Category Archives: Security

Default Power

Posted on Thursday, 5 April 2018 10:37 am by

Facebook recently said that most of the 2 billion people on their platform had their personal data scraped. The reason, aside from Facebook’s appallingly sloppy controls over access to data, is defaults. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg admitted that most people kept … Continue reading →

Posted in Behavioral economics, Data, digital marketing, Security | Tagged , , , ,

Were You the Same in 2014?

Facebook is pumping out a lot of spin these days. They’re trying to make us forget they ran (and continue to run) a massive, unregulated surveillance operation. They’re trying to distance themselves from Cambridge Analytica in any way possible, before … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Friday, 23 March 2018 8:42 am by | Tagged , , , ,

Attacking You With Retargeting

Posted on Wednesday, 21 March 2018 9:06 am by

WebKit recently updated WebKit to address “An attacker seeking to track site visitors can take advantage of the user’s HSTS cache to store one bit of information on that user’s device.” in an interesting and understandable technical blog post by … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Leadership, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , ,

Who’s Viewing Your Ads? Maybe Your IoT Security Camera.

Another day, another case of IoT security lapses. When buying digital media, you should always ask “how many humans are viewing my ads, and how can you prove it to me?” This article from Threatpost describes the extreme lack of … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Tuesday, 13 March 2018 1:57 pm by | Tagged ,

Digital Marketing Tips From El Al

Posted on Wednesday, 24 January 2018 8:57 am by

El Al airlines has never been bombed and only hijacked once. This in spite of being a constant target for well-funded and persistent criminals. An enviable track record. How do they do it? Isaac Yeffet, El Al’s former head of … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Media, Philosophy, planning, Security, Strategy | Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Finish Line in the Race to the Bottom

Posted on Thursday, 11 January 2018 8:48 am by

Last night, I was doing some analysis of a premium publisher’s site. I encountered RPM optimization in all its glory. And it made me sad and sick. The malvertising at left attempts to: Hijack browser settings Encourage installation of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, Media, Privacy, Rants, Security, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ad Blockers: Common Sense

Posted on Monday, 8 January 2018 9:18 am by

With the recent news of the Spectre and Meltdown CPU flaws, it’s more important than ever that you do a few things: Install ad blockers (do your homework first* [update: see how-to below]!) Turn on DNT (for whatever that’s worth) … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Media, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Happy 2018! AdTech Surveillance Edition

Posted on Thursday, 4 January 2018 8:53 am by

How would you like it if somebody was standing over your shoulder jotting down your user ID (and who knows what else) as you were logging into sites, and then sharing the information with–well, it could be anybody? Thought so. … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, Marketing, Media, Privacy, Security | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Justifying the Weird

Posted on Thursday, 7 December 2017 8:30 am by

What’s the success rate for people trying to evade marketing surveillance on the web? I think it’s zero. Check out the story of Ross William Ulbricht AKA “Dread Pirate Roberts” of Silk Road infamy. He was alleged to be responsible … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Marketing, Media, Security | Tagged , , , , ,

Another Day, More Digital Fraud

Posted on Wednesday, 22 November 2017 9:20 am by

How many of your ad tech and mar tech technology providers called you in September and October and said “Hey, we’re seeing some odd things happening and we think maybe there’s some new fraud taking place. Maybe you should cut … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Media, Security, Tactics | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,