A FOIA request made ten months ago (Case 60495C) has just released the 1998 “Unknown Author, draft history of COMPUSEC” from the NSA Here’s an example of the kind of juicy details to be found: ON THE POLITICAL FRONT… in 1966, a Democratic Congressman from New Jersey, Cornelius Gallagher, chaired a special subcommittee of the … Continue reading NSA Top Secret History of Computer Security
Someone just suggested to me that the Spanish loved pirates while the British hated them. This isn’t even remotely true and it reminded me how a Spanish city official (Don Juan Pérez de Guzmán, a decorated veteran of wars in Flanders) once called Britain’s Captain Morgan a pirate, using that term to insult him as … Continue reading Captain Morgan Hated Being Called a Pirate Because He Hated Democracy
Update 12 Feb 2021: “Stop the Steal” fueled anxiety about loss, in the same way that “I have millions” fueled anxiety about gain. Both cognitive attacks work fundamentally because of racism in the target. Also, Islamist and rightwing extremists are documented as main threats in detailed security reports, as other groups do not even rank … Continue reading Cultural Spectrum of Trust
The traditional drop cake (also called drop biscuit) was a popular historic treat in America copied from Europe. However, somehow in America the act of baking a common and popular British drop cake with common and popular chocolate turned into a fancy narrative about how chocolate chip cookies had just been “invented” by a woman … Continue reading Chocolate Chip Cookie History and The Myth of “Butter Drop Do”