Linked: Data From Fake Legal Requests Used to Sexually Extort Minors
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Linked: Data From Fake Legal Requests Used to Sexually Extort Minors

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

In this case, we have an emergency process. There are good reasons to have that process, if someone is threatening violence to themselves on social media, it’s useful for the tech company to share some information with law enforcement so they can be reached. But, having the ability to get that kind of response from tech companies is also an invitation to hackers. If they can create a fake emergency request they can collect personal information about any user. They can then use that information to target that individual.

When you create that kind of system, the request needs to be coming from a safe, verified, source. When the source is compromised, and the receiver doesn’t have an excellent validation process, bad things are going to happen.

Because when you have that kind of data, people will try and do bad things with it.

Linked: Spotify’s Rogan problem is a cautionary tale for other tech platforms
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Linked: Spotify’s Rogan problem is a cautionary tale for other tech platforms

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

The article below points out that many of the platforms that exist today may find themselves in a similar situation and face a similar temptation. As shareholders start demanding more “growth” of a platform they are going to have a hard time providing that. There isn’t a large group of people clamoring to get Twitter or Facebook accounts that don’t currently have one. Eventually, they may be tempted to provide some kind of content exclusively on their platform. This pushes them into being publishing and media companies as opposed to tech companies. (We could argue that many of these platforms have started to dabble in being media companies but that haven’t quite taken the step that Spotify did and buy exclusive rights to podcasts.)

Linked: Cities and States Find New Ways to Tax Streaming Services
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Linked: Cities and States Find New Ways to Tax Streaming Services

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

I reject that argument too, and here is why.

In order to be a customer of Netflix, Disney+, etc. you need broadband internet access, which runs through those wireline facilities. The ISP is already paying for using the right of way and passing that expense on to you. Any service, streaming video, audio, websites you visit, etc. is using the connection that has already been paid for and passed on to you. Taxing each individual service simply creates a situation where there is one connection using the infrastructure, being paid for over and over again and then being passed back to you over and over again.

Talking Backups On the Every Day Cyber Podcast
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Talking Backups On the Every Day Cyber Podcast

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of being invited to chat about backup strategies for consumers and small businesses with the hosts of the Every Day Cyber podcast

The bottom line?  – Some backup is better than none. Multiple copies in various locations and states of being connected to the internet are better.

Linked: The Third Web
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Linked: The Third Web

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

Here’s the thing. I’ve been around the internet, and the Web, a long time. Long enough to remember when HTML was going to “democratize” publishing and when blogging was going to “democratize journalism” and when social media was going to be the thing that finally “democratized” the Web and gave everyone a voice.

None of that proved to be true. Each and every iteration of Internet technology eventually wound up with a couple of big winners, and some sort of monopoly.

What is it about Web3 that makes people think this will end any differently?