Update 24/01/21: WhatsApp have pushed back the deadline for accepting this privacy change (official announcement). Original article: If you run WhatsApp on your phone, it will have felt like pretty much as soon as the clock tolled midnight on December 31st 2020, we left the European Union, and the app started pestering us about a […]
Author: Scaine
The Protect Scotland app
Protect Scotland is the name given to our nation’s new COVID-19 contact tracing application. I’ve researched this pretty thoroughly and as far as I can tell, from a data security, technical and privacy perspective the app gets a clean bill of health. I’ve downloaded the app myself and encourage everyone who can to do so. […]
Zoom in the media spotlight

At the start of the year, Zoom stock was worth $60 on the NASDAQ, before shooting up to $160 during the first week of COVID-19. However, since then, a constant string of allegations regarding the security and privacy of the product has pushed its value down significantly. Zoom stock is currently sitting at $115 down […]
Passw0rd5 are h4rd
History The history of passwords is pretty astonishing. While we think of them in terms of the internet and computers generally, the idea of the military passphrase goes back to the Roman Empire and beyond. “Halt, who goes there?” was the basis of early “Identity Management”. If you didn’t have the password, get ready for […]
Sextortion, phishing and you
What is it? Sextortion is a label given to phishing emails that claim to have recorded you while browsing pornography. The “hacker” claims that he used your password to gain entry to your computer, then used the webcam to film you. The reason these sound so convincing (to many) is that the phishing email actually […]
Parental Controls on your Internet connection
OpenDNS offers an excellent feature which allows you to control the categories of websites that the devices on your network can access. For example, you might want to block access to the Gambling category, or perhaps Tasteless, or Pornography. The great thing about this approach is that you make one change on your main internet […]
Meltdown and Spectre
What is it? Meltdown and Spectre are two related vulnerabilities that were unofficially announced on January 3rd. I say “unofficially” because they were supposed to be revealed to the world on January 9th in a coordinated response agreed by all the major operating system and technology vendors. However, word of the vulnerabilities leaked early on […]
RansomWare
What is it? Ransomware is a type of malware. Typical malware will infect your computer with an aim of slaving your computer to a hacker on the internet. That hacker can then use your computer as they see fit. Examples include: capturing images from your webcam recording your keystrokes recording the websites you visit sending fake […]
Welcome to the Library
Here are the latest slides from “Who’s Afraid of the Big Techy Wolf” presentation.
LastPass
What is it? LastPass is one of many password managers available. LastPass is a free or paid, cloud-based password manager. Need more information? Read this article I wrote about password managers (opens in a new tab). Important Stuff Disclaimer I take no responsibility for your use of a password manager. Ultimately, the only person who can evaluate the […]