You were supposed to block them, not join them

from here and here

I block ads because I hate ads. If an adblocker makes ads that is not going to make me want to use that adblocker - quite the opposite, in fact.

Watch this hacker break into a company

Watch on YouTube

Some hackers exploit machines, others exploit people.

And he's got his eye on you

from here and here (image source)

Sometimes just being watched is enough of a deterrent to prevent crime. 

Testing the patience of government surveillance

found on Reddit

I'm sure your FBI agent feels they have more important things to do than watch you not finish.

How to make yourself late for everything

from here and here (image source)

This might make you feel more secure, but it's also going to make you feel crispier if there's ever a fire, because you are probably not going to be able to get out in time. There really is such a thing as too much of a good thing. 

We Take Your Privacy shirt

Product Page

It's amazing how much more accurate the statement becomes by removing just a single word.

More data, more problems

from here

Companies need to figure out how to operate with the barest minimum of our data possible. Storing vast amounts of data may be becoming a liability for them, but even then we bare a disproportionate amount of the consequences for something someone else did wrong. Nothing happens to companies, but plenty happens to us.

Those other locks didn't mean anything me

found on Dump A Day

Treat your locks right. Don't abuse them or misuse them or they won't keep you as secure as they could.

That's gonna be a nope from me, dawg

from here and here

If the NSA and CIA are blocking ads, maybe disabling adblock isn't such a good idea after all. Maybe the advertising industry needs to clean up their act so that the government isn't pinning a giant hazard label on them..

When you forget about the bad guys

found on Funny Junk

Sometimes we use security controls more out of habit than anything else. We forget why they're there and why we need them and so we sort of go through the motions and don't get any benefits as a result.

Sometimes you want more than just 2 step verification

from here and here (image source)

I suppose the passwords may have a lot of repetition in them if you're travelling on a perfectly smooth surface, so find somewhere bumpy to run to add extra randomness to them.

The Password - The Office US

Watch on YouTube

It's funny because it's true, unfortunately. There are lots and lots of businesses out there that either don't take security very seriously or don't know what they're doing. That's often why it's so easy for cybercriminals to breach them.

Biometrics, how do they work?

from here and here (image source)

Is this a real mistake that people make? I don't know, but I do know that people do make mistakes with biometrics. Try as we might to make idiot-proof systems, the universe just keeps making bigger and better idiots.

Can't get any privacy

found on Funny Junk

I can't get no-o

Private spaces

They've got cell phones in

All the places

Pistol Pooch is on patrol

from here and here (image source)

I'm not sure how hes' supposed to draw that gun out of it's holster(?) and I wouldn't want to stick around to find out. 

Your Password Was Weak So I Renamed Your Dog sticker

Product Page

If you must use your pet's name as your password then there's only one way for you to have a stronger password.

How not to save money

from here

Whether or not you believe the attempts at attributing this attack, the fact remains that someone managed to slip malicious code into software that moves millions of dollars around, and there really should be better checks to make sure that sort of thing can't happen.

Consider me deterred

found on Reddit

This might not be equally effective on everyone, but it should at least deter some of the people.

An Epik-ally bad time

from here

Never mind the fact that your customers will probably never do business with you again after you lose all that information in a breach, but chances are you'll also get sued by some or all of those customers AND fined for PCI violations.

If you don't respect others' privacy, why should they respect yours?

found on Pet Blog Lady

Mr. Whiskers should have thought about privacy before he barged in on his humans. Reciprocity goes a long way.

Better hope no one makes them a better offer

from here

I wondered about using that term, but ex-US intelligence officer going to work for a foreign power and hacking anyone they're paid to hack, including their own countrymen, seems to fit the cyber mercenary label to a T. Hiring someone like that to protect your VPN customers seems a little bit like asking a fox to guard a hen house.

Funniest Shark Tank Pitch | Door Lock Demonstration Haven

Watch on YouTube

Live demos are always risky like that, but it's important to realize that it's not always as easy as they make it look on TV and in the movies.

How Zuckerberg will make VR the future of Facebook

from here

Maybe I'm crazy, but this kind of dark pattern in their support seems like just the kind of thing Zuckerberg would pull to drive adoption among those who would otherwise not be interested in virtual reality, and thereby aid in bringing Zuckerberg's VR plans for Facebook to fruition. All they have to do is gradually disable people's accounts and wait for them to "migrate" to Oculus.

Is your boss-button technique this weak?

found on eBaum's World

When you're doing naughty things, make sure you're always also doing a good thing, otherwise there's no hiding the fact that you were doing naughty things.

Spam, spam, spam, spam, conservative viewpoint, and spam

from here and here (source article)

You might be thinking that the spam would get caught by the no-illegal-content clause just before the highlighted section, but not all spam is illegal, and with this loop hole the spammers will have a field day.

When Cryptography Is Outlawed sticker

Product Page

So this is a bit of an enigma. In theory the encrypted part should decrypt to "only outlaws will have cryptography" except it can't because the words are too short. When you ROT13 decode the last word it becomes "privacy" which could work as an alternative to the traditional formulation of the phrase, but none of the other words decode properly under ROT13.

