Securosis Blog

A long title that almost covers everything I need to write about this article and many others like it.

The more locked down a platform, the easier it is to secure. Opening up to antivirus is about 987 steps down the priority list for how Apple could improve the (already pretty good) iOS security. You want email and web filtering for your iPhone? Get them from the cloud…

Friday Summary: August 6th, 2010

Adrian Lane · August 6, 2010

I started running when I was 10. I started because my mom was talking a college PE class, so I used to tag along and no one seemed to care. We ran laps three nights a week. I loved doing it and by twelve I was lapping the field in the 20 minutes allotted. I lived 6 miles from my junior high and high school so I used to run home. I could have walked, ridden a bike, or taken rides from friends who offered, but I chose to run. I was on the track team and I ran cross country – the latter had us…

Tokenization: Use Cases, Part 2

Rich · August 6, 2010

In our last use case we presented an architecture for securely managing credit card numbers in-house. But in response to a mix of breaches and PCI requirements, some payment processors now offer tokenization as a service. Merchants can subscribe in order to avoid any need to store credit cards in their environment – instead the payment processor provides them with tokens as part of the transaction process. It’s an interesting approach, which can almost completely remove the PAN (Primary Account…

Tokenization: Use Cases, Part 1

Adrian Lane · August 5, 2010

We have now discussed most of the relevant bits of technology for token server construction and deployment. Armed with that knowledge we can tackle the most important part of the tokenization discussion: use cases. Which model is right for your particular environment? What factors should be considered in the decision? The following three or four uses cases cover most of the customer situations we get calls asking for advice on. As PCI compliance is the overwhelming driver for tokenization at…

Incite 8/4/2010: Letters for Everyone

Mike Rothman · August 4, 2010

As I mentioned in the Mailbox Vigil, we don’t put much stock in snail mail anymore. Though we did get a handful of letters from XX1 (oldest daughter) from sleepaway camp, aside from that it’s bills and catalogs. That said, every so often you do get entertained by the mail. A case in point happened when we got back from our summer pilgrimage to the Northern regions this weekend (which is why there was no Incite last week).

What Do We Learn at Black Hat/DefCon?

Mike Rothman · August 3, 2010

Actually I learned nothing because I wasn’t there. Total calendar fail on my part, as a family vacation was scheduled during Black Hat week. You know how it goes. The Boss says, “how is the week of July 26 for our week at the beach?” BH is usually in early August, so I didn’t think twice.

This hit Slashdot today, and I expect the mainstream press to pick it up fairly soon. Chris Paget will be intercepting cell phone communications at Defcon during a live demonstration.

Tokenization: Series Index

Adrian Lane · July 26, 2010

Understanding and Selecting a Tokenization Solution:

  1. Introduction

  2. Business Justification

  3. Token System Basics

  4. The Tokens

  5. Token Servers, Part 1, Internal Functions

We have covered the internals of token servers and talked about architecture and integration of token services. Now we need to look at some of the different deployment models and how they match up to different types of businesses. Protecting medical records in multi-company environments is a very different challenge than processing credit cards for thousands of merchants.

Death, Irrelevance, and a Pig Roast

Mike Rothman · July 23, 2010

There is nothing like a good old-fashioned mud-slinging battle. As long as you aren’t the one covered in mud, that is. I read about the Death of Snort and started laughing. The first thing they teach you in marketing school is when no one knows who you are, go up to the biggest guy in the room and kick them in the nuts. You’ll get your ass kicked, but at least everyone will know who you are.