Author: Joop Beris

  • Who cares about information security anyway?

    Who cares about information security anyway?

    So what’s my day been like? Well, I’m glad you asked dear reader! Pull up a chair, pour your favourite alcoholic beverage and strap yourselves in. This ride is going to be hard and we don’t have any airbags! Airbags sound too much like risk management and who cares about that? Who cares about information…

  • The “new normal”

    The “new normal”

    With the Covid-19 pandemic seemingly under control in the developed world, many people are aching for relief of social distancing restrictions. People want to meet each other again, go out and go on vacation. However, the virus isn’t gone so many governments insist on certain measures for the expected return to normal. Societies prepare for…

  • WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal?

    WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal?

    There are many instant messaging solutions available these days. A quick browse of the Google Play Store or the Apple store gives me Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Facebook Messenger, Signal, Viber, Google Meet and a slew of others. So which do you choose when you care about privacy and data security? For the purpose of this…

  • War on encryption

    War on encryption

    Every now and then, police or someone in government will complain that encryption is bad. The arguments are pretty much always the same: encryption is bad because it allows criminals to hide or because it enables terrorists to communicate without the intelligence agencies able to read along. Or, if all other arguments fail, it allows…

  • Office pet peeves

    Office pet peeves

    Working with people can be challenging at the best of times and sometimes is just plain annoying. A lot of things can get on your nerves, like your word processor or the things people do in online meetings. But there’s a lot more that can really get on your nerves. Here is my list of…

  • The app that changed my life

    The app that changed my life

    I know titles like this are often considered clickbait but that’s not what I am trying to do here. I want to talk a bit about an app that changed my life. Or rather, I should say that using this app on a regular basis has changed how I relate to life and even to…