With the recently-introduced iOS 8, Apple has switched to a encrypting a much larger amount of user data by default. Matt Green has provided an excellent initial look at a technical level and big-picture level and Apple has recently released a slightly more detailed specification document and an admirable promise never to include backdoors. This move, and Google’s prompt promise […]
Archives for 2014
It’s time to bring Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies into the computer science curriculum
September 15, 2014 by
In the privacy technologies grad seminar that I taught last semester, Bitcoin proved to be the most popular topic among students. Two groups did very different and equally interesting final projects on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies; more on that below. More broadly, we’re seeing a huge demand for learning the computer science underlying Bitcoin, both at […]
Google Fights Genericide Claim (and Wins)
September 13, 2014 by
Google’s famous trademark in its name has just survived a challenger’s attempt to have it declared generic. In Elliott v. Google, a federal court in Arizona held last week that despite the public’s use of the word “googling” to mean “searching on the Internet,” the “Google” word mark still functions in the minds of consumers […]
Security Audit of Safeplug "Tor in a Box"
September 8, 2014 by
Last month at the FOCI workshop, we presented a security analysis of the Safeplug, a $49 box which promised users “complete security and anonymity” online by sending all of their web traffic through the Tor onion routing network. Safeplug claims to offer greater usability, particularly for non-technical customers, than the state-of-the-art in anonymous Internet browsing: […]
The Dangers of the New Trade Secrets Acts
August 27, 2014 by
First, I want to state how thrilled I am to be joining the great group here at CITP. Every CITP scholar that I’ve gotten to know over the past several years have become friends and influenced my work in areas ranging from voting machine code access to international lawmaking processes. I’m delighted to be a […]
