Articles by Bob Sullivan

Independent Journalist Bob Sullivan is the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! He worked for MSNBC.com/NBC News for nearly 20 years, much of them creating and writing the popular consumer/tech blog The Red Tape Chronicles. Follow him at bobsullivan.net, subscribe to his free newsletter, and follow his series, The Restless Project.

Tired of long airport lines? For biometric screening company Clear, frustration is a sales pitch

Latest from Bob Sullivan

SolarWinds hack: What we know, and don’t know, so far

by Bob Sullivan on December 18, 2020December 18, 2020 at 10:46 am

I keep hearing this from people I respect: It’s hard to overstate how serious the SolarWinds hack is. So, yes, it seems to be the Big One. I suspect we’ll… Read More

Coronavirus could be a tipping point (finally) for telecommuting

by Bob Sullivan on March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 at 12:28 pm

Since the 1973 oil embargo, and the nearly concurrent coining of the term “gridlock,” Americans have mused about telecommuting as the solution to many modern ills. When high-speed Internet began… Read More

Marriott’s Starwood breach: What should you do? That depends on who, and why

by Bob Sullivan on December 2, 2018December 2, 2018 at 7:43 am

It’s easy to focus on the big number associated with the Starwood breach announced by Marriott International on Friday — 500 million accounts compromised. But I’m focused on a much… Read More

6 ways your vote could be hacked during the midterms

by Bob Sullivan on October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 at 7:01 am

We know every vote counts, but will your vote actually be counted? Or will it be hacked? I’ve spent the last several months reporting on election hacking for my podcast… Read More

Tired of long airport lines? For biometric screening company Clear, frustration is a sales pitch

by Bob Sullivan on July 4, 2018July 5, 2018 at 10:47 am

“Skip the lines! No wait times,” yelled the Clear salespeople swarming beleaguered fliers at Sea-Tac airport last week. The standard passenger security screening line wound far down the usual hallway. Travelers… Read More

Starbucks picked an odd time to force WiFi customers to cough up personal data

by Bob Sullivan on April 8, 2018April 9, 2018 at 7:01 am

With all the sensitive news about Facebook and privacy hovering menacingly over the Internet this week, it seems an odd time for Starbucks to begin “forcing” consumers to register so… Read More

Commentary: ‘We don’t need net neutrality, we have a free market,’ and other lies

by Bob Sullivan on November 23, 2017November 23, 2017 at 9:21 am

Standard Oil committed many sins on the way to infamy, and Teddy Roosevelt’s s**t list, but a big one was “vertical integration.” Rockefeller’s people owned oil refineries, and trucks that… Read More

Facebook, Twitter and Google grapple with a new reality as Russia revelations continue to mount

by Bob Sullivan on October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 at 5:29 pm

We’ve come a long way since Mark Zuckerberg famously said that it was “crazy” to think fake news on Facebook influenced the 2016 election. How far? Not long ago, Facebook… Read More

Video

The KRACK attack: Is all WiFi unsafe now? No, not really. But you’d better patch

by Bob Sullivan on October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 at 10:54 am

Belgian researcher Mathy Vanhoef announced some rather brilliant research on Monday which demonstrates that nearly all WiFi in use today can be hacked. The tool for scrambling data as it’s transmitted wirelessly… Read More

Equifax hack, one week later: What really happened, and what you should do to protect yourself

by Bob Sullivan on September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 at 2:50 pm

I can tell from the email I’m getting — and, honestly, from friends calling me and even stopping me at church— that you still have many questions about the Equifax… Read More

Don’t be the next Anthony Scaramucci: Email prankster’s hoax shows how all of us are vulnerable

by Bob Sullivan on August 6, 2017August 6, 2017 at 9:03 am

It was easy to impersonate White House officials like Jared Kushner and Reince Preibus or even Eric Trump. It fooled plenty of people who should have known better, like now-former… Read More

All along eclipse ‘zone of totality,’ small towns make big bets to cash in on total darkness

by Bob Sullivan on July 25, 2017July 27, 2017 at 6:01 pm

(I’ve just spent a month driving back and forth across America, with Rusty, as I do every summer, visiting small towns with big dreams. This summer is different, however –… Read More

What’s really scary about Petya ‘ransomware’ attack? It might not be ransomware

by Bob Sullivan on June 29, 2017June 30, 2017 at 12:56 pm

The recent “ransomware” computer virus outbreak is over, but the speculation is just beginning. And it begins with those quotes around the term ransomware. On Tuesday, organizations in 64 countries… Read More

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Why the Russians keep running circles around the U.S. on the hacking story

by Bob Sullivan on June 5, 2017June 5, 2017 at 6:58 am

Vladimir Putin has been far more visible lately with statements on the Russian-U.S. election story. Well-schooled in the art of Russian linguistic vaguery, he has alternately said that Russian freelance hackers may… Read More

Commentary: A Muslim laptop ban? No, a real threat — that the U.S. has lost credibility

by Bob Sullivan on March 21, 2017March 21, 2017 at 3:28 pm

As President Donald Trump continues to tweet things that strain credulity, the warning we’ve heard from sensible people is this: Who will believe the U.S. government when it has something… Read More

