advisor and son-in-law to the President, savior of the Middle East, and possible person of interest in a federal investigation—has amassed a rather extensive project portfolio. The issues under Kushner's purview include negotiating peace between Israel and Palestine, fixing the opioid crisis, updating technology across the entire federal government, and spearheading criminal justice reform, to name just a few. Learn about your ad...
Sep 29, 2017•5 min
In 2003, when Jon Phillips was 24, he met someone who changed everything about how he perceived the world. At the time, Phillips was a graduate student in computer science and visual art at the University of California, San Diego. Rather than work for a big tech company, as most of his friends were doing, he wanted to use his computing skills to “build society and community. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 28, 2017•26 min
The digital assaults known as distributed denial of service attacks occur constantly, whether you notice them or not. Corporations, internet infrastructure companies, and other large targets like universities and government agencies experience them frequently, or in some cases constantly. The only reason more of the internet doesn't exist in a constant state of DDoS-caused collapse? Third-party companies that offer protection services. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Sep 27, 2017•11 min
The week kicked off with news that CCleaner, a popular security software tool, had itself been compromised, distributing a backdoor to hundreds of thousands of users and highlighting software's serious supply-chain security issue. Just a few days later, it turned out that the CCleaner was designed instead to target nearly two dozen specific tech firms. That's... not good. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 26, 2017•6 min
The standard advice for Android users to avoid downloading malicious apps is simple: Only get apps from the official Google Play Store. Unlike third-party app stores that are generally difficult to vet and validate, Google Play has built-in mechanisms to screen every app for malware, ransomware, and assorted sketchiness. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 25, 2017•9 min
For more than five years, Iran has maintained a reputation as one of the most aggressive nations in the global arena of state-sponsored hacking, stealing data from corporate and government networks around the world, bombarding US banks with cyberattacks, and most brazen of all, unleashing multiple waves of computer-crippling malware that hit tens of thousands of PCs across the Middle East. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices...
Sep 22, 2017•10 min
On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump gave a bombastic speech to the assembled delegates of the United Nations. Pay special attention to how he addressed North Korea and its looming nuclear threat. Unlike most of what Trump said otherwise, its implications are as wide-ranging as they are grim. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” said Trump. Learn about your ad choices: dovet...
Sep 21, 2017•9 min
This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that covers the US criminal justice system. Sign up for its newsletter, or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. Calling home from prison is cumbersome and expensive. For deaf people behind bars, it’s even tougher, sometimes impossible. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Sep 20, 2017•10 min
