security

Bitcoin: Internationalization’s New Best Friend

"Bitcoin makes it easy to move funds around the world and convert it into and out of fiat currencies in a very private fashion. There's nothing to declare at borders, as with cash or precious metals, since the value exists 'out there' in the Internet. All you have are the keys to access those funds when desired. And, best of all, it allows frequent travelers and permanent travelers (PTs) to build up a readily accessible 'emergency account' that can't be easily identified, let alone stolen. However, the trick to getting all these privacy benefits is to use it properly." Continue reading →

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Termites Feast On Woman’s Life Savings

"A Chinese woman almost lost her life savings recently when termites invaded a wooden drawer in which she kept a plastic bag containing 400,000 yuan: the equivalent of $65,000 U.S. dollars. It was only after the woman decided to redecorate her house in Guandong Province that she noticed the termites had dined on her nest egg. According to the Guangzhou Daily, the money was given to the woman by her children. A local bank generously scanned the remaining cash and was able to identity 340,000 yuan which means the termite's meal ultimately cost the woman roughly $9,786." Continue reading →

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When You Need To Disappear

"Whistleblower Edward Snowden needs to disappear if he is to avoid kidnapping, assassination, extradition, or deportation to the United States. If you’re ever faced by a situation in which you need to disappear, right away, what would you do? Perhaps someone is bent on revenge and has threatened to kill you. Perhaps you’re caught in an impossible personal or financial situation and you feel that 'going underground' is the only way out. Or perhaps like Snowden, you find yourself an enemy of the state. If you’re in such a situation, privacy may be a matter of life or death. You need to be prepared to act quickly, and when the time comes, not to hesitate." Continue reading →

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Spy-Coins.Com

"On the 'Products' page is a complete list of our fully functional hollow spy coins. They are all precision machined from actual coins, and are absolutely indistinguishable from a solid coin to the naked eye. They can be safely handled without danger of separation, and could easily circulate without detection. These products are proudly made in The USA. Although the technology of the hollow coin is not new, the data media is. Many of our coins are specially machined to secure the MicroSD Memory Card, which has capacities of several gigabytes." Continue reading →

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Microsoft Waits to Fix Your Software Bugs So the NSA Can Use Them First

"In a move as fiendishly clever as it is galling, Microsoft tells the U.S. government about bugs in its notoriously buggy software before it fixes them so that intelligence agencies can use the vulnerabilities for the purposes of cyberspying. 'That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes,' sources tell Bloomberg's Michael Riley. But still, the biggest software company on Earth is holding off on its blue-screen-of-death problems to turn them into real-life spy features, an impressive feat that will no doubt frustrate consumers." Continue reading →

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U.S. warns of cyber attacks on medical devices

"US authorities on Thursday warned makers of medical devices and hospital networks to step up efforts to guard against potential cyber attacks. The US Food and Drug Administration said implanted devices, which could include pacemakers or defibrillators, could be connected to networks that are vulnerable to hackers. An FDA warning notice was sent to medical device manufacturers, hospitals, medical device user facilities, health care technical staff and biomedical engineers. It said the agency has recently 'become aware of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents that could directly impact medical devices or hospital network operations.'" Continue reading →

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James Bamford: The Secret War

"Tens of thousands of people move through more than 50 buildings—the city has its own post office, fire department, and police force. But as if designed by Kafka, it sits among a forest of trees, surrounded by electrified fences and heavily armed guards, protected by antitank barriers, monitored by sensitive motion detectors, and watched by rotating cameras. To block any telltale electromagnetic signals from escaping, the inner walls of the buildings are wrapped in protective copper shielding and the one-way windows are embedded with a fine copper mesh. This is the undisputed domain of General Keith Alexander, a man few even in Washington would likely recognize." Continue reading →

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The Rise of the Anti-State Cyber-Warrior

"What is it about this new direction in war that makes it so different? First, it is not a battle that is waged by governments against other governments. It is a battle of the individual against the state. It is a battle that the state has a difficult time protecting against because it has a difficult time understanding from where an attack might emerge and it has a difficult time understanding the nature of the attack once the attack itself is observable. Among current, early cyber-warriors leading attacks, I have in mind such men as Julian Assange, creator of Wikileaks, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous developer of Bitcoin and Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower." Continue reading →

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Edward Snowden: US government has been hacking Hong Kong and China for years

"US whistle-blower Edward Snowden yesterday emerged from hiding in Hong Kong and revealed to the South China Morning Post that he will stay in the city to fight likely attempts by his government to have him extradited for leaking state secrets. In an exclusive interview carried out from a secret location in the city, the former Central Intelligence Agency analyst also made explosive claims that the US government had been hacking into computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland for years." Continue reading →

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Does the Fourth Amendment Exist Any More?

"When Boulder, Colorado resident Chrissy Smiley returned to her condo after walking her dog, she was stunned to find a card from a police officer on her dining room table. When she called the department she was informed that the fact she had left a sliding door unlocked and partially open constituted 'probable cause' to conduct a welfare check. The Boulder Police Department insists that entering what they call 'unsecured residences' is 'standard operating procedure' and that it will continue. In Stillwater, Minnesota Sonya Sylos was startled to find a sheriff’s deputy and two police officers who had entered her home at 2:00 a.m. without a warrant or permission." Continue reading →

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