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Steve Bellovin

SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

<p>I&#39;m an affiliate scholar at Georgetown&#39;s Institute for Technology Law and Policy, and a computer science professor emeritus and former affiliate law prof at Columbia University. Author of &quot;Thinking Security&quot;. Dinosaur photographer. Not ashamed to say that I’m still masking, because long Covid terrifies me.</p>

Posts

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    Is there *any* way to keep my iToys from backing up automatically to iCloud? My older iPad and now my new iPhone insist on doing that by default, even though iCloud backup is off in Settings on the devices.

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    “In the Private Jet Age, the Quiet Allure of Private Rail”: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/travel/amtrak-private-train-cars.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVE.LNIL.VawLfRzUykVD&amp;smid=url-share (gift link)

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    Timeline cleanse: &quot;Scientists heard a knock at the door. It was a pelican in need of help.&quot; https://wapo.st/4roaN8r (gift link)

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    Trump wants to name things for himself because he knows damned well that no one else is going to name any monuments for him (except maybe a cell somewhere…)

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    @lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org @darkuncle@infosec.exchange As my partner often points out, I have the benefit of a liberal education (though you likely consider me sadly deficient in my knowledge of movies…).

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    @lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org Hence the patent…

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    @adam@elefanti.co @20002ist@thepit.social I&#39;m reminded of the refugee ship St. Louis (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/voyage-of-the-st-louis)

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    Trains, of course, have restrooms. (I believe that this work train is on a track for the Purple Line, a light rail line under construction in the Maryland suburbs of DC.)

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/world-5f2k3dqjz/-/a-pCnP_INfSNOk69c9sBFwbw%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 Look, @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

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    RE: https://infosec.exchange/@agreenberg/117011022100893459 I&#39;ve been expecting this. The US attacks Iranian water systems; Iran attacks US systems.

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/home-page-91uottdbz/-/a--1AFgpJbRrygQyybRU2ysA%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 Are any *technical* details on this available?

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    @mattblaze@federate.social A classic case. See https://www.newscientist.com/article/1818118-technology-sorry-no-numbers-the-day-the-uss-telephone-network-crashed/ and https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/9.63.html#subj3.1 — and https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/9.69#subj5 for the precise bug: misuse of a a &#39;break&#39; statement. The salient points: it was a flaw in error recovery code, which was triggered if and only if while a phone switch was rebooting, it received two incoming call requests wit...

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    @jswatz_tx Also grifting.

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/new-york-bat3un55z/-/a-TfouDAImTVaqT-uRVBqrow%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 Cue the uncanny valley

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/home-page-91uottdbz/-/a-VdgkV6NZSMSSlraEqwBP2g%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 This is really scary and worth reading.

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    I went to see the Odyssey movie (in IMAX) last night. It&#39;s an impressive film, though far too loud. It stayed reasonably close to the epic poem, though with a few (largely unimportant) changes, like the role and timing of the lotus flower incident. There were a few glaring anachronisms, notably the repeated references to the Sea Peoples and (far worse) Odysseus&#39; reference to the &quot;Age of Bronze&quot;. What was most interesting to me was the philosophical focus of the movie around Zeu...

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    Did you see https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/nyregion/noncitizen-voting-new-jersey-error.html, @mattblaze@federate.social ?

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    RE: https://mastodon.social/@VeroniqueB99/116954938502017875 This is really from the Onion, right?

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    @jswatz_tx Have they advocated drinking bleach yet, or perhaps a UV-emitting capsule?

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    &quot;NIST Mathematical Proof Supports Transition to a Continuous-Monitor-and-Update Security Model for AI Systems&quot;: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/06/nist-mathematical-proof-supports-transition-continuous-monitor-and-update In essence, this is an extension of Gödel&#39;s Incompleteness Theorem to AI guardrails.

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    RE: https://infosec.exchange/@SteveBellovin/116935801971010847 Ok, and I thought I was being sarcastic about the tariffs. Just goes to show: the reality of this administration is always stupider than one can imagine: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/weather/trump-canada-tariffs-wildfire-smoke.html

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    I wonder if Agent Orange is going to threaten Canada with tariffs on exported wildfire smoke if they don’t start vacuuming their forests.

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    The Mets-Phillies game, in Philadelphia, will apparently be suspended if the AQI reaches 200.

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/science-jpuunj5gz/-/a-Anw1t0-MTp2_fHdcBXPUbA%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 Here&#39;s another threat, @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

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    RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/world-5f2k3dqjz/-/a-lyzbBLfeTsa01VH7f2EZ0w%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 This shows another fundamental mistake in Asimov&#39;s Three Laws of Robotics—the militarists *want* machines that can kill.

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    Looks like the World Cup may come down to historic rivalries. Tuesday is France vs. Spain, with centuries of geopolitical rivalry. Wednesday is more recent: we get to revisit the Falklands war, as England takes on Argentina. And if France and England both win? That&#39;s a rivalry for the millenium.

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    #caturday ? https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/science/cat-grooming-licking-research.html

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    Trump&#39;s research funding cuts and shenanigans have resulted in a noticeable decrease in PhD enrollments, risking the future: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/research-universities-fewer-phds-science.html

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    I saw a Waymo taxi in Baltimore the other day (and I didn&#39;t even know they operated there). I was impressed—it was stopped at a light and did not go when the light turned green because there was no room for it, given traffic on the next block. It clearly was not trained on most human drivers&#39; patterns…

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    My CC-licensed book, &quot;Don&#39;t Get Hacked&quot;, is available in hardcopy, if you prefer, at https://www.lulu.com/shop/steven-bellovin/dont-get-hacked/paperback/product-gj4mq5w.html. The PDF, ePub, and .mobi versions remain available for free at https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/homesec/.