Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
IBM LOOKING AT ADOPTING BITCOIN TECHNOLOGY FOR MAJOR CURRENCIES
March 16th, 2015šÆ Via: Reuters: International Business Machines Corp is considering adopting the underlying technology behind bitcoin, known as the “blockchain,” to create a digital cash and payment system for major currencies, according to a person familiar with the matter. The objective is to allow people to transfer cash or make payments instantaneously using this technology without […]
New Barbie Doll Sends Speech from Children to Mattel Over Internet
March 12th, 2015Via: Washington Post: At a recent New York toy fair, a Mattel representative introduced the newest version of Barbie by saying: “Welcome to New York, Barbie.” The doll, named Hello Barbie, responded: “I love New York! Don’t you? Tell me, what’s your favorite part about the city? The food, fashion or the sights?” To revive […]
New Smoking Gun Further Ties NSA to Omnipotent “Equation Group” Hackers
March 11th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: Researchers from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab have uncovered more evidence tying the US National Security Agency to a nearly omnipotent group of hackers who operated undetected for at least 14 years. The Kaspersky researchers once again stopped short of saying the hacking collective they dubbed Equation Group was the handiwork of the NSA, […]
The CIA Helped Develop Planes that Scrape Cell Phone Data
March 10th, 2015Via: The Verge: The US may be using cellphone-sniffing planes to find suspects across the world, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. In November, the Journal revealed the US Marshal’s secret program to locate specific fugitive through airplane equipped to mimic cell towers. Flying over an urban area, the planes can […]
Disney’s Magic Band
March 10th, 2015A cautionary tale. Via: Wired: Will the world at large ever become something akin to Disney World, loaded with sensors attuned to our every move, designed to free us? There are signs. Itās already starting to appear on Disney cruise ships, and Staggs says airlines, sports leagues, and sports teams have asked about the technology. […]
The CIA Campaign to Steal Apple’s Secrets
March 10th, 2015Via: First Look: RESEARCHERS WORKING with the Central Intelligence Agency have conducted a multi-year, sustained effort to break the security of Appleās iPhones and iPads, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Intercept. The security researchers presented their latest tactics and achievements at a secret annual gathering, called the āJamboree,ā where attendees discussed strategies for […]
New Zealand Prime Minister Retracts Vow To Resign if Mass Surveillance Is Shown
March 10th, 2015Shocker. Via: First Look: So now that itās proven that New Zealand does exactly that which Prime Minister Key vowed would cause him to resign if it were proven, is he preparing his resignation speech? No: thatās something a political official with a minimal amount of integrity would do. Instead ā even as he now […]
Newly Released Snowden Documents Related to New Zealand
March 4th, 2015We know more of the operational names and technical details than in past years, but Hager let the world know this was happening back in 1996: Secret Power. Via: New Zealand Herald: New Zealand is “selling out” its close relations with the Pacific nations to be close with the United States, author Nicky Hager has […]
‘FREAK’ Flaw Undermined Security for Apple and Google Users for Over a Decade
March 3rd, 2015Via: Washington Post: Technology companies are scrambling to fix a major security flaw that for more than a decade left users of Apple and Google devices vulnerable to hacking when they visited millions of supposedly secure Web sites, including Whitehouse.gov, NSA.gov and FBI.gov. The flaw resulted from a former U.S. government policy that forbade the […]
Are Your Devices Hardwired For Betrayal?
March 2nd, 2015Via: EFF: How Do We Fix It? Hardware manufacturers must take steps to address this problem before more firmware disasters comes to pass. In the past, hardware manufacturers have been more worried about physical and side-channel attacks. Manufacturers therefore focused mainly on making their hardware and firmware opaque and tamper-proof in hopes that, if no […]
