Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
Snowden Pulled Off NSA Document Heist—Using Oldest Trick in the Book?
November 8th, 2013Two-step verification? Via: Reuters: Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden used login credentials and passwords provided unwittingly by colleagues at a spy base in Hawaii to access some of the classified material he leaked to the media, sources said. A handful of agency employees who gave their login details to Snowden were identified, […]
iPads Banned from Cabinet Meetings Over Surveillance Fears
November 6th, 2013Oh yeah, China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. *wink* In other news: NSA Can Access Data on All Smartphones Via: Telegraph: The securities services fear foreign intelligence agencies have developed the ability to turn mobile devices such as phones and tablets into bugs without the owner’s knowledge, allowing them to eavesdrop on confidential meetings. iPads were […]
Britain: Face-Scanning Screens That Can Determine Your Age and Gender
November 5th, 2013Via: Vice: Next time you absent-mindedly watch the ads as you’re waiting to pay for a tank of gas, they might be watching you back. Digital advertising company Amscreen (a division of Alan Sugar’s Amshold) has announced a deal with British supermarket giant Tesco to roll out its OptimEyes technology across their 450 petrol forecourts. […]
FBI Seeks Video Recognition Technology to Automatically ID Suspects
November 5th, 2013Via: Nextgov: The FBI is weighing the use of video recognition technology to quickly identify suspects, even if all the camera has captured is a perpetrator’s limp or fraying blue baseball cap. Think of it as automated police lineups for the YouTube generation. While investigators manually scoured video to identify the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, […]
Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly
November 4th, 2013Via: New York Times: The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include records like car registrations and employment information. While the agency says that the goal is to streamline the security procedures for millions […]
It’s All E-Commerce Now
November 4th, 2013Via: MIT Technology Review: “Omnichannel” is a buzzword that describes a survival strategy. Threatened by the growth of low-cost online merchants, traditional retailers are reacting by following customers onto the Internet. Macy’s does it as well as any. On its website, it installs 24 different tracking cookies on a visitor’s browser. On TV, it runs […]
Son of Blackbird: SR-72, Mach 6 Reconnaissance and Strike Drone
November 2nd, 2013I wonder if everyone in the U.S. will be on food stamps by the time this thing takes to the air: Food banks across the country, stretched thin in the aftermath of the recession, are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of cuts to the federal food stamp program. Food […]
Slow and Steady Progress Toward Lethal Autonomous Robots
October 31st, 2013This piece is a good summary of what’s happening in the field of military robotics. I’m pretty sure that all of the systems here have been covered separately on Cryptogon. Via: Vocativ: There are important differences between drones, landmines, and “killer robots” — the more serious term being “fully autonomous weapon,” or “lethal autonomous weapon” […]
SSL Added and Removed Here! :)
October 30th, 2013And if they rely on SSL, well, that’s ok for buying a book online, but no tinfoiler in his right mind would bet his life on SSL. —The Ugly Truth About Online Anonymity What’s the difference between Paranoid Conspiracy Theorist and I told You So? About six years. Via: Washington Post: The National Security Agency […]
Another Google Barge Spotted on East Coast
October 29th, 2013If there was a list of Cryptogon axioms, #1 would probably be: No collapse due to energy scarcity. I’ve gone into why for many years, so feel free to look through the archives. Terawatts of untapped energy are just swirling around out there in the oceans, waiting to turn the gears of fascism. It was […]