So the question is, what does it actually say? We may never know.

Gonna need AdBlock for Windows

from here

I don't know whose idea it was to put ads in the operating system, but clearly it was a bad idea and they should be fired because of how obvious it should have been even without a concrete example of problems in the OS itself. Ads have been a pox on the web for decades and they just get more and more toxic. The people in charge of the OS should have noped right out of that meeting.

I mean, do we have to see malvertizing on the desktop before people clue in?

OldYeller.exe has stopped working

found on Izismile

Yet another reason for people to be wary of or dislike updates. With "improvements" like that, who needs malware?

Dragging us down to their level

from here

Leave it to one of the most invasive companies on the planet to find a way to normalize being invasive. Surveillance isn't bad if everyone is doing it, right?

Windows Update can't take a hint

found on MemeBase

The more I think about it, the more it seems like each incarnation of Windows Update has mirrored some sort of bad relationship behaviour. You've got the overly persistent mode of operation (above) we all became familiar with over the years. Then with Windows 10 it stopped asking for consent and basically didn't give you a choice anymore. Finally, with Windows 11 it will reportedly withhold what you need and leave you vulnerable.

Is Microsoft unable to model their update process after a healthy human relationship, or do they just not know what one looks like?

The First Browser War is still claiming casualties

from here

I can't believe it's 2021 and we still have to worry about Internet Explorer and ActiveX controls. That technology is over 20 years old.

Laser cut wooden combination lock

Watch on YouTube

There's nothing quite like building something with your own hands to gain a better appreciation for how it works. Watching someone else build it is pretty good too, but not quite the same.

Everybody logs... sometimes

from here

This should be a lesson for everyone - promises about not logging IP addresses cannot be relied on. Every legitimate service has authorities it has to answer to, and sometimes those authorities demand that the service start collecting logs. If you want to be private, you need more than just a promises.

Passwords aren't for showing off

found on Izismile

I actually wouldn't suggest showing off your passwords, even after you've stopped using them (assuming you can even be sure you aren't using them anymore). I don't suggest thinking up good passwords either. Using a password manager to create and store them gives far better results than what you're likely to create with your own mind, and it's not even worth telling people about. Bragging about passwords that are almost certainly worse than what you could get with the click of a button just doesn't seem worthwhile. 

Nothingburgers for everyone

from here

$15 - $25 per user for tricking users into thinking their communications were secure and private seems completely inadequate as either a form of restitution or as a deterrent to keep Zoom or other companies from doing it again.

Lock picking retro t-shirt

Product Page

I never even thought to look for lock picking shirts before. I can recognize some of the picks from the silhouettes above, but I'm not familiar enough with lock picking to know them all.

Here's one way your bike can bee secure

from here and here (image source)

Just in case the bee infestation isn't enough to deter would-be thieves, there's a perfectly good non-infested bike right beside it that would probably be less of a hassle to steal. 

Can't argue with results

found on Izismile

The actual details may have been quite a bit more restrictive than the image caption lets on, making the accomplishment significantly less impressive than what's been implied, but being able to withstand the attacks that were allowed was still pretty impressive.

An advancement towards the grave, maybe

from here and here (image source)

Apple's CSAM (child sexual abuse material) scanning plans may now be paused, but paused isn't the same as stopped, and if they really think it's an advancement in privacy then it's important to recognize the distinction between paused and stopped.

In no world is adding surveillance where none previously existed an advancement in privacy, no matter how favourably it may compare to what others are doing. Furthermore, if your plan involves trying to work around the problem of encryption then you are once again not advancing privacy because, when it comes to privacy, encryption is not a problem that needs a work-around.

They still plan to go forward with this one way or another. They're just slowing down to consider how to take the bite out of the criticisms against it so that they can still pretend like they care about your privacy.

And long shall you wait for it to finish

Found on Reddit

So much for getting rid of lag. That might as well be lag for the reboot process itself. Leave it to Microsoft to find a way to do that.

Rub to unlock

from here

I mean, they can't give you privacy while you unlock the phone because you might delete important evidence, so can they force you to expose yourself or worse in order to collect evidence? I suppose we'll have to wait for the tech to test this question. 

I hope "rub" is sufficiently gender neutral that this idea can cover everyone.

Cryptography: The Science of Making and Breaking Codes

Watch on YouTube

It doesn't even mention asymmetric encryption, and it should have when it touched briefly on the encryption that keeps our online traffic secure, but there's still a ton of good info in there for people who are just starting to learn about cryptography.

"I'm telling your mom" used to mean something

from here

When you're a parent you are your child's first experience with authority. You make the rules. You hand out the punishments. As your child gets older they may end up breaking not just your rules but society's rules and there's an expectation that you will exercise your authority in those cases as well, because the alternative is to be an accessory and then more formal authorities get involved. 

Such is the case of the parents of two UK kids who stole bitcoins from people while they were still minors.

Lockdown has been harder on some than others

found on Reddit

Won't someone think of the poor criminals? Burglars can't burgle under these conditions.