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NSA reportedly targeted as many as 122 world leaders for surveillance | The Verge - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...world-leaders-for-surveillance 2014 indienationnews law technology legal surveillance nsa spying privacy
shared by John Lemke on 30 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • The documents, leaked to the publications by Edward Snowden, contain a list of 11 world leaders that have been targeted by a system known as Nymrod — however the document implies the actual number targeted was 122. Nymrod is reportedly a system designed to automatically extract citations ("cites") out of a multiplicity of sources, including voice and computer communications. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is listed by name, as are more obvious targets like Syrian president Bashar Asad and former Ukranian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Various leaders apparently have "cites" automatically added to to a "Target Knowledge Database."
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Leaked Snowden documents detail NSA's plans for 'millions' of malware attacks | The Verge - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...or-millions-of-malware-attacks 2014 leaked documents nsa malware attacks security privacy yourroights surveillance spying indienationnews law legal
shared by John Lemke on 12 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • A program known as TURBINE, first revealed last year, is meant to dramatically speed the process: one document says it will "allow the current implant network to scale to large size (millions of implants) by creating a system that does automated control implants by groups instead of individually."
  • The scaling process, according to Greenwald, started in 2004, when the NSA operated only 100 to 150 software implants. The number of implants used in the years between 2010 to 2012, by contrast, is described as numbering in the tens of thousands.
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Snowden: I raised NSA concerns internally over 10 times before going rogue - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...er-10-times-before-going-rogue technology nsa Snowden yourrights security spying surveillance 2014 indienationnews legal law rogue
shared by John Lemke on 10 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Snowden wrote that he reported policy or legal issues related to spying programs to more than 10 officials, but as a contractor he had no legal avenue to pursue further whistleblowing.
  • Yes. I had reported these clearly problematic programs to more than ten distinct officials, none of whom took any action to address them. As an employee of a private company rather than a direct employee of the US government, I was not protected by US whistleblower laws, and I would not have been protected from retaliation and legal sanction for revealing classified information about lawbreaking in accordance with the recommended process.
  • lsewhere in his testimony, Snowden described the reaction he received when relating his concer
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Genetically engineered white blood cells could be the future of HIV treatment | The Verge - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...-cells-future-of-hiv-treatment 2014 cells hiv treatment genetics medicien
shared by John Lemke on 06 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Scientists have successfully modified the white blood cells of 12 patients living with HIV, making their cells resistant to the retrovirus and improving the study participants' overall ability to fight off infection. The researchers achieved this result through a gene editing technique, described today in
  • Unlike the child who went into HIV remission a year ago, the patients in this study continue to test positive for HIV. But the results of this Phase I clinical trial still represent a promising debut for HIV treatments involving tailored gene therapy, as the white blood cells persisted for nearly a year after transfusion.
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F-Secure: Android accounted for 97% of all mobile malware in 2013, but only 0.1% of tho... - 0 views

thenextweb.com/...e-malware-2013-0-1-google-play 2014 indienationnews mobile malware google android
shared by John Lemke on 05 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Android threats are primarily a non-US problem
  • F-Secure believes it would be incorrect to say that “Google hasn’t been actively making efforts to increase the security of the Android platform.”
  • At the very bottom of the list was Google Play itself, with the lowest percentage of malware in the gathered samples: 0.1 percent. F-Secure also noted that “the Play Store is most likely to promptly remove nefarious applications, so malware encountered there tends to have a short shelf life.”
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Uroburos Rootkit: Most sophisticated 3-year-old Russian Cyber Espionage Campaign - The ... - 0 views

thehackernews.com/...tkit-most-sophisticated-3.html rootkit russian espionage 2014 indienationnews hacker technology tech security malware
shared by John Lemke on 05 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • The researchers claimed that the malware may have been active for as long as three years before being discovered and appears to have been created by Russian developers.
  • The two main components of Uroburos are - a driver and an encrypted virtual file system, used to disguise its nasty activities and to try to avoid detection. Its driver part is extremely complex and is designed to be very discrete and very difficult to identify.
  • The virtual file system can’t be decrypted without the presence of drivers, according to the Gdata’s analysis explained in the PDF.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • we assume that the group behind Uroburos is the same group that performed a cyberattack against the United States of America in 2008 with a malware called Agent.BTZ
  • The attacks carried out with Uroburos are targeting government institutions, research institutions, intelligence agencies, nation states, research institutions or companies dealing with sensitive information as well as similar high-profile targets. The oldest drivers identified by the researchers was compiled in 2011 is the evidence that the malware was created around three years ago and was undetected.
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Keurig Will Use DRM In New Coffee Maker To Lock Out Refill Market | Techdirt - 0 views

