Edward Snowden: Privacy can't depend on corporations standing up to the government. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden opened the Free Software Foundation's LibrePlanet 2016 conference on Saturday with a discussion of free software, privacy and security, speaking via video conference from Russia. Snowden credited free software for his ability to help disclose the U.S. government's far-reaching surveillance projects – drawing one of several enthusiastic rounds of applause from the crowd in an MIT lecture hall. + ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD: Pwn2Own contest highlights renewed hacker focus on kernel issues + Apple engineers could walk away from FBI’s iPhone demands "What happened in 2013 couldn't have happened without free software," he said, particularly citing projects like Tor, Tails (a highly secure Linux distribution) and Debian.
Snowden argued that free software's transparency and openness are cornerstones to preserving user privacy in the connected age. "I didn't use Microsoft machines when I was in my operational phase, because I couldn't trust them," Snowden stated. Apple Engineers say they may Quit if ordered to Unlock iPhone by FBI. Apple Vs. FBI battle over mobile encryption case is taking more twists and turns with every day pass by.
On one hand, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is boldly warning Apple that it might compel the company to hand over the source code of its full iOS operating system along with the private electronic signature needed to run a modified iOS version on an iPhone, if… …Apple does not help the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unlock iPhone 5C belonging to one of the San Bernardino terrorists. And on the other hand, Apple CEO Tim Cook is evident on his part, saying that the FBI wants the company to effectively create the "software equivalent of cancer" that would likely open up all iPhones to malicious hackers. Now, some Apple engineers who actually develop the iPhone encryption technology could refuse to help the law enforcement break security measures on iPhone, even if Apple as a company decides to cooperate with the FBI.
Apple Emplyees to Quit their Jobs. Anti-DDoS Firm Staminus HACKED! Customers Data Leaked. Staminus Communications – a California-based hosting and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection company – is recovering a massive data breach after hackers broke down into its servers and leaked personal and sensitive details of its customers. Though the company acknowledged that there was a problem in a message posted to Twitter on Thursday morning, it did not specify a data breach.
Staminus's website went offline at 8 am Eastern Time on Thursday, and on Friday afternoon, a representative said in a Twitter post that "a rare event cascaded across multiple routers in a system-wide event, making our backbone unavailable. " What type of information? The dump of information on Staminus' systems includes: The data was posted on the Internet Friday morning, and some Staminus customers who wish to remain anonymous confirmed that their data was part of the leaked data dump.
What happened? The hackers also stole the company's database and dumped it online. How many customers affected? CTB-Locker Ransomware Spreading Rapidly, Infects Thousands of Web Servers. In last few years, we saw an innumerable rise in ransomware threats ranging from Cryptowall to Locky ransomware discovered last week. Now, another genre of ransomware had been branched out from the family of CTB-Locker Ransomware with an update to infect "Websites", according to Lawrence Abrams of BleepingComputer. The newly transformed ransomware dubbed "CTB-Locker for Websites" exclusively hijacks the websites by locking out its data, which would only be decrypted after making a payment of 0.4 BTC.
This seems to be the very first time when any ransomware has actually defaced a website in an attempt to convince its administrator to comply with the ransom demand. However, the infected website admins can unlock any 2 files by the random generator for free as a proof of decryption key works. Here's How CTB-Locker for Websites Ransomware Works Once encrypted, the compromised websites display the following message: FREE Key to Decrypt Any 2 Random Files Live Session with Ransomware Attackers. How to encrypt everything on Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android. The FBI’s inability to crack a terrorist’s iPhone 5c shows the strong protection you can get for your private information on a mobile device. That same encryption is also available on your computer, at least in some cases.
Given the increasing access to personal and corporate data sought by the U.S. government, as well as by other politicians, unscrupulous businesses, and criminal hackers, people should up their game on what they protect. Fortunately, it's not hard to do. (But be sure to back up your data before you encrypt your devices, in case a power failure occurs during the encryption process and makes your data unavailable.) How to encrypt your iOS or Android mobile device On your mobile devices, be sure to do the following: Upgrade to iOS 9 or Android 5 or 6 on all your smartphones, tablets, and data-storing devices like iPod Touches to get their hardware-assisted encryption capabilities. Use encrypted services like Apple’s iMessage and OpenWhisper’s TextSecure where possible.
