<story><title>Snake Oil Crypto Competition</title><url>http://snakeoil.cr.yp.to/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>chatmasta</author><text>I was disappointed to realize the snake-oil competition is a parody, because a properly-implemented version of it could teach valuable lessons to non-technical consumers.&lt;p&gt;Many products make outrageous claims about their security.  Try browsing the aisles of Best Buy or any major department store.  From smart-home sensors to security-cameras to anti-virus software, the shelves are stocked full with snake-oil security products advertising themselves as legitimate. These are the products that big retailers and OEM partners are marketing to the public as &amp;quot;secure,&amp;quot; with much lower standards for security than any expert would assert.&lt;p&gt;To prove this to the public, what better way than a competition for benevolent security researchers to create a wolf-in-sheeps-clothing? The competition is to produce most shiny, marketable product design that looks like a &amp;quot;security&amp;quot; product, but does something far more sinister than protect its users.&lt;p&gt;Product ideas: &amp;quot;Anonymous router&amp;quot; that actually logs all traffic and sends it to a printer in the local police office; &amp;quot;Smart Home Hub&amp;quot; that performs active exploitation attacks against connected devices; &amp;quot;Smart TV&amp;quot; that actually films its users and live streams their living room to a website.&lt;p&gt;(Bonus points if they credit real products!)</text></comment>
<story><title>Snake Oil Crypto Competition</title><url>http://snakeoil.cr.yp.to/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>zymhan</author><text>I clicked on one of the submissions and the paper is in Comic Sans: &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;snakeoil.cr.yp.to&amp;#x2F;submissions&amp;#x2F;Lolcipher%20Submission.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;snakeoil.cr.yp.to&amp;#x2F;submissions&amp;#x2F;Lolcipher%20Submission....&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is hilarious.</text></comment>