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Cybersecurity

You are here: Home / Archives for Cybersecurity

IOKIYAR Open Thread: Insecure Man Communicates Insecurely

by Anne Laurie|  April 24, 20189:35 pm| 166 Comments

This post is in: Dolt 45, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, All Too Normal, Cybersecurity

President Trump is increasingly relying on his personal cell phone to contact outside advisers, multiple sources inside and outside the White House tell CNN https://t.co/CLPF3Wm8Jr pic.twitter.com/gQkYQenO2g

— CNN (@CNN) April 23, 2018

Thank goodness Hillary Clinton, with her reliance on non-secured forms of electronic communications, is not the president of the United States. https://t.co/0o4SECL9ab

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) April 23, 2018

Is the president’s phone encrypted? What security measures is WH taking to protect the Commander in Chief’s confidential conversations? Is the president discussing national security issues on his private phone? https://t.co/HsfziiXgZ4

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) April 23, 2018

Don’t worry, it’ll be a VERY SERIOUS IMPEACHABLE OFFENSE again once there’s a Democrat in the Oval Office! (Assuming we all live through the current occupancy, that is… )

Remember the federal govt has admitted there are likely rogue/foreign stingrays (cell site simulators) in DC. https://t.co/tyPD7Cvn1i

— not the hypos i had in mind (@elizabeth_joh) April 24, 2018

On the news that Trump is reportedly using his personal cell phone more, I can't help but think of this quote from last year:

"If President Trump is carrying around an unsecured Android phone, that's 1,000 times worse than using a personal email server." https://t.co/m7T2oZf8Nl

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 24, 2018

IOKIYAR Open Thread: Insecure Man Communicates InsecurelyPost + Comments (166)

Open Thread: All the Privacy You Can Buy, Citizen!

by Anne Laurie|  March 29, 20186:15 pm| 310 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Cybersecurity

Reaction to this tweet indicates a lot of people not 100% sold on their kids.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2018


(Reminder: Schooley writes cartoon shows for a living. Yes, it’s a joke!)
.

Now, *this* is depressing: Tim Cook is happy to tell us that privacy — like clean water, decent health care, education, and so many other valuable commodities — is just another luxury good…

"Privacy to us..a human right…a civil liberty…something that is unique to America. This is like freedom of speech and freedom of the press," Cook said. "Privacy is right up there with that for us"

Monetized in Golden Age of personal data surveillance https://t.co/0IwICvn4hH

— Thomas Drake (@Thomas_Drake1) March 29, 2018

… Speaking at a town hall event hosted by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Recode’s Kara Swisher, Cook said Facebook put profits above all else when it allegedly allowed user data to be taken through connected apps. The event is part of MSNBC’s “Revolution” series.

When asked what he would do if he were in Zuckerberg’s position, Cook replied: “What would I do? I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“The truth is we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer, if our customer was our product,” Cook said. “We’ve elected not to do that.”…

Of course, Apple’s already made such ‘tons of money’ selling to “discerning” customers that its biggest problem is not drawing undue attention from government authorities, so Mr. Cook can afford to look down his nose at penny-an-ad barrel-scrapers like Zuckerberg…

Open Thread: All the Privacy You Can Buy, Citizen!Post + Comments (310)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: FaceBorked

by Anne Laurie|  March 28, 20184:55 am| 143 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Excellent Links, Open Threads, Cybersecurity, Decline and Fall, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

(Drew Sheneman via GoComics.com)
.

I considered using the subtitle “Evil Is Overdetermined”. Here’s a roundup of the latest thumbnails ICYMA (In Case You Missed Any… )

NEW w/@AllMattNYT & @carolecadwalla: interviews & documents reveal how an employee at Peter Thiel's Silicon Valley intel contractor Palantir helped Cambridge Analytica exploit Facebook data. https://t.co/j5wJzTZ6JX

— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) March 28, 2018

NEW: A group of 37 state attorneys general are pressing Facebook to provide more answers regarding how Cambridge Analytica was able to obtain the data of 50 million unwitting Facebook users. pic.twitter.com/xLrjehQes1

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) March 26, 2018

Early Facebook investor @Moonalice: "Facebook wasn’t hacked…the Russians used tools that were created for advertisers and they used them exactly the way they were meant to be [used]. It’s just that there was nobody was guarding the henhouse.” https://t.co/ySXJ6pl7Ny

— ProMarket (@ProMarket_org) March 27, 2018

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread: FaceBorkedPost + Comments (143)

Russiagate Open Thread: Today’s Cambridge Analytica / Facebook Thumbnails

by Anne Laurie|  March 26, 20186:19 pm| 202 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Russiagate, Cybersecurity, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

Report: Cambridge Analytica accused of violating US election laws in new legal action – ABC News – https://t.co/yurk9LBcgx via @ABC

— Robert Gifford (@robjgifford) March 26, 2018

All this… seems significant. You more technologically adept people want to explain why it is or isn’t?

Wow. Brilliant new technical details here. Gizmodo has found the code. Proof that AIQ – the company which worked for Vote Leave in Brexit – built Cambridge Analytica's tech. Also Ted Cruz's and the Osnovo party in Ukraine. https://t.co/GCBWwH84r6 via @gizmodo

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 26, 2018

I found Bannon's tools.
Facebook ad tools, scrapers, targeting scripts, etc.
Federal authorities have it all now.
Smoking gun evidence involving foreign influence in US elections.
Reports going up momentarily at: https://t.co/nLj8P5DeaG and https://t.co/ZjfGvuXqsx pic.twitter.com/B9uPUHX0KZ

— Chris Vickery (@VickerySec) March 26, 2018

Facebook’s privacy practices are being investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, as Bloomberg reported last week.

