Fingerprints do not have the same legal protection as phone passcodes, US court finds.
EFF: Court backs ruling that man give fingerprint to unlock phone »
Archive | IT security
Sweden – not so neutral, after all?
By HAX on January 9, 2017 in Big Brother, GCHQ, Intelligence, IT security, NSA, Rule of law, surveillance, Sweden, UK, US
Possible targets might be the administrators of foreign computer networks, government ministries, oil, defense, and other major corporations, as well as suspected terrorist groups or other designated individuals. Similar Quantum operations have targeted OPEC headquarters in Vienna, as well as Belgacom, a Belgian telecom company whose clients include the European Commission and the European Parliament. (…)
Significantly, while WINTERLIGHT was a joint effort between the NSA, the Swedish FRA, and the British GCHQ, the hacking attacks on computers and computer networks seem to have been initiated by the Swedes.
It’s worth keeping in mind that Swedish intelligence agency FRA – together with British GCHQ – declined to participate in the European Parliaments hearings on mass surveillance.
The New York Review of Books: The Swedish Kings of Cyberwar »
The FBI dragnet
“We have never, in our nation’s history as far as I can tell, seen a warrant so utterly sweeping,” federal public defender Colin Fieman said in a hearing at the end of October, according to the transcript. Fieman is representing several defendants in affected cases.
Motherboard: The FBI Hacked Over 8,000 Computers In 120 Countries Based on One Warrant »
The never ending story…
Dutch government leaving us all vulnerable
EDRi: Dutch government wants to keep “zero days” available for exploitation »
The Dutch government is very clear about at least one thing: unknown software vulnerabilities, also known as “zero days”, may be left open by the government, in order to be exploited by secret services and the police.
So, the Dutch government is willing to leave information technology all over the world vulnerable to known dangers – to be able to use them itself?
What could possibly go wrong?
Trump won – now what?
By HAX on November 9, 2016 in Big Brother, Civil liberties, Democracy, IT security, surveillance, US
In some sort of a reaction against the political elite, a corrupt system, and political correctness – the US has elected Donald Trump as president.
On the one hand, it is more or less impossible to foresee the president elects politics on IT, mass surveillance, and civil rights. (OK, he has opened up for torture of suspected terrorists – but I’m not sure that he himself will remember or stand by that.)
On the other hand, he might quickly become a prisoner of the system. When it comes to day-to-day politics elected politicians have surprisingly limited powers. It is also possible that president Trump will leave everything but big, symbolic issues to governments civil servants.
And with two houses of Congress and the Supreme Court – the US has a reasonably well-founded and stable system when it comes to separation of powers. The system ought to be able to handle one branch going a bit la-di-da.
However, Donald Trump has very little understanding of the Internet, IT-related issues and the principles of human and civil rights. Caution is recommended.
And, by the way – what will happen to Julian Assange?
Here are some other voices on the president-elect:
• What The Election Means For Stuff Techdirt Cares About? »
• A madman has been given the keys to the surveillance state »
• Donald Trump elected US president: What it means for tech and science »
/ HAX
WOT: Your surf history for sale
The browser plug-in WOT (Web of Trust) is supposed to warn users about unsafe web pages. But now it turns out that it puts users privacy at serious risk.
From the WOT web page “Secure a simple and safe browsing experience. Our add-on doesn’t slow your browser, it’s easy to use and free.”
As per usual when something is free, it is likely to turn out that you are the product.
WOT collects data from your web sessions (like your surf history) and sends it – allegedly anonymized – to their server. Then this data is sold to e.g. the advertising industry.
Today, German media have more or less exploded with reports of such data for sale not being properly anonymized.
Investigative reporters have gained access to a WOT database where individual users can be identified. In the reports, there are mentions of police officers, judges, journalists, business leaders, and others – and their surf history e.g. when it comes to medical matters, prostitutes, drugs and esoteric erotic pleasures.
On Chrome alone, WOT has some 1.5 million users.
NDR: Nackt im Netz: Millionen Nutzer ausgespäht »
/ HAX
When toasters attack, part 2
BoingBoing: Unsecured Internet of Things gadgets get hacked within 40 minutes of being connected to the net »
IoT DDoS attack leads to recalls
TechDirt: Chinese Company Recalls Cameras, DVRs Used In Last Week’s Massive DDoS Attack »
AI criminals?
New York Times: As Artificial Intelligence Evolves, So Does Its Criminal Potential »