security – Page 15

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”

Passkeys – Syncable WebAuthN credentials

Passwords have lousy security properties, and if you try to use them securely (long, complicated, and different for every site), they often have horrible usability as well. Over the decades, the industry has slowly tried to shore up passwords’ security with multi-factor authentication (e.g. one-time codes via SMS, ToTP authenticators, etc) and usability improvements (e.g.Continue reading “Passkeys – Syncable WebAuthN credentials”

Certificate Revocation in Microsoft Edge

When you visit a HTTPS site, the server must present a certificate, signed by a trusted third-party (a Certificate Authority, aka CA), vouching for the identity of the bearer. The certificate contains an expiration date, and is considered valid until that date arrives. But what if the CA later realizes that it issued the certificateContinue reading “Certificate Revocation in Microsoft Edge”

Unexpectedly HTTPS?

Last Update: March 28, 2025While I’m a firm believer that every site should be using HTTPS, sadly, not every site is yet doing so. Looking at Chrome data, today around 92% of navigations are HTTPS: …and the pages loaded account for around 95% of browsing time: Browsers are working hard to get these numbers up,Continue reading “Unexpectedly HTTPS?”

Smarter Defaults by Paying Attention

As a part of every page load, browsers have to make dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of decisions of varying levels of importance: should a particular API be available? Should a resource load be permitted? Should script be allowed to run? Should video be allowed to start playing automatically? Should cookies or credentials be sentContinue reading “Smarter Defaults by Paying Attention”