It started innocently enough. I saw a tweet about a new product offering from one of my favorite companies, Cloudflare. Neat! I clicked through to the site and there it is: And huzzah!, my preferred handle, @ericlaw is still available. I’d better hurry to claim it before someone else gets it! Since I’m already aContinue reading “Web Security is Too Hard”
Category Archives: security
Authenticode and UAC
When a user attempts to run a file with elevated privilege, Windows will show a User Account Control elevation prompt that asks whether the user trusts the file to run. For a regular file, the user will see a prompt like this: For a file signed by a certificate in the Untrusted Certificates store, elevationContinue reading “Authenticode and UAC”
Attack Techniques: Fake Captive Portals
When a device first joins a network, the upstream network hardware has full control over its traffic and can allow/block any packets sent from the device from reaching the Internet. Many public networks (typically Wi-Fi, but sometimes wired), located in hotels, coffee shops, mass transit, schools, etc. require that the user accept Terms of UseContinue reading “Attack Techniques: Fake Captive Portals”
Offboarding from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a paid security product that extends Microsoft Defender Antivirus (included for free in Windows) with enterprise capabilities, including a full EDR product that reports security telemetry into a security operations center (SOC). Some recently-retired Microsoft employees have been surprised to discover that their personal PCs that had previously been usedContinue reading “Offboarding from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint”
Guidelines for URL Storage and Comparison
This document contains some thoughts about the storage and comparison of URLs, common operations crucial to the correct function of security software like Microsoft SmartScreen. Importantly, URLs are also displayed on security surfaces to enable the user to make a decision based on their contents. Eight years ago, I wrote the Guidelines for URL Display.Continue reading “Guidelines for URL Storage and Comparison”