ProPublica has a scoop: In late 2024, the federal government’s cybersecurity evaluators rendered a troubling verdict on one of Microsoft’s biggest cloud computing offerings. The tech giant’s “lack of proper detailed security documentation” left reviewers with a “lack of confidence…
Tag: Schneier on Security
Python Supply-Chain Compromise
This is news: A malicious supply chain compromise has been identified in the Python Package Index package litellm version 1.82.8. The published wheel contains a malicious .pth file (litellm_init.pth, 34,628 bytes) which is automatically executed by the Python interpreter on…
Cybersecurity in the Age of Instant Software
AI is rapidly changing how software is written, deployed, and used. Trends point to a future where AIs can write custom software quickly and easily: “instant software.” Taken to an extreme, it might become easier for a user to have…
Hong Kong Police Can Force You to Reveal Your Encryption Keys
According to a new law, the Hong Kong police can demand that you reveal the encryption keys protecting your computer, phone, hard drives, etc.—even if you are just transiting the airport. In a security alert dated March 26, the U.S.…
Google Wants to Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography by 2029
Google says that it will fully transition to post-quantum cryptography by 2029. I think this is a good move, not because I think we will have a useful quantum computer anywhere near that year, but because crypto-agility is always a…
Friday Squid Blogging: Jurassic Fish Chokes on Squid
Here’s a fossil of a 150-million year old fish that choked to death on a belemnite rostrum: the hard, internal shell of an extinct, squid-like animal. Original paper. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about…
Company that Secretly Records and Publishes Zoom Meetings
WebinarTV searches the internet for public Zoom invites, joins the meetings, secretly records them, and publishes (alternate link) the recordings. It doesn’t use the Zoom record feature, so Zoom can’t do anything about it. This article has been indexed from…
US Bans All Foreign-Made Consumer Routers
This is for new routers; you don’t have to throw away your existing ones: The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce “a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and…
Possible US Government iPhone Hacking Tool Leaked
Wired writes (alternate source): Security researchers at Google on Tuesday released a report describing what they’re calling “Coruna,” a highly sophisticated iPhone hacking toolkit that includes five complete hacking techniques capable of bypassing all the defenses of an iPhone to…
Is “Hackback” Official US Cybersecurity Strategy?
The 2026 US “Cyber Strategy for America” document is mostly the same thing we’ve seen out of the White House for over a decade, but with a more aggressive tone. But one sentence stood out: “We will unleash the private…
A Taxonomy of Cognitive Security
Last week, I listened to a fascinating talk by K. Melton on cognitive security, cognitive hacking, and reality pentesting. The slides from the talk are here, but—even better—Menton has a long essay laying out the basic concepts and ideas. The…
Inventors of Quantum Cryptography Win Turing Award
Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard have won the 2026 Turing Award for inventing quantum cryptography. I am incredibly pleased to see them get this recognition. I have always thought the technology to be fantastic, even though I think it’s largely…
Apple’s Camera Indicator Lights
A thoughtful review of Apple’s system to alert users that the camera is on. It’s really well-designed, and important in a world where malware could surreptitiously start recording. The reason it’s tempting to think that a dedicated camera indicator light…
Friday Squid Blogging: Bioluminescent Bacteria in Squid
The Hawaiian bobtail squid has bioluminescent bacteria. This article has been indexed from Schneier on Security Read the original article: Friday Squid Blogging: Bioluminescent Bacteria in Squid
As the US Midterms Approach, AI Is Going to Emerge as a Key Issue Concerning Voters
In December, the Trump administration signed an executive order that neutered states’ ability to regulate AI by ordering his administration to both sue and withhold funds from states that try to do so. This action pointedly supported industry lobbyists keen…
Sen. Wyden Warns of Another Section 702 Abuse
Sen. Ron Wyden is warning us of an abuse of Section 702: Wyden took to the Senate floor to deliver a lengthy speech, ostensibly about the since approved (with support of many Democrats) nomination of Joshua Rudd to lead the…
Team Mirai and Democracy
Japan’s election last month and the rise of the country’s newest and most innovative political party, Team Mirai, illustrates the viability of a different way to do politics. In this model, technology is used to make democratic processes stronger, instead…
Microsoft Xbox One Hacked
It’s an impressive feat, over a decade after the box was released: Since reset glitching wasn’t possible, Gaasedelen thought some voltage glitching could do the trick. So, instead of tinkering with the system rest pin(s) the hacker targeted the momentary…
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak: I’m giving the Ross Anderson Lecture at the University of Cambridge’s Churchill College at 5:30 PM GMT on Thursday, March 19, 2026. I’m speaking at RSAC…
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid in Byzantine Monk Cooking
This is a very weird story about how squid stayed on the menu of Byzantine monks by falling between the cracks of dietary rules. At Constantinople’s Monastery of Stoudios, the kitchen didn’t answer to appetite. It answered to the “typikon”:…