I've started using BitWarden - the open source password manager. As I've been binge-watching Marie Kondo, I thought it was about time that I deleted all the accounts that I no longer user. I got rid of dozens related to previous employers. I hope the passwords wouldn't work after I left but 🤷♂️. I scanned through the list and deleted old bank details, failed social networks, and obvious duplic…
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I've just got a set of wearable NFC tags, and I've discovered something interesting about the way data is stored on them. tl;dr Overwriting a tag can leave old data intact, and still readable. Here's the decoded memory layout of a tag with data written to it. In this case, a (failed) experiment at storing a JavaScript pop-up. # NDEF message: [00] D1 01 7D 55 00 64 61 74 61 3A 74 65 78 74 2F 68 …
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Code-sharing site GitHub automatically sends email notifications to users. If you've commented on an issue, you'll get an email each time there's an update. That's pretty handy. It also allows users to reply by email. The reply is then automatically posted in the issue thread. Also handy. But a little dangerous. Lots of people have email signatures which contain personal details. When these…
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There's a new bug bounty provider in town! The Belgian company Intigriti. This is a quick write-up of how I found a trivial bug in their own system. The EU has announced that it is providing funding for bug bounties on critical open source projects. They've split the programme between HackerOne and Intigriti. I signed up to Intigriti, and instantly received a confirmation email. Can you…
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Imagine the scenario. You're trying out some cool new Twitter app. It asks you to sign in via OAuth as per usual. You look through the permissions - phew - it doesn't want to access your Direct Messages. You authorise it - whereupon it promptly leaks to the world all your sexts, inappropriate jokes, and dank memes. Tragic! What's going on? Many years ago the official Twitter API keys were…
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A few months ago, British Airways' customers had their credit card details stolen. How was this possible? The best guess goes something like this: BA had 3rd party JS on its payment page <script src="https://example.com/whatever.js"></script> The 3rd party's site was hacked, and the JS was changed. BA's customers ran the script, which then harvested their credit card details as they were…
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Here's a curiosity which I found while stumbling through the Sony PlayStation store. The website loads internally hosted scripts using SRI (SubResource Integrity). Why? Does your work require you to swipe an ID card to access the building? That seems pretty normal. Does your work also remind you to keep your badge visible, and to challenge people who aren't wearing theirs? That also seems…
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Some external JavaScript libraries are dynamic. That's a problem for the SRI model of security. How can this be fixed? Definitions Suppose I want my website to have the latest version of the jQuery library. I might use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve the code for me. <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script> If an attacker were to…
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CloudFlare claim they want to secure the web - but they seem more interested in tracking their customers than giving them decent security. Upon registering with the Internet giant, users are encouraged to confirm their email addresses. So far, so standard. This is the confirmation message CloudFlare sends out: Looks good! Hey! I wonder where that garish orange button goes? WHAT!?! An http…
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One of the problems with the BlockChain goldrush is that it attracts a lot of people who don't necessarily have the required technical skill to safely run a service. This in turn reduces trust in the ecosystem. I'd like to discuss ArtChain.info - "Certifying Art Using the Bitcoin Blockchain" - and the some of the security issues I found there. XSS This is one of those simple bugs which every…
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A quick report into a nasty privacy vulnerability I found with the CAB. Unusually for me, this has no Internet component. Regular readers will know about my recent court visit. As part of that, I had to telephone the CAB Volunteers at the court who look after witnesses. I called, and was put on hold, then asked to leave a message. There's a popular myth that you can trick phone systems to…
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I'm going to tell you an anecdote which is a gross oversimplification of a complex topic. In the early half of the twentieth century, certain physicists made breakthroughs in relativity, quantum mechanics, and nuclear energy. Many of these scientists were Jewish. The Nazis called these heretical ideas "Jewish Science" and suppressed their teaching. Jewish physicists based in Germany fled the…
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