Dave Lewis
TV Technology
Canada
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Past articles by Dave:
Availability as a Pillar of Media
Security issues have evolved far beyond the simple cable box. → Read More
WHOIS The First Casualty Of GDPR?
The EU General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, looms on the horizon like a swarm of mutant bees bearing down on us all. OK, not quite so dire, but there are ramifications that will come from this piece of legislation. → Read More
White House picks a CISO and, spoiler alert, I didn’t get the job
There simply isn’t an emoji to capture my emotion at a moment like this. I didn’t even get a rejection letter. The White House first announced that they were seeking a candidate in February 2016. Yesterday, The White House selected their first CISO candidate yesterday and it wasn’t me. Of course, I’m being facetious. The small entanglement of being a Canadian may have been a limiting factor in… → Read More
Brazzers gets the shaft in data breach
Years ago, I remember a time when water was free. You would just drink it from the tap and you had to pay for your ‘dirty magazines’. Times have changed to say the least. I was in the market the other day and they were selling a bottled water that was advertised as being a good source of “oxygen”. I didn’t have the heart to counter and argue about the possible dangers of dihydrogen monoxide… → Read More
Humpday data breach report
It has been a helluva week to say the least. But, before I get to the cavalcade of compromised companies let’s roll back the clock to July 2012. Back that summer I was simply gobsmacked by the number of breaches that were cropping up in the news. It was somewhat daunting at the time. Just the sheer volume of records that were leaked was troubling. I was wondering when the bleeding would stop. I… → Read More
SWIFT kick in the banking
When SWIFT made headlines back in April of 2016, I could not help but wonder how bad things really were. Many people were blissfully unaware as to what SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) even was or what it could be used for. This is supposed to be a secure financial network that banks can use for payment authorizations. It seems that of the 11,000 reported banks… → Read More
The Good Ole Days Of Hacker Summer Camp
Only now am I starting to recover the feeling in my legs from my adventures in the Vegas desert. Over time my conference going experience has changed for me as it relates to BSides Las Vegas, Black Hat and DEF CON. Much in the same vein, the conferences themselves have changed as well. DEF CON entered a legendary status in the days at the Alexis Park Hotel. In the common vernacular you would… → Read More
Guccifer gets 52 months in prison
The attacker with the nom de plume of Guccifer, who had breached all manner of email accounts including exposing the existence of the Clinton’s ill advised self-hosted email server has gotten himself thrown in prison. This was an outcome that really comes as a surprise to no one in particular. He already had a series of convictions in Romania from 2014 as a part of his spree. The attacker from… → Read More
Never patch another system again
Over the years I have been asked a curious question numerous times. 'If we use product x or solution y we wouldn't have to patch anymore, right?" At this point in the conversation I would often sit back in my seat and try to look like I was giving their question a lot of thought. The reality was more pragmatic. I was trying very hard to stifle my screams while appearing considerate of their… → Read More
In Russia, Internet backdoors you
I do so enjoy these moments where I can craft goofy headlines like that. In this case however, it’s spot on. While the entire world was watching the Brexit tire fire unfold, some news broke in Russia. For a long time I would shake my head as I watched various governments, like Canada, try to roll out legislation that would allow for unfettered monitoring of people’s Internet access. More often… → Read More
Brexit shows Cameron the gate. You won’t believe what happens next.
Yeah, I went there. It was a stunning defeat for the Remain campaign yesterday. We saw the markets tumble today and David Cameron resigned as Prime Minister. While the world sits by wondering how this will all play out, I can’t help but wonder what will become of the Cameron government’s attempt to weaken encryption and get the citizens to “voluntarily” make use of a country wide proxy system. I… → Read More
RMISC: The security conference in the mountains
This week I spent time in Denver Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Information Security Conference or RMISC. This was officially the 10th iteration of the security conference that was driven by dedicated volunteers and thought the support of the local ISACA and ISSA chapters. I was fortunate enough to have been invited to participate on the opening keynote panel at the conference with Javvad Malik,… → Read More
SAP bug returns to cause mischief
After spending about two decades in the trenches I ran across all sorts of IT implementations. One of the ones that always caused me some heartburn was SAP. The running joke that I heard more than a few times was that when you purchase SAP you receive a large box. When you would open that box several hundred consultants would step out. But, SAP is a tool that is very effective but, security is… → Read More
Google suffers data breach via benefits provider
Data breaches are always a horrible thing when you are on the side that has been tasked with defending the realm from invaders. When you get that email from someone that says, “Oh wow, check out ghostbin” only to discover that your information is on there. To be fair I’ve not lived through that experience but, I have worked at a company in the past where we had a Wordpress instance that was… → Read More
The impending death of the traditional Intranet
In medieval times castles were typically protected by a moat or something akin to it like an open ditch. These fortifications served a purpose to be certain but, over time they were found to be dated an ineffective as tactics changed. Nowadays, how often do you see a working castle with a moat used to defend against barbarians hordes? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Castles don't scale. Certain… → Read More
Giving back: Center for Cyber Safety and Education
This year is the first time in three years that I have not served on the board of directors of (ISC)2. When my term ended and I decided to step aside and collect myself. It was a worthy endeavour in many ways. But the detractors, such as one glorified tool punk who was convinced that the realm of information security began and ended with his favourite 'click, click, next’ tool, finally wore me… → Read More
5 must listen to security podcasts
There are a lot of podcasts out there that you can listen to these days. Now, today I’m writing about 5 must listen security podcasts that you should start adding to your rotation yesterday. So, let’s be fair right out of the gate. This is not a definitive list by any stretch of the imagination and I will share more in a future post. So, if I have not added your podcast favourites have no fear… → Read More
Unfunny wifi hotspots on a plane
News broke yesterday where a flight in Australia was delayed due to some intellectually challenged individual thought it would be funny to rename his/her wifi hotspot. But, before we dig into that I’ll share a personal story. A few months ago I took my daughter to her piano lesson. Normally this is where I sit there for a half hour with a book and a coffee and relax. On this occasion I managed… → Read More
Drones, privacy and the war on intellect
I’ve been a fan of drones for a while now. I enjoy messing about with them and I even have my own micro drone with a camera. Now, while I saw the I enjoy playing with drones I’ve always kept a keen eye not to get video of my neighbours backyards and so forth. I have no interest in that but, mistakes happen. So, I keep the drone below 20 ft and since my ability to keep the drone steady is suspect… → Read More
Surfing porn can lead to infections
Could not resist that as a clickbait title. My apologies. Malware is a tiresome fact of life online. Ever since my first encounter with the Stoned virus years ago it has never ceased to be amaze me that the pace of this sort of software continues virtually unabated. A friend of a friend of a friend of the family has been a notorious culprit when it comes to the spread of malicious software. He… → Read More