Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
Australian PM Calls for End-to-End Encryption Ban, Says the Laws of Mathematics Don’t Apply Down Under
July 15th, 2017#comedygold Via: EFF: “The laws of mathematics are very commendable but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia”, said Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today. He has been rightly mocked for this nonsense claim, that foreshadows moves to require online messaging providers to provide law enforcement with back door access […]
China Tells Carriers to Block Access to Personal VPNs
July 11th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: China’s government has told telecommunications carriers to block individuals’ access to virtual private networks by Feb. 1, people familiar with the matter said, thereby shutting a major window to the global internet. Beijing has ordered state-run telecommunications firms, which include China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, to bar people from using VPNs, […]
Genetically-Modified Cyborg Dragonfly Drone
July 10th, 2017Via: Popular Mechanics: DragonflEye was created by genetically modifying regular dragonflies with “steering neurons” in the insect’s spinal cord, which are light sensitive. Tiny, fiber-optic-like structures in the dragonfly’s eyes send pulses of light to their brains, functionally controlling where the insect flies via remote control. The dragonfly also carries a miniature “backpack” with sensors […]
Facebook’s Company Town
July 7th, 2017Via: Mercury News: Aiming to address long-neglected community needs and to accommodate its burgeoning workforce, Facebook has proposed a vast expansion of its Menlo Park campus. The new campus would include several office buildings, hundreds of homes, retail, a grocery store, and parks and plazas, all part of what the social network giant envisions as […]
Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook Can Play a Role that Churches and Little League Once Filled
June 27th, 2017I’ll see you down at Reverend Wayne’s Pearly Gates. Via: CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook groups to play an important role that community groups like churches and Little League teams used to perform: Bringing communities together. And with nearly 2 billion people around the world on Facebook today, he might have a chance to make […]
Brutal Kangaroo: CIA Malware for Air Gapped Systems
June 24th, 2017Via: WikiLeaks: Today, June 22nd 2017, WikiLeaks publishes documents from the Brutal Kangaroo project of the CIA. Brutal Kangaroo is a tool suite for Microsoft Windows that targets closed networks by air gap jumping using thumbdrives. Brutal Kangaroo components create a custom covert network within the target closed network and providing functionality for executing surveys, […]
Google Will Stop Reading Your Emails for Gmail Ads
June 24th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: Google is stopping one of the most controversial advertising formats: ads inside Gmail that scan users’ email contents. The decision didn’t come from Google’s ad team, but from its cloud unit, which is angling to sign up more corporate customers. Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud sells a package of office software, called G Suite, […]
Facial Recognition Is Coming to U.S. Airports, Fast-Tracked by Trump
June 21st, 2017Via: The Verge: Soon, it may be hard for visa holders to board an international flight without submitting to a facial geometry scan. Customs and Border Protection began testing facial recognition systems at Dulles Airport in 2015, then expanded the tests to New York’s JFK Airport last year. Face-reading check-in kiosks will be appearing at […]
Booz Allen Hamilton: Federal Civil and Criminal Probe in Connection with Its Finances
June 15th, 2017Via: NBC: Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton sank as much as 13 percent in after-hours trading after the government services firm revealed in a regulatory filing it was the subject of a federal civil and criminal probe in connection with its finances. Last year, the company derived 97 percent of its revenue from U.S. government […]
Japan Passes Controversial Bill Boosting Surveillance Powers
June 15th, 2017Via: Bloomberg: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government passed controversial legislation that gives prosecutors the power to monitor and arrest people in the planning stages of crimes. As dawn broke in Tokyo on Thursday, bleary-eyed lawmakers voted to pass the so-called anti-conspiracy bill, which the government says is needed to bolster counter-terrorism precautions ahead of […]
