This week saw an exciting announcement about the experimental deployment of DOCSIS 3.1 in limited markets in the United States, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, and parts of northern California, which will bring gigabit-per-second Internet speeds to many homes over the existing cable infrastructure. The potential for gigabit speeds over the existing cable networks bring hope that more consumers […]
When coding style survives compilation: De-anonymizing programmers from executable binaries
December 29, 2015 by
In a recent paper, we showed that coding style is present in source code and can be used to de-anonymize programmers. But what if only compiled binaries are available, rather than source code? Today we are releasing a new paper showing that coding style can survive compilation. Consequently, we can utilize these stylistic fingerprints via […]
New Professors' Letter Opposing The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2015
November 17, 2015 by
As Freedom to Tinker readers may recall, I’ve been very concerned about the problems associated with the proposed Defend Trade Secrets Act. Ostensibly designed to combat cyberespionage against United States corporations, it is instead not a solution to that problem, and fraught with downsides. Today, over 40 colleagues in the academic world joined Eric Goldman, Chris Seaman, Sharon […]
Provisions: how Bitcoin exchanges can prove their solvency
October 26, 2015 by
Millions of Bitcoin users store their bitcoins with online exchanges (e.g. Coinbase, Kraken) which store bitcoins on their customers’ behalf. They present an interface that looks somewhat like an online bank, allowing users to log in and request payments to other users or withdrawals. For many users this approach makes a lot more sense than the traditional approach of storing private keys on your laptop or phone […]
How is NSA breaking so much crypto?
October 14, 2015 by
There have been rumors for years that the NSA can decrypt a significant fraction of encrypted Internet traffic. In 2012, James Bamford published an article quoting anonymous former NSA officials stating that the agency had achieved a “computing breakthrough” that gave them “the ability to crack current public encryption.” The Snowden documents also hint at […]
