Dose of Paranoia - April 19, 2025
It gets worse before it gets worse
Good Stuff
I’ve been feeling bad about being a continuous source of bad news here, so this week I decided to make an effort to include a couple of links to feel-good stories and wonder of wonders, I did find a few…
This story of how 300 people in a small town in Michigan helped their local independent bookstore move house is really heartwarming.
Japanese researchers claim to have found a sound which helps reduce motion sickness. OK, they proved this works in mice. But its a start and I guess traveling mice will benefit at the very least.
And scientists at UC Berkeley have discovered a totally new color. Of course, they had to shoot lasers into people’s eyes to get them to see it. Yeah, I guess I will live with the current non laser in the eye color palette I have access to, but its nice to know the option is there…
Now on to the usual parade of paranoia…
InfoSec/Scam Stuff
New Gmail Phishing Scam - As more people become more aware of the ways that bad folks target them via email, the baddies have to up their game and this scam is actually quite impressive in its use of trusted infrastructure to make the phish look legit. Now more than ever, you need to stop and think about the context of messages you receive and the validity of the message/request before deciding to take action.
Charity (and fraud) begin at home (mortgage guarantee firm Fannie Mae) - 200 employees of Fannie Mae got the axe for allegedly defrauding the firm’s charitable donation matching program by getting kickbacks from the charity they were “making donations to.” Apparently, this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened - Apple fired 185 employees for a similar scheme.
Pig Butchering evolves - “Pig Butchering” scams (in which bad guys spend months building trust with victims before springing big dollar cryptocurrency investment scams on them) are also evolving. This Reddit post describes a new approach to Pig Butchering which purported to give the victim insider information into a glitch in an online casino which guaranteed winning bets. The end of the story, with the victim still believing that their scammer is a friend, unfortunately rings true. In many cases, victims refuse to admit they have been scammed, even after they have lost large amounts of money.
Evil Extensions - Many people don’t realize that browser extensions are software and that they can contain malicious software which can spy on your internet activity. But they are - and the bad guys love to use extensions to get at your personal information and passwords. A recent study revealed dozens of malicious extensions in the Chrome extension store and that these pieces of malicious code are currently installed on 4 million devices. If you are thinking of installing browser extensions to enhance your internet experience, check these tips first…
Tech Stuff
Music from beyond the grave - Thanks to a collaboration with some scientists, a musician who shuffled off this mortal coil back in 2021 continues to compose music. At least his blood cells do. Not sure whether the meter on this story should be pegged at “Cool” or “Creepy.”
PoXy storage - Researchers at Fudan University in China claim to have created a new form of flash storage (with the unfortunate name “PoX”) that can write data 10,000 times faster than current storage tech. This could help make data guzzling AI applications way faster and more capable and greatly reducing the amount of chip space and energy required for storage. But they really need someone to help with the marketing. Just not these guys.
Golden Age of America (part 583) - Apparently, law enforcement organizations are going to be using AI powered bots to interact with (and most probably entrap) social media users who they suspect of being anything from violent criminals to “protestors.” I’m sure that this tech won’t be misused by the very law abiding members of the Trump Regime.
Some important Easter tech - You’re welcome.
Fun Stuff
Star Trek Studies - OK - if I knew that one could become an academic and publish books on Star Trek studies, I think I might have gone for a career in the hallowed halls of education rather than on the mean streets of cybersecurity. After all, in the words of our stable genius leader, “The cyber is hard!" Although, he also exclaimed “Everything’s computer!” so there is that. Anyway, this new work from the University of Minnesota Press is now in my to read pile. Hey! Does this mean I could have MAJORED IN STAR TREK in college??? I might have stayed in and graduated and become a starship captain…
All in the Family - Next time you think that your family had weird vibes, spare a thought for the family in this story. At least both of your parents weren’t deep cover KGB agents… or were they?
The Common Sense Electric Belt - Please, please, please, no one share this with RFK, Jr. Although it would be nice to cure my nervous exhaustion, lumbago, and liver complaint all at once. And does its efficacy for “female complaints” mean that Amy will stop complaining about me if I wear it? Hmmmm…