At issue: Facebook's handling of personal user data that was transferred to Cambridge Analytica without users’ knowledge. https://t.co/t36yfb0oGR

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) March 26, 2018

The Cambridge Analytica scandal is about failing to protect the privacy of users’ data, writes Susan Landau. "And Facebook is in no position to change that, for the sharing of user data lies at the heart of Facebook’s business," she says. https://t.co/qKehVVVSIS

— Lawfare (@lawfareblog) March 26, 2018

a BIG implication in this NOT TO BE MISSED:

Federal complaints against #CambridgeAnalytica raise potential criminal liability for members of Trump, Kruz campaigns—plus #Mercers, #JohnBolton's PAC, #Bannon—who may have "aided and abetted" Analytica:https://t.co/XC87Ucyifn

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) March 26, 2018

Russiagate Open Thread: Today’s Cambridge Analytica / Facebook ThumbnailsPost + Comments (202)

Mild Disappointments Open Thread: Rod Rosenstein & the Persian Menace

by Anne Laurie|  March 24, 20181:55 am| 25 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Russiagate, Cybersecurity, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

New: Trump administration hits Iranian hacker network with sanctions, indictments in vast global campaign https://t.co/fdCPk4ZNff

— Shane Harris (@shaneharris) March 23, 2018

Of course, foreign espionage agents are always very bad news. But after Thursday’s press release, I can’t have been the only person hoping/fearing for a less… anodyne announcement:

The Trump administration on Friday announced sanctions and criminal indictments against an Iranian hacker network it said was involved in “one of the largest state-sponsored hacking campaigns” ever prosecuted by the United States, targeting hundreds of U.S. and foreign universities, as well as dozens of U.S. companies and government agencies, and the United Nations.

None of the alleged hackers were direct employees of the Iranian government, but all worked at the behest of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), officials said. While not the first such punishments imposed on Iran for such malicious acts, the new measures address more extensive Iranian efforts than previously alleged.

Nine of 10 named individuals were connected to the Mabna Institute, a Shiraz-based tech firm that the Justice Department alleged hacks on behalf of Iranian universities and the IRGC. The institute conducted “massive, coordinated intrusions” into the computer systems of at least 144 U.S. universities and 176 foreign universities in 21 countries, including Britain and Canada, officials said.

The hackers stole more than 31 terabytes of data and intellectual property — the rough equivalent of three Libraries of Congress — from their victims, prosecutors alleged. Much of it ended up in the hands of the IRGC, which has frequently been accused of stealing information to further its own research and development of weaponry. The Guard Corps is the division of Iran’s security forces charged with overseeing Iranian proxy forces abroad and is under the direct control of the country’s religious leaders…

The Trump Regency has gotten us into a very weird mindspace. Under normal circumstances, would one’s first thought be “Yes, yes, Mr. Bolton — those crafty Iranian terrorists, and their mad mullahs, always looking to DESTROY THE GREAT SATAN… “

Unintentionally (?) perfect coda:

… Also sanctioned was Behzad Mesri, who U.S. prosecutors announced last November had been indicted on a charge related to the hacking of HBO and theft of unaired episodes of programs including “Game of Thrones,” which the hacker threatened to release unless he was paid $6 million….

Mild Disappointments Open Thread: Rod Rosenstein & the Persian MenacePost + Comments (25)

Open Thread: Unplugging from FaceBorg, or Changing Your Settings?

by Anne Laurie|  March 22, 20189:42 pm| 85 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Cybersecurity

1/3 This is the way my Facebook settings have always been.

First screen blocks outside apps from mining your own data. FB will warn you “are you sure?” if you click Disabled. But you are sure. pic.twitter.com/S62qiykg9x

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) March 21, 2018

Not a FaceBook user myself, because my brain chemistry already compels me to waste too much time trying to get to the end of the internet (and, yes, I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t ‘needed’ to set up an account for my job or my social life). So I can’t test Mr. Fallows’ advice here, but I figured it might be useful…

2/3 This screen controls what types of your personal data other people can take with them and use elsewhere, to “make their experience better and more social.”

I turn them all off. pic.twitter.com/2XYstcRvsi

— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) March 21, 2018

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Open Thread: Unplugging from FaceBorg, or Changing Your Settings?Post + Comments (85)

Just Say No

by Cheryl Rofer|  March 17, 201811:56 am| 120 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Russiagate, Your Place Is In The Resistance, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Assholes, Cybersecurity, Sociopaths

This story got buried under the news of Andrew McCabe’s firing on Friday, but it’s important if we want to elect people who can bring about responsible government. That starts now, as we move toward November’s elections.

You know those cute little quizzes that are supposed to tell you something about who you are? Which movie star are you? Are you a cat or a dog person? What is your color? So much fun to compare with what you think of yourself and with your friends’ results. In fact, you could share on Facebook and urge your friends to see what their favorite color was. Those quizzes asked you to share most of your Facebook data before you could play.

You may have been contributing data to Cambridge Analytica’s work to help elect Donald Trump.

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Just Say NoPost + Comments (120)

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