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Articles by Martijn Grooten
22 May 2024: On the CISA guidance for civil society
A personal/work update: I am still working for Internews, but only in a part-time capacity. In the meantime, I have returned to working as a part-time researcher for Silent Push, an exciting threat intelligence startup that I already worked for a few years ago. I am also involved in some smaller ad hoc projects. More on some recent work I did for Silent Push later. And to state the obvious: this newsletter reflects my opinion alone.
Telegram phishing targeting Eastern Europe and Central Asia
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6 March 2024: Signal usernames that aren’t
“I have gone to therapy about this specific issue—on tying your identity and self worth to your work”. These aren’t my words, but those of 404 Media’s Joseph Cox, one of my favorite tech journalists. They hit home hard though, so I decided not to apologize for taking a one week break from this newsletter as I was sick and perhaps slightly overworked. Thank you for reading this newsletter. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, that is very kind of them and don't forget to thank them for it.
21 February: a Meze of Stories
A meze is what people in many countries in the Eastern Mediterranean call a selection of small dishes. Compare it to the Spanish tapas. This week, I didn’t find time (or inspiration, or maybe both) for a longer main story, so instead I present you with a meze of interesting dishes stories relevant to those working in digital security. Thank you for reading this newsletter. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, that is very kind of them and don't forget to thank them for it.
7 February 2024: Signals at work
Thank you for reading this newsletter. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, that is very kind of them and don't forget to thank them for it. You can subscribe here to receive future newsletters directly into your inbox. For Spanish readers, I'm happy to let you know that I uploaded Diego Morabito's Spanish translation of the second newsletter. I will add the next two newsletters very soon as well, for Diego translated those as well.
30 January 2024: don't take the shortcut
Thank you for reading this newsletter. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, that is very kind of them and don't forget to thank them for it. You can subscribe here to receive future newsletters directly into your inbox.
Newsletter 1: January 8th 2024
Happy 2024! I started a newsletter. Because why not. The goal is to send it weekly, covering one main topic followed by some smaller ones and some non-security related things, because there are so many other things that matter in life. We'll see how that goes. The target audience is anyone working in digital security, in particular those working with (or being part of) at-risk people and communities.
Don’t accept paid articles from stalkerware apps
In recent months, we have seen a fairly large number of paid content placements promoting stalkerware in online publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Detroit Metro Times. The articles are often written in the form of product reviews and generally talk about the apps’ ability to monitor children’s phones. However, they also write extensively about being able to hide the apps’ presence and/or track someone’s location or activity without them knowing.
David Ruiz (Malwarebytes) to speak about stalkerware at virtual Virus Bulletin conference
Malwarebytes online privacy writer David Ruiz will give a talk at the upcoming Virus Bulletin conference on stalkerware. In his talk, David will discuss what stalkerware is and send a call to action to the security industry to take this issue more seriously. David will also discuss how stalkerware functions, and why the technology community should avoid ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions. Now in its 30th year, the Virus Bulletin conference is one of oldest industry events.
Defining the Problem of Stalkerware: Coalition Creates an Industry United Definition of Stalkerware
The Coalition Against Stalkerware has taken an important step in the fight against stalkerware by agreeing on a common definition, that can be understood by technologists, advocates, and survivors. Because most stalkerware is sold as legitimate software, such as parental control or anti-theft apps, the definition focuses on an app’s technical features, rather than how it is marketed.
Researchers find more than 1,000 “creepware” apps on Google Play
A group of researchers from Coalition founding partner NortonLifeLock, Cornell Tech and New York University have found a large number of Android apps that can be used for stalking and harassment and that include, but aren’t limited to, traditional stalkerware. More than 800 of the apps have since been removed by Google from its Google Play store.
VB2019 Programme
VB2019 Programme Wednesday 2 October, 2019 Red room Green room Small talks 09:00 - 10:30 Wednesday 2 October E A R L Y M O R N I N G R E F R E S H M E N T S 10:30 - 10:50 Wednesday 2 October VB2019 opening address Martijn Grooten (Virus Bulletin) (takes place in the Green room) 11:30 - 12:00 Wednesday 2 October A vine climbing over the Great Firewall: a long-term attack against China Lion Gu (Qi An Xin Threat Intelligence Center) Bowen Pan (Qi An Xin Threat Intelligence Center) 11:30 - 12:00...
Cinema Chain Sees Bad Movie Script Play Out As It Loses Millions In Email Scam
It was not a good week for the Pathé cinema chains. First, their UK branch's Twitter account was hacked and used in a cryptocurrency scam and then it became known that their Dutch branch had lost more than 19 million euros (US$21.5m) trough a business email compromise (BEC) scam.
Brave Move Good For Tor And Privacy
In its latest version, Brave, a privacy focused desktop browser, has introduced the ability to enable Tor in private tabs, an important move both for private browsing and for Tor itself. A recent research paper (pdf) showed that many people don't have a good idea of what private browser mode really means: they tend to think that it hides their geographical location from the website they are visiting and their Internet activity from their ISP or employer.
Microsoft Policy Sets Standard For Openness On What Vulnerabilities To Patch
"The vendor said it didn't consider the vulnerability serious enough and decided not to release a patch." Such a statement is often received with criticism, not least so on social media, and especially if a researcher has actually shown how to exploit the vulnerability. Yet while some vendors do ignore serious flaws in their code, many others do actually have policies on what kinds of vulnerabilities to spend their often sparse resources on, even if such policies are rarely made public.
Balancing Security & Convenience: The Importance Of IAM
Before the Internet, things were simple. Less fun, probably, but definitely simple. Your office had a big door at the entrance, with a security guard who sat next to it to prevent intruders from gaining access. Once inside the building, you could easily walk to other floors and other departments. But the CFO's office was locked, as was the cabinet where confidential information was stored. Most employees did not have access to the keys to either of these. Things are a lot more complicated these days.
Virus Bulletin Conference - what’s changed in 25 years?
This week sees the 25th Virus Bulletin conference, which takes place in Prague from 30 September to 2 October. We spoke to Virus Bulletin's editor, Martijn Grooten, about how threats have changed over the last 25 years. My colleagues and I have been very busy preparing for this week's 25th annual Virus Bulletin International Conference, but on the occasion of this anniversary I wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect on how much has changed in the last quarter of a century.
2015 | Ars Technica
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Fraunhofer Institute gives clean bill of health to crypto tool used by millions.
By Julia Angwin, Eric Berger Verified, Cyrus Farivar Verified, Megan Geuss, Rupert Goodwins Verified, Dan Goodin Verified, Sean Gallagher, Sam Machkovech, Scott Gilbertson Verified, Matthew Green, Martijn Grooten
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Ars Technica
Verified
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