Monthly Archives: December 2013

Microsoft hoping to replace passwords with public key cryptography

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“FIDO hopes to replace passwords with a system built around public key cryptography. To register with a FIDO site, you won’t enter a password into the site. Instead, hitting register will alert your authentication devices—typically an app on your smartphone—of the attempt to register. If that attempt is approved (for example, by using a registered fingerprint or entering a PIN), the device will generate a public/private key pair. The public key will be sent to the online service; the private key will be retained on the authentication device.”

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/microsoft-joins-fido-group-hoping-to-replace-passwords-with-public-key-cryptography/

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NSA Can ‘Easily’ Break Cellphone Encryption, Report Says

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“The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has the technical capacity to crack the most commonly-used cellphone encryption technology, and in doing so it can decode and access the content of calls and text messages.  Citing a top-secret document leaked by Edward Snowden, the report states that the agency can easily break a technology called A5/1, the world’s most common stream cipher used to encrypt cellular data as it transmits to cell towers.  AT&T, the largest GSM provider in the U.S., is in the process of upgrading its networks to what’s called A5/3 encryption, the Post reports, which requires 100,000 times more computing power to break compared to A5/1.”

http://mashable.com/2013/12/13/nsa-cellphone-encryption/

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OECD seeks inspiration from FATCA model

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“A new standard of exchanging information on tax is expected to be introduced in countries belonging to the OECD.  The new system will probably by based on US anti-tax evasion legislation known as FATCA, according to Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.  Saint-Amans spoke to swissinfo.ch about the plans to introduce automatic exchange of tax information which the OECD intends to present for scrutiny next February.  This future international standard is considered to be much more exacting than the current model and incompatible with the present system in Switzerland.”

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/OECD_seeks_inspiration_from_FATCA_model.html?cid=37494258

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FATCA System Fails Government Probe, Threatens Privacy

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“Despite spending more than $8.6 million so far, with another $8 million projected to be spent still, on developing the online portal for handling the registration of foreign financial institutions for FATCA, the IRS is still unprepared for the law according to a report by the the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Their incompetence threatens to compromise the information of both Americans and the foreign institutions coerced into serving the IRS.  The report reveals amazing disarray in the implementation process, as the IRS spent considerable resources developing the system before issuing the final regulations, which then had to be scrapped to accommodate new requirements.”

http://freedomandprosperity.org/2013/blog/fatca-system-fails-government-probe-threatens-privacy/

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Putin promises crackdown on $111bln offshore money leak

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“Companies that want to register in foreign countries will no longer receive access to government funds, including loans from the state bank, and state agency contracts will be forfeited.  Russia’s economic growth is unlikely to exceed 1.5 percent in 2013, and with a slump in oil prices expected, collecting companies’ tax contributions is vital in funding the budget.  In May 2013, it became illegal for Russian government officials and their families to own foreign assets abroad. Real-estate and bank accounts were ordered to be sold, and assets were ordered back to Russia. Creating an internal domestic offshore tax zone had been under serious consideration, but was later shelved.”

http://rt.com/business/offshore-tax-budget-russia-119/

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Cyberpunk Builds Bitcoin Wallet That Even Apple Can’t Ban

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“Coinpunk lets you house your Bitcoin wallet on your own server that can then be accessed from any other device, including an iPhone. The mobile web interface comes complete with a QR code scanner — the preferred way to handle Bitcoin transactions here in the real world. You can spend bitcoins not only online but with restaurants or shops that accept the digital currency.  If you can bring yourself to trust them, you do have the option of running a Coinpunk server with a local hosting company or in the Amazon cloud. And Coinpunk does offer its own hosting service for those who are willing to trust Drake himself.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/12/coinpunk/

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China Bans Payment Companies Working With Bitcoin Exchanges?

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“Sources close to China’s Central Bank today reported that the institution has banned third-party payment companies from doing business with bitcoin exchanges.  A reputable source told CoinDesk that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) met with most of the top third-party payment companies this morning.  The source said the meeting topic was unrelated to bitcoin, but digital currency became an important part of the discussion. ‘PBOC, in no uncertain terms, directed third-party payment companies not to do business with bitcoin exchanges in China,’ they explained.”

http://www.coindesk.com/china-bans-payment-companies-working-bitcoin-exchanges-sources-claim/

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12 Days of Bitcoin: The High Risk IRA

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“Matt Miller reports on investing in an IRA using bitcoin. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s ‘In The Loop.'”

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/12-days-of-bitcoin-the-high-risk-ira-OPVu1qi6R9mNWR8YkF8ruA.html

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The Bitcoin Central Bank’s Perfect Monetary Policy

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“The following post provides an analytical framework so that critics and proponents of Bitcoin’s monetary policy can engage in a constructive debate.  Bitcoin has a central bank called the ‘Bitcoin network,’ which we will refer to as the Bitcoin Central Bank (BCB). This central bank issues a currency called ‘bitcoins’ and processes the transfer of bitcoins between accounts. The BCB’s rule-based monetary policy was set at its creation and its independence is secured by the distributed nature of the underlying network. This non-discretionary monetary policy can best be described as asymptotic money supply targeting (AMST).”

http://themisescircle.org/blog/2013/12/15/the-bitcoin-central-banks-perfect-monetary-policy/

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Ron Paul: After 100 Years Of Failure, It’s Time To End The Fed

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“A week from now, the Federal Reserve System will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. Resulting from secret negotiations between bankers and politicians at Jekyll Island, the Fed’s creation established a banking cartel and a board of government overseers that has grown ever stronger through the years. One would think this anniversary would elicit some sort of public recognition of the Fed’s growth from a quasi-agent of the Treasury Department intended to provide an elastic currency, to a de facto independent institution that has taken complete control of the economy through its central monetary planning.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/editorials/34838/Ron-Paul-After-100-Years-Of-Failure-Its-Time-To-End-The-Fed/

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