Source: Congress approves act that opens US government data to the public
Category Archives: Law & Disorder
Found: New Android malware with never-before-seen spying capabilities
Skygofree is among the most powerful spy platforms ever created for Android.
Source: Found: New Android malware with never-before-seen spying capabilities
As ‘net neutrality’ vote nears, some brace for a long fight
Surveillance firms spied on campaign groups for big companies, leak shows
Targets included grieving family of Rachel Corrie, environmental activists and local campaigners protesting about phone masts
Source: Surveillance firms spied on campaign groups for big companies, leak shows
Comcast continues to inject its own code into websites you visit
Even without the repeal of net neutrality Comcast continues to show disregard for a free and open internet by inserting its own code into webpages at whim.
Source: Comcast continues to inject its own code into websites you visit
SB WUZ HERE: Surgeon pleads guilty to burning initials into patients’ organs
Dr. Simon Bramhall admitted to using argon beam to etch “SB” onto livers.
Source: SB WUZ HERE: Surgeon pleads guilty to burning initials into patients’ organs
How BitTorrent could let lone DDoS attackers bring down big sites
Some of the most widely used BitTorrent applications, including uTorrent, Mainline, and Vuze are also the most vulnerable to a newly discovered form of denial of service attack that makes it easy for a single person to bring down large sites.
The distributed reflective DoS (DRDoS) attacks exploit weaknesses found in the open BitTorrent protocol, which millions of people rely on to exchange files over the Internet. But it turns out that features found uTorrent, Mainline, and Vuze make them especially suitable for the technique. DRDoS allows a single BitTorrent user with only modest amounts of bandwidth to send malformed requests to other BitTorrent users.
The BitTorrent applications receiving the request, in turn, flood a third-party target with data that’s 50 to 120 times bigger than the original request. Key to making the attack possible is BitTorrent’s use of the user datagram protocol, which provides no mechanism to prevent the falsifying of IP addresses. By replacing the attacker’s IP address in the malicious request with the spoofed address of the target, the attacker causes the data flood to hit victim’s computer.
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AT&T’s “Extreme Willingness to Help” is key to NSA Internet surveillance
A unique and unusually productive relationship with AT&T has helped the US National Security Agency trawl through vast quantities of Internet traffic, much of it transmitted through networks located in the US, according to a media article published Saturday.
The cooperation involved a variety of classified programs that span decades, in one case more than 15 years before the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition to providing the NSA with access to billions of e-mails flowing across its domestic networks, AT&T helped wiretap all Internet communications at the United Nations headquarters, which is, or at least was, an AT&T customer, according to the article, which was jointly reported and written by reporters from The New York Times and ProPublica. The article, which relied on NSA documents leaked by former agency contractor Edward Snowden, said that AT&T competitor Verizon participated in some of the same activities, but on a much smaller scale. One NSA document reminded officials to be polite when visiting AT&T sites since the arrangement was a “partnership, not a contractual relationship.”
One of the oldest programs is dubbed Fairview and began in 1985. A separate program known as Stormbrew included Verizon and MCI, the former telecommunications provider that Verizon acquired in 2006. The NYT and ProPublica go on to paint AT&T as a particularly willing partner. The article stated:
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Lawsuit over two-word tweet—“actually yes”—can move ahead, judge finds
A federal judge in Minnesota has allowed a First Amendment and defamation lawsuit filed by a high school student who was suspended over a two-word tweet—“actually yes”—to move forward.
The suit was first filed in June 2014 by Reid Sagehorn, then a high school student at Rogers High School, in Rogers, Minnesota—he sued the Elk River School District, the principal of his former school, and two district officials for violating his constitutional rights. Sagehorn was the captain of the school’s football and basketball teams, and by all accounts had a spotless disciplinary record—save for one parking ticket at the school.
Sagehorn, who declined to comment for this story, is now a student at North Dakota State University.
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Will Supreme Court force DHS to divulge secret plan to cut cell service?
The Supreme Court was asked in a petition to force the government to disclose the US clandestine plan to disable cell service during emergencies.
The case concerns Standard Operating Procedure 303. A federal appeals court in May said the government did not have to release its full contents because the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows the authorities to withhold records if they would “endanger” public safety.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center told the high court’s justices Tuesday that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision created a new “catchall provision that can be used in any case involving records related to domestic and national security programs.” (PDF)
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