ISIS group threatens Facebook and Twitter CEOs. Frustrated by social networks' efforts to keep them at bay, the terrorist group ISIS has made direct threats against the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter. They also mocked the executives' attempts to block terrorist groups from using their social networks, showed hackers supposedly posting propaganda and boasting that they have they have hacked more than 10,000 Facebook accounts and more than 5,000 Twitter profiles. The video was first spotted and reported by Vocative which said that a direct threat against Dorsey and Zuckerberg is made at the end of the video. "You announce daily that you suspend many of our accounts, and to you we say: Is that all you can do?
" the hackers say in text across the video. "You are not in our league.... REUTERS/Albert Gea. Chinese ISPs Caught Injecting Ads and Malware into Web Pages. China has gained a considerable global attention when it comes to their Internet policies in the past years; whether it's introducing its own search engine dubbed "Baidu," Great Firewall of China, its homebrew China Operating System (COP) and many more. Now, Chinese Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been caught red-handed for injecting Advertisements as well as Malware through their network traffic. Three Israeli researchers uncovered that the major Chinese-based ISPs named China Telecom and China Unicom, two of Asia's largest network operators, have been engaged in an illegal practice of content injection in network traffic. Chinese ISPs had set up many proxy servers to pollute the client's network traffic not only with insignificant advertisements but also malware links, in some cases, inside the websites they visit.
If an Internet user tries to access a domain that resides under these Chinese ISPs, the forged packet redirects the user's browser to parse the rogue network routes. Judge Confirms Government Paid CMU Scientists to Hack Tor Users for FBI. Everything is now crystal clear: The security researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) were hired by the federal officials to discover a technique that could help the FBI Unmask Tor users and Reveal their IP addresses as part of a criminal investigation.
Yes, a federal judge in Washington has recently confirmed that the computer scientists at CMU's Software Engineering Institute (SEI) were indeed behind a hack of the TOR project in 2014, according to court documents [PDF] filed Tuesday. In November 2015, The Hacker News reported that Tor Project Director Roger Dingledine accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of paying the CMU, at least, $1 Million for providing information that led to the criminal suspects identification on the Dark Web. After this news had broken, the FBI denied the claims, saying "The allegation that we paid [CMU] $1 Million to hack into TOR is inaccurate.
" University Researchers Helped FBI Hack TOR $1.73 Billion to UnMask TOR Users? Apple is working on New iPhone Even It Can't Hack. Amid an ongoing dispute with the United States government over a court order to unlock iPhone 5C of one of the San Bernardino shooters Syed Farook… ...Apple started working on implementing stronger security measures "even it can't hack" to achieve un-hackability in its future iPhones. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is deliberately forcing Apple to create a special, backdoored version of iOS that could let them brute force the passcode on Farook's iPhone without erasing data. However, the FBI approached the company to unlock the shooter's iPhone 5C in various ways like: Create a backdoor to shooter's iPhone.Disable the Auto-destruct feature after numerous tries.Increase the brute force time to try out all combinations.Minimize the time of waiting for a window after each try. ..and much more New iPhones will be Unhackable Apple has taken this sensitive issue on top priority in their stack to solve the privacy and security of public by covering any existing way out (if any).
SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day. Managing the Wide Area Network (WAN) for Redmond Inc., a supplier of industrial and commercial products – from salt that’s used to protect winter roadways to organic dairy products and health items – is an easier job today for the company’s technical project manager Aaron Gabrielson than it was a year ago. Redmond manages a phone system, point of sale and fax centrally out of headquarters in Heber City, Utah, which means each of Redmond’s 10 branch sites across the Midwest need a reliable connection back to headquarters in Utah. That’s easier for some sites, like those in Salt Lake City, than others, such as rural areas where there may only be a handful of workers on a farm. It was here that a software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) came to the rescue.
Gartner estimates that SD-WAN has less than 1% market share today, but it predicts that up to 30% of users will be managing their WAN through software within three years. +More on Network World: How to make the transition to SD-WAN + LinkedIn Gartner. IT manager gets 30 months in jail for code-bombing firm’s intellectual property. He could have gotten 10 years behind bars but this week a former IT manager at software maker Smart Online only got 30 months for sending malicious code that destroyed the company’s computers and data. +More on Network World: The weirdest, wackiest and coolest sci/tech stories of 2015+ The Department of Justice said that according to the plea agreement, from 2007 to 2012, Nikhil Shah, 33 was an information technology manager at Smart Online Inc., of Durham, North Carolina, that develops mobile applications.
