http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/06/kpmg_cookie_law_research/
Archive for 2012/06/06
NATO: Internet warfare? Just think of the paperwork
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Public Policy, Stats / reportsNew UK ISP Internet Snooping and Piracy Measures Face Further Delays
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Legislation, Public Policy, Stats / reportsContent vs infrastructure
An article in The Telegraph today claims that the bill could now be delayed for at least another 6 months, which is apparently due to a mixture of problems that range from disputes over internet copyright policy to the political fallout of the Culture Secretary’s (Jeremy Hunt MP) recent BSkyB failings.
Instead we’re likely to see the government publish its related policies in a more piecemeal way, which will be announced through a series of future seminars.
Students in Florence, South Carolina got a real world police state lesson when a mother was incarcerated for cheering too loudly for her daughter during her graduation
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, New Business Models, Stats / reportsTwo others were also arrested during the commencement service
If You Kill Someone, Don’t Google How to Do It First
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Google, Stats / reportsWorld IPv6 Launch gets 27 percent of pageviews on IPv6
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech EvolutionInternet hacktivist group SwaggSec claimed responsibility for a breach of Chinese ISP company China Telecom and Warner Brothers
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Stats / reportsData taken from the companies was leaked via a torrent file contained on file sharing site The Pirate Bay. Particularly, more than 900 administrator credentials for China Telecom were accounted for while less data from Warner Brothers was included.
Discussing the matter in a post via pastebin.com, the hacking group emphasized the ease in which the operation was carried out. “At any moment, we could have and still could destroy their communication infrastructure leaving millions without communication,” warned SwaggSec regarding the breach of China Telecom.
Then there was the other target. “When we hacked their intranet, we were surprised to see their IT department’s well documented “confidential” data about the “critical vulnerabilities” on their servers and sites,” commented the group regarding the hack of Warner Brothers.
According to a Sunday news report from IDG News Service, SwaggSec was notable for participating in a previous attack on product manufacturer Foxconn.
The security breaches are reminiscent of attacks carried out by another famous hacking group during the course of last year. In 2011, LulzSec received notable attention for breaches on websites belonging to the U.S. Senate, Sony, the CIA, PBS and more.
http://www.pingzine.com/900-admin-credentials-leaked-in-breach-of-china-telecom-15611/
Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload servers ‘too big’
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Litigation, Public Policy, Stats / reportsThe size of Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload servers has made disclosing the evidence against him near impossible in the allotted time, New Zealand Crown lawyers have argued.
A District Court judge last week overruled the US Government and granted the internet millionaire the right to information gathered by the FBI in the copyright case against him.
The Crown has today argued against the order in the High Court at Auckland, saying it was “unrealistic” to do so in the 21 days allowed by the court.
Fergus Sinclair, for the Crown, said the servers Megaupload used were massive and would have to be disclosed as the FBI had copied them.
Megaupload had 18 servers with a company called Cogent but they were so large the FBI could copy only two of them, he said.
“It’s simply too big a job. They wouldn’t get a small way through it in that time.”
Dotcom’s lawyer William Akel said there was a concern US authorities could make the matter take “as long as they say it could take”.
Justice Helen Winkelmann reserved her decision.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7051842/Kim-Dotcoms-Megaupload-servers-too-big
NASA gets two military spy telescopes for astronomy
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech EvolutionThe secretive government agency that flies spy satellites has made a stunning gift to NASA: two exquisite telescopes as big and powerful as the Hubble Space Telescope. They’ve never left the ground and are in storage in Rochester, N.Y.
It’s an unusual technology transfer from the military-intelligence space program to the better-known civilian space agency. It could be a boost for NASA’s troubled science program, which is groaning under the budgetary weight of the James Webb Space Telescope, still at least six years from launch.
Ericsson predicts over nine billion mobile subscriptions by 2017
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Mobile tech, Stats / reportsEricsson has published its latest mobile traffic report and is predicting the number of mobile subscriptions in 2017 will top nine billion, with the bulk of the growth coming in Asia and the Far East.
The world is going online, the report finds, but most people’s first experience of the internet will be on a mobile phone rather than via a PC or laptop. By 2017 there should be over three billion smartphones in circulation, and worldwide 3G coverage should reach 85 per cent of the population, with 50 per cent having access to 4G.
According to Ericsson’s predictions, around a third of laptops will have cellular connections by 2017, and around half of all tablets will be on the network all the time. This is going to mean a lot of subscriptions, and already the mobile subscription rate for Western Europe is equal to 126 per cent of the population.
More:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/06/ericsson_mobile_data_report/
Just because you CAN port your number to Google Voice, should you?
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Google, Stats / reportsCoke bottles may require cancer warning label if drink ingredients not changed
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reportsBack in January, the state of California added to its list of cancer-causing chemicals an ingredient commonly used in flavored soda beverages, which has sent major shockwaves throughout the processed food industry. And according to numerous reports, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and even Whole Foods are having to alter their soda beverage recipes in order to avoid being required by the state of California to label their products as causing cancer.
The cancer-causing chemical in question is 4-methylimidazole, or 4-MI, a byproduct formed during the production of caramel color, an additive commonly used in processed cola beverages. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), caramel color produced using ammonia or ammonia-sulfites creates both 4-MI and 2-MI (2-methylimidazole), which have been shown to be carcinogenic.
A 2008 study published in the journal Archives of Toxicology found that 4-MI is toxic, and that it is linked to causing clonic seizures, hyperactivity, impaired gait, chronic inflammation, focal fatty change in the liver, carcinoma, leukemia, and adenoma, among other conditions. The study essentially confirmed that 4-MI is carcinogenic (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17619857).
