[First published on September 05, 2016] I am ditching WhatsApp, following Facebook’s decision to begin harvesting data from its messaging service. Even though Motherboard claims “it may be possible to prevent WhatsApp to give your phone number to Facebook” (LOL) WhatsApp will still harvest your metadata. “Sharing metadata with Facebook still exposes users to significant risks,” says Claire Gartland, consumer protection counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “Facebook will have data indicating who WhatsApp users communicate with and how frequently, and connecting WhatsApp users with their social media accounts and broader online activity, associations, political affiliations, and more.” – Wired ...

Vu sur le site de l’ANSSI: Accompagnant la prise de conscience généralisée du besoin de sécuriser ses communications électroniques, de nombreuses applications de messagerie (quasi) instantanée ont fait leur apparition sur les ordiphones. Toutes annoncent un haut niveau de sécurité, laissant ainsi l’utilisateur dans le doute, vis-à-vis du niveau réel de sécurité à escompter. Donc, que privilégier entre Signal, Telegram ou XMPP? Je ne cite pas WhatsApp/Facecrook à dessein, hein. ...

Lowyat reported on Oct. 30, 2017 that a total of 46.2 Million Malaysian phone numbers were exposed, and the dataset included IC numbers, addresses, IMSI, IMEI and SIM numbers as well. Check yourself out Head over to SayaKenaHack.com, the dedicated website created by Keith Rozario and check if your details are part of the breach.

Nice pun Mailfence: the Peugeot 404, the first car I remember as a child. With red leather seats. What a beauty.

In North Sumatra, a former Indonesian radical has opened a boarding school for the children of terrorists to prevent their futures from looking like his own past. Words by: Gabrielle Lipton Photography by: Albert Ivan Damanik Wat happens when children begin to realise that their parents are following a different path? What happens when that path ends behind bars? Or on the receiving end of a bullet? What happens in the minds of children whose parents are terrorists? ...

The police have confirmed that some Malaysians, supported by the Islamic State (IS) militant group, are in the midst of engaging in ‘jihad’ in Myanmar to fight against the Myanmar Government for the oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority community in Rakhine State. – The MalayMail

Knowing it and getting used to it: surveillance apathy turns out to be more worrisome than the proper lack of understanding online surveillanc. You may be sick of worrying about online privacy, but surveillance apathy is also a problem. We all seem worried about privacy. Though it’s not only privacy itself we should be concerned about: it’s also our attitudes towards privacy that are important. When we stop caring about our digital privacy, we witness surveillance apathy. And it’s something that may be particularly significant for marginalised communities, who feel they hold no power to navigate or negotiate fair use of digital technologies. ...

– Cover of The New Yorker, Oct. 23 2017

A brief history of GnuPG: vital to online security but free and underfunded Donate to GnuPG. Most people have never heard of the software that makes up the machinery of the internet. Outside developer circles, its authors receive little reward for their efforts, in terms of either money or public recognition. One example is the encryption software GNU Privacy Guard (also known as GnuPG and GPG), and its authors are regularly forced to fundraise to continue the project. ...

– Matt Wuerker - Politico