ericlaw

Security Software – An Overview

I’ve spent nearly my entire professional career in software security: designing software to prevent abuse by bad actors. I’ve been battling the bad guys for over two decades now, from hunting security bugs in Microsoft Office (I once won an Xbox for finding a vulnerability that allowed malicious clipart take over your computer) to designingContinue reading “Security Software – An Overview”

Best Practices for SmartScreen AppRep

Last year, I wrote about how Windows integrates SmartScreen Application Reputation to help ensure users have a secure and smooth experience when running downloaded software. tl;dr: When a user runs a downloaded program, a call to SmartScreen’s web-based reputation service is made, and four possible outcomes can occur: As a software developer, it’s natural thatContinue reading “Best Practices for SmartScreen AppRep”

Defensive Technology: Controlled Folder Access

Most client software’s threat models (e.g. Edge, Chrome) explicitly exclude threats where the local computer was compromised by malware. That’s because, without a trusted computing base, it’s basically impossible to be secure against attackers. This concept was immortalized decades ago in the Ten Immutable Laws of Security: In the intervening years, new technologies (like SecureContinue reading “Defensive Technology: Controlled Folder Access”

On Politics

I do not come from an especially political family. One parent has not voted in decades, and the other votes regularly, but is not an enthusiast and values harmony over potentially-divisive political discussions. Politically, I am left of center– the middle child in both age and political leanings: one brother to the left of me,Continue reading “On Politics”

Lenovo P1, Gen7: Meh

I’ve been a loyal user of Thinkpads for over twenty-five years now, and I currently own four (with another on loan from Microsoft). In July, the screen on my Lenovo X1 Yoga Gen 6 failed at an inopportune time, and my 8yo broke the screen on my backup (T480S), so I rush-ordered a Lenovo P1Continue reading “Lenovo P1, Gen7: Meh”