Security, Spoken

The country’s most famous inmate is free. O.J. Simpson's release highlights the challenges of leaving prison, saddled with multiple felony convictions.I would know. It’s hard to re-enter society, but it might be easier for those returning citizens, like Simpson, whose NFL pension and luxury homes, along with the prospect of the new iPhone, await him, compared with the likely transition for those who will return to poverty. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The encrypted-communication app Signal has a sterling reputation within the security and crypto community, but its critics point to a nagging flaw: The app asks for access to your phone's contact list when you install it. Signal's creators, like the developers of so many other social apps, consider that contact-sharing request a necessary evil, designed to make the app as easy to use as your normal calling and texting features. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Since moving into the White House months ago, Jared Kushner—senior advisor and son-in-law to the President, savior of the Middle East, and possible person of interest in a federal investigation—has amassed a rather extensive project portfolio. The issues under Kushner's purview include negotiating peace between Israel and Palestine, fixing the opioid crisis, updating technology across the entire federal government, and spearheading criminal justice reform, to name just a few. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In 2003, when Jon Phillips was 24, he met someone who changed everything about how he perceived the world. At the time, Phillips was a graduate student in computer science and visual art at the University of California, San Diego. Rather than work for a big tech company, as most of his friends were doing, he wanted to use his computing skills to “build society and community. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The digital assaults known as distributed denial of service attacks occur constantly, whether you notice them or not. Corporations, internet infrastructure companies, and other large targets like universities and government agencies experience them frequently, or in some cases constantly. The only reason more of the internet doesn't exist in a constant state of DDoS-caused collapse? Third-party companies that offer protection services. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The week kicked off with news that CCleaner, a popular security software tool, had itself been compromised, distributing a backdoor to hundreds of thousands of users and highlighting software's serious supply-chain security issue. Just a few days later, it turned out that the CCleaner was designed instead to target nearly two dozen specific tech firms. That's... not good. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The standard advice for Android users to avoid downloading malicious apps is simple: Only get apps from the official Google Play Store. Unlike third-party app stores that are generally difficult to vet and validate, Google Play has built-in mechanisms to screen every app for malware, ransomware, and assorted sketchiness. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For more than five years, Iran has maintained a reputation as one of the most aggressive nations in the global arena of state-sponsored hacking, stealing data from corporate and government networks around the world, bombarding US banks with cyberattacks, and most brazen of all, unleashing multiple waves of computer-crippling malware that hit tens of thousands of PCs across the Middle East. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On Tuesday morning, Donald Trump gave a bombastic speech to the assembled delegates of the United Nations. Pay special attention to how he addressed North Korea and its looming nuclear threat. Unlike most of what Trump said otherwise, its implications are as wide-ranging as they are grim. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” said Trump. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that covers the US criminal justice system. Sign up for its newsletter, or follow The Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter. Calling home from prison is cumbersome and expensive. For deaf people behind bars, it’s even tougher, sometimes impossible. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices