7/7 defcon: the atlantis event & awesome announcements

atlantis launch will be iconic event, the last of its kind*

full range of opinions & emotions surrounds last shuttle flight*
video: space shuttle atlantis' big-screen launch events & tributes*
nasa's dramatic rescue plan in case of shuttle emergency*
plans to strip mine the moon may soon be more than just sci-fi*
security grifters partner-up on sinister cyber-surveillance project*
army's $2.7b cloud computing system does not work*
hackers are everywhere. panic!*
hackers claim apple security breach*
hacker allegedly breaches florida voting database*
@foxnewspolitics twitter feed hacked; assassination hoax tweeted*
facebook's "awesome" announcement is... skype video chat*
one in three 'overwhelmed by technology'*
video: geocaching treasure hunt leads to uk bomb scare*

5/19 defcon: blockage, bills, threats & storms

obama doj tries to block unclassified info from nsa leaker trial*
new yorker mag sheds new light on nsa's warrantless wiretapping & data mining*
senate bill requires warrant for email, cloud content*
senate bill makes illegal internet streaming a felony*
bill clinton: create internet agency*
US secret service questions 13yr-old over facebook 'threat'*
twitter feed @omgfacts lawsuit underscores power of a tweet*
prolific 'spokesman' for 'anonymous' leaves hacker group*
dhs's top cybersecurity official resigns*
giant storm revealed on saturn*
video: scientists discover habitable earth-like planet*

domestic surveillance court approved all 1,506 warrants in 2010

from threat level: The secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved all 1,506 government requests to electronically monitor suspected “agents” of a foreign power or terrorists on U.S. soil last year, according to a Justice Department report released under the Freedom of Information Act. The two-page report, which shows about a 13 percent increase in the number of applications for electronic surveillance between 2009 and 2010, was obtained by the Federation of American Scientists and published Friday. “The FISC did not deny any applications in whole, or in part,” according to the April 19 report to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). The 11-member court denied two of 1,329 applications for domestic-intelligence surveillance in 2009. The FBI is the primary agency making those requests. Whether the FISA court, whose business is conducted behind closed doors, is rubber-stamping the requests is a matter of debate... The Justice Department report, meanwhile, said the FBI issued 24,287 “national security letter” requests last year on 14,212 people, “a substantial increase from the 2009 level of 14,788 NSL requests concerning 6,114 U.S. persons,” Aftergood wrote in a blog post. In 2008, there were 24,744 requests regarding 7,225 people.

as smartphone scandal grows, tech firms run for cover

while they reap windfall profits...
from antifascist calling: Recent revelations that Apple's iPhone and iPad, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating systems collect, store and transmit records of users' physical locations to central databases--secretly, and without consent--have ignited a firestorm over Americans' privacy rights in an age of hypersurveillance.

And with a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Florida by two iPhone users, The Register reports, Apple guru Steve Jobs was forced to respond to complaints after the firm's usual tactic--deafening silence--failed to assuage customer's anxieties.

The lawsuit alleges that "irreparable injury has resulted and continues to result from Apple's unauthorized tracking of millions of Americans," plaintiffs Vikram Ajjampur and William Devito averred. They are requesting their case be granted class-action status, a move likely to send shudders along the silicon spine of the secretive Cupertino high-tech powerhouse.

In response to the outcry, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple "is scaling back how much information its iPhones store about where they have been and said it will stop collecting such data when consumers request it, as the company tries to quell concerns it was tracking iPhone owners."

But as journalists Yukari Iwatani Kane and Jennifer Valentino-Devries point out, "a week of silence on the growing controversy, raised new questions and criticism about its data-handling practices."

related video: assange calls facebook 'most appalling spy machine' ever

fbi tracking "suspects" online

A Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) request made in 2007 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), reveals FBI using secret spyware. A recent article at Raw Story shows "...that software called the Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier (CIPAV) was used by the FBI since at least 2001. The software allows the FBI to collect a variety of information from a computer every time it connects to the Internet, including the IP address, Media Access Control (MAC) address, open communication ports, list of the programs running, URLs visited, and more. It is unclear how the FBI installs the software on a computer, but it is suspected that the spyware exploits a vulnerability in the user's browser, like other common Internet viruses."