www.techdirt.com/...o-lock-out-refill-market.shtml coffee lock market 2014 indienationnews technology tech
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • The plan was confirmed by Keurig's CEO who stated on a recent earnings call that the new maker indeed won't work with "unlicensed" pods as part of an effort to deliver "game-changing performance." "Keurig 2.0" is expected to launch this fall. French Press and pour-over manufacturers like Chemex have plenty of time to get their thank you notes to Keurig in the mail ahead of time as users are hopefully nudged toward the realization they could be drinking much better coffee anyway
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Microsoft's OneDrive For Business Throws Down Gauntlet For Box, Dropbox | TechCrunch - 0 views

techcrunch.com/...-down-gauntlet-for-box-dropbox techcrunch microsoft business dropbox 2014 indienationnews tech technology
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • be unshackled from its other services, and sold as a standalone cloud storage solution for corporate customers. 
  • Now, with OneDrive for Business — the new SkyDrive Pro — Microsoft is selling cloud storage directly to businesses, no other strings attached. If you don’t want to buy into an Office-as-a-service contract, you can still buy cloud storage from Microsoft.
  • Microsoft is offering a deep discount — 50 percent
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Dropbox has raised $607 million. Box has raised $414 million. That’s more than a billion for just two players in the market.
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Google launches the Android-based Open Automotive Alliance with Audi, Honda, GM, and mo... - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...iance-android-car-announcement 2014 Google automobiles technology software android indienationnews
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • GM, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, and will focus on bringing the successful mobile operating system to in-car entertainment systems
  • planned for launch by the end of 2014.
  • Sync system found in Fords is based on Microsoft technology
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Car companies don't appear to be choosing just one partner either — Honda is already involved in Apple's efforts, while, Chevrolet, a division of Google's newly announced partner GM, recently demonstrated an app store and in-car interface for its 2015 lineup.
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Apple CarPlay debuts with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo | Technology | theguardian.com - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...ay-ferrari-mercedes-benz-volvo 2014 apple ferrari volvo technology automobiles iOS software indienationnews tech
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo as the first partners to build it into their vehicles.
  • connect iPhones into in-car information and entertainment systems
  • in-car equivalent to Apple’s AirPlay technology in the living room.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The company said today it also has deals with 13 more manufacturers to integrate CarPlay in the future: BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp.
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Scientists can now control flies' brains with lasers | The Verge - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...ntrol-flies-brains-with-lasers research indinenation news science biology
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • A laser beam can alter a fly’s behavior and make it mate with just about anything — even a ball of wax, according to scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The researchers have developed an experiment which involves shining an infrared laser directly at the head of a fly whose brain has been altered using heat-activated proteins. This alteration allows the laser, dubbed the "Fly Mind-Altering Device" (FlyMAD), to activate specific neurons involved in mating.
  • behavioral modification was so strong that it persisted for about 15 minutes after the laser was turned off.
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Robert Duncan Begins Prison Sentence For Working In Legal Medical Pot Shop - 0 views

www.huffingtonpost.com/...robert-duncan_n_4887520.html prison sentence pot medical 2014
shared by John Lemke on 03 Mar 14 - No Cached
  • Duncan does not have a background in the marijuana industry, and only began working for the dispensary after being laid off from a more traditional sales job as the economy soured. After the raid, he returned to mainstream employment and up until recently was a sales manager at a Bay Area merchandising company; Duncan told The Huffington Post that he wouldn't have taken the pot job if the feds hadn't signaled that they'd steer clear of medical marijuana businesses that were in compliance with state laws."It was shortly after the federal government said it would not intervene if people followed state law," Duncan said. "We wanted to abide by the rules. None of us had criminal backgrounds. We’re all regular guys. The only reason we got into this was because the federal government said they wouldn’t intervene."
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Yahoo webcam images from millions of users intercepted by GCHQ | World news | theguardi... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...a-webcam-images-internet-yahoo 2014 spying yahoo cam images indienationnews law legal technology
shared by John Lemke on 27 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Britain's surveillance agency GCHQ, with aid from the US National Security Agency, intercepted and stored the webcam images of millions of internet users not suspected of wrongdoing, secret documents reveal.
  • between 2008 and 2010
  • Optic Nerve, the documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden show, began as a prototype in 2008 and was still active in 2012, according to an internal GCHQ wiki page accessed that year.The system, eerily reminiscent of the telescreens evoked in George Orwell's 1984, was used for experiments in automated facial recognition, to monitor GCHQ's existing targets, and to discover new targets of interest. Such searches could be used to try to find terror suspects or criminals making use of multiple, anonymous user IDs
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Optic Nerve was based on collecting information from GCHQ's huge network of internet cable taps, which was then processed and fed into systems provided by the NSA. Webcam information was fed into NSA's XKeyscore search tool, and NSA research was used to build the tool which identified Yahoo's webcam traffic.
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Amazon said to be negotiating Prime streaming music service | The Verge - 0 views

