Dissertation: Privacy vs Security

My dissertation is about internet security and internet privacy issues. The fact that they are both such large parts of everyone’s online experience and yet they seem to constantly battle against each other for supremacy. Can there be harmony or is there an inherent paradox between them meaning they can never function in equilibrium? As part of the dissertation… Read more →

What’s wrong with the Digital Economy Bill?

My main concern with any kind of legislation regarding internet monitoring and privacy issues is that they are decided without full understanding of the technologies and people involved. There is simply not enough debate about it. The fact that this has been rushed through the troubles me greatly but is not at all surprising regardless… Read more →

Dissertation Questionnaire

I have just come up with some questrions to try and help me find out the online usage and help me with my dissertation. If you would like to help me out and fill it out, it’s just 10 questions and the link is below. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=z9I4F5ll_2b_2bZgd_2fY1SSx8EA_3d_3d

Fall On Your Face?

Many of you may be aware that this week the government in their ‘infinite wisdom’ have decided to trial a facial recognition system at Manchester & Stansted airports. Lets have a little look and see why this is a pointless endevour to “add another layer of security and not repace existing systems”. A test on… Read more →

Specially Selected for Secondary Screening

I have just returned from a very nice two week holiday in the Bahamas with my parents and sister but if you think I am going to write about how the holiday was as my first post then you are sorely mistaken. That will come later. The first post is about how thoroughly targeted I… Read more →

Dissertation Synopsis

Is internet privacy giving way to internet security? There is an inherent paradox with security and privacy issues surrounding the internet. They seem to be unable to work in harmony even though their definitions are exclusive of each other. Could this be due to pressures from the music and film industries with regard to file?… Read more →

Protect Firefox Passwords & Still Fill Forms

Today I discovered a previously unknown password facility within Firefox 2 that is simply brilliant. While discussing password security and allowing Firefox to save username and password combinations so you dont have to with a colleague the other day I became aware that if my laptop got stolen… there was a hell of a lot… Read more →

Perfect Password?

Apparently this site has a password generator that is the strongest that you can use. 64 random hexadecimal characters (0-9 and A-F) 63 random printable ASCII characters 63 random alpha-numeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) Check it out, it says its good for WiFi Security and “potentially unbreakable” ” ..our server generates a unique set of… Read more →

Fingers No Longer Your Own?

According to an article on The Register, someone has developed a proof-of-concept for a ‘bio-logger’. You’ve heard of key-loggers for keyboards right? That log keystrokes made on a target keyboard and send the retrieved data to a USB key or via the internet to anyone. Well this new ‘gadget’ does the same thing but captures… Read more →

Contextual Studies Essay Finished!

I have just completed my contextual studies essay! I wrote about the peer-to-peer network and how the government has no idea what they are doing with regard to trying to shut down illegal file sharing. I left out the illegal part mostly and focused on comparing the monitoring of data to the tapping of phones… Read more →