Applied Paranoia

Location-based dating (LBD) apps enable users to meet new people nearby and online by browsing others' profiles, which often contain very personal and sensitive data. We systematically analyze 15 LBD apps on the prevalence of privacy risks that can result in abuse by adversarial users who want to stalk, harass, or harm others. Through a systematic manual analysis of these apps, we assess which personal and sensitive data is shared with other users, both as (intended) data exposure and as inadvertent yet powerful leaks in API traffic that is otherwise hidden from a user, violating their mental model of what they share on LBD apps.

As one finding of our research, 6 apps allow for pinpointing a victim's exact location, enabling physical threats to users' personal safety. All these data exposures and leaks—supported by easy account creation—enable targeted or large-scale, long-term, and stealthy profiling and tracking of LBD app users. While privacy policies acknowledge personal data processing, and a tension exists between app functionality and user privacy, significant data privacy risks remain. We recommend user control, data minimization, and API hardening as countermeasures to protect users' privacy.

By: Karel Dhondt | Researcher Victor Le Pochat | Postdoctoral Researcher, DistriNet, KU Leuven

Full Abstract and Presentation Materials: blackhat.com/us-24/briefings/schedule/#swipe-left-for-identity-theft-an-analysis-of-user-data-privacy-risks-on-location-based-dating-apps-39007

White Paper http://i.blackhat.com/BH-US-24/Presentations/US24-Dhondt-Swipe-Left-for-Identity-Theft-wp.pdf

I love evelynburg.github.io

This is comparison of various payment methods. In my opinion the most important aspects are: (1) privacy, (2) fungibility and resilience to censorship and expropriation, (3) day-to-day convenience and acceptance.

Hacking backdoor backdoors by taking over abandoned C&C domains

Writeup - https://labs.watchtowr.com/more-governments-backdoors-in-your-backdoors/)

Youtube review - Low Level https://youtu.be/ST1frnx-5Nw

Ideal for archiving important data, such as password vault keys, in case of death information, swiss bank accounts, etc. The key can be distributed amongst trusted parties, so no single person can access, but if they cooperate it could be resurrected.

paperback is a paper-based backup scheme that is secure and easy-to-use. Backups are encrypted, and the secret key is split into numerous "key shards" which can be stored separately (by different individuals), removing the need for any individual to memorise a secret passphrase.

A hardware secure token that requires a fingerprint to unlock adds another factor to your secure authentication.

• Something you have
• Something you are

Even if the key falls out of your control, the fingerprint reader would render it useless

yubico

I'm a big fan of yubikeys, they have the bio series with built in fingerprint reader, and now the multi-protocol edition is not only webauthn fido2, it acts as a smartcard/PIV (i.e. ssh keys) Tech Details

The one annoying thing is the multi-protocol version isn't generally available, the fido2 edition is available

feitian

also provides fingerprint fido2 keys, but I'm not familiar with their security reputation https://shop.ftsafe.us/collections/fido-security-key-biometric

others

Any other biometric key options?

BusKill - A clip on device that when disconnected from a computer will trigger a fail safe event on the computer, such as locking the computer, shutting down, or any script you care for. Totally open source, both hardware and software.

If your a digital nomad or use a computer in public, this might be of interest.

https://www.buskill.in/ https://github.com/BusKill

You can even build it yourself

https://docs.buskill.in/buskill-app/en/stable/hardware_dev/bom.html

If you want to purchase a prebuilt model, they do accept crypto!