Howard Schmidt, 1949-2017: America’s digital guardian angel led cybersecurity for Microsoft, eBay and two Presidents

by Bob Sullivan on March 5, 2017March 5, 2017 at 3:44 pm

Howard Schmidt had an incredible American life. He was cyberczar to two presidents – a Republican and a Democrat. Before that, he ran security at Microsoft, and later practically rescued… Read More

Amazon Alexa search warrant in hot-tub murder case shows why smart homes require smart laws

by Bob Sullivan on December 31, 2016December 31, 2016 at 10:36 am

Could Amazon’s Alexa be a tattletale? Yes, as could any Internet-connected device in your home, we were all reminded this week. News outlets lit up on Tuesday with news that… Read More

Here’s what millions of leaked passwords look like — possibly including your own

by Bob Sullivan on December 17, 2016December 17, 2016 at 11:31 am

NEW YORK CITY — It’s very hard to make privacy and security sexy. The folks at Mozilla and the Tactical Technology Collective have done just that this month with a… Read More

For young women in Afghanistan, learning to code means learning to be free

by Bob Sullivan on November 24, 2016November 23, 2016 at 7:42 am

And now for some good news. Fereshteh Forough reminds you about all the wonderful things technology can make happen. This is a story about a coding bootcamp doing things, enabling human… Read More

How to avoid falling for the trivial trick used to hack John Podesta’s Clinton campaign emails

by Bob Sullivan on November 4, 2016November 4, 2016 at 8:30 am

A simple, decade-old hacker trick likely led to the hacking of critical Hillary Clinton staff members. If John Podesta can fall for it, with the Presidential election at stake, so can you.… Read More

Whose data is it anyway? FCC issues rare pro-privacy ruling limiting personal information internet providers can sell

by Bob Sullivan on October 27, 2016October 27, 2016 at 12:17 pm

The FCC today ruled that when it comes to your personal information, Internet service providers (IPS) are more like telephone companies and less like websites — and so it has… Read More

Comcast to pay record FCC fine over surprise charges for unwanted services and equipment

by Bob Sullivan on October 11, 2016October 11, 2016 at 3:46 pm

Comcast has agreed to pay the largest civil penalty the FCC has ever assessed a cable operator to settle charges that say the company billed customers for equipment and services… Read More

Russians attacking U.S. election systems? Here’s the real risk, from a man who fought Soviet electronic attacks in the Cold War

by Bob Sullivan on October 10, 2016November 7, 2016 at 10:42 am

With U.S. officials openly blaming Russia for hacker attacks on state election computer systems, and the myriad possibilities for election chaos such attacks raise, it’s important to put them in… Read More

Articles by Bob Sullivan

Top Stories from Bob Sullivan

Tired of long airport lines? For biometric screening company Clear, frustration is a sales pitch

Latest from Bob Sullivan

SolarWinds hack: What we know, and don’t know, so far

Coronavirus could be a tipping point (finally) for telecommuting

Marriott’s Starwood breach: What should you do? That depends on who, and why

6 ways your vote could be hacked during the midterms

Tired of long airport lines? For biometric screening company Clear, frustration is a sales pitch

Starbucks picked an odd time to force WiFi customers to cough up personal data

Commentary: ‘We don’t need net neutrality, we have a free market,’ and other lies

Facebook, Twitter and Google grapple with a new reality as Russia revelations continue to mount

The KRACK attack: Is all WiFi unsafe now? No, not really. But you’d better patch

Equifax hack, one week later: What really happened, and what you should do to protect yourself

Don’t be the next Anthony Scaramucci: Email prankster’s hoax shows how all of us are vulnerable

All along eclipse ‘zone of totality,’ small towns make big bets to cash in on total darkness

What’s really scary about Petya ‘ransomware’ attack? It might not be ransomware

Why the Russians keep running circles around the U.S. on the hacking story

Commentary: A Muslim laptop ban? No, a real threat — that the U.S. has lost credibility

Howard Schmidt, 1949-2017: America’s digital guardian angel led cybersecurity for Microsoft, eBay and two Presidents

Amazon Alexa search warrant in hot-tub murder case shows why smart homes require smart laws

Here’s what millions of leaked passwords look like — possibly including your own

For young women in Afghanistan, learning to code means learning to be free

How to avoid falling for the trivial trick used to hack John Podesta’s Clinton campaign emails

Whose data is it anyway? FCC issues rare pro-privacy ruling limiting personal information internet providers can sell

Comcast to pay record FCC fine over surprise charges for unwanted services and equipment

Russians attacking U.S. election systems? Here’s the real risk, from a man who fought Soviet electronic attacks in the Cold War

Sports Authority is selling 25M customer emails. Here’s what consumers need to know to protect their data

Apple and feds issue warning about iTunes gift card scams, say one victim lost $31K

LinkedIn’s huge password leak even bigger than originally thought

Court rules that text sender could be responsible for car accident caused by distracted recipient

Ransomware: It’s hospitals vs. hackers now, and there will be many losers

Merchants face hefty fines over credit card chip switch, allege bank industry conspiracy

In Apple vs. FBI, the U.S. public sides with law enforcement