However, the article notes a greater threat posed by a recent FBI proposal. "In February, the FBI urged members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to update the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) and make it easier for authorities to eavesdrop on Internet." CALEA is the same 1994 law that the US administration was not observing just prior to the Iraq war!

4/28 defcon: guilt trips down the surveillance highway

obama on manning: 'he broke the law' - so much for fair trial*
video: 'pentagon papers' whistleblower daniel ellsberg says bradley manning can't get fair trial after obama's comment*
some fbi cyber agents lack adequate skills, report finds*
tomtom apologies for giving customer driving data to cops*
android data tied to users? some say yes*
facebook looks to cash in on user data*
apple says they 'must have' comprehensive user location data on you - and you will comply*
sony says credit card data at risk in playstation hack*
sony unveils ipad rival tablets*
'a vast, global online network of homeless people'*
miniature drone to drop tracking dust onto people*
cryptogon.com on 'the future where soda cans have screens'*
limewire facing billion-dollar damages trial*
video: ice uses seized domains for 'best anti-piracy video ever'*
spacex aims to put man on mars in 10-20yrs*
seti institute to shut down alien-seeking radio dishes*
alpha magnetic spectrometer to go on endeavour shuttle*
gabrielle giffords can attend husband's shuttle launch*
endeavor shuttle launch: time, where to watch*

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*

1/27 defcon: congress, connections & 'the company'

s3480: 'protecting cyberspace as a national asset act of 2010' - bill to give president right to shutdown net back in congress*
doj seeks to have all web surfing tracked*
mozilla proposes 'do not track' addition to firefox*
google comes under fire for 'secret' relationship with nsa*
apple hires a military grade security chief*
zuckerberg's facebook page hacked*
social networks under attack as tide of cyber-scepticism sweeps US; they don't connect people – they isolate them*
report: US can't link manning to assange*
police arrest five over 'anonymous' wikileaks attacks*
video: tarpley on wikileaks & assange -
limited hangouts in the service of 'the company'?*

update: internet down in egypt ahead of protests*

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*

12/2 defcon: fingerprints, arsenic & oxygen

feds warrantlessly tracking credit cards in real time*
google admits street view trespassing, hit with crippling $1 fine*
race is on to 'fingerprint' phones & pc's*
xbox-modding case dismissed mid-trial*
who'll win the battle for control of web?*
most popular yahoo search in 2010 was 'bp oil spill'; first time for a news story*
nasa created buzz with 'e.t.' tease*
nasa finds new arsenic-fed life form*
oxygen detected on saturn's moon rhea*
ufo's welcome in hooper, colorado*

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*

11/18 defcon: extra staff & virtual property

fbi brass ask google, facebook to expand wiretaps*
google vp issues stark internet warning*
youtube hiring extra staff to tackle al-qaeda videos*
state-led cyberterror set to rise: report*
gates: huge threat of cyber attack*
cyber experts have proof china hijacked US-based internet traffic*
searching for news is riskier than searching for porn, study says*
man made 1/2-a-mil on virtual property*
x-37b secret US space plane may be too mysterious*

patients under satellite surveillance

Astrium, a leading European space company, promotes a webpage where benefits of space have already come down to earth. A rural southwest France Tibiran-Jaunac nursing home has operational satellite service able to monitor Alzheimer or "behavior disordered" patients by satellite feed. A quick survey of satellite project's webpage at Astrium website reveals, "The tested communication system comprises a ... broadband access point via satellite, coupled with a wireless network to enable the various medical systems to interconnect and be able to communicate their data to a remote medical station, the office of the coordinating doctor or an emergency ambulance centre. A modified nurse’s trolley, equipped with a complete set of medical instruments, can transfer the collected data on demand to each patient’s GP (General Practitioner)..." Big Brother draws the circle closer with every passing day!

