security

Now We Know Why Googling Pressure Cooker Bombs Gets a Visit from Cops

"Michele Catalano was looking for information online about pressure cookers. Her husband, in the same time frame, was Googling backpacks. Wednesday morning, six men from a joint terrorism task force showed up at their house to see if they were terrorists. Which prompts the question: How'd the government know what they were Googling? Because the Googling happened at work. One hundred times a week, groups of six armed men drive to houses in three black SUVs, conducting consented-if-casual searches of the property perhaps in part because of things people looked up online." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNow We Know Why Googling Pressure Cooker Bombs Gets a Visit from Cops

The Cloud Belongs to the NSA

"The market is already providing some safer alternatives. SpiderOak, a secure cloud storage company, has seen its rate of sign-ups nearly triple over the past month. SpiderOak says even its engineers are unable to decrypt your personal data, so it is stored safely, according to CSO Online. Many of these are startups or crowdfunded experiments and may be worth keeping an eye on. Apple is expected to announce improvements to its iCloud service soon. How larger companies deal with this may affect markets in interesting ways." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Cloud Belongs to the NSA

Think your password is secure from the NSA? Try this.

"Seven minutes. That’s how long it would take to crack one of the passwords I had been using for more than ten years, according to the crypto experts at Silent Circle. I’ve been using eight or ten different passwords for several years, some of them going back to my days as an intelligence officer. I had always thought they were secure– letters and numbers that I’ve been typing so long, they’re committed to muscle memory. But a few months ago when I signed up for my Silent Circle account, I was surprised to see the results when I tested one of my passwords against their crypto analysis tool. You can try it for yourself here." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThink your password is secure from the NSA? Try this.

In Newtown, Gun Permits Surge After Shooting

"The number of people seeking permits to buy guns has surged in this town following the December massacre of schoolchildren by a local man, even as the parents of some victims had urged stricter weapons laws nationwide. Through July 24, more than 200 people in Newtown have received new local pistol permits, according to a review of local records, surpassing the 171 new permits issued for all of last year. Such permits are prerequisites for Connecticut permits that allow people to purchase and carry pistols as well as rifles or shotguns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIn Newtown, Gun Permits Surge After Shooting

Cops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

"A divided federal appeals court ruled today that the government does not need a probable-cause warrant to access mobile-phone subscribers’ cell-site information, a decision reversing lower court decisions that said the location data was protected by the Fourth Amendment. The 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the third federal appeals court to decide the privacy issue. All the while, two federal appellate courts have now taken the government’s position that court warrants are not required for the location data. And a third federal appellate court said judges had the option to demand warrants." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCops Can Track Cellphones Without Warrants, Federal Appeals Court Rules

Bitcoin Is Not Quantum-Safe, And How We Can Fix It When Needed

"Given what is currently public knowledge, quantum computers are still far away; the most powerful quantum computer to date managed to use Shor’s algorithm to factor the number 21. However, we always need to have a plan of what we can do if Edward Snowden decides to leak out that the NSA has fully functional quantum computers hiding in a secret data center. We probably cannot handle such a sudden event, but we certainly can handle cases where we get even a month of advance warning. From there, we lick our wounds, pick up our losses and move on to enjoy some of the more wonderful things that quantum computing has to offer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Is Not Quantum-Safe, And How We Can Fix It When Needed

‘Hacker heroin frame plot’ foiled by security blogger

"A respected US-based internet security expert says he has foiled an attempt to frame him as a heroin dealer. Brian Krebs says the administrator of a Russian cybercrime forum hatched a plan to order heroin to his home, then tipped off the police, making it look as if the call had come from a neighbour's house. In March he was visited by a heavily armed police unit tricked into responding to a 911 call that had been made to look as if it originated from his home. Mr Krebs says he opened the front door to find a squad of policemen pointing a battery of guns at him. After being hand-cuffed and questioned, he managed to persuade the police they had been hoaxed." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Hacker heroin frame plot’ foiled by security blogger

Copper theft ‘like an epidemic’ sweeping US

"An electrical power station in Wichita, Kan., or half a dozen middle-class homes in Morris Township, N.J. Even on a Utah highway construction site, crooks managed to abscond with six miles of copper wire. Those are just a handful of recent targets across the U.S. in the $1 billion business of copper theft. The five leading states for the thefts are Ohio, Texas, Georgia, California and Illinois, the NICB said. The FBI says copper theft is 'threatening U.S. critical infrastructure by targeting electrical substations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes for lucrative profits.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCopper theft ‘like an epidemic’ sweeping US

Official: Cannes diamond heist actually nets $136M

"It even happened at a hotel that was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's jewel-encrusted thriller 'To Catch a Thief.' On Monday, a state prosecutor provided new details about the brazen heist a day earlier at the Carlton Intercontinental hotel - not least that the loot was actually worth more than twice the (EURO)40 million ($53 million) estimate that police had first announced. In 2008, thieves - some dressed as women - stole $118 million in rings, necklaces and luxury watches from the Harry Winston store in Paris. A robbery five years earlier at Belgium's Antwerp Diamond Center netted an estimated $100 million." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Cannes diamond heist actually nets $136M

BGPSEC: More Internet Control In The Name Of “Security”

"BGPSEC is a control that, once fully implemented, would allow the federal government to instantly revoke an ISPs right to advertise specific IP addresses, effectively shutting off all services that exist on those addresses. BGP is a key component of the Internet infrastructure, existing barely above the physical cables and fibers that carry data. BGPSEC provides much more sweeping control over who and what can exist on the Internet. BGPSEC combined with the DNS system which is already managed by the government means a giant step forward for Big Brother. ARIN has already begun offering the capability as a free 'service'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBGPSEC: More Internet Control In The Name Of “Security”