Investigation Into IMF Cyber Attack
June 12th, 2011In other news: Hacker Groups Thoroughly Infiltrated by Government
Via: RTE:
The FBI is helping the International Monetary Fund investigate a cyber attack on its computer systems.
It is understood the breach was designed to install software which would create a ‘digital insider presence’.
The IMF, which holds sensitive economic data about many countries, said its operations were fully functional.
A cybersecurity expert who has worked for both the IMF and the World Bank said the intruders’ goal had been to install software that would give a nation state a ‘digital insider presence’ on the IMF network.
Such a presence could yield a trove of non-public economic data used by the Fund to promote exchange rate stability, support balanced international trade and provide resources to remedy members’ balance-of-payments crises.
‘It was a targeted attack,’ said Tom Kellerman, who has worked for both international financial institutions and who serves on the board of a group known as the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance.
The code used in the IMF incident was developed specifically for the attack on the institution, said Mr Kellerman.
Italian Politician ‘Bloodied’ Sneaking Into Bilderberg Hotel
June 12th, 2011Via: TheLocal:
Italian MEP Mario Borghezio was reportedly given a bloody nose on Thursday as he attempted to sneak into the secretive Bilderberg conference in St. Moritz.
Borghezio, of right-wing Italian party Lega Nord, was reportedly with another Italian as he attempted to infiltrate the luxury Suvretta House hotel where the conference is taking place.
Borghezio was blocked by guards from the security firm Securitas, who then called in the Swiss police. After having their identities checked, the two Italians were told they could not enter the building.
But according to the Italian news agency ANSA, Borghezio’s nose was bloodied during the altercation with the security guards. He told the agency he intends to press charges.
Swiss police spokesman Thomas Hobi said, “We don’t comment on the work of private security firms,” before adding that the police was not at liberty to even confirm the identities of the two men, because of data protection laws.
In a separate incident, two Swiss men were detained near the conference because “several suspicious items” were found in their car.
Hobi said that “for tactical reasons,” the police did not want to give any more information on the objects, but it is understood they initially suspected explosives. A security cordon was set up around the car while forensic specialists investigated the objects.
The items in the car were eventually judged to be harmless, though both men have been turned over to state police.
The annual Bilderberg meeting, which gathers over 100 of the world’s political and economic leaders, are usually secured by a tight police presence.
Bitcoin: Spectacular Slaughter
June 12th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Update: 20.20
—End Update—
Update: Bounce Off MtgoxUSD 10.25
It hit a low of 10.25 and is currently trading at 16.08 x 16.32.
—End Update—
The public participation phase of bitcoin was the most spectacular I’ve ever seen—with the typical, disastrous results for latecomers.
What we see here is a standard BARF frenzy.
Now, there is some support around mtgoxUSD 10. Supporting factors include the trend line connecting earlier pivot lows and the 50-day EMA. This would be the first opportunity to try to catch the falling knife.
If 10 breaks down, and that trend line, however, it will be a matter of watching volumes for signs of seller exhaustion.
Bitcoin Daily Interval
Cedar Falls Demands Keys to All Commercial Properties (Including Rental Homes and Apartments) to Be Placed in Lock Boxes That City Employees Can Access
June 12th, 2011Research Credit: EB
U.S. Special Ops Troops Deployed in Mexico, Leaked Briefing Confirms
June 11th, 2011Via: Narcosphere:
A Pentagon document has come to light that confirms the U.S. has put special operations troops on the ground in Mexico as the drug war there continues to escalate, notching some 40,000 murders since late 2006.
The document is a Department of Defense briefing presented in mid-May 2009 in Washington, D.C., to a group of business and political leaders from northwest Florida. The “Unclassified/For Official Use Only” briefing reveals the 18 Latin American nations where 7th Special Forces Group soldiers [Airborne Green Berets] were deployed as of fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, 2009.
Among those nations, according to the briefing document, was Mexico.
The document also indicates a 7th Special Forces unit was deployed in Mexico in 1996 as well, as part of a “counter-narcotics” mission.
The revelations in the briefing material are important because, to date, neither the Pentagon nor the State Department has confirmed that U.S. special forces have been deployed inside Mexico — a politically volatile subject in that Latin American nation given the rising drug-war death toll there and the “Yankee” history of U.S. Gunboat Diplomacy in the region.
Research Credit: ottilie
School Surveillance: How Big Brother Spies On Pupils
June 11th, 2011Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse by Annette Fuentes
Via: Guardian:
‘Every day in communities across the United States, children and adolescents spend the majority of their waking hours in schools that increasingly have come to resemble places of detention more than places of learning. From metal detectors to drug tests, from increased policing to all-seeing electronic surveillance, the schools of the 21st century reflect a society that has become fixated on crime, security and violence.”
So reads a passage from the opening pages of Lockdown High, a new book by the San Francisco-based journalist Annette Fuentes. Subtitled “When the schoolhouse becomes the jailhouse”, it tells a story that decisively began with the Columbine shootings of 1999, and from across the US, the text cites cases that are mind-boggling: a high-flying student from Arizona strip-searched because ibuprofen was not allowed under her school rules; the school in Texas where teachers can carry concealed handguns; and, most amazingly of all, the Philadelphia school that gave its pupils laptops equipped with a secret feature allowing them to be spied on outside classroom hours.
