4/14 defcon: opt-out botnet & fakebook revolutions

law would let you 'opt-out' of online web tracking*
private records of 3.5m people exposed by texas*
in a surprise appeal: tjx hacker claims US authorized his crimes as 'key undercover secret service informant'*
'facebook revolutions' & people-powered coups: US trains activists to evade security forces*
with an actual court order, fbi hijacks 'coreflood' botnet, sends kill signal*
police increasingly peeping at email, instant messages*
report: chinese far outstrip US cyber-spy fight for military, business secrets*
rhode island lawmakers look at law to school cyberbullying*
dozens apply for space pilot jobs at virgin galactic*
kochab star in little dipper about to go supernova;
last supernova observed by galileo in 1604*
audio satire: fbi director wishes he had some alien thing to cover up*

2/24 defcon: transhumanism & you

video: human 2.0 - where biology & technology merge in 2029*
continuing saga of data security firm hbgary: air force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people*
patent: nervous system manipulation from tv monitors*
internet 'kill switch' bill gets a makeover*
voice of america site knocked off by iranian cyber army*
india plans to tighten rules for cyber-cafes*
ibm's watson supercomputer goes to work for you*
as users move to smartphones, so do cyber-criminals*
british court rules assange to be extradited to sweden*

2/17 defcon: cyber-coup, backdoor & track more

cyber-attack hits canadian government computers*
report: egypt shut down net with big switch, not phone calls*
voice of america uses social media to aid foreign dissent*
surveillance footage & code clues indicate stuxnet hit iran*
cia head panetta warns of possible cyber-pearl harbor*
lynn urges partnership against cyber threat*
dod talks up plans to deploy cybercommandos 3.0*
video: hillary announces expanded US cyber-coup campaign*
US intelligence officials concerned about cyber attack*
'kill switch' internet bill alarms privacy experts*
cyberwar issues likely to be addressed only after a catastrophe*
fema loses official lesson reports on katrina, floods, fires*
feds seize 18 more domains in piracy crackdown*
fbi to announce significant new wiretap push:
backdoors galore in everything from skype to bittorrent*
online 'do not track' bill introduced in congress*
internet searches beginning to be used as evidence in trials*
obama/holder case against assange dribbles away*
jobs, schmidt & zuckerberg meet with obama in san francisco*
reminder: facebook & google are cia fronts*

get internet access when your government shuts it down

(except, of course, if the power goes out)
from pcworld: These days, no popular movement goes without an Internet presence of some kind, whether it's organizing on Facebook or spreading the word through Twitter. And as we've seen in Egypt, that means that your Internet connection can be the first to go. Whether you're trying to check in with your family, contact your friends, or simply spread the word, here are a few ways to build some basic network connectivity when you can't rely on your cellular or landline Internet connections.

2/3 defcon: killswitch, bandwidth, floodgates

as egypt returns to the internet: lieberman says US internet killswitch bill is different than egypt's internet killswitch*
US tests system that beats internet censorship by dictatorships*
certified lies: detecting & defeating govt interception attacks against ssl*
vodafone volluded with egyptian regime's information warfare psyop*
metered bandwidth isn't about stopping bandwidth hogs; it's about preserving old media business models*
US p2p traffic lower than world average*
US cyber challenge partners with lockmart & microsoft*
US recruiting young cyber warriors*
docs in assange rape investigation leak onto web*
video: assange's boring 60 minutes interview*
no, hackers can't open hoover dam floodgates*
nasa spots 54 life-friendly planets*
video: ufo hovers over jerusalem*

killswitch: obama admin fears egypt-style revolt in US

from paul joseph watson: The Obama administration is busy attempting to pass legislation that would give the President a kill switch for the Internet in the United States while at the same time decrying Egyptian authorities for shutting down the Internet in a bid to deflate the unfolding revolution against Hosni Mubarak. The reason is simple – the government fears an Egypt-style revolt occurring in the U.S. and wants to block access to the world wide web if and when it happens... While Obama criticizes Egyptian authorities for shutting down web access to disrupt protesters, his own administration prepares to launch a fresh attempt at instituting the exact same powers in America, which as recent history clearly demonstrates, represent tools for tyrannical regimes who wish to silence legitimate political opposition.

related: dhs' new terror alert system to use facebook, twitter

egypt hits internet kill switch

Organizations that track global activity noted a collapse of internet traffic in and out of Egypt at about 10:30pm, GMT, Thursday. The Telegraph reports in, "How Egypt shut down the internet," how loss of access involved the withdrawal of more than 3,500 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routes by Egyptian ISPs. It's reported effectively 88 percent of all access was cut. "Only one ISP out of 10, Noor Data Networks, appeared largely unaffected. It connects to the outside world via an undersea cable operated by Telecom Italia.," the article continues, "Renesys [a networking firm] speculated that the apparent anomaly of Noor Data Networks may be a result of the fact it provides services to the Egyptian stock exchange." BGP is the protcol backing the core routing decisions on the internet. BGP, according to Wikipedia, "...does not use traditional Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) metrics, but makes routing decisions based on path, network policies and/or rulesets. For this reason, it is more appropriately termed a reachability protocol rather than routing protocol." Egypt joins North Korea, at least for the time being, as the only other country to deny its citizens access to the internet. It's interesting to see how the feat is done!

12/16 defcon: strategic partnersnitch

warrant needed to get your email, appeals court says*
'killswitch' inside intel's new processor*
allegations of fbi backdoor in openbsd denied by named participants*
napolitano calls for strategic partnerships in cybersecurity defense*
bill would require government & private sector to require 'minimum cybsersecurity standards' for devices that connect to the internet*
army wants smartphones for soldiers*
yet another iphone snitch app released*
facebook biometrics finds friends in pics*
ufo shot down over israeli nuke plant*

11/25 defcon: sick, switch, risks

US launches giant eavesdropping satellite*
govt focusing on cyber warfare, armed forces chief reveals*
study says wifi makes trees sick*
3rd eye: nyu artist gets camera implanted in head*
should obama's 'internet kill switch' power be curbed?*
cyber shopping poses fraud risks*
wikileaks diplomatic cable dump reportedly imminent*

'ex-cia' head hayden says US should be able to shut down internet

from reuters: Cyberterrorism is such a threat that the U.S. president should have the authority to shut down the Internet in the event of an attack, Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said.

Hayden made the comments during a visit to San Antonio where he was meeting with military and civilian officials to discuss cyber security. The U.S. military has a new Cyber Command which is to begin operations on October 1.

Hayden said the president currently does not have the authority to shut down the Internet in an emergency.

"My personal view is that it is probably wise to legislate some authority to the President, to take emergency measures for limited periods of time, with clear reporting to Congress, when he feels as if he has to take these measures," he said in an interview on the weekend.

"But I would put the bar really high as to when these kinds of authorities might take place," he said.

He likened cyberwarfare to a "frontier."

"It's actually the new area of endeavor, I would compare it to a new age of exploration. Military doctrine calls the cyber thing a 'domain,' like land sea, air, space, and now cyber … It is almost like a frontier experience" he said.

Hayden, a retired U.S. Air Force general, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency during the administration of President George W. Bush from 2006 to 2009.