So can Comodo be any sleazier? Trademarking "Let's Encrypt"?

Comodo has backed down from their, well, cynical and sleazy idea that they were bigger bullies than  a little non-profit, so applied for a trademark for "Let's Encrypt" in October 2015.

In doing that they admitted that they've never used the expression themselves (Techdirt) , and a quick Internet search shows that letsencrypt.org was registered on the web in 2014, and the organization had, as of June 15 2016, issued 5 Million certificates.

When asked about this by Let's Encrypt, there was silence until LE went public, and Comodo finally backed down, abandoning the filing, thankfully, but it begs the question:

Comodo is one of the biggest Certificate authorities, and "The largest issuer of SSL certificates with a 33% market share on 6% of all web domains" (Wikipedia) 

Are they a business that deserves the level of trust required by your security provider?

Oh by the way - Comodo's wikipedia page has a listing about Symantec:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comodo_Group#Symantec

Symantec is the company that acquired Bluecoat 

So that's quite the triumvirate - Comodo makes the certs, Symantec now has the client and the SSL-unpacking proxy.

As a matter of fact our computers are definitely not our own

  

From Slate - Cyber Weapons are NOT like Nuclear

Cyberweapons Aren’t Like Nuclear Weapons

Officials around the world like to compare the two—but the metaphor is incorrect, and dangerous.

 “If Internet security cannot be controlled, it’s not an exaggeration to say the effects could be no less than a nuclear bomb,” said Gen. Fang Fenghui, chief of general staff of the People’s Liberation Army of China, in April 2013. Fang is not alone in drawing comparisons between nuclear weapons and cyberweapons during the past few years. Secretary of State John Kerry responded to a cybersecurity question during his confirmation hearings in January 2013 by saying, “I guess I would call it the 21^st century nuclear weapons equivalent.” That same year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin praised cyberweapons for their “first strike” capability. Since 2013, a number of leaders in the U.S. national security establishment—including former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft in January 2015, Adm. Michael Rogers of Cyber Command in March 2015, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper in February of this year—have stated that the threat posed by cyberweapons is comparable to, or greater than, that of nuclear weapons. The list of high-ranking officials who have made an analogy between the fundamentally different nuclear and cyberweapons systems, and are using this flawed analogy as a basis for policy, is a long one.

 On the surface, the analogy is compelling. Like nuclear weapons, the most powerful cyberweapons—malware capable of permanently damaging critical infrastructure and other key assets of society—are potentially catastrophically destructive, have short delivery times across vast distances, and are nearly impossible to defend against. Moreover, only the most technically competent of states appear capable of wielding cyberweapons to strategic effect right now, creating the temporary illusion of an exclusive cyber club. To some leaders who matured during the nuclear age, these tempting similarities and the pressing nature of the strategic cyberthreat provide firm justification to use nuclear deterrence strategies in cyberspace. Indeed, Cold War–style cyberdeterrence is one of the foundational cornerstones of the 2015 U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Strategy.

More ... 
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/03/cyberweapons_are_not_like_nuclear_weapons.html

Spamford Wallace Headed for the Slammer?

According to ArsTechnica, Sanford Wallace, the “Spam King,” who defied nearly $1B in default judgments, sentenced to 2.5 years

Don't know Spamford Wallace - here's another article

Wonder how Walt is doing?

How to avoid being scammed on Craigs List? Follow the rules...

Slashdot has an Interview With A Craigslist Scammer, and apparently

He ended the interview asking the scammer for any words of advice for readers. The scammer responded: "It's getting harder for business people like me to be successful, but if they [the victims] follow the rules it would be very hard for me to be successful. That's one of the surprises. My friends and I thought we would not be successful for so long, especially with how Craigslist is different now. But there is always someone looking to sell something who doesn't know the game."

Who'da Thunk?

Remove location from facebook app Now

According to popular science, Facebook is explicitly tracking you
http://www.popsci.com/facebook-will-know-what-stores-you-go-into (Link)

Does it really matter?  According Slashdot, through truth-out.com and to Edward Snowdon, Smartphone Users Are Paying For Their Own Surveillance