We’ve recently experienced yet another case of a root certificate authority (CA from now on) losing control of its own certificates. And yet again, we have been waiting for either the CA or the browser to do something about it. This whole mess stems, once again, from both a governance and a technical problem. First, only the very same CA that issued a certificate can later revoke it. Second, although web browsers implement several techniques to check the certificate’s revocation status, errors in the procedure are rarely considered hard failures.

They’re stalking, taking advantage of the anonymity offered by the Internet and using the most advanced techniques to deceive their victims. They pose a persistent threat. They are often very patient and have sometimes communicated with their victims over a number of days, weeks, months and sometimes for over a year before they finally arrange to meet with the young person. They are a new breed of predators.

When we upload something embarrassing about ourselves to, lets say Facebook, thats completely our fault. But there are other subtle ways to get information about us. Lets say a few words about tracking.

Every time you visit a website you request HTML that will be rendered in your local browser. This code may include external references, so you will request them as well. Nothing to be afraid of so far.