pies @pies@qoto.org

"What radicalized you?"

Seven years ago we lost our sweet Jacob to liver disease. Reading was his favorite activity. In his honor we do a book drive to support Georgetown Medical Center’s children’s department. Please contribute a book: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/E57018RQ7JMS?ref_=wl_share

I'm gonna stop going to the Sex McDonald's because they say they're just a regular McDonald's and you're not allowed to have sex there

Memory errors in consumer devices such as PCs and phones are not something you hear much about, yet they are probably one of the most common ways these machines fail.

I'll use this thread to explain how this happens, how it affects you and what you can do about it. But I'll also talk about how the industry failed to address it and how we must force them to, for the sake of sustainability. 🧵 1/17

Youngest calls me Daddy. I’m not super happy about it, and I am worried about it for summer activities, but it is what it is.

Recently, Youngest climbed onto a two person swing (one of the “horse” or “elephant-ear” style ones) with another kid and asked me to push the swing.

Other: “Where’s your dad?”
Youngest: “I have two moms!”
Other: “Is your dad dead!?”
Youngest: “No!”
Other: “But where’s your dad?”
Youngest, laughing at the absurdity: “I have TWO MOMS!”
Other: “… your mom is good at pushing.”

Sending logs from php to stdout inside a docker container you’d think would be easy and a solved problem. It’s definitely not. I’ve seen dozens of different and clever ways.

My tried and true method for the last few years has been to use the DIO extension.

After googling to see if anything changed in php to make it possible, one comment sent me down the dark path of FFI.

This little evil dirty disgustingly sly, and while proud of won’t use gist was the result. 😈

https://gist.github.com/ralphschindler/94a1a51145ff3cc0df2d54b1c5acb9c9

A federal judge slapped down Alabama’s AG’s attempt to block out of state abortions (the right to cross state lines is absolute, and if they ever take that then you’re only recourse is revolution).

https://www.lawdork.com/p/alabama-right-to-travel-abortion-dismiss-denial?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=899862&post_id=144378579&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=2hy4ox&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Bank scammers using genuine push notifications to trick their victims
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/05/bank-scammers-using-genuine-push-notifications-to-trick-their-victims/

You receive a call on your phone. The polite call centre worker on the line asks for you by name, and gives the name of your bank. They say they're calling from your bank's fraud department.

"Yeah, right!" You think. Obvious scam, isn't it? You tell the caller to do unmentionable things to a goat. They sigh.

"I can assure you I'm calling from Chase bank. I understand you're sceptical. I'll send a push notification through the app so you can see this is a genuine call."

Your phone buzzes. You tap the notification and this pops up on screen:

This is obviously a genuine caller! This is a genuine pop-up, from the genuine app, which is protected by your genuine fingerprint. You tap the "Yes" button.

Why wouldn't you? The caller knows your name and bank and they have sent you an in-app notification. Surely that can only be done by the bank. Right?

Right!

This is a genuine notification. It was sent by the bank.

You proceed to do as the fraud department asks. You give them more details. You move your money into a safe account. You're told you'll hear from them in the morning.

Congratulations. You just got played. Scammers have stolen your life savings.

How the scam works

This is reasonably sophisticated, and it is easy to see why people fall for it.

The scammer calls you up. They keep you on the phone while...
The scammer's accomplice calls your bank. They pretend to be you. So...
The bank sends you an in-app alert.
You confirm the alert.
The scammer on the phone to your bank now has control of your account.

Look closer at what that pop is actually asking you to confirm.

We need to check it is you on the phone to us.

It isn't saying "This is us calling you - it is quite the opposite!

This pop-up is a security disaster. It should say something like:

Did you call us?
If someone has called you claiming to be from us hang up now
[Yes, I am calling Chase] - [No, someone called me]

I dare say most people would fall for this. Oh, not you! You're far too clever and sceptical. You'd hang up and call the number on your card. You'd spend a terrifying 30 minute wait on hold to the fraud department, while hoping fraudsters haven't already drained your account.

But even if you were constantly packet sniffing the Internet connection on your phone, you'd see that this was a genuine pop-up from your genuine app. Would that bypass your defences? I reckon so.

Criminals are getting increasingly good at this. Banks are letting down customers by having vaguely worded security pop-up which they know their customers don't read properly.

And, yes, customers can sometimes be a little gullible. But it is hard to be constantly on the defensive.

Further reading

You can read the original story from the victim on Reddit. See more comments on Mastodon.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/05/bank-scammers-using-genuine-push-notifications-to-trick-their-victims/

#bank #CyberSecurity #phishing #scam #security

Some people think scalability is the biggest challenge in tech. Some think it’s data privacy.

I think the biggest challenge in tech is the constant internal battle between ideals and a fat pay check.

The Guardian today has a photo of tents on the steps of UC Berkeley's Sproul Hall, the admin building. I spent a night in such a tent in 1985, as part of an anti-apartheid protest. That protest now has a lengthy Web page praising it on the official UC site, because the whole movement achieved its goals.

Ironically, today's protest could equally well have taken place in 1985, also.