ForgotPassword?
Sign Up
Search this Topic:
Posts: 27156
Jan 11 16 3:22 PM
New versions shipped in early 2016. Juniper has confirmed it will stop using a piece of security code that analysts believe was developed by the National Security Agency in order to eavesdrop through technology products. The Silicon Valley maker of networking gear said it would ship new versions of security software in the first half of this year to replace those that rely on numbers generated by Dual Elliptic Curve technology. The statement on a blog post came a day after the presentation at a Stanford University conference of research by a team of cryptographers who found that Juniper's code had been changed in multiple ways during 2008 to enable eavesdropping on virtual private network sessions by customers. Last month, Sunnyvale-based Juniper said it had found and replaced two unauthorised pieces of code that allowed "back door" access, which the researchers said had appeared in 2012 and 2014.
Juniper has confirmed it will stop using a piece of security code that analysts believe was developed by the National Security Agency in order to eavesdrop through technology products.
The Silicon Valley maker of networking gear said it would ship new versions of security software in the first half of this year to replace those that rely on numbers generated by Dual Elliptic Curve technology.
The statement on a blog post came a day after the presentation at a Stanford University conference of research by a team of cryptographers who found that Juniper's code had been changed in multiple ways during 2008 to enable eavesdropping on virtual private network sessions by customers.
Last month, Sunnyvale-based Juniper said it had found and replaced two unauthorised pieces of code that allowed "back door" access, which the researchers said had appeared in 2012 and 2014.
Read more @ http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/juniper-networks-to-stop-using-code-tied-to-national-security-agency-294422.html
Read more @ http://www.ibtimes.com/juniper-networks-nsa-hack-tech-company-stops-use-suspected-eavesdropping-code-2258024
The NSA kept spying on Israel's Netanyahu even after Edward Snowden leaks, WSJ details
When President Obama's national security team signaled after his 2008 election that they wanted the NSA to keep giving the White House intelligence on foreign "leadership intentions," that included the fruits of electronic surveillance of Israeli leaders along with the heads of other U.S. allies. When Obama curtailed the use of eavesdropping on friendly leaders in 2013 after NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed this closely guarded program, Obama decided to keep on closely monitoring the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing "interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials." With the assent of Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress' intelligence committees, Obama had ramped up eavesdropping on Netanyahu in 2011 and 2012, when Netanyahu drew up plans to bomb Iran and Obama launched secret nuclear talks with Tehran, The Journal says. In 2014, NSA intercepts convinced the White House that Israel was spying on the Iran deal negotiators, and when Netanyahu's office started actively lobbying U.S. lawmakers to oppose the deal in 2015 — reportedly using questions like "How can we get your vote? What's it going to take?" — the White House had what one official called an "oh-s—t moment" when they realized the NSA would be scooping up communications involving U.S. lawmakers.
When President Obama's national security team signaled after his 2008 election that they wanted the NSA to keep giving the White House intelligence on foreign "leadership intentions," that included the fruits of electronic surveillance of Israeli leaders along with the heads of other U.S. allies. When Obama curtailed the use of eavesdropping on friendly leaders in 2013 after NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed this closely guarded program, Obama decided to keep on closely monitoring the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing "interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials."
With the assent of Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress' intelligence committees, Obama had ramped up eavesdropping on Netanyahu in 2011 and 2012, when Netanyahu drew up plans to bomb Iran and Obama launched secret nuclear talks with Tehran, The Journal says. In 2014, NSA intercepts convinced the White House that Israel was spying on the Iran deal negotiators, and when Netanyahu's office started actively lobbying U.S. lawmakers to oppose the deal in 2015 — reportedly using questions like "How can we get your vote? What's it going to take?" — the White House had what one official called an "oh-s—t moment" when they realized the NSA would be scooping up communications involving U.S. lawmakers.
Read more @ http://theweek.com/speedreads/596653/nsa-kept-spying-israels-netanyahu-even-after-edward-snowden-leaks-wsj-details
Ben Wizner, a national ACLU attorney and head lawyer for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, will co-teach a seminar at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law this month. Wizner, director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, will teach the week-long "Liberty and Security in the Age of Terrorism" seminar along with retired four-star Army Gen. David Bramlett.
Ben Wizner, a national ACLU attorney and head lawyer for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, will co-teach a seminar at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law this month.
Wizner, director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, will teach the week-long "Liberty and Security in the Age of Terrorism" seminar along with retired four-star Army Gen. David Bramlett.
