2904, 2013

Support your local CryptoParty

René Pfeiffer/ April 29, 2013/ Communication, Discussion, Training

Since September 2012 there are CryptoParty events all over the world. The idea is to bring a group together and have each other teach the basics of cryptography and how to use the various tools that enable you to encrypt and protect information. Of course, encryption by itself cannot guarantee security, but it’s a part of the equation. Since cryptography is hard, most tools using it require a certain amount of knowledge to understand what’s going on and how to properly use them. The CryptoParty helps – in theory and most often in practice, too. If a CryptoParty is near you and you have some knowledge to spare, please take part and share what you know with others. DeepSec supports the local CryptoParty events in Austria, too. Finding a CryptoParty can be easily done

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1803, 2012

It’s the Smart Meters that matter – or is it?

René Pfeiffer/ March 18, 2012/ Communication, High Entropy, Security

Wired’s Danger Room has an article about how ubiquitous computing and smart homes are eagerly awaited by the CIA to turn your networked environment into a gigantic spy tool. CIA Director David Petraeus very much likes the „Internet of things” as an information gathering tool. Security researchers can’t wait, too. However they have a very practical approach by pointing out the missing security design. Smart homes might be very dumb after all, and they might not be a „home“. If your home turns against you and breaches your privacy, it’s not a home any more. Plus the next „digital Pearl Harbor“ (whatever this means) might start in your refrigerator. Who knows? This is a very simplistic view on the „Internet of things”. If things automatically turn into sensors and report useful information once they

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2210, 2011

DeepSec auf Radio Netwatcher am 25. Oktober 2011

René Pfeiffer/ October 22, 2011/ Communication

We did an interview with Radio Netwatcher. You can listen to it on 25 October 2011 at 1800 CEST on radio ORANGE 94.0 (Austria and other countries where the content is syndicated). The interview is in German. It covers the 0zapftis trojan horse, malware in general, security (of course), DeepSec 2011 and the Austrian Big Brother Awards. Wir haben Radio Netwatcher ein Interview gegeben. Man kann es am 25. Oktober 2011 um 1800 (CEST) auf Radio ORANGE 94,0 hören (hier in Österreich und in anderen Ländern, wo der Inhalt auch ausgestrahlt wird). Der Interview wurde in deutscher Sprache gegeben. Es umfaßt den 0zapftis Staatstrojaner, Schadsoftware im Allgemeinen, Sicherheit (natürlich!), die DeepSec 2011 und die österreichischen Big Brother Awards.

1603, 2011

Reminder: Mind2Mind Event I/2011 – „Wir werden Sie belauschen!“

René Pfeiffer/ March 16, 2011/ Communication, Veranstaltung

This is a short reminder of our local Mind2Mind event about the technology means of espionage in companies and organisations. The talk will be held by Wolfgang K. Meister of VOXCOM (and will be in German). Mr. Meister will address eavesdropping devices, microphones, attacks on telephone communication (VoIP, ISDN, analogue, 2G/3G), peculiarities of mobile phone networks and attacks on Internet communication, local computer systems and IT infrastructure. He will also discuss countermeasures. Dies ist eine kurze Erinnerung an unseren lokalen Mind2Mind Event „Wir werden Sie belauschen!“, der die Technologie von Spionage und Lauschangriff an Unternehmen und Organisationen beleuchtet. Der am Abend stattfindende Vortrag von Herrn Wolfgang K. Meister der Firma VOXCOM beschäftigt sich mit Wanzen, Mikrofonen, Aufnahme von Körperschall, Funk, Angriffen auf Telefone (VoIP, ISDN, analog, 2G/3G), Eigenheiten von Mobilfunknetzwerken und Attacken auf IKT

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1210, 2010

Thoughts about Secure Communication and Wiretapping

René Pfeiffer/ October 12, 2010/ Communication

Secure communication is a very important cornerstone of modern network design and corporate infrastructure. The need to communicate securely is part of everyday life. Businesses, political groups, individuals, governments, non-governmental organisations, and many others use secure communication. The basic idea is that you put a decent portion of trust into the way you exchange messages. Typically the message is only seen by the sender and the recipient. Many take this property of message exchange for granted, but you have to use suitable protocols to meet this goal. Secure communication protocols usually use encryption or steganography to protect and hide the transported messages. Anyone intercepting the data transmission must not be able to decode the original message(s) sent. This is the idea, and when designing secure protocols there is no way around it. Some use

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