Defending The Kingdom

From Wired News blog Threat Level:

Bringing what he sees in the world to ToorCon, infamous security expert Beetle says that the web community — and hackers — are missing the point and mis-estimating the dangers of the web.

The danger lies not in government monitoring, that’s been thoroughly recognized and railed against, Beetle says. It’s what we’re willing to let people do to our stuff so we can get it for free. Google’s autoscrubbing our searches for words to sell us stuff in the future is more dangerous to our privacy and future than pointless government monitoring, he says.

Do people understand the dangers and accept them? Or do they underestimate the dangers, and so never have a chance to work out the costs and benefits?

Merry Christmas, Defending the Kingdom readers!

There are now almost 5,000 of you, which is great. If you are looking for coverage of a specific security topic in 2008, leave a comment – I might just write about it.

Take care,

Ian

It’s been three months since I launched the Defending the Kingdom eBook, and it’s time for a price drop. In addition to lowering the price to $6, I’ve made some minor updates to the book.

Also, check out the free eBook Package, which includes everything you need to set things straight if you’ve had your identity stolen: sample letters to creditors and collection agencies, a step-by-step guide listing everyone you need to contact, a spreadsheet to keep track of your efforts, and an FTC affidavit.

I was rifling through the statistics for this blog recently, and noticed that this site ranks highly for Google Images searches of “fat man“. The image responsible (credit: Yuri Tand), which I posted adjacent to a story about how some big-name antivirus products are bloated and unruly, is currently ranked fourth third on Google:

Unfortunately, the photo above is still ranked less highly for fat man searches than this gem (as well as a couple other, less charming photos):

I realize that the fat man term is a highly competitive one, but here’s hoping this site overtakes the current forerunners!

31 October 2007 update: Defending the Kingdom is now #2 on Google searches for “fat man”. I’m very proud.

I’ve finished compiling the long-planned Defending the Kingdom eBook, and I’m really happy with it. I think you will be, too.

The book contains all of the best material from this blog (but in shorter, snappier form) as well as a lot of new material.

Download the first 5 pages free to get a taste of what’s inside.

As a bonus, you can download the free eBook Package that will guide you through the difficult (but completely doable) steps required to clear your good name if your identity is stolen. The package contains a list of every organization you need to contact and a worksheet to help you keep track of your efforts as you go. You’ll also find sample letters to creditors, collection agencies, and credit reporting agencies.

The book costs $10, and, in my opinion, it’s worth every dollar. Check out the eBook page to find out more and to buy it. I hope you like it, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for a future edition or update.