Read more @ http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/news/2016/01/04/attorney-for-edward-snowden-to-lead-university-of.html
http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2016/01/08/legal-scholars-including-snowdens-aclu-attorney-offer-public-talks/
The game that puts you in search of history's most notorious whistleblower. Was Edward Snowden morally justified in leaking secret documents that revealed, with the help of phone and internet companies, the British and US governments had spied on its citizens without their knowledge or consent? It is a question yet to be legally resolved. Snowden remains holed up in an undisclosed location in Russia, the country to which he fled in 2013. He refuses to return to the US where he is wanted on three charges (two counts of espionage, and one of theft of government property). While thumb-twiddles under assumed names in bleak hotels, the world continues to reel in the aftershocks of his revelations. Was Snowden justified in his actions? Come to think of it: would you have helped him? It's a question with which James Long, a British graduate in theoretical physics, thinks everybody should be reckoning. His forthcoming game, Top Secret, casts you as an employee of the NSA at the precise moment at which Snowden began to leak government documents. You are tasked with following the intelligence all the way to the source, finding out who knows what and, most pressingly, deciding whether to help or hinder the whistleblower. The game blurs the line between fiction and documentary. While some of your surveillance targets are made-up, many are living journalists such as Glenn Greenwald, Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras, all of who were involved in the scandal. Like 2015's sudden hit, Her Story, a game that asks its player to piece together the narrative from a thousand scattered fragments, Top Secret is a disjointed, non-linear journey that is unique to each individual. Unlike Her Story, which simulated an anachronistic PC desktop to frame the game, Top Secret is played out entirely in your actual email programme. To begin playing, you simply send an email to another member of your NSA team, perhaps listing the name, email address and phone number of a suspect whose files you wish to check. When the reply arrives in your inbox, you analyse the intelligence and, from the clues therein, choose your next target.
The game that puts you in search of history's most notorious whistleblower.
Was Edward Snowden morally justified in leaking secret documents that revealed, with the help of phone and internet companies, the British and US governments had spied on its citizens without their knowledge or consent? It is a question yet to be legally resolved. Snowden remains holed up in an undisclosed location in Russia, the country to which he fled in 2013. He refuses to return to the US where he is wanted on three charges (two counts of espionage, and one of theft of government property). While thumb-twiddles under assumed names in bleak hotels, the world continues to reel in the aftershocks of his revelations. Was Snowden justified in his actions? Come to think of it: would you have helped him?
It's a question with which James Long, a British graduate in theoretical physics, thinks everybody should be reckoning. His forthcoming game, Top Secret, casts you as an employee of the NSA at the precise moment at which Snowden began to leak government documents. You are tasked with following the intelligence all the way to the source, finding out who knows what and, most pressingly, deciding whether to help or hinder the whistleblower. The game blurs the line between fiction and documentary. While some of your surveillance targets are made-up, many are living journalists such as Glenn Greenwald, Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras, all of who were involved in the scandal.
Like 2015's sudden hit, Her Story, a game that asks its player to piece together the narrative from a thousand scattered fragments, Top Secret is a disjointed, non-linear journey that is unique to each individual. Unlike Her Story, which simulated an anachronistic PC desktop to frame the game, Top Secret is played out entirely in your actual email programme. To begin playing, you simply send an email to another member of your NSA team, perhaps listing the name, email address and phone number of a suspect whose files you wish to check. When the reply arrives in your inbox, you analyse the intelligence and, from the clues therein, choose your next target.
Read more @ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-01-10-where-in-the-world-is-edward-snowden
The world is eagerly watching the electronic gadgets announced at CES 2016 being held at Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. And found among top celebrities who were vying for attention was serial whistle blower and ex-NSA contractor, Edward Snowden. The former National Security Agency contractor, famous for leaking top secret documents pertaining to NSA’s snooping and surveillance programs, made a virtual appearance at the Suitable Technologies booth here. Snowden was in Las Vegas virtually through Suitable’s Beam, a roaming screen on wheels used for remote commuting and virtual meetings. Snowden was in high praise for the virtual screen and said that Beam can be used to subvert government snooping and surveillance. “This is the power of Beam, or more broadly the power of technology,” he said in an onstage interview with Peter Diamandis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. “The FBI can’t arrest a robot.” Snowden’s lawyer, Ben Wizner with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an email that his client wasn’t compensated for the event, which Suitable confirmed. “But he has benefited from the technology,” Wizner said. Snowden seemed to be happy with the gadgets showcased at CES this year. He stated that he was happy to see companies take privacy and security into account while making gadgets. “They don’t really think of the security of these things very much,” he said.
