ericlaw

Divorce – 18 Months In

I got separated in March 2020 and finally divorced in January 2022. It was a long time in coming, but it wasn’t awesome. In hindsight, I disassociated a bit, spreading the pain out over time rather than feeling it all at once. Immediately after our separation, I could easily distract myself for months by gettingContinue reading “Divorce – 18 Months In”

Kilimanjaro – Coffee Tour

I woke up at 8am after a rough night’s sleep, awake for at least an hour around 3:30am, full of worries and nostalgia. Eight seemed a bit too early so I reset my watch’s alarm for 8:15, but either I failed to do so correctly or I slept through it, waking abruptly at 9 whenContinue reading “Kilimanjaro – Coffee Tour”

Attack Techniques: QR Codes

As outlined in earlier posts in this series, attackers know that security software can detect their phishing lures and block users from even seeing the lure if it contains a known-phishing URL. For example, both Windows Live and Gmail block email that is believed to contain phishing links. If your enterprise uses Microsoft Defender forContinue reading “Attack Techniques: QR Codes”

Enforcing SmartScreen with Policy

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen provides protection against the most common forms of attack: phishing and malware. SmartScreen support is built-in to Microsoft Edge and the Windows 8+ shell. The SmartScreen web service also powers the Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension for Chromium-derived browsers. While SmartScreen provides powerful controls to block attacks, the user remains in fullContinue reading “Enforcing SmartScreen with Policy”

Attack Techniques: SMS Gift Card Scams

Last week, I had the chance to fly to Redmond to meet my new teammates on the Protection team in Microsoft Defender. I also had the chance to catch up with a few old friends from the Edge team, one of whom I met for coffee on Friday morning. As we sat down with ourContinue reading “Attack Techniques: SMS Gift Card Scams”