www.theverge.com/...-talks-music-streaming-service 2014 music Amazon streaming service indienationnews
shared by John Lemke on 27 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Last year, we reported that Amazon was talking to the labels about an on-demand music service, and Recode has essentially confirmed that a dialog is ongoing.
  • At this point, the novelty of music streaming services has largely worn off, but Amazon's business approach could prove interesting. Just as it does with movies and TV shows, the company would likely include music streaming as part your Amazon Prime subscription. And while all of that content may seem like a lot when you factor in Prime's $79 fee, Amazon has recently said it's considering upping the annual cost by as much as $40. Having both music and video at your fingertips could help make a price hike easier to swallow.
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Paul Foot award: Guardian wins special investigation prize for Snowden files | Media | ... - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...t-award-guardian-snowden-files 2014 indienationnews guardian award Paul Foot Award Snowden
shared by John Lemke on 26 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Guardian journalists have been recognised at the Paul Foot award 2013 for their work on the investigation into what files leaked by Edward Snowden revealed about the extent of mass surveillance by British and US intelligence agencies.
  • The £2,000 special investigation award,
  • Private Eye and the Guardian set up the Paul Foot award in 2005 in memory of the campaigning journalist, who died in 2004.
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  • Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye, said: "The results of the Paul Foot award are a closely kept secret. Unless you work in GCHQ when you presumably have known for weeks. However what is not a secret is how impressive the entries are this year, how resilient investigative journalism is proving to be and how optimistic this made the judges feel."
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Caphaw Banking Malware Distributed via YouTube Ads - The Hacker News - 0 views

thehackernews.com/...alware-distributed-via_24.html technology 2014 malware youtube ads indienationnews tech security
shared by John Lemke on 25 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • The Exploitation process relied upon a Java vulnerability (CVE-2013-2460) and after getting dropped into the target computer system, the malware detects the Java version installed on the operating system and based upon it requests the suitable exploit.
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How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputatio... - 0 views

firstlook.org/...jtrig-manipulation NSA GCHQ 2014 misinformation psyops surveillance spying espinoge yourrights indienationnews law
shared by John Lemke on 25 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.”
  • Among the core self-identified purposes of JTRIG are two tactics: (1) to inject all sorts of false material onto the internet in order to destroy the reputation of its targets; and (2) to use social sciences and other techniques to manipulate online discourse and activism to generate outcomes it considers desirable. To see how extremist these programs are, just consider the tactics they boast of using to achieve those ends: “false flag operations” (posting material to the internet and falsely attributing it to someone else), fake victim blog posts (pretending to be a victim of the individual whose reputation they want to destroy), and posting “negative information” on various forums. 
  • Critically, the “targets” for this deceit and reputation-destruction extend far beyond the customary roster of normal spycraft: hostile nations and their leaders, military agencies, and intelligence services. In fact, the discussion of many of these techniques occurs in the context of using them in lieu of “traditional law enforcement” against people suspected (but not charged or convicted) of ordinary crimes or, more broadly still, “hacktivism”, meaning those who use online protest activity for political ends. The title page of one of these documents reflects the agency’s own awareness that it is “pushing the boundaries” by using “cyber offensive” techniques against people who have nothing to do with terrorism or national security threats, and indeed, centrally involves law enforcement agents who investigate ordinary crimes:
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 25 Feb 14
       
      Wow, how is not changing pictures and creating false victims not identity theft and conspiracy?  
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • it is not difficult to see how dangerous it is to have secret government agencies being able to target any individuals they want – who have never been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crimes – with these sorts of online, deception-based tactics of reputation destruction and disruption.
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 25 Feb 14
       
      Not only are you now guilty until proven innocent but, if you are guilty enough, we shall create a situation so that you are.
  • Government plans to monitor and influence internet communications, and covertly infiltrate online communities in order to sow dissension and disseminate false information, have long been the source of speculation. Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein, a close Obama adviser and the White House’s former head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote a controversial paper in 2008 proposing that the US government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-”independent” advocates to “cognitively infiltrate” online groups and websites, as well as other activist groups. Sunstein also proposed sending covert agents into “chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups” which spread what he views as false and damaging “conspiracy theories” about the government. Ironically, the very same Sunstein was recently named by Obama to serve as a member of the NSA review panel created by the White House, one that – while disputing key NSA claims – proceeded to propose many cosmetic reforms to the agency’s powers (most of which were ignored by the President who appointed them).
    • John Lemke
      John Lemke on 25 Feb 14
       