The world is eagerly watching the electronic gadgets announced at CES 2016 being held at Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. And found among top celebrities who were vying for attention was serial whistle blower and ex-NSA contractor, Edward Snowden.
The former National Security Agency contractor, famous for leaking top secret documents pertaining to NSA’s snooping and surveillance programs, made a virtual appearance at the Suitable Technologies booth here.
Snowden was in Las Vegas virtually through Suitable’s Beam, a roaming screen on wheels used for remote commuting and virtual meetings.
Snowden was in high praise for the virtual screen and said that Beam can be used to subvert government snooping and surveillance.
“This is the power of Beam, or more broadly the power of technology,” he said in an onstage interview with Peter Diamandis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. “The FBI can’t arrest a robot.”
Snowden’s lawyer, Ben Wizner with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in an email that his client wasn’t compensated for the event, which Suitable confirmed. “But he has benefited from the technology,” Wizner said.
Snowden seemed to be happy with the gadgets showcased at CES this year. He stated that he was happy to see companies take privacy and security into account while making gadgets. “They don’t really think of the security of these things very much,” he said.
Read more @ http://www.techworm.net/2016/01/snowden-wows-ces-2016-crowd-disguised-robot.html
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/07/slug-edward-snowden-ces-future-robot-suitable-technology-beam
Facebook, Mircrosoft and Google….. oh comeon…. Pull the other leg. They are in league with the spies.
Silicon Valley’s biggest technology firms have criticised a new surveillance law that the UK government is currently considering. The Investigatory Powers Bill (IP Bill) — introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May last November — has several major issues, according to Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo. The group presented their views to the Investigatory Powers Bill Joint Committee on December 21, arguing for significant modifications. The five tech firms want to protect their users’ privacy and are therefore reluctant to sign up to a number of proposals in the 299-page bill, including bulk surveillance, weaker encryption, and measures that could force them to hack their own customers. The UK government argues that the proposals are necessary to ensure the nation’s security agencies can effectively track and identify terrorists, paedophiles and other serious criminals. Last year, May said the bill will “provide some of the strongest protections and safeguards anywhere in the democratic world and an approach that sets new standards for openness, transparency and oversight.” “Far reaching implications” But the Silicon Valley group said it is concerned that any surveillance laws introduced in the UK would undermine the trust between themselves and their customers. “The actions the UK Government takes here could have far reaching implications — for our customers, for your own citizens, and for the future of the global technology industry,” the group wrote in what can be described as a rare sign of allegiance. Apple, the world’s largest technology company, released its own thoughts on the bill last month, accusing those behind it of undermining consumer trust and risking “serious international conflicts”.
Silicon Valley’s biggest technology firms have criticised a new surveillance law that the UK government is currently considering.
The Investigatory Powers Bill (IP Bill) — introduced by Home Secretary Theresa May last November — has several major issues, according to Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo.
The group presented their views to the Investigatory Powers Bill Joint Committee on December 21, arguing for significant modifications.
The five tech firms want to protect their users’ privacy and are therefore reluctant to sign up to a number of proposals in the 299-page bill, including bulk surveillance, weaker encryption, and measures that could force them to hack their own customers.
The UK government argues that the proposals are necessary to ensure the nation’s security agencies can effectively track and identify terrorists, paedophiles and other serious criminals. Last year, May said the bill will “provide some of the strongest protections and safeguards anywhere in the democratic world and an approach that sets new standards for openness, transparency and oversight.”
But the Silicon Valley group said it is concerned that any surveillance laws introduced in the UK would undermine the trust between themselves and their customers.
“The actions the UK Government takes here could have far reaching implications — for our customers, for your own citizens, and for the future of the global technology industry,” the group wrote in what can be described as a rare sign of allegiance.
Apple, the world’s largest technology company, released its own thoughts on the bill last month, accusing those behind it of undermining consumer trust and risking “serious international conflicts”.
Read more @ http://www.businessinsider.com.au/facebook-google-and-microsoft-criticise-ip-bill-2016-1
‘The intention behind the proposed reform is to allow law enforcement agencies to continue investigating crime in light of new technologies… ‘The loss of this capability would be a major blow to our law enforcement agencies and to Australia’s national security.’ Nicola Roxton, Former member of The House of Representatives (2012) This was the foundation for Australia’s metadata retention laws. An idea that the Gillard government created and that the Turnbull government has passed to become law. This means it is now 100% legal for the Australian government to have access to your metadata. This is information your service provider must keep for at least two years. And it includes; Any subscriber details for services including names, addresses, contact details and payment informationThe source and destination of communicationsThe date, time and duration of a communicationThe type of communication or service used — SMS, voice, email, chat, ADSL, WiFi, VoIP, etc.The location of equipment used in connection with a communicationMy point today isn’t to about whether or not this is right. Clearly I think the data retention scheme is wrong. It’s a gross invasion of privacy. And if anything else it’s the government saying, ‘guilty until proven innocent’. The issue at stake here is how useful is this metadata? The government will have you believe one thing. But thanks to a US whistleblower perhaps metadata isn’t useful at all. In fact it might even lead to wrongful death.
