https://youtu.be/D6BdaoyJe-Q
A first look at the Wikileaks #Vault7 leak on CIA hacking and mass surveillance.
Archive | IT security
Wikileaks on CIA / Vault 7
By HAX on March 8, 2017 in Big Brother, Data Protection, IT security, Law enforcement, Privacy, Rule of law, US, War on Terror, Wikileaks
“Year Zero” introduces the scope and direction of the CIA’s global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of “zero day” weaponized exploits against a wide range of U.S. and European company products, include Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones. (…)
These techniques permit the CIA to bypass the encryption of WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Wiebo, Confide and Cloackman by hacking the “smart” phones that they run on and collecting audio and message traffic before encryption is applied.
Wikileaks » Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed »
US: No reform of mass surveillance
By HAX on March 6, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil rights, Data Retention, Intelligence, Internet, IT security, Law enforcement, NSA, Privacy, surveillance, US, War on Terror
The Trump administration does not want to reform an internet surveillance law to address privacy concerns, a White House official told Reuters on Wednesday, saying it is needed to protect national security.
• Reuters » White House supports renewal of spy law without reforms: official »
• Techdirt » Trump Administration Wants A Clean Reauthorization For NSA Surveillance »
An anonymous comment at Techdirt: This wouldn’t be the same guy who was screaming bloody murder about Trump towers being under surveillance, would it?
Privacy heroes
By HAX on February 26, 2017 in Anonymity, Big Brother, Bitcoin, Civil liberties, Cryptography, Data Protection, disruptive, Free Information, Hacktivism, Human rights, Internet, IT security, Privacy
Wired: Meet the innovators fighting for your right to privacy online »
US Senator challenging border search of devices
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden called for accountability around reports that U.S. Customs and Border agents are obtaining the passwords to locked devices that belong to detainees at the border. Invoking the Fourth Amendment, Wyden dismissed such practices as extralegal, lacking probable cause and a warrant required for such searches.
Techcrunch » Legislation to stop U.S. border agents from demanding passwords and logins is on the way »
Encryption vs. Law Enforcement
By HAX on February 20, 2017 in Big Brother, Cryptography, IT security, Law enforcement, Privacy, surveillance
CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) has just released its report on encryption and it comes to the same conclusions many other reports have: encryption is good for everyone and law enforcement fears are overstated and mostly-unrealized.
Italy treads carefully…
By HAX on February 20, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, Democracy, Human rights, Intelligence, IT security, Italy, Rule of law
The underlying principle is that a government trojan is only allowed to operate in ways that have been explicitly authorized by an Italian judge’s signed warrant.
And there are lots of security requirements.
Techdirt: Italy Proposes Astonishingly Sensible Rules To Regulate Government Hacking Using Trojans »
“What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border?”
By HAX on February 15, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil rights, Data Protection, IT security, Police state, Privacy, Rule of law, US
Ars spoke with several legal experts, and contacted CBP itself (which did not provide anything beyond previously-published policies). The short answer is: your device probably will be seized (or “detained” in CBP parlance), and you might be kept in physical detention—although no one seems to be sure exactly for how long.
Ars Technica: What could happen if you refuse to unlock your phone at the US border? »
The US digital border
Two weeks ago, Sidd Bikkannavar flew back into the United States after spending a few weeks abroad in South America. An employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Bikkannavar had been on a personal trip, pursuing his hobby of racing solar-powered cars. He had recently joined a Chilean team, and spent the last weeks of January at a race in Patagonia. (…)
Bikkannavar says he was detained by US Customs and Border Patrol and pressured to give the CBP agents his phone and access PIN. Since the phone was issued by NASA, it may have contained sensitive material that wasn’t supposed to be shared. Bikkannavar’s phone was returned to him after it was searched by CBP, but he doesn’t know exactly what information officials might have taken from the device.
The Verge: A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone »
Ars Technica: NASA scientist detained at US border until he unlocked his phone »
Getting you and your digital gadgets safely across the US border
By HAX on February 12, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil rights, Data Protection, IT security, Privacy, Rule of law, US
Wired: A Guide to Getting Past Customs With Your Digital Privacy Intact »
Boingboing: How to legally cross a US (or other) border without surrendering your data and passwords »
EFF: Border Security Overreach Continues – DHS Wants Social Media Login Information »