The New Internet Starts Now
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Stats / reports, Tech EvolutionA whole new version of the Internet is about to take over. Internet Protocol version 6 is here to save us from the dwindling number of IPv4 addresses. If everything seems the same as before, rejoice!. That means everything went to plan.
http://gizmodo.com/5916008/the-new-internet-gets-switched-on-tonight
Facebook warns users of the end of the Internet via DNSChanger
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Network Security, New Business Models, Stats / reportsDon’t be alarmed if you open up your Facebook account and get a large warning message that says, “Your computer or network might be infected.”
Facebook announced today that its security team has joined a consortium of computer security experts working to clean up malicious malware called DNSChanger. As a result, the social network can now notify victims, who may have infected computers, and help them figure out how to rid their networks of the botnet.
More:
A man from Sweden has been handed a jail sentence for offenses he committed while running a BitTorrent site
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Copyright, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Illegal File Sharing, Public Policy, Stats / reportsThe former administrator of the PowerBits private tracker was found guilty of copyright infringement and tax and accounting fraud after he failed to register donations provided by the site’s users as income with the tax authorities. He will serve one year in prison.
More:
http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-admin-jailed-for-tax-evasion-on-site-donations-120605/
Filesoup – the oldest surviving BitTorrent site – has announced that it will close its doors for good
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Illegal File Sharing, New Business Models, Stats / reportsAfter a lengthy legal process the authorities eventually dropped the charges against the admins in 2011. The court concluded that the evidence was solely provided by FACT and thus unreliable. While this was a huge relief and a welcome victory for the admins, the legal process effectively killed the once-so-vibrant FileSoup community.
Members left, and didn’t return. Only a handful of the 1,043,311 registered members check in on an average day, compared to the tens of thousands of visitors a few years ago. As the visitor count dropped, the interest of FileSoup administrator Geeker waned.
More:
http://torrentfreak.com/worlds-oldest-bittorrent-site-shuts-down-120605/
Stockton Man Sentenced to Almost Five Years in Prison for Identity Theft
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Stats / reportsMichael Garcia, 39, of Stockton, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 57 months in prison for fraud in connection with computers and in connection with an access device, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
According to court documents, Garcia was employed as a technician by a contractor that provided information technology (IT) assistance to third parties. While employed there, Garcia accessed the computer servers of a law firm and an accountant firm without their knowledge or authorization and downloaded the personal information of more than 1,450 clients and employees. Garcia maintained this information on his computer and elsewhere.
According to court documents, Garcia and others used this personal and financial information to make counterfeited identification documents including driver’s licenses and military identification. They used the information to open bank accounts, draft bank checks, make cash withdrawals, obtain loans and lines of credit, and make unauthorized purchases. Additionally, Garcia accompanied others who wore stolen U.S. Customs and Border Protection uniforms to carry out certain fraudulent transactions, such as cashing checks, in the belief that the uniforms gave them more credibility. When arrested, Garcia possessed counterfeit California driver’s licenses, one of which bore his photo but with the name of a victim. The loss is more than $136,000.
Anonymous are set to activate the dormant cells of a global ‘Fight Club’ to battle corruption
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Cybercrime, Education / Awareness, Network Security, Privacy / Data Protection, Public Policy, Stats / reportsDuring a 10 day period from 12-12-2012 to 12-21-2012, the collective says “the World will see an unprecedented amount of Corporate, Financial, Military and State leaks that will have been secretly gathered by millions of CONSCIENTIOUS citizens, vigilantes, whistle blowers and insiders worldwide.”
Due to the decentralized (loosely-knit alert!) nature of the movement, it is difficult to tell exactly how much widespread support the campaign will gather over the next six months.
More:
http://www.rt.com/news/anonymous-leaks-fight-club-057/
See also:
http://vrritti.com/?s=loosely+knit
WikiLeaks’ Assange Cypherpunk guests grilled: Is FBI collecting ‘evidence’ for indictment?
Posted: 2012/06/06 in Education / Awareness, Enforcement, Public Policy, Stats / reports“The FBI is apparently collecting evidence to indict Julian Assange before a grand jury. Sweden must not be the final destination of the designed extradition,” sources close to WikiLeaks and Julian Assange told RT.
The Cypherpunks episode of The Julian Assange Show has not even premiered on RT, but a pot of trouble is already boiling and Jeremy Zimmerman, a co-founder of cyber freedoms group La Quadrature du Net, has got a taste of it.
Jeremy Zimmerman was detained on his way from the US to France after filming the episode of Assange’s show, during which he was interviewed with two other Cypherpunks movement activists.
Zimmerman was grabbed by “self-identified FBI agents,” reports the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website. After that he spent several hours in quite another sort of the interview. The officers asked him about various details regarding Julian Assange. When he asked about his rights, the cyber activist was threatened with arrest and imprisonment.
“We have confirmed US authorities have this week detained and interrogated multiple Europeans about Assange,” reads the WikiLeaks Tweet.
Smari McCarthy, a co-founder and board member of the Icelandic Digital Freedoms Society, has also been stopped while entering the US, the source adds. McCarthy was approached by three US officials in Washington DC, and asked to become an informer.
At the moment McCarthy’s whereabouts are unknown, though he maintains communication with the Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir.
In earlier incidents, Nabeel Rajab, a Bahraini human rights activist, was beaten up at Bahrain’s international airport on his return from Lebanon in April. Then he was detained for half a day.
More:
http://www.rt.com/news/assange-fbi-julian-us-991/
See also:
http://vrritti.com/?s=cypherpunk
