Perfect forward secrecy (PFS) is a cryptographic feature of internet communication protocols that ensures even if a session is compromised, past and future sessions remain secure. It achieves this by using a new and unique private encryption key for each session.  PFS is sometimes known simply as forward secrecy by those uncomfortable with the idea […]

A zero-day is a software vulnerability or security flaw in a computer system that its developers or vendors are unaware of. The term zero-day (also known as 0-day) refers to the fact that, since the developer or vendor is unaware of the vulnerability, they have zero days available to mitigate against it.  A zero-day exploit […]

IKEv2 is a VPN protocol used to secure VPN connections. Part of the IPSec protocol suite, it is sometimes (and strictly speaking, more correctly) referred to as IKEv2/IPSec. A VPN protocol is a set of instructions or rules that determine how the connection between your device and the VPN server is made. Learn more about […]

“Amazon and third parties (including advertising and tracking services) collect smart speaker interaction data. We find that Amazon processes voice data to infer user interests and uses it to serve targeted ads on-platform (Echo devices) as well as off-platform (web). Smart speaker interaction leads to as much as 30X higher ad bids from advertisers. Finally, […]

WireGuard® is a new VPN protocol used to secure the connection between your device and a VPN server.  Learn more about how VPNs work WireGuard uses state-of-the-art cryptography to keep your connection secure and is extremely lightweight. This makes it faster than traditional VPN protocols such as OpenVPN and IKEv2, especially on lower-end hardware. Originally […]

A VPN protocol is the set of instructions that your VPN app uses to set up, secure, and govern your connection to a VPN server. OpenVPN is a VPN protocol that has no known weaknesses and is effective at bypassing certain online censorship methods. OpenVPN also has the advantage of being supported on a huge […]

An internet service provider (ISP) is the company that connects you to the internet, resolves domain names, routes internet traffic, and is responsible for helping to maintain the network infrastructure that makes the internet possible.  The term includes mobile (cell phone) operators who provide mobile internet access over wireless cellular networks. ISPs often provide other […]

China is infamous for its internet censorship program, widely known as the Great Firewall of China (GFW).   In this article, we look at what the GFW is and how it prevents citizens of mainland China from accessing the free and open internet. What is the great firewall of China? Since 1998, the government of mainland […]

Deep packet inspection (DPI) is a method of examining data packets that pass through a network so that the traffic type can be identified. This information can then be used to block unwanted traffic.  The technique is commonly used in firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and other network security systems. Unfortunately, the same analysis techniques used […]