Friday Squid Blogging: Two-Man Giant Squid
The Brooklyn indie art-punk group, Two-Man Giant Squid, just released a new album.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Entries Tagged "music"
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Friday Squid Blogging: Squid in Concert
Squid is performing a concert in London in February.
If you don’t know what their music is like, try this or this or this.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Read my blog posting guidelines here.
$23 Million YouTube Royalties Scam
Scammers were able to convince YouTube that other people’s music was their own. They successfully stole $23 million before they were caught.
No one knows how common this scam is, and how much money total is being stolen in this way. Presumably this is not an uncommon fraud.
While the size of the heist and the breadth of the scheme may be very unique, it’s certainly a situation that many YouTube content creators have faced before. YouTube’s Content ID system, meant to help creators, has been weaponized by bad faith actors in order to make money off content that isn’t theirs. While some false claims are just mistakes caused by automated systems, the MediaMuv case is a perfect example of how fraudsters are also purposefully taking advantage of digital copyright rules.
YouTube attempts to be cautious with who it provides CMS and Content ID tool access because of how powerful these systems are. As a result, independent creators and artists cannot check for these false copyright claims nor do they have the power to directly act on them. They need to go through a digital rights management company that does have access. And it seems like thieves are doing the same, falsifying documents to gain access to these YouTube tools through these third parties that are “trusted” with these tools by YouTube.
Hacking Spotify
Some of the ways artists are hacking the music-streaming service Spotify.
Hiding a Morse Code Message in a Pop Song
In Colombia:
The team began experimenting with Morse code using various percussion instruments and a keyboard. They learned that operators skilled in Morse code can often read the signals at a rate of 40 words per minute but played that fast, the beat would sound like a European Dance track. “We discovered the magic number was 20,” says Portela. “You can fit approximately 20 Morse code words into a piece of music the length of a chorus, and it sounds okay.”
[…]
Portela says they played with the Morse code using Reason software, which gives each audio channel or instrument its own dedicated track. With a separate visual lane for certain elements, it was possible to match the code to the beat of the song—and, crucially, blend it in.
Hiding the Morse code took weeks, with constant back-and-forth with Col. Espejo and the military to make sure their men could understand the message. “It was difficult because Morse code is not a musical beat. Sometimes it was too obvious,” says Portela. “Other times the code was not understood. And we had to hide it three times in the song to make sure the message was received.”
Edward Elgar's Ciphers
Elgar’s cryptography puzzles from the late 1890s.
Mention of Cryptography in a Rap Song
The new movie Safe House features the song “No Church in the Wild,” by Kanye West, which includes this verse:
I live by you, desire
I stand by you, walk through the fire
Your love is my scripture
Let me into your encryption
Friday Squid Blogging: Squid's Beard
It’s an acoustic bluegrass band.
As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.
Cryptography Rap
The rapper MC Plus+ has written a song about cryptography, “Alice and Bob.” It mentions DES, AES, Blowfish, RSA, SHA-1, and more. And me!
EDITED TO ADD (5/8): An article about “geeksta rap.”
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.