iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 19/08/2025

Alongside possibility of data interception and location tracking and opaque ownership hierarchy of what are essentially white-label resellers, it also looks at the workflow of deploying eSIMs and weak points attackers could hit

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 16/05/2025

Continue nudging the feed

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 24/04/2025

I did this in Shanghai circa 2018, when the AQI was horrendous (second pic). Above 100 was common, and an occasional spike above 400. Airnow.gov has Barnegat at 63 and forecast for 100

Chart describing Air Quality Index (AQI) values. Read the whole thing at https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/air-quality-index

Heat map chart of AQI in Shanghai, showing 19 days at 100 or more in January 2018.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

Lotta talk now about burner phones (and nerds saying what isn't). You don't need to go super cloak and dagger for decent risk reduction. But if you want to, listen to @eanmeyer.bsky.social and @strandjs.bsky.social from @bhinfosecurity.bsky.social www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Excerpt: If you can get a separate phone, you maywant to run that stripped down to essentials, with a minimal contact list and only necessary communication apps, potentially with separate accounts.
This isn't a burner phone; if you think you need to go to that level, you'll have to actively do a lot more planning and care for the steps you take. Watch a 3-part series from Black Hills Information Security titled "How to Live like a Criminal - Privacy Tips for the Non-Criminal". It covers a lot more ground on planning to purchase and activate a bumer and the risks to safely maintain it, as well as awareness of how much information on you from data brokers would be available — whether to law enforcement, other investigators, or criminals.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

One of the risk profiles is protesters. For them, and for more users and reasons, iPhone users should turn on Lockdown Mode. In this context, it's about IMSI catchers, which intercept calls. @eff.org just released a tool for this, and it's worth reading about, and using www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

Spoiler: One of the 5 things is using MFA. It's been a decade since learning this one thing could've prevented John Podesta from losing control of his Gmail. @danielmiessler.bsky.social wrote a great breakdown of options, so this section doesn't reinvent the wheel danielmiessler.com/blog/not-all...

Multifactor Authentication
Again, any is better than none, but here the differences are significant. The simplest of these are getting codes sent by email, phone call or text message. A level up rould be using an app that generates codes. Another level up is an app that prompts /ou to accept or deny the login, and the highest security would come from a physical object, whether that's a piece of hardware in a USB key or from the built-in security chip that's made for this embedded in your phone or computer. A great chart and rundown of these are written in this blog post by security researcher Daniel Miessler.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

The common cyber cliche is about not being faster than a bear, but outrunning the other potential victim. The drier cliche truth is that security is a process. Don't stress over loose ends and TODOs, just come back regularly and eventually do them

Excerpt: Apart from methods and measures, the one essential lesson about protecting yourself digitally is that security is a process. You don't have to get to everything in one go. Once you have a list of the things you need to do, make a plan and knock off those tasks on a schedule. Keep coming back to it. Corporate and enterprise security people often tout an adapted Pareto Principle to discuss the priority security measures: 20 percent of control mechanisms will thwart 80 percent of attacks.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

Seriously, it works from phone? Ugh. Well, if anyone who engaged on that thread sees this, I appreciated it

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 25/03/2025

Not me trying to upload pics from my phone to see if they also show up glitched like the thread I just worked on from laptop

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 11/03/2025

The ICC either has massive operational hurdles, or a hell of a business continuity plan. When Trump sanctioned the ICC, the Guardian reported internal worries about their reliance on Microsoft Azure and that suspending access would "paralyse its investigations" www.theguardian.com/law/2025/jan...

Screenshot from linked Guardian article, with photo of ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and this excerpt from the article:

One key concern to have emerged in recent months is the ICC’s reliance on Microsoft which has deepened in recent years after chief prosecutor Karim Khan formed a partnership with the company to overhaul the court’s systems.

Multiple sources in the prosecutor’s office said Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform is critical to its operations and suspending access would paralyse its investigations. “We essentially store all of our evidence in the cloud,” one said.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 13/02/2025

well damn. aquafaba works great chocolate chip banana bread, sans eggs

loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, with a slice cut, sitting on a cutting board

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 12/02/2025

Petitioning Google and NOAA to do the right thing and rename this instead

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 11/02/2025

Google caved, but NOAA Weather Radio is still holding strong with Gulf of Mexico

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 02/12/2024

Shortly after moving to Miami I joined a printmaking studio, just when hurricanes Helene and Milton were coming to Florida. So I got a new radio with weather band and made these shirts, a callback to the 90s ones about Black Sabbath, Slayer, Bob Marley. Wasn't meant to be political, but here we are

A pile of four black T-shirts with white, all-caps text in a plain sans serif that says “Listen to NOAA”. In front is a yellow portable radio, the XHDATA model D-608WB, set to 162.550 megahertz on the weather band. In the background is a pile of heather gray shirts.

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 22/11/2024

Went straight from attending Cyberwarcon virtually to seeing Amy Tan at the Miami Book Fair talking about her new book, THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES. Since she’s starting off with her birding beginnings and a blue jay, here’s one from our apartment in Cambridge last year

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Rick Valenzuela @threatc.at · 31/10/2024

An oldie but goodie from this weeks' Hacks/Hackers newsletter. Love to roll my eyes at this mixup, but also kinda love it Remember when CNN rang in the new year from Bangkok, Taiwan?

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