Mason @r4v5@octodon.social

it’s 11:45 in germany, i’ve been up since like 6AM GMT-6, there’s no air on this plane. if i die scatter my ashes at ccccamp

hello from Heathrow. I haven’t slept yet. This could get dicy.

every time i’m in an airport i have intrusive thoughts telling me to scream “bomb”

does everyone get that or just me

on the bus to a train to a plane to a plane to a train to a hotel. then, sleep, then, #34c3
https://octodon.social/media/4qe9Xst7i71xHY1JBGU

i'm checked in for my #34c3 flight, and i'm in the middle of the last row of a 767. this is going to be miserable for everyone around me. i'm... not small in any dimension.

four sale and seven shoes ago,

a helpful FAQ:
“what about—“
is it software? yes? it’s bad
“don’t you literally get paid to write and operate software?”
yes. i also pay money to do both in form of a nonprofit
“why, if all software is bad?”
getting paid to plug poorly designed lego pieces into each other beats building missiles or starving in the streets, which were my other two options, and since i’m an optimist by nature (no, really) i’m still hoping i finally find or build the exception to the rule
“do you want a hug?”
yes

SOFTWARE: it’s bad!

if your advice wouldn’t work for a sex worker and activist in an abusive relationship showing up to a #cryptoparty then don’t proffer it from on high to strangers like it’s The Only True Way To Do Security.

because in terms of impact you have as an educator or maker of tools? helping that person is harder but they also need good infosec a lot more than the rich white tech dude who wants a secure way to discuss his android fart app with investors.

“use signal, use tor” is a great way to get a person to think #security is a magic bullet solved with apps instead of a process of identifying and mitigating risks. “use pgp” is a great way to make people think this is impossible magic. not everyone’s adversary is the NSA. not everyone can afford a device that gets security updates. not everyone has a single static identity. not everyone can use a phone number as an identifier like Signal requires.

giving. security. advice. to. someone. without. understanding. their. threat. model. is. dangerous. and. unethical.

if you’re going to blame humans for not fitting into the use cases of your favorite toys, do everyone a favor and go back to hackernews and stop trying to give #infosec advice to real folks.

we have to meet people where they are, and sometimes those places aren’t ideal. maybe they have an abuser with physical access, or just can’t afford an iOS device. They still deserve privacy.

if you use a vaporizer to smoke weed are you doing an air bud

air bud dwyer