Just about all the schools Fuentes writes about are united by a belief in that most pernicious of principles, “zero tolerance”. Their scanners, cameras and computer applications are supplied by a US security industry that seems to grow bigger and more insatiable every year. And as she sees it, their neurotic emphasis on security has plenty of negative results: it renders the atmosphere in schools tense and fragile, and in coming down hard on young people for the smallest of transgressions, threatens to define their life chances at an early age – because, as she puts it, “suspensions and academic failure are strong predictors of entry into the criminal justice system”. There is also, of course, the small matter of personal privacy.
Tennessee Law Bans Posting Images that ‘Cause Emotional Distress’
June 10th, 2011Via: Ars Technica:
A new Tennessee law makes it a crime to “transmit or display an image” online that is likely to “frighten, intimidate or cause emotional distress” to someone who sees it. Violations can get you almost a year in jail time or up to $2500 in fines.
The Tennessee legislature has been busy updating its laws for the Internet age, and not always for the better. Last week we reported on a bill that updated Tennessee’s theft-of-service laws to include “subscription entertainment services” like Netflix.
The ban on distressing images, which was signed by Gov. Bill Haslam last week, is also an update to existing law. Tennessee law already made it a crime to make phone calls, send emails, or otherwise communicate directly with someone in a manner the sender “reasonably should know” would “cause emotional distress” to the recipient. If the communciation lacked a “legitimate purpose,” the sender faced jail time.
The new legislation adds images to the list of communications that can trigger criminal liability. But for image postings, the “emotionally distressed” individual need not be the intended recipient. Anyone who sees the image is a potential victim. If a court decides you “should have known” that an image you posted would be upsetting to someone who sees it, you could face months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
If you think that sounds unconstitutional, you’re not alone. In a blog post, constitutional scholar Eugene Volokh points out just how broad the legislation is. The law doesn’t require that the picture be of the “victim,” nor would the government need to prove that you intended the image to be distressing. Volokh points out that a wide variety of images, “pictures of Mohammed, or blasphemous jokes about Jesus Christ, or harsh cartoon insults of some political group,” could “cause emotional distress to a similarly situated person of reasonable sensibilities,” triggering liability. He calls the bill “pretty clearly unconstitutional.”
The New, NEW Transparency: NSA Declassifies 200 Year-Old Book
June 10th, 2011Via: Wired:
A cryptology instruction book… 202 years old. A photograph of the U.S. Army’s cypher bureau… from 1919. A breakdown of Russian electoral districts… circa 1948. Schematics for a magnetic tape memory system… nearly half a century old.
These are just some of the items that, had you seen them, would have irreparably damaged U.S. national security. These are just a few of the documents, mere citizen, that for decades were far too sensitive for your uninitiated eyes.
At least, that’s what the American intelligence community would have you believe. Earlier this week, the National Security Agency announced that it had declassified and released to the National Archives “over 50,000 pages of historic records,” according to an agency statement. The document dump was “the first in a series of releases planned over the next two years” as part of NSA’s “commitment” to comply with President Obama’s January, 2009 memo demanding more transparency from federal agencies. Last month, the CIA released a trove of allegedly-explosive information from World War I, including the 90 year-old German formula for invisible ink.
Drake Strikes Plea Bargain
June 10th, 2011Related: The Secret Sharer
Via: AP:
A federal judge in Baltimore dismissed Espionage Act charges against a former official with the National Security Agency accused of leaking classified documents, accepting his guilty plea to a single misdemeanor.
Thomas Drake’s plea deal pleased civil-liberties advocates but is a setback for the Obama administration’s effort to crack down on leakers. The administration is pursuing charges against four other accused government leakers under the Act, regarded by critics as vague and overbroad.
The 54-year-old Drake pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to the unauthorized use of a government computer and the government dropped 10 felony counts.
The lesser charge carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. But the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocacy group, said it expects the prosecution to recommend Drake spend no time in prison nor pay a fine.
Hillary Clinton to Run World Bank?
June 10th, 2011Via: Telegraph:
Hillary Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about stepping down from her job as Secretary of State to become head of the World Bank, according to reports.
Mrs Clinton, the former First Lady, Senator for New York and rival to President Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary race, is said to be eager to become the first female president of the World Bank should the post become vacant next year.
“Hillary Clinton wants the job,” a source close to Mrs Clinton told Reuters, which broke the news of the possible move.
Robert Zoellick, a former Bush administration official, is believed to be ready to step down as president at the end of his term in the middle of next year.
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More: Denials
Via: AFP:
Top US administration officials vehemently denied suggestions Thursday that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in talks to lead the World Bank.
“It’s 100 percent untrue,” Philippe Reines, a close advisor to Clinton, told AFP.
“To be crystal clear,” he added in a second statement, “Secretary Clinton has not had any conversations with the president, the White House or anyone about moving to the World Bank.
“She has expressed absolutely no interest in the job. She would not take it if offered.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney also chipped in, saying: “The story is completely untrue.”
