ericlaw

Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen

The Microsoft Edge browser makes use of a service called Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to help protect users from phishing websites and malicious downloads. The SmartScreen service integrates with a Microsoft threat intelligence service running in the cloud to quickly block discovered threats. As I explained last year, the SmartScreen service also helps reduce spurious securityContinue reading “Capturing Logs for Debugging SmartScreen”

Cruising Alaska (Alaskan Brews Cruise)

I lived in the Seattle area for nearly 12 years, and one of my regrets is that I never took advantage of any of the Alaskan cruises that conveniently leave from Pier 91 a few miles out of downtown. Getting to Alaska from Austin is more of a hassle, but I figured I’d pair itContinue reading “Cruising Alaska (Alaskan Brews Cruise)”

HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain

As I mentioned, the top failure of HTTPS is failing to use it, and that’s particularly common in in-bound links sent via email, in newsletters, and the like. Unfortunately, there’s another common case, whereby the user simply types your bare domain name (example.com) in the browser’s address bar without specifying https:// first. For decades, manyContinue reading “HTTPS Goofs: Forgetting the Bare Domain”

Best Practice: Post-Mortems

I’ve written a bit about working at Google in the past. Google does a lot of things right, and other companies would benefit by following their example. At Google, one of the technical practices that I thought was both essential and very well done was the “post-mortem”– whenever they hit a significant problem, after puttingContinue reading “Best Practice: Post-Mortems”

Attack Techniques: Notification Spam

A colleague recently saw the following popups when using their computer: Because they seemed to come from nowhere in particular, they seemed credible– either Windows itself had detected a virus, or perhaps their computer was infected with malware and it caused the popups? The reality is more mundane and more much more common. These areContinue reading “Attack Techniques: Notification Spam”