I’ve been threat modeling for a long time, and at Microsoft, had the lovely opportunity to put some rigor into not only threat modeling, but into threat modeling in a consistent, predictable, repeatable way. Because I did that work at Microsoft, sometimes people question how it would work for a startup, and I want to…
Read More Threat Modeling At a StartupSo as Facebook continues to trade at a little over half of their market capitalization of 3 months ago, I think we can learn a few very interesting things. My goal here is not to pick on Facebook, but rather to see what we can take away and perhaps apply elsewhere. I think there are…
Read More Lessons from Facebook's Stock SlideSo there’s a new startup in town, The Calyx Institute, which is raising money to create a privacy-protecting ISP and phone company. I think that’s cool, and have kicked in a little cash, and I wanted to offer up some perspective on the market for privacy, having tried to do this before. From 1999 until…
Read More Calyx and the Market for PrivacyFirst, congratulations to the folks at Instagram, who built something that was so valuable to Facebook and managed to get a great exit. Me, I suspect that Facebook did it so they can gradually sepia-tone all your photos, but that’s not important right now. I was struck by the nature of this article by the…
Read More Fascinating Storyline around Instagram & FacebookAda’s Technical Books is Seattle’s only technical book store located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Ada’s specifically carries new, used, & rare books on Computers, Electronics, Physics, Math, and Science as well as hand-picked inspirational and leisure reading, puzzles, brain teasers, and gadgets geared toward the technically minded customer. From the store’s…
Read More Lady Ada books opening May 11The last week and a bit has been bad to Facebook. It’s hard to recall what it was that triggered the avalanche of stories. Maybe it was the flower diagram we mentioned. Maybe it was the New York Times interactive graphic of just how complex it is to set privacy settings on Facebook: Maybe it…
Read More Facebook, Here’s Looking at You KidThere’s a huge profusion of dating sites out there. From those focused on casual encounters to christian marriage, there’s a site for that. So from a product management and privacy perspectives I found this article very thought provoking: Bookioo does not give men any way to learn about or contact the female members of the…
Read More How to Make Your Dating Site AttractiveTen years ago, I left Boston to go work at an exciting startup called Zero-Knowledge Systems. Zero-Knowledge was all about putting the consumer in control of their privacy. Even looking back, I have no regrets. I’m proud of what I was working towards during the internet bubble, and I know a lot of people who…
Read More Ten Years Ago: Reminiscing about Zero-KnowledgeIn “Who Watches the Watchman” there’s an interesting history of watchclocks: An elegant solution, designed and patented in 1901 by the German engineer A.A. Newman, is called the “watchclock”. It’s an ingenious mechanical device, slung over the shoulder like a canteen and powered by a simple wind-up spring mechanism. It precisely tracks and records a…
Read More Origins of time-sync passwordsSo Clear’s Verified Line Jumper service has shut down. Aviation Week has a blog post, “ Clear Shuts Down Registered Traveler Lanes.” Clear collected a lot of data: The information that TSA requires us to request is full legal name, other names used, Social Security number (optional), citizenship, Alien Registration Number (if applicable), current home…
Read More UnClear where the data will go