depth first search » snooping

Tin Foil Hat Redux

JS — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:31:57 +0000

It seems silly that Phorm is munging cookies. If they have that kind of access than they are already doing packet sniffing and so can read off the data you send and receive directly. This whole cookie business seems to be a red herring.

Ahead of the Curve

JS — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:42:02 +0000

This article won’t be news to you if you follow my blog. I like how the fact that HitWise is spying on web traffic was completely overlooked by the NY Times, and only “discovered” by the Washington Post four months later.

Today's Misc.

JS — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:42:57 +0000

Looking this closely into packets can raise privacy concerns: can DPI equipment peek inside all of these packets and assemble them into a legible record of your e-mails, web browsing, VoIP calls, and passwords? Well, yes, it can. In fact, that’s exactly what companies like Narus use the technology to do, and they make a living out of selling such gear to the Saudi Arabian government, among many others.

This wouldn’t be an issue except for:

The userbase for strong cryptography declines by half with every additional keystroke or mouseclick required to make it work.
–Carl Ellison