‘The intention behind the proposed reform is to allow law enforcement agencies to continue investigating crime in light of new technologies…
‘The loss of this capability would be a major blow to our law enforcement agencies and to Australia’s national security.’
Nicola Roxton, Former member of The House of Representatives (2012)
This was the foundation for Australia’s metadata retention laws. An idea that the Gillard government created and that the Turnbull government has passed to become law.
This means it is now 100% legal for the Australian government to have access to your metadata. This is information your service provider must keep for at least two years. And it includes;
My point today isn’t to about whether or not this is right. Clearly I think the data retention scheme is wrong. It’s a gross invasion of privacy. And if anything else it’s the government saying, ‘guilty until proven innocent’.
The issue at stake here is how useful is this metadata?
The government will have you believe one thing. But thanks to a US whistleblower perhaps metadata isn’t useful at all. In fact it might even lead to wrongful death.
Read more @ http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/could-your-metadata-get-you-killed-it-has-for-some/2016/01/02/
Austrian student Max Schrems walked out of the courtroom in Luxembourg with a large smile on his face. In his first appearance before Europe’s top judges in late March, the privacy campaigner had scored another victory. Judges backed his argument that a 15-year-old data sharing and transfer pact with the United States had been compromised. It was the first big crack in the so-called Safe Harbour agreement and a major blow to the social network giant Facebook. A few months later in October, the same judges delivered a stunning verdict and invalidated the agreement for violating fundamental privacy rights. Big companies like Apple and Google, along with some 4,000 other US firms, had relied on Safe Harbour to transfer and process the personal data of EU nationals. Now they had to look elsewhere. “This is not bashing the US case, this is a mass surveillance issue", Schrems told EUobserver after the final verdict.
Austrian student Max Schrems walked out of the courtroom in Luxembourg with a large smile on his face.
In his first appearance before Europe’s top judges in late March, the privacy campaigner had scored another victory.
Judges backed his argument that a 15-year-old data sharing and transfer pact with the United States had been compromised. It was the first big crack in the so-called Safe Harbour agreement and a major blow to the social network giant Facebook.
A few months later in October, the same judges delivered a stunning verdict and invalidated the agreement for violating fundamental privacy rights.
Big companies like Apple and Google, along with some 4,000 other US firms, had relied on Safe Harbour to transfer and process the personal data of EU nationals. Now they had to look elsewhere.
“This is not bashing the US case, this is a mass surveillance issue", Schrems told EUobserver after the final verdict.
Read more @ https://euobserver.com/review-2015/131163
Recent court decisions, and legislation, will most likely affect everyone handling data In the first week of January this year, I began the new year with a prediction. “Privacy will be a big issue in 2015. In Ireland as well as internationally, three big ‘Ps’ are aligning around the topic, building on developments in 2014: politics, policy and populism.” As we say farewell to 2015, I would add a fourth P: plus ça change. Privacy has been a looming issue for years now, if less publicly noticeable in the past, and isn’t about to go away. We are all digital pioneers, grappling with what it means to have our personal information accessible, transferable, analysable and storable in unprecedented ways, following several decades of silicon-driven technological developments, and especially, the growth of the internet. And yes, digital privacy became a truly dominant international concern this year, whether you wanted it better protected, wanted less regulation and greater access to data, or faced angry customers. That was thanks to another year of high-profile data breaches (as with the Ashley Madison website), major international court decisions (such as the Schrems case in the European Court of Justice), legislative moves (with the final draft release and start of voting on the long-awaited EU Data Protection Regulation), policy debates (for example, the UK and US mulling over whether to hobble business and public use of strong encryption), and the manipulation of fear (especially following the end-of-year terrorist attacks in Paris and other cities).
In the first week of January this year, I began the new year with a prediction.
“Privacy will be a big issue in 2015. In Ireland as well as internationally, three big ‘Ps’ are aligning around the topic, building on developments in 2014: politics, policy and populism.”
As we say farewell to 2015, I would add a fourth P: plus ça change.
