Amazon's Echo Show, FBI's iPhone Hack Price Tag - TMO Daily Observations 2017-05-09

Amazon unveiled its Echo Show, and it has a display. Bryan Chaffin and the Maccast’s Adam Christianson join Jeff Gamet to share their reactions to Amazon’s newest Alexa device. They also have some thoughts on the unintended confirmation that the FBI paid $900,000 for the San Bernardino iPhone hack, plus Bryan coins “I’m gonna up that up.”

FBI Paid $900K for San Bernardino iPhone Hack

The FBI refused to ever share how much it paid for the hack into San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone, but thanks to Senator Diane Feinstein we now know the price was US$900,000. The Senator accidentally spilled the beans during a Judiciary Committee meeting on accessing encrypted data on smartphones and personal computers.

Twitter, Instagram, and Others Agree to Pay $5.3 Million for Privacy Obnoxiousness

Several social media companies have agreed to a US$5.3 million settlement for being obnoxious about user privacy. The suit stems from 2012, when Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Foursquare, Kik, Path, Gowalla, and Foodspotting all took advantage of the way iOS worked at the time. More specifically, these companies sucked up our Contacts without telling us. iOS later required user permission to access our Contacts. The settlement was reported by Law360, who said the $5.3 million would be used to pay out damages to people who downloaded the above-mentioned apps between 2009 and 2012. What that means is the attorneys in the case get a phat paycheck, the companies get a slap on the wrist, and the millions of users who downloaded those apps will get pennies. Yay!

TMO Staff Share their Favorite VPN Services

Thanks to a new law green lighting ISPs selling our personal web browsing data, along with restrictions prohibiting the FCC from stopping the activity, there’s a lot of talk about VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks. With so many VPN services to choose from it’s hard to decide which is best for you, so I asked the TMO staff what they rely on.

What Is A VPN, And How Can It Help You?

Now that Congress have chosen to allow ISPs to sell your data, many people are turning to VPNs to help. But you may not know how VPNs work, or how a VPN can help you browse the web safely. In this article Andrew Orr explores the technical details and gives you our VPN recommendations.

UK Anti-encryption Push, Woz at Startup World Cup - TMO Daily Observations 2017-03-27

There’s a new government call to for tech companies to let law enforcement bypass our security and encryption, but this time it’s from the United Kingdom. Bryan Chaffin and Jeff Butts join Jeff Gamet to look at the ramifications if the U.K. forces the issue, plus Bryan fills us in on Steve Wozniak’s presentation at Startup World Cup.

Wikileaks, CIA, and iPhone Hacks - TMO Daily Observations 2017-03-08

With the Wikileaks report out saying the CIA developed hacking tools to get into our iPhones, John Martellaro joins Jeff Gamet to look at Apple’s security measures for our mobile devices. They also look at the negative message Apple is sending customers by not giving us solid information about the Mac, and Kelly Guimont drops by for a few minutes, too.

TMO Background Mode: Interview with Innovation Fellow for the TechCongress Dr. Chris Soghoian

Dr. Chris Soghoian is an expert on the technology and politics of privacy. Most recently he’s been the Principal Technologist with the ACLU. In 2017, he’s one of three Innovation Fellows for the TechCongress where he’ll assist in federal policymaking. Chris earned his Ph.D. with a research focus on the role internet and telephone companies play in enabling government surveillance, and he’s also known for his work with the FTC and the Do Not Track initiative. Chris started life as a tech geek, and computers were always a part of his life. That led to an undergraduate degree in computer science. Then he interned at Apple and IBM. But a significant event changed his direction in life, and he gained a newfound appreciation for attorneys. Chris makes some interesting observations about today’s assaults on our privacy.

macOS Sierra: Enabling Your Mac's Firewall and Stealth Mode

Your Mac is pretty safe on your private home network, but what about when you’re surfing the Web in coffee shops? Anyone with a computer and rudimentary hacking skills could target you, which is why it’s important to make sure your Mac’s built-in firewall is enabled—and that Stealth Mode is turned on, too. Read on to learn how.

Get Ready for the FBI's New Encryption Back Door Push

The FBI’s fight for government mandated backdoors into our encrypted data and devices is far from over, and Director James Comey says he plans to bring that back to the forefront next year. Mr. Comey says it’s time for an “adult conversation” on the topic, and that law enforcement needs an easy way to access our private data for criminal investigations.