      So one of the guys who advocates this and approves of it, gets to be on the NSA review committee?  Isn't that like Ted Kennedy on the Ethics Review Committee or the Warren Commission?
  • Whatever else is true, no government should be able to engage in these tactics: what justification is there for having government agencies target people – who have been charged with no crime – for reputation-destruction, infiltrate online political communities, and develop techniques for manipulating online discourse? But to allow those actions with no public knowledge or accountability is particularly unjustifiable.
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Rep. Goodlatte Slips Secret Change Into Phone Unlocking Bill That Opens The DMCA Up For... - 0 views

www.techdirt.com/...t-new-copyright-problems.shtml 2014 unlocking cell phone DMCA copyright Section 1201 technology law legal yourrights writeabout wroteatindienation indienationnews IN-Pub
shared by John Lemke on 25 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Because of section 1201 of the DMCA, the "anti-circumvention" provision, companies have been abusing copyright law to block all sorts of actions that are totally unrelated to copyright. That's because 1201 makes it illegal to circumvent basically any "technological protection measures." The intent of the copyright maximalists was to use this section to stop people from breaking DRM. However, other companies soon distorted the language to argue that it could be used to block certain actions totally unrelated to copyright law -- such as unlocking garage doors, ink jet cartridges, gaming accessories... and phones
  • Separately, every three years, the Librarian of Congress gets to announce "exemptions" to section 1201 where it feels that things are being locked up that shouldn't be. Back in 2006, one of these exemptions involved mobile phone unlocking.
  • Every three years this exemption was modified a bit, but in 2012, for unexplained reasons, the Librarian of Congress dropped that exemption entirely, meaning that starting in late January of 2013, it was possible to interpret the DMCA to mean that phone unlocking was illegal. In response to this there was a major White House petition -- which got over 100,000 signatures, leading the White House to announce (just weeks later) that it thought unlocking should be legal -- though, oddly, it seemed to place the issue with the FCC to fix, rather than recognizing the problem was with current copyright law.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • While this gives Goodlatte and other maximalists some sort of plausible deniability that this bill is making no statement one way or the other on bulk unlocking, it certainly very strongly implies that Congress believes bulk unlocking is, in fact, still illegal. And that's massively problematic on any number of levels, in part suggesting that the unlocker's motives in unlocking has an impact on the determination under Section 1201 as to whether or not it's legal. And that's an entirely subjective distinction when a bill seems to assume motives, which makes an already problematic Section 1201 much more problematic. Without that clause, this seemed like a bill that was making it clear that you can't use the DMCA to interfere with an issue that is clearly unrelated to copyright, such as phone unlocking. But with this clause, it suggests that perhaps the DMCA's anti-circumvention clause can be used for entirely non-copyright issues if someone doesn't like the "motive" behind the unlocker.
  • Unfortunately, the bill was deemed so uncontroversial that it's been listed on the suspension calendar of the House, which is where non-controversial bills are put to ensure quick passage. That means that, not only did Goodlatte slip in a significant change to this bill that impacts the entire meaning and intent of the bill long after it went through the committee process (and without informing anyone about it), but he also got it put on the list of non-controversial bills to try to have it slip through without anyone even noticing.
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Japanese company proposes to build solar power cells on the Moon to provide clean energ... - 0 views

spaceindustrynews.com/...4187 2014 japanese solar power energy earth space Moon indienationnews
shared by John Lemke on 24 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • the 11,000 mile Lunar equator
  • will beam microwave and laser energy to giant energy conversion facilities on Earth. These beams will travel to semiconductors and inverters which will convert that energy to clean electricity to the grid that will power households, businesses and factories.
  • Shimizu’s plan uses Earthly materials, ceramics, water, glass, concrete, oxygen and solar cells. They would not ship water from Earth, they will make user of the Moon’s own resources and reduce the lunar soil using hydrogen shipped from our planet and then extract the water for use in construction.
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NSA moves from bugging German Chancellor to bugging German ministers | Ars Technica - 0 views

arstechnica.com/...or-to-bugging-german-ministers 2014 nsa indienationnews law legal chancellor german
shared by John Lemke on 24 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Still, that moratorium on spying didn't extend beyond those world leaders, and Reuters, translating from the BamS source, writes that the source said, “We have had the order not to miss out on any information now that we are no longer able to monitor the chancellor's communication directly.” Specifically, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, one of Merkel's confidants, was called out as being a target of the NSA's increased spying efforts.
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