In this episode of the podcast, host Paul Roberts speaks with Colin O'Flynn, CTO and founder of the firm NewAE about his work to patch shoddy software on his home's electric oven - and the bigger questions about owners rights to fix, tinker with or replace the software that powers their connected stuff.

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In this episode of the Security Ledger podcast (#121): the Librarian of Congress gave a big boost to right to repair advocates in late October when she granted exemptions provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act covering repair of most electronic devices. We talk to US PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign coordinator Nathan Proctor about the ruling and what it means for efforts to pass state level right to repair laws. Also: President Trump signed a major overhaul of the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber security operation into law last week. Jamil Jaffer of the firm IronNet joins us to talk about what it will mean for U.S. cyber readiness and about the need for more international coordination on cyber threats.   DMCA: Hacked by Librarian One of the strangest rituals in modern American life comes every third year, when the obscure Librarian of Congress finds him or herself thrust into […]

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In this episode of the podcast (#101): will the Internet of Things enable a glorious future of intelligent and subservient “things”? Or will it birth “ink jet nation:” a dystopia of closed and expensive technology silos that use patents, software licensing and lawsuits constrain the use, reuse and repair of connected things? We talk to author and activist Cory Doctorow following his keynote at last week’s Security of Things Forum. Also: the city of Atlanta has made headlines after a ransomware outbreak crippled city services. But the city may have more to worry about: wireless phishing attacks targeting government employees and elected officials. We speak with Dror Liwer of the firm Coronet about what they found.  Ink Jet Nation? Surely at the check out line at the office supply store, you’ve wondered why it is that a slim cartridge of ink the size of a credit card sets you back […]

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In this week’s episode of The Security Ledger Podcast (#99), we bring you an exclusive interview with Eric Lundgren, the celebrated entrepreneur who has helped revolutionize the recycling of electronic waste through his company IT Asset Partners, but who will soon start serving a 13 month jail sentence for copyright infringement for distributing Microsoft Windows “restore CDs.” Together, we wonder if The Internet of Things is leading us into a future in which giant software companies and thing makers use copyright law and the courts to prosecute non-sanctioned use of their technology.  In a matter of two weeks, Eric Lundgren will be heading off to federal prison for a period of between 13 and 15 months. His crime? Selling -for a nominal fee- so-called “restore disks” containing versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system to accompany PCs and laptops that he refurbished and restored. Never mind that the software he was […]

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In this episode of The Security Ledger podcast (#95): has the Digital Millennium Copyright Act taken us over a bridge too far? We talk with two experts about the case of Eric Lundgren, a celebrated e-waste recycler who has been sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $50,000 for DMCA violations. Also: we speak with one of the Ivy League students who designed IoT Inspector, software that can analyze your home network for vulnerable devices. Is Eric Lundgren’s Case the Bridge Too Far for the DMCA? When celebrated electronics recycler Eric Lundgren was sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $50,000 last month for distributing Microsoft Windows “restore disks” to extend the lives of recycled computers, the most common reaction in the mainstream media was “how could this happen?” “All too easily,” has been the answer of digital rights- and legal activists. Indeed, the ruling by The U.S. […]

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In this week’s Security Ledger Podcast (#84): The 1990s era Digital Millennium Copyright Act made it a crime to subvert copy protections in software and hardware.  We speak with Cory Doctorow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation about his group’s efforts to win an exemption from that law for voice assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Also: February is Black History Month in the United States. We interview Corey Thomas, the Chief Executive Officer of the firm Rapid 7 about what it means to be a black man in the information security industry and about his path to the field. Free Alexa! As Security Ledger has reported: right to repair legislation is circulating in state houses across the country, as consumer advocates seek to enshrine in law the right of owners, researchers and independent repair shops to jailbreak, take apart, fix and otherwise tinker with connected devices -from smart phones […]

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