TSB 238: news, notes and the landscape; accessible security software

The technology blog and podcast and TSB

Welcome to the security box, program 238. On this program, we're going to have news, notes and the landscape as well as trivia and a discussion of accessible software and the lack there of when it comes to software we can use in the security landscape. Please feel free to contact the podcast by email, imessage, text and the comment line at [phone]. Thanks so much for listening!

Here's our trivia question for today. How many seconds does it take to crack a 6-character password? Is it

A. 15 seconds

B: 30 seconds

C: 45 seconds

D: less than a second

E: 1 minute

Call [phone] if you have any guesses. Leave a name or the name you want to go by and your guess. Answers revealed next week.

Last week's question was:

It’s Thursday, friend. Ever notice those tiny bumps on your keyboard’s F and J keys? They serve a legit and genius purpose.

I’ll give you some hints for why they’re there: A) “Home base” for your fingers, B) Grip for high-speed typing, C) Braille, or D) Random factory defect we’ve all accepted. Go ahead, stare at your keyboard like you just discovered aliens. You can find the answer at the end!

The answer to the FJ mystery is, drumroll please … A) So your fingers know where to “home”! The little bumps on F and J are like miniature bumpers, guiding touch-typists back to center stage without even looking. So next time you’re speed typing that Yelp review, use the 50-year-old typewriter tech at your fingers’ disposal.

News:

A new dating app has been hiding the fact that it didn't keep its promise and revealed your data. https://technology.jaredrimer.net/2025/05/12/were-a-dating-app-and-we-just-fucked-up-by-exposing-your-data-to-anyone-who-wants-it/

https://technology.jaredrimer.net/2025/05/12/lockbit-bitten-again-but-not-by-a-takedown/

Our topic:

Is software that is to protect us from worms, trojans and the like accessible? A 2020 post shows it isn't and this hasn't changed. https://technology.jaredrimer.net/2020/07/06/what-is-the-state-of-antivirus-today-is-it-about-dead/ is the article, and let's see what you say.

One of the companies even went so far as to sell our data to advertisors. https://technology.jaredrimer.net/2024/02/24/avast-caught-collecting-lots-of-info-selling-it-to-other-companies/

If you search AntiVirus, you'll find other posts, but these are the big ones.

We hope you enjoy the show!