Eric Gerlach

Father. Software Dev. Sr. Director @Oracle. Leader with imposter syndrome. Community enthusiast. Political wonk.
Geek of all trades. Opinions are only mine.

[Eric Gerlach @egerlach]

@weeklyshowpod @jonstewart I am logging into my X account for the first time in years just to send you this message.

GET @doctorow ON YOUR SHOW. NOW.

He coined the term "enshittification" that you were enamoured with. He's an amazing speaker. He is very relevant in this moment.

[Mysk 🇨🇦🇩🇪 @mysk_co]

Google has just updated its 2FA Authenticator app and added a much-needed feature: the ability to sync secrets across devices.

TL;DR: Don't turn it on.

The new update allows users to sign in with their Google Account and sync 2FA secrets across their iOS and Android devices.

We analyzed the network traffic when the app syncs the secrets, and it turns out the traffic is not end-to-end encrypted. As shown in the screenshots, this means that Google can see the secrets, likely even while they’re stored on their servers. There is no option to add a passphrase to protect the secrets, to make them accessible only by the user.

Why is this bad?

Every 2FA QR code contains a secret, or a seed, that’s used to generate the one-time codes. If someone else knows the secret, they can generate the same one-time codes and defeat 2FA protections. So, if there’s ever a data breach or if someone obtains access to your Google Account, all of your 2FA secrets would be compromised.

Also, 2FA QR codes typically contain other information such as account name and the name of the service (e.g. Twitter, Amazon, etc). Since Google can see all this data, it knows which online services you use, and could potentially use this information for personalized ads.

Surprisingly, Google data exports do not include the 2FA secrets that are stored in the user's Google Account. We downloaded all the data associated with the Google account we used, and we found no traces of the 2FA secrets.

The bottom line: although syncing 2FA secrets across devices is convenient, it comes at the expense of your privacy. Fortunately, Google Authenticator still offers the option to use the app without signing in or syncing secrets. We recommend using the app without the new syncing feature for now.

#Privacy #Cybersecurity #InfoSec #2FA #Google #Security

[Eric Gerlach @egerlach]

N.B., it's not as bad as having your channel hacked, but anyone can do it... and for a smaller channel it can be fatal.

[Eric Gerlach @egerlach]

@TeamYouTube's copyright strike system is allegedly being abused again to lock out another channel. (@amithegenius)

I hope to hear @LinusTech/@linusgsebastian/@luke_lafr talk about this on the WAN Show, maybe with @LawfulMasses as a guest?

https://t.co/pC0dFgNr1A

[apenwarr @apenwarr]

We were born ready! (*)

(*) it’s actually very hard to estimate the overall status of a mesh network

[Eric Gerlach @egerlach]

@johannarothman @allenholub @carlvellotti I believe this 200%, but it almost sounds like there's a story behind this and I'm insatiably curious.

[Nate Bear @NateB_Panic]

Quality air filters can scrub 95-99% of circulating viruses from the air. Alongside UV lighting and modifying layouts for ventilation, indoor risk could be brought to very low levels. But employers don't want to spend profits, and governments don't want to make them

[❤️ @umairh]

"There’s a thing that people fail to understand about societies. It doesn’t take more than 20–30% of fanatics to destabilize a society, to destroy democracy, to plunge it back into the Dark Ages. There were bars and nightclubs in Afghanistan once."

[Laura Miers @LauraMiers]

This is still happening to people.

“Last year, Dianna got COVID. That has turned into a frighteningly severe case of Long COVID which has left her progressively unable to do anything physical. She is now completely bedridden and can't even feed herself.” https://t.co/P8gCWJ7JkY

[Laura Miers @LauraMiers]

I take issue with a lot of the LongCovid media coverage because the explicit goal is persuading the public we are moving “back to normal,” people are recovering, it’s manageable, & LongCovid is “decreasing.” It’s all sunshine & rainbows. It is EXTREMELY misleading. It’s not real.

[Plague Poems @PlaguePoems]

We must not allow
children to see
masked faces
for it might give them
the impression
that some people
believe they have a duty
to protect one another
and we wouldn’t want
children thinking that.

[tern @1goodtern]

Oh wow this is a brilliantly made thread ❤️
Please share and reshare.

[Dr. Lisa Iannattone @lisa_iannattone]

“Not one adult offered to wear a mask in solidarity.”

These situations could be used to teach kids about empathy and allyship. The pandemic could have been an opportunity to build a kinder, more compassionate society… maybe that’s what the anti-mask movement was scared of.

[Chris Bittle @Chris_Bittle]

Area man who has only worked at taxpayer funded job and lives with his family in a 34 room taxpayer funded mansion has problems with taxes.

By the way, he's voted against every time we've lowered taxes for Canadians and small businesses.

[Toronto Star @TorontoStar]

The Ontario Medical Association is blasting the province for its plans to end a program that provides health care services for people without health insurance and is calling on the government to extend it until a new solution can be worked out.

https://t.co/hvnsCWv0zG

[Jess @MeetJess]

“Males but not females born to mothers with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection during pregnancy were more likely to receive a neurodevelopmental diagnosis in the first 12 months after delivery” https://t.co/nDpAoT9I7y

[Plague Poems @PlaguePoems]

He calls to tell me
that after three years
after three god damn years
he has tested positive
for the first time
and when I tell him
how sorry I am to hear
that he has caught it
he corrects me
for he has been running
for he has been hiding
he didn’t try to catch it
it caught him

[Elementary Educators @ETFOeducators]

No matter how you look at the #ONBudget2023, the Ford govt is letting #onted schools fall further behind. The govt tries to blur the facts, but the reality is at most the budget only invests $417 million for 2023-2024 and that's nowhere enough to keep up with inflation! #onpoli