Privacy has been a looming issue for years now, if less publicly noticeable in the past, and isn’t about to go away. We are all digital pioneers, grappling with what it means to have our personal information accessible, transferable, analysable and storable in unprecedented ways, following several decades of silicon-driven technological developments, and especially, the growth of the internet.
And yes, digital privacy became a truly dominant international concern this year, whether you wanted it better protected, wanted less regulation and greater access to data, or faced angry customers.
That was thanks to another year of high-profile data breaches (as with the Ashley Madison website), major international court decisions (such as the Schrems case in the European Court of Justice), legislative moves (with the final draft release and start of voting on the long-awaited EU Data Protection Regulation), policy debates (for example, the UK and US mulling over whether to hobble business and public use of strong encryption), and the manipulation of fear (especially following the end-of-year terrorist attacks in Paris and other cities).
Read more @ http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/privacy-can-no-longer-be-a-low-level-box-checking-exercise-1.2480700
NEW DELHI: As the new year approaches, there will be some extraordinary shifts in how people watch their favorite TV programs, how they surf the Internet and how our daily gadgets will become more interconnected. While our lives are becoming easier, the new technology shift requires an increasing sensitivity towards online security. NordVPN, a VPN service provider, predicts some of the major shifts and trends in digital and online security world in 2016: Streaming over downloading. There will be more streaming options in 2016 and better access to content compared to downloading options that are becoming less popular. Streaming is becoming border-free as well, as there are new ways to overcome geographical restrictions. SmartPlay, for example, is NordVPN¹s new secure technology that helps overcome geo-based restrictions used by certain streaming websites, such as Netflix, Pandora, BBC iPlayer and others. SmartPlay simply re-routes user¹s requests through a server located at a place where access to such blocked websites is allowed. This makes the restricted websites think that the user is physically located in such place, thereby granting access to its content. Rise of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). In 2016, more Internet consumers than ever will be demanding online privacy as ISPs, Telcos and ad companies are inventing more sophisticated ways to track user behavior online, and governments of various countries have passed mass surveillance laws (CISA in the U.S., Data Retention law in Australia or government surveillance in Germany). After Australian Data Retention law passed in May of 2015, the use of VPNs grew by up to 500%. Similar numbers are expected for the U.S. in 2016 after CISA was signed into law in December of 2015 by the U.S. President. NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com) is one of the world¹s most advanced VPN service providers that does not keep customer logs. The rise of private online networks. Tor is currently the most popular alternative to Google, Yahoo and other major search engines that keeps browsing information private and confidential, making it preferred tool for those looking to stay private online (journalists, dissidents, everyday Internet users). Swiss and British researchers are developing HORNET, a new generation private high-speed network that could be deployed on routers as part of the Internet. MIT is also working on a Tor alternative.
NEW DELHI: As the new year approaches, there will be some extraordinary shifts in how people watch their favorite TV programs, how they surf the Internet and how our daily gadgets will become more interconnected. While our lives are becoming easier, the new technology shift requires an increasing sensitivity towards online security.
NordVPN, a VPN service provider, predicts some of the major shifts and trends in digital and online security world in 2016:
Streaming over downloading. There will be more streaming options in 2016 and better access to content compared to downloading options that are becoming less popular. Streaming is becoming border-free as well, as there are new ways to overcome geographical restrictions. SmartPlay, for example, is NordVPN¹s new secure technology that helps overcome geo-based restrictions used by certain streaming websites, such as Netflix, Pandora, BBC iPlayer and others. SmartPlay simply re-routes user¹s requests through a server located at a place where access to such blocked websites is allowed. This makes the restricted websites think that the user is physically located in such place, thereby granting access to its content.
Rise of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). In 2016, more Internet consumers than ever will be demanding online privacy as ISPs, Telcos and ad companies are inventing more sophisticated ways to track user behavior online, and governments of various countries have passed mass surveillance laws (CISA in the U.S., Data Retention law in Australia or government surveillance in Germany). After Australian Data Retention law passed in May of 2015, the use of VPNs grew by up to 500%. Similar numbers are expected for the U.S. in 2016 after CISA was signed into law in December of 2015 by the U.S. President. NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com) is one of the world¹s most advanced VPN service providers that does not keep customer logs.
The rise of private online networks. Tor is currently the most popular alternative to Google, Yahoo and other major search engines that keeps browsing information private and confidential, making it preferred tool for those looking to stay private online (journalists, dissidents, everyday Internet users). Swiss and British researchers are developing HORNET, a new generation private high-speed network that could be deployed on routers as part of the Internet. MIT is also working on a Tor alternative.
Read more @ http://www.voicendata.com/rising-number-of-private-messenger-users-nordvpn/
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~
Interact