Shah admitted that in March 2012, he left Smart Online to work for another technology company, and on June 28, 2012, he sent malicious computer code to Smart Online’s computer servers in Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina, deleting much of Smart Online’s intellectual property and causing some $5,000 in damages. Shah was also ordered to pay $324,462 in restitution. Check out these other hot stories: Are we in artificial intelligence winter? Einstein was right: Gravitational waves exist! Just One Device? No, Government wants Apple to Unlock 12 More iPhones.
However, in addition to iPhone 5C belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, the U.S. Justice Department is looking at court orders forcing Apple to help officials unlock at least 12 iPhones. Citing sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the federal authorities want to extract data from iPhones seized in a variety of criminal investigations are involved in undisclosed cases where prosecutors are compelling Apple to help them bypass iPhone's lockscreen.
However, Apple is fighting government demands in all these cases and, in a number of cases, had objected the US Justice Department's efforts to force its company through an 18th-century law called the All Writs Act, according to which, the courts can require actions to comply with their orders. Bill Gates wants Apple to Help the FBI Apple's refusal to unlock iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters has escalated a battle between the technology company and the U.S. Mother of San Bernardino Victim Supports Apple. 15-year-old Teenage Hacker Arrested Over FBI Computer Hack. Another 15-year-old teenager got arrested from the land of cakes, Scotland, by British Police for breaking into the FBI Systems on 16th February. Under the Britain’s anti-hacking law, Computer Misuse Act 1990, the boy has been arrested for his role in hacking and unauthorized access to the digital material.
Federal Agents had fled to Glasgow in an attempt to carry out a raid on his home before proceeding with the boy's arrest. "He has since been released and is the subject of a report to the procurator fiscal," a Police Spokesman told a Scottish journal. As with the present scenario, reports say that the boy could be extradited to the United States to face the Intrusion and hacking charges. Second Member of the Hacking Group Arrested The suspect is believed to be an active member of the notorious hacking group called "Crackas with Attitude" aka "CWA", Motherboard confirms. Another member of the same group got arrested from the United Kingdom last week. Last Member of Hacking Group Left. Snowden-approved: The ‘Citizenfour’ hacker’s toolkit. One of the interesting reveals at the end of Citizenfour, the recent Academy Award-winning documentary about Edward Snowden, was the thanks it gives to various security software programs. The information that Snowden leaked two years ago continues to reverberate today, and it kicked off renewed interest in data security, privacy, and anonymity.
Based on the closing credits in the movie, we’ve put together a guide to some of the major security software programs and operating systems available. If you’ve wanted to take steps to secure your own information, but were uncertain where to start, this article should get you headed in the right direction. Browser Security: Tor The Tor Security Bundle is probably the best-known of the software products we’ll discuss today. The Tor browser is easy to install and set up; it’s based on Firefox 31.5.0, but as the program warns, simply using Tor isn’t enough to secure your Internet browsing.
Configuring Tor is relatively easy. Privacy tools. You are being watched. It has become a fact that private and state sponsored organizations are spying on us. privacytools.io is here to give you the knowledge and tools to defend yourself against global mass surveillance. Over the last 16 months, as I've debated this issue around the world, every single time somebody has said to me, "I don't really worry about invasions of privacy because I don't have anything to hide. " I always say the same thing to them. I get out a pen, I write down my email address.
I say, "Here's my email address. What I want you to do when you get home is email me the passwords to all of your email accounts, not just the nice, respectable work one in your name, but all of them, because I want to be able to just troll through what it is you're doing online, read what I want to read and publish whatever I find interesting. Example search: edward snowden All providers listed here are operating outside the USA, accepting Bitcoin and supporting OpenVPN.
Five Eyes 1. 6. How Spy Agencies Hacked into Israeli Military Drones to Collect Live Video Feeds. Dutch Police Training Eagles to Take Down Rogue Drones. Wikileak's Julian Assange Could Be Set Free On Friday by United Nation. Data breach numbers still high in 2015. First light-based chip. Google's $1B to Apple for iOS search rights was a steal. Skype now hides your IP address to protect against attacks from online trolls. Mr Robot; Analysed. How VPNs work. The 25 worst passwords of 2015.
Anonymous claims they Hacked Donald Trump ...Really? Florida Sheriff threatens to Arrest 'Rascal' Tim Cook if He Doesn't Unlock the iPhone. Network World. Networking. The Hacker News. 99hacking. The Intercept. E Hacking News - Latest Hacker News and IT Security News. Web. Computer Networking. Tunneling Protocols. Random Subneting Question Generator.
IPv4. IPv6.