Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
Cops Say They Can Access Encrypted Emails on So-Called PGP BlackBerrys
January 13th, 2016Via: Vice: Dutch investigators have confirmed to Motherboard that they are able to read encrypted messages sent on PGP BlackBerry phones—custom, security-focused BlackBerry devices that come complete with an encrypted email feature, and which reportedly may be used by organized criminal groups. “We are capable of obtaining encrypted data from BlackBerry PGP devices,” Tuscha Essed, […]
Attacks on Just Nine Substations in U.S. Could Cause Blackout Across Entire Grid
January 11th, 2016Via: Information Week: Turns out free and publicly available information can be used to determine the most critical electric substations in the US, which if attacked, could result in a nationwide blackout. Remember that million-dollar Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) study in 2013 that found that attacks on just nine electric substations in the US […]
Your Threat Score
January 10th, 2016Via: Washington Post: As a national debate has played out over mass surveillance by the National Security Agency, a new generation of technology such as the Beware software being used in Fresno has given local law enforcement officers unprecedented power to peer into the lives of citizens. Police officials say such tools can provide critical […]
Lily Tang Williams: “Common Core Is The Communist Core I Went Through In China”
January 6th, 2016Via: Lily Tang Williams:
Microsoft Keeping Disk Encryption Keys for Those Signing Into Windows 10 Using Microsoft Accounts
December 29th, 2015Via: The Intercept: One of the excellent features of new Windows devices is that disk encryption is built-in and turned on by default, protecting your data in case your device is lost or stolen. But what is less well-known is that, if you are like most users and login to Windows 10 using your Microsoft […]
China: Sesame Credit
December 23rd, 2015Via: Extra Credits: China has gamified being an obedient citizen with the creation of Sesame Credit. The game links to your social network and gives you a score for doing things that the government approves of, but it also reduces that score for doing things the government disapproves of. Even your friends’ scores affect your […]
Probable Government Backdoors Found on Juniper Firewalls
December 19th, 2015Via: Wired: On Thursday, tech giant Juniper Networks revealed in a startling announcement that it had found “unauthorized” code embedded in an operating system running on some of its firewalls. The code, which appears to have been in multiple versions of the company’s ScreenOS software going back to at least August 2012, would have allowed […]
Wal-Mart Hires Lockheed Martin for “Intelligence Gathering” on Union Organizers
December 19th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: OUR Walmart, a group of employees backed and funded by a union, was asking for more full-time jobs with higher wages and predictable schedules. Officially they called themselves the Organization United for Respect at Walmart. Walmart publicly dismissed OUR Walmart as the insignificant creation of the United Food and Commercial Workers International (UFCW) […]
The Secret Surveillance Catalogue
December 18th, 2015Via: The Intercept: Concerned about the militarization of law enforcement, a source within the intelligence community has provided The Intercept with a secret, internal U.S. government catalogue of dozens of cellphone surveillance devices used by the military and by intelligence agencies. Some of the devices are already in use by federal law enforcement and local […]
Congress Snuck a Surveillance Bill Into the Federal Budget Last Night
December 18th, 2015StarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWarsStarWars Via: The Verge: After more than a year of stalemate, Congress has used an unconventional procedural measure to bring a controversial cybersurveillance bill to the floor. Late last night, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced a 2,000-page omnibus budget bill, a last-minute compromise necessary to prevent a government shutdown. But while the […]
