I spent most of this week in Las Vegas for the Black Hat and first DEF CON security conferences. I knew Black Hat from last year, but covering its sponsor-free, community-run counterpart for the first time left me feeling overwhelmed at how much of it I’d missed after just the first day. The Flickr album I posted earlier today may give you a sense of that fascinating chaos.

8/7/2019: The Best Cell Phone Plans, Wirecutter

This update took longer than I thought it would, but it now benefits from a simpler set of usage estimates that better align with how much data most people use. This guide also features new recommendations for value-priced service and shared-usage plans.

8/8/2019: We keep falling for phishing emails, and Google just revealed why, Fast Company

I wrote up a Black Hat talk that revealed new insights about why people fall for phishing e-mails and reinforced old advice about the importance of securing essential accounts with the right kind of two-step verification.

8/9/2019: Fake calculations… an electronic weapon in the hands of autocratic government, Al Jazeera

I took part in an episode of AJ’s “From Washington” show with Ryan Grim of the Intercept and my former congressman Jim Moran (D.-Va.), discussing disinformation campaigns on social media. At one point, Moran paused to say “Ryan and Rob are extremely intelligent and informative,” which I trust was equally effusive overdubbed into Arabic. The conversation later pivoted to the political scenario in Sudan, a topic I am maybe as prepared to discuss as any regular reader of the Washington Post’s A section.

8/10/2019: DNA Test Kits: Everything You Need to Know, Tom’s Guide

In this first post for a new client, I went about 2,000 words into the weeds on the privacy, legal and mental-health risks of taking DNA tests that may create facts you’d wish you could uncreate. That’s not my last post on DNA testing for Tom’s Guide, so if you have questions I didn’t get to in this feature, please ask away.