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counter-surveillance and counter-intelligence concepts and strategies

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Google Suggest gets it right for once…

Google suggest: Norton is

Google suggest: Norton is

Norton is a virus? Not exactly, but they’re on to something. Viruses generally are installed without the user’s consent (e.g. on a new PC), degrade system performance (check), interfere with legitimate programs (e.g. blocking Firefox by default or by accident), take proactive steps to prevent removal (ever try uninstalling it?) and generally disrupt the end user experience. We know that Norton Internet Security isn’t really a virus, but it certainly approaches the status of extortion-ware, considering how persistent it is about reminding users that they are unprotected unless they pay their tribute to the gods of Norton.

How insecure is Norton Internet Security? More to follow…

Stress testing the Gmail spam filter

Gmail, officially Google Mail in Germany and the United Kingdom, is a free web-based (webmail), POP3 and IMAP e-mail service provided by Google. Gmail is available to individuals with Google accounts, who receive “their.username@gmail.com”, but can also be configured to handle mails for an organization that already has their own domain name.

Google claims that Gmail includes “award-winning spam and virus filtering”. Brad Taylor, “spam tsar” at Google, stated:

“When [Gmail] launched 25% of e-mail was spam. We caught a lot of that. Over time it’s grown and grown and currently around 75% of all e-mail is spam and so our job has got a lot harder.”

Brad Taylor can also be seen in this cheeky ephemeral film explaining how the Gmail spam filter works.

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Welcome. You weren’t scared away by the URL? You must be bold, prepared, stupid, or any combination thereof. Here you can learn about and discuss strategies and techniques for protecting privacy in a world increasingly demanding transparent information sharing.