The BBC reports on changes in Nigeria that are meant to help fight 419 fraud: Virtually anyone with an email account will be familiar with this crime, which involves sending emails or faxes to potential victims around the world, sucking them into a highly attractive but utterly false financial deal. Back in Nigeria, the rewards … Continue reading Nigerian ISPs now liable for 419ers
It always bothered me that the 419 scams in Nigeria seem to be linked to people who say that they are just playing the game of open markets. In other words, attackers ask why they should be blamed if they simply prey on others’ greed. A new story appeared last Thursday in the Guardian that … Continue reading The 419 Attack
There is measurable vulnerability in people who lack experience outside a single story. We documented this in terms of who falls victim to Advance Fee Fraud (419 scams) but it also applies to the AntiFa and BLM scams spreading lately. A story-teller on TED may explain it far better than I ever could: Army Captain … Continue reading Reduce Your Vulnerability to Fraud by Listening to More Stories
One of the more annoying post-Civil War propaganda campaigns started by the Southern Confederacy is to blame their own humanitarian disasters on liberating armies. “Devil’s Punch Bowl” in Natchez, Mississippi is one such example. Many thousands of slaves intentionally malnourished and denied basics like clothing or education were pushed upon Union forces, then fraudulently written … Continue reading Devil’s Punchbowl of Natchez Was a Confederate Disaster and Propaganda Campaign
Update April 22, 2021: A statement from Consumer Reports’ senior director of auto testing, Jake Fisher confirms that the Tesla vehicles lack basic safety — fail to include a modern-day equivalent of a seat belt. In our test, the system not only failed to make sure the driver was paying attention — it couldn’t even … Continue reading Tesla CEO Gaslighting Autopilot Safety Failures
Nobody cares about sailing but if you’re nobody… I’m happy to explain exactly why “Patriot” is a great metaphor for American extreme-right politics: Winless and when it starts to get ahead it self-destructs from easily predictable yet careless abuse of power. Did you know “Patriot” platform was a thing? Now here is a video with … Continue reading Forensics on America’s “Patriot” platform crash
I’ve been asked, perhaps in jest by those reading my SS blog post, whether the Columbia logo is a swastika because it also has four quadrants (it’s not). …founded in 1938 [a year after largest shirt factory owners Paul and Marie Lamfrom were forced to escape Nazi Germany], used a simple wordmark until the introduction … Continue reading What Isn’t a Swastika?
Update 12 Feb 2021: “Stop the Steal” fueled anxiety about loss, in the same way that “I have millions” fueled anxiety about gain. Both cognitive attacks work fundamentally because of racism in the target. Also, Islamist and rightwing extremists are documented as main threats in detailed security reports, as other groups do not even rank … Continue reading Cultural Spectrum of Trust
In our much-hyped age of big data and analytics, one might expect to find a plethora of useful virus tracking tools to help us all stay safe. Do you know which global map this one is from? Now that the deaths in Seattle officially are more than Beijing, and it’s believed virus carriers moved about … Continue reading Visualizing Coronavirus Spread: Many Tools, Results Vary Widely
Equifax soaks up a lot of news as the example of bad leadership, and there has been a lot said about the CSO role and person. But is it really the example we should focus on the most? By the numbers, Equifax appears to sit among a wide group of breaches that each lost around … Continue reading One CSO and the Three Biggest Breaches of All Time