Safe water

Image from Pixabay

 Have you seen it yet? It is advancing in our offices. Without any warning – or I must have missed something. We looked at each other awkwardly. The first time that day I went to the other one, but then I could no longer contain my curiosity and I bravely walked up to it. I touched it and it flashed happy lights at me. It took me a while to figure out exactly how to do it, but eventually I got what I wanted. A mug full of hot water. We are talking about the Borg & Overström E6, a device that delivers cold, chilled, bubbling and hot water. Tea and water drinkers are in for a treat.

How did I come to dedicate the Security (b)log to a what they call a drinking water solution? Well, if the name of a water dispenser contains Overström, then you have my attention. Because, you know, the Dutch word ‘overstroming’ means flooding. Nomen est omen – what's in a name. And indeed I noticed that the device on our floor is already leaking a little. But the first part of the name is also absolutely a trigger, but only Star Trek fans understand that. A little tip for everyone else: the Borg are those friendly space creatures stating: “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”

There is no manual next to the B&O (oops, that was already another company’s abbreviation). If you haven’t met the E6 in person yet, you might think: what do I need a manual for? But that device does not give up its water just like that. It has five buttons: one for each of the products mentioned plus one with a padlock on it. Aha, that’s the link with security!

So you think you have to unlock the device first with that button and then press the button of your choice. Wrong! After two touches, nothing happens. Well, you get a small light show where you expected water. But no water. Huh? After a day of practice I figured it out. You have to kiss it awake with a gentle touch, then unlock it with the padlock button and only then press the button of the desired product. Et voilà, as long as your finger rests on that spot, water keeps coming. A full mug in one go – a real improvement compared to those coffee machines where you had to tap twice for the same purpose, or use the 'pot' button.

Meanwhile, colleagues are wondering why there is a lock on these devices at all. My answer: to protect children from the hot water. Which children? Well, exactly. They are extremely rare in our office environment, and I suspect the same goes for the vast majority of the other customers of this British company (you wouldn't have thought they were from there, would you?).

I have written before about security measures that are unnecessary in a certain context and therefore cause unnecessary delays. Look, with a boiling water tap in the office I understand that there is some kind of safety on it that requires you to consciously choose boiling water. It would be a shame if you were to wash your hands with boiling water due to an operating error. But you don't do that at a water dispenser, and it is not possible to hang your mouth under it if you are thirsty but don’t have a cup. Moreover, the coffee machines don’t have a lock either.

Many Security (b)logs are preceded by thorough research. For this edition I wanted to consult the Borg & Overström website. But instead of the desired site I was presented with a screen from Cloudflare : “Sorry, you have been blocked.” I must have done something that triggered their security. But I only clicked on the company link from the search engine (startpage.com). Oh well, fortunately there are more roads to Rome and I was allowed to visit that site on another device. By the way, I didn't know you could fabricate such bombastic texts about gargoyles! You could copy most of the texts almost unchanged to sell the latest model of electric car (“evolved environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and intelligent technology ” and “we aim to inspire the every day with original design and thoughtful innovation”). Anyway, I was blocked and I have no idea why. Could they have blacklisted our organization? (Being the Tax Administration…)

The E6 can also be operated contactless, via Bluetooth – a covid-driven innovation. I'll quote my Finnish hero Mikko Hyppönen once more: if it's connected, it's vulnerable. Let's hope that doesn't lead to an ‘overstroming’.

And in the big bad world…

• America is preparing for an era of even greater government surveillance.
• license plate recognition is a part of that
• the above article links to a map showing locations of ALPR cameras worldwide (except in the Netherlands…).
• Criminals also like to use the information that the police have.
• This ransomware uses the BitLocker security tool to encrypt your hard drive.
• Your iPhone reboots itself if you haven't used it for three days.
• The Secret Service uses location data based on the permissions you give to apps on your phone.
• Europe urges Temu to respect our consumer rights.
• The FBI may have also cleaned your device, right here in the Netherlands. [DUTCH]