Items tagged with NSA
Given the revelations of the NSA’s data-gathering program coupled with the fact that if you use essentially any Internet services your data is out there and capable of being mined, more users than ever are looking for ways to thwart the prying eyes of power that be. One solution, called openPDS, has been...
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The average Internet user probably has no idea what "Tor" is. If you're one of those users, you've probably had no good reason to even investigate what it is, what it does, or how it hides. But if you're the NSA, you're acutely aware of Tor, and a new report suggests that both the NSA and GCHQ have had their sights on Tor. In simple terms,...
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Microsoft's onetime Chief Privacy Advisor, Caspar Bowden, has come out with a vote of no-confidence in the company's long-term privacy measures and ability or interest to secure user data in the wake of the NSA's PRISM program. From 2002 - 2011, Bowden was in charge of privacy at Microsoft, and oversaw the company's...
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During an interview at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center this past weekend, antivirus software founder John McAfee touted a new invention that he's planning to launch as soon as possible. It's called D-Central, and based on that name alone, and the fact that it's goal is to enhance your privacy, it's probably...
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Information about the NSA's data gathering efforts continues, with newly-released information of the agency's efforts on the social networking front. It's already been revealed that the NSA gathers information from many different sources, but this latest information gives us a clear idea as to the extent that this...
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If there’s anything positive to take away from this summer’s NSA spying scandal, it might be the increased transparency of major tech companies, as Microsoft has its latest Law Enforcement Requests report for the first 6 months of 2013. Of course, a downside is that these companies still aren’t...
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Following the initial leaks against the NSA by Edward Snowden this past summer, there was speculation that what was being exposed would end up hurting the business of US-based tech companies overseas. It's easy to understand why - when it's discovered that a country has been literally spying on those in friendly...
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The train carrying a vast amount of NSA confidential information continues to trek along today, with a revelation that the government agency conducted man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks involving a couple of the Web's largest companies. Falling under the guise of "FLYING PIG", one of the main traffic sources to...
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It was bad enough to find out about the NSA's PRISM program and all the companies that are involved, but in another blow to privacy, it was recently revealed that the NSA has cracked key encryption algorithms that formerly protected the Internet at large. It's part of the reason why Google is busy building better...
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Yahoo, new logo and all, it turning over a new leaf when it comes to privacy, reporting, and what the public is allowed to know. In the wake of the NSA / PRISM scandal, which is honestly still ongoing, Yahoo has followed Facebook in issuing a public transparency report. Facebook did likewise last month, and now Yahoo...
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Over the past few months, as the Snowden leaks have exposed increasing levels of detail about the scope and nature of the NSA's "oversight" of the Internet, there's been a great deal of discussion on how users can protect themselves. The latest leaks from the Guardian, New York Times, and Pro Publica shed light on...
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Facebook's search for new sources of revenues continues unabated -- and this time, the company wants to target your own profile phtoos for inclusion in its database. That's a change from the previous system, in which users were only scanned if other people tagged them first. Your own profile photos weren't...
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Sir Walter Scott warned long about about weaving a tangled web through deception, but apparently the Department of Justice (DoJ) and National Security Agency (NSA) aren't fans of old poetry. If they were, they'd drop the secrecy behind the PRISM program that whistleblower Edward Snowden blew wide open earlier this...
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It’s no secret (anymore) that the NSA has been using a secret court to demand data from a number of Internet companies, including email providers. One company, Lavabit, is refusing to comply by enacting what is essentially the online equivalent of passive resistance--it’s shutting down. What’s...
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During a speech to the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, DC on cybersecurity, former NSA and CIA chief Michael Hayden confessed that if whistleblower Edward Snowden is captured by the US and brought back for trial, cyber-attacks by his defenders can be expected. While I find it hard to agree with most of what...
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It’s not just criminals (and their direct antagonists in the security industry); the FBI likes to hack, too. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FBI has been using hacking techniques and products to break into Android phones in order to perform surveillance on criminal suspects. Allegedly, the FBI can hack a...
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We reported that the secret and top secret agencies of several countries including Australia, the UK, and the U.S. had banned China-based Lenovo computers for fears of spying. Allegedly, the Lenovo machines could have backdoor access built into the hardware which would therefore allow Chinese hackers to access those...
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One of the contentious issues that's swirled around the NSA since whistleblower Edward Snowden began leaking information on the organization's capabilities is exactly what it can -- or can't -- do. Snowden has stated that as a contractor with Booz Allen Hamilton, "I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities...
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A new report (albeit from unnamed industry sources, not Edward Snowden) alleges that the government has used the broad powers granted it by the Patriot Act to demand broad information about a user's passwords, website security, and even encryption information from service providers. The benefits of having this type of...
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Sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference between someone being stupid and being evil. According to Justin Elliott of ProPublica, writing in the Huffington Post, the NSA responded to his freedom of information request with a stonewall. Elliott said he was asking for emails between NSA employees and the...
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We've covered the NSA revelations and subsequent government petitions at some length, but here's a new twist to the story of the government's pervasive monitoring program -- a view of the activity from an ISP's perspective. According to Pete Ashdown, the CEO of XMission, a Utah ISP, the company received its first FISA...
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You've got to hand it to Microsoft -- the company is willing to find novel ways of promoting its products. The company is now offering anyone who buys a year of Office 365 ($99.95 annual rate) a free year of Xbox Live Gold. That's worth $60 a year -- a not-inconsiderable value relative to the cost of Office itself...
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