security

$652 million project ‘GENIE’: U.S. conducted 231 ‘offensive cyberoperations’

"The revelation is based on a classified intelligence budget provided to the paper by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, as well as on interviews. Under a $652 million project code-named 'GENIE,' US specialists hack foreign computer networks to secretly put them under American control. This involves placing 'covert implants' in computers, routers and firewalls, it said, adding that by year’s end 'GENIE' is projected to control at least 85,000 'malware' plug-ins in machines around the globe. US intelligence services make 'routine use' of government-constructed malware around the globe that 'differs little in function from the ‘advanced persistent threats’ that US officials attribute to China.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading$652 million project ‘GENIE’: U.S. conducted 231 ‘offensive cyberoperations’

UK Asked New York Times To Destroy Edward Snowden Documents, Request Ignored

"The British government has asked the New York Times to destroy copies of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden related to the operations of the U.S. spy agency and its British partner, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), people familiar with the matter said. The British request, made to Times executive editor Jill Abramson by a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., was greeted by Abramson with silence, according to the sources. British officials indicated they intended to follow up on their request later with the Times, but never did, one of the sources said." Continue reading →

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Syrian Electronic Army: If U.S. Attacks ‘We Will Target All of It’

"I contacted the group — or at least the people claiming to be part of the group — to ask a few questions and exchanged a series of emails with them. In response, the group followed me on Twitter and responded to one of my direct messages. This only proves the same people that control the Twitter account also control syrian.es.sy@gmail.com. Below, I pasted my full email correspondence with the group. My questions are printed in bold text. The answers from the alleged Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) representatives are completely unedited." Continue reading →

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Deadly Cyberattacks Highlight the Need for a Cybersecurity Upgrade

"The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydro-dam disaster was a cyberattack. You can characterize it as an accident in the nature of 'friendly fire.' But overall, this cascading wave of destruction was triggered by a bad computer command. Sayano-Shushenskaya demonstrates the immense scope of destruction that can come from cyberattacks. Indeed, per Gen. Alexander, only nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction can cause more damage, faster, over wider areas. [..] In a speech at the National Press Club, Napolitano stated that the U.S. 'will, at some point, face a major cyber event that will have a serious effect on our lives, our economy and the everyday functioning of our society.'" Continue reading →

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Hacker: US government tricked Anonymous into attacking foreign targets

"Just as a former member of Anonymous accuses the United States government of coercing hackers to do their dirty work in America’s cyberwars, the sentencing hearing for the group’s alleged ex-ringleader has been mysteriously delayed yet again. News has surfaced that the hacker-turned-informant who compromised the underground movement for the FBI and helped facilitate Hammond’s arrest will remain free for now. Hector Xavier Monsegur, a single father from New York involved with a number of high-profile hacks carried out by Anonymous and its offshoots, pleaded guilty to a dozen criminal counts two years prior and stands to face more a maximum sentence of more than 124 years." Continue reading →

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Snowden reveals US intelligence’s black budget: $52.6 billion on secret programs

"Despite the hefty cost of operating the secret operations amid sequestration, excerpts from the summary leaked by Snowden show that the US still has significant setbacks keeping it from achieving its intelligence goals. For one, the disclosure in and of itself demonstrates the intelligence community’s inability to prevent sensitive information from being leaked. For those nations of upmost interest, the intelligence community is investing heavily on 'offensive cyber operations' launched by the CIA and NSA to hack foreign competitors, steal data and sabotage servers, at a time when, domestically, so-called cybercriminals are prosecuted at an alarming rate for comparably less harsh crimes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden reveals US intelligence’s black budget: $52.6 billion on secret programs

A Finicky Thief of the Finest Silver Is Arrested Again

"Even before someone carefully removed a windowpane from a secluded Buckhead home here one rainy June night and slipped away with a 1734 silver mug that had belonged to George II, it was clear to detectives that a meticulous thief with a singular obsession was stealing the great silver pieces of the Old South. For months, exquisite sterling silver collections had been disappearing, taken in the dead of night from historic homes in Charleston and Belle Meade, Tenn. The police did not at first connect the thefts, some of which initially went unnoticed even by the owners. But as the burglaries piled up, a retired New Jersey detective watching reports on the Internet recognized a familiar pattern." Continue reading →

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How to Hide Your Gold and Silver

"Taking physical delivery of your gold or silver is often the most rewarding part of the purchasing experience, as it gives you, the bullion investor, a fuller understanding of the real value of tangible monetary assets. Like many of our bullion customers, we typically choose to take physcial delivery first and then secondly store additional purchases of gold and silver at one of the many segregated gold vault and silver storage locations we offer. Because we are such proponents of taking physical delivery first, we have compiled a few creative storage solutions based on voluntary, anonymous, customer feedback." Continue reading →

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New Snowden Leak Reports ‘Groundbreaking’ NSA Crypto-Cracking

"The Post’s article doesn’t detail the 'groundbreaking cryptanalytic capabilities' Clapper mentions, and there’s no elaboration in the portion of the document published by the paper. But the document shows that 21 percent of the intelligence budget — around $11 billion — is dedicated to the Consolidated Cryptologic Program that staffs 35,000 employees in the NSA and the armed forces. Last year James Bamford reported that the NSA secretly made some sort of 'enormous breakthrough' in cryptanalysis several years earlier. The leaked budget document is the first published Snowden leak to touch upon the question of how safe routinely encrypted traffic is from cutting-edge nation-state spying." Continue reading →

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Obamacare is About to Get More Personal

"Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and a dozen other state attorneys general asked U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to implement more stringent privacy requirements and safeguards on these so-called navigators. Who is in charge of monitoring these navigators? Who will be liable if someone’s identity is stolen? And who is responsible for alerting the American public about fraud prevention? Bondi said that the HHS is making it easier for your private information to fall into the wrong hands by cutting back on employee background checks and eliminating a fingerprinting requirement for navigators and those that work with them." Continue reading →

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