10/14 defcon: settlements, citizenship & commercial gain

school district pays $610k to settle webcam spying lawsuits*
dhs scoured social media sites during obama inauguration for 'items of interest'*
applying for citizenship? US citizenship & immigration wants to be your 'friend'*
iranian, chinese computers also hacked dc internet voting system*
comcast pushes bot alert program nationwide*
facebook is 'killing privacy for commercial gain'*
update: superbombs & secret jails:
what to look for in wikileaks' upcoming iraq docs*

9/30 defcon: total domination & digital infringement

obama's internet wiretap move:
just one small facet of total domination project*
video: obama working on plan to wiretap skype, facebook, blackberrys & more*
wiretapped phones, now internet?*
100k+ germans ask google to blur their homes*
feds' requests for google data rise 20%*
net censorship takes center stage in 'online infringement' bill*
the leaked list & the digital economy act*
unpublished iraq war logs trigger internal wikikeaks revolt*
cia accused of using pirated software for drone assassination attacks*
fmr stasi cryptographers now develop technology for nato*

9/16 defcon: tracking devices & small worlds

have cell phones become personal tracking devices?
what your phone could be telling the govt*
fired google engineer stalked teens, spied on chats*
mom obsessed with video game 'small worlds' neglects children, dogs starve to death*
chase's online bank service still facing problems*

defcon 9/9: sex, spies & vulnerabilities

craigslist unexpectedly pulls adult services listings*
cia money behind wi-fi positioning system, or wps*
google pays $8.5m to settle buzz privacy invasion suit*
video: google creepier & more omnipresent with 'instant search'*
court ok's warrantless cell-site tracking*
nsa: US must secure the internet*
dhs cybersecurity watchdogs miss 100s of vulnerabilities on their own network*
cyber task force passes mission to cyber command*
cyber warfare: US military hackers & internet spies*
canada unveils new speed bump: optical illusion of a child*

defcon 9/2: cyborg, spy school, asteroids

intel developing improved mind reading computers*
pentagon may apply preemptive warfare policy to the internet*
flashback: defense official discloses cyberattack*
judge says pennsylvania district must pay $260k in spying case*
flashback: no charges in pennsylvania school's webcam spygate*
video: our terrifyingly crowded solar system - how the asteroids are closing in*

google wi-spy lawsuits head to silicon valley court

from ars technica: Whether Google is liable for damages for secretly intercepting data on open WiFi routers across the United States is to be aired out in a Silicon Valley federal court. Eight proposed class-actions from across the country that seek unspecified monetary damages from Google were consolidated this week and transferred to US District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California. Another five cases are likely to join. The lawsuits allege Google violated federal and state privacy laws in collecting fragments of data from unencrypted wireless networks as its fleet of camera-equipped cars moseyed through neighborhoods snapping pictures for its Street View program... The deep-pocketed Google maintains that it did nothing wrong, and is likely to put up a fierce and costly defense. Google, in response to government inquiries and lawsuits, claims it is lawful to use packet-sniffing tools readily available on the internet to spy on and download payload data from others using the same open WiFi access point.

no charges in pennsylvania school's webcam spygate

related: young people will have to change their names to escape 'cyber past' warns google ceo
from threat level: Federal authorities announced Tuesday they will not prosecute administrators connected to a webcam spying scandal at a suburban Philadelphia school district. Prosecutors and the FBI opened an inquiry following a February privacy lawsuit accusing Lower Merion School District officials of spying on students with webcams on the 2,300 district-issued MacBooks. The lawyers who filed the lawsuit claim the district secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students, including images of youths at home, in bed or even “partially dressed.” Zane David Memeger, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said he found no criminal intent in the alleged surveillance. “I have concluded that bringing criminal charges is not warranted in this matter,” Memeger said in a statement. “For the government to prosecute a criminal case, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged acted with criminal intent. We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent.”

flashbacks: school spied on kids via webcams on school-supplied laptops & webcamgate expands as lawyers say 1000s of pictures taken