Putting FUD Back in Information Security

FUD is Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. A tactic well played in the early days of Information Security. I never liked it because… well you know that Boy Who Cried Wolf story, right? It appears to me that FUD is making a strong comeback. This time instead of being used to help bolster InfoSec budgets or […]

May 2018

Windows 10 Update Disrupts Pen Input; Microsoft Offers Potentially Dangerous Fix

A recent Microsoft security update – according to Wacom’s support pages, the OS build 16299.334 – has had a rather unexpected side-effect. Many users of have been experiencing issues where drawing apps, such as Photoshop, no longer function correctly. For example, pressing the pen to the tablet device does not “draw” as it should, but […] The post...

Apr 2018

Information Security and the Zero-Sum Game

A zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participant. In Information Security a zero-sum game usually references the trade-off between being secure and having privacy. However, there is another zero-sum game often played with Information...

Apr 2018

Google’s new Gaming Venture: A New Player?

Google in Gaming – Facts and Speculation In January 2018, game industry veteran Phil Harrison announced that he was joining Google as a Vice President and GM. With Harrison’s long history of involvement with video game companies – having previously worked with Sony and Microsoft’s Xbox division – this immediately prompted speculation and rumours about...

Mar 2018

Bubble Economies and the Sustainability of Mobile Gaming

Old Bubbles and New Bubbles Gaming is a technology-based market, and tech markets are no strangers to economic bubbles and the effects of them bursting. The market recession of the early 2000s, most commonly known as the Dotcom Crash, is probably the biggest and most influential ‘burst bubble’ of the internet era. The Dotcom Bubble […] The post Bubble...

Feb 2018

GDPR Material and Territorial Scopes

The new EU General Data Regulation will enter into force 25 May of this year. The GDPR contains rules concerning the protection of natural persons when their personal data are processed and rules on the free movement of personal data. The new regulation is not revolutionary but an evolution from the previous Data Protection Act 1998 […] The post GDPR...

Feb 2018

Uh Oh 365

In an earlier post, I talked about how some vendors tend to push enterprises into a weaker security posture. In this post, I continue with information relating to Office 365. Microsoft’s cloud implementation of the Office suite is mind boggling in its complexity and sheer want of native connectivity. If you are using a proxy, […] The post Uh Oh 365...

Feb 2018

Deceit and duplicity in the pursuit of monetizing social media

One thing I really dislike is deceit and duplicity in the pursuit of monetizing social media. LinkedIn is a prime example, especially after its acquisition by Microsoft. Ever since Nadella took the helm, Microsoft seems hell bent on monetizing anything that moves — and I think we’re just seeing the beginning with LinkedIn. LinkedIn members […] The...

Feb 2018

The Gaming Industry Going Into 2018

Is the Game Industry Today Mirroring the Landscape of the 1983 Crash? Given the industry’s early years, the continued strengthening of the economics of video games has enjoyed phenomenal longevity since its last recession. With the industry having survived two severe crashes in quick succession – in 1977 and then in 1983 – the fact […] The post The...

Feb 2018

Credit Due Where Credit Deserved – Microsoft

In the past, I have criticized Microsoft for the privacy invasive defaults of Win10. I failed to mention a feature that sheds a bit of light on what they collect. Beyond changing many of the settings using tools (which I highlighted here), you can actually review and delete some of the metadata being collected. If […] The post Credit Due